Sample Prayer Service (Franciscan)
Symbol:
As we say this opening prayer we light a candle for peace in our world. Each person will light a candle from the Peace Candle and place it in the bowl so that the collective light will shine in our hearts and in the world of darkness to bring the Gift of PEACE.
Prayer while lighting the candles:
Almighty God, from whom all thoughts of truth and peace proceed, kindle in the hearts of all of us true love of peace, and guide with Your pure and peaceable wisdom those who make decisions for the nations of the earth; that in tranquility Your kingdom may go forward, until the earth is filled with the knowledge of Your love through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Hymn:(A suitable song should be used here. But, where no song is available or the congregation is not capable of singing, the peace prayer ascribed to St. Francis can be used:)
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Psalm 122
Ant. I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the LORD.”
Our feet are standing
in your gates, Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is built like a city
that is closely compacted together.
That is where the tribes go up—
the tribes of the LORD—to praise the name of the LORD
according to the statute given to Israel.
There stand the thrones for judgment,
the thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be secure.
May there be peace within your walls
and security within your citadels.”
For the sake of my family and friends,
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
I will seek your prosperity.
Ant. I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the LORD.”
Canticle: Prayer of praises [St. Francis]
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was and who is to come.
Let us praise and exalt Him above all forever.
Worthy are You, O Lord, our God, to receive praise, glory and honor, and benediction.
Let us praise and exalt Him above all forever.
The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power and divinity and wisdom and strength and honor and benediction.Let us praise and exalt Him above all forever.
Let us bless the Father and the Son with the Holy Ghost.
Let us praise and exalt Him above all forever.
All ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord.
Let us praise and exalt Him above all forever.
Give praise to God all ye His servants and you that fear Him, little and great.
Let us praise and exalt Him above all forever.
Let the heavens and the earth praise Him, the Glorious, and every creature which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth, in the seas and all that are in them.
Let us praise and exalt Him above all forever.
Glory be to the Creator, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Let us praise and exalt Him above all forever.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be world without end. Amen.
Let us praise and exalt Him above all forever.
Prayer.
Almighty, most holy, most high and supreme God, highest good, all good, wholly good, who alone is good. To You we render all praise, all glory, all thanks, all honor, all blessing, and we shall always refer all good to You. Amen.
Psalm 147
Ant. Praise the LORD.
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise God!
The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
The LORD gathers the exiles of Israel.
God heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
God determines the number of the stars
and calls them each by name.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
God’s understanding has no limit.
Sing to the LORD with grateful praise;
make music to our God on the harp.
The LORD covers the sky with clouds;
the LORD supplies the earth with rain
and makes grass grow on the hills.
God provides food for the cattle
and for the young ravens when they call.
God’s pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor does God delight in the legs of the warrior;
the LORD delights in those who fear God,
who put their hope in God’s unfailing love.
Extol the LORD, Jerusalem;
praise your God, Zion.
God strengthens the bars of your gates
and blesses your people within you.
God grants peace to your borders
and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.
God sends the command to the earth;
God’s word runs swiftly.
The LORD spreads the snow like wool
and scatters the frost like ashes.
The LORD hurls down hail like pebbles.
Who can withstand this icy blast?
God sends the word and melts them;
God stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.
The LORD has revealed this word to Jacob,
these laws and decrees to Israel.
God has done this for no other nation;
they do not know these laws.
Ant. Praise the LORD.
Reading: (Romans 12, 14-21)
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on each of their heads.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Silence
Antiphon:
God has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
Magnificat
Intercessions:
Invitation to free intercessions
Our Father
Concluding Prayer:
Lord, God of peace, who has created humankind the object of your kindness, to be close to you in glory, we bless you and we thank you because you have sent us your beloved son, Jesus, making him the mystery of the Pasch, the architect of all salvation, the source of all peace, the bond of true fraternity.
We thank you for the desire, the efforts, the realizations which your spirit of peace has roused in our day: to replace hatred with love, diffidence with understanding, unconcern with care. Open our hearts still more to the needs of all our brothers and sisters, so that we may be better able to build a true peace.
Remember, Father of mercy, all who are in pain, who suffer and die in the cause of a more fraternal world. For people of every race, of every tongue - may your kingdom come: your kingdom of justice, of peace, of love; and may the earth be filled with your glory. Amen. (Pope Paul VI)
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