Make me an instrument of your peace
Lord, make of me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love.
Where there is offence, let me bring forgiveness.
Where there is discord, let me bring unity.
Where there is error, let me bring truth.
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is despair, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
O Master, let me not look so much to be comforted as to comfort,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
in forgetting ourselves that we find,
in forgiving that we are forgiven,
and in dying that we rise again to eternal life.
Text: La Clochette (1912), in our translation.
About this prayer
Despite its name, St Francis of Assisi did not write it. It first appeared, unsigned, in a small French magazine, La Clochette, in 1912, and was linked to Francis in the 1920s when it was printed on the back of a picture of him. Christians of every tradition pray it to ask to become peacemakers. Our English and Spanish follow the French.