"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace." Few prayers are prayed as widely as this one. It is known as the Prayer of St Francis or the Peace Prayer of St Francis, but St Francis of Assisi did not write it. It first appeared in France in 1912. On this page you will find the full text, its surprising history and a simple way to pray it in eight minutes.
The short version: the prayer was first printed in December 1912 in a small Catholic magazine in Paris, with no author named. It was linked to St Francis only years later. Its power does not come from the name it carries, but from what it asks: to become an instrument of peace yourself.
The full text
This is the prayer as it appeared in La Clochette, no. 12, December 1912, translated into English.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love.
Where there is offence, let me bring pardon.
Where there is discord, let me bring union.
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 seek so much
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love,
for it is in giving that one receives,
it is in forgetting oneself that one finds,
it is in pardoning that one is pardoned,
it is in dying that one rises to eternal life.
This is our own translation of the French text of 1912, which is in the public domain. Many English versions in prayer books differ slightly: some say "let me sow love", some begin the second part with "O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek", and some leave out a few lines. The meaning is essentially the same.
Where the prayer really comes from
- 1912: the prayer appears without an author in La Clochette ("The Little Bell"), the bulletin of a Catholic prayer association in Paris, under the title "A beautiful prayer to say during Mass". Historian Christian Renoux names Father Esther Bouquerel, founder of the association that published the bulletin, as a possible author. The question is not settled.
- 1915 and 1916: during the First World War, the Marquis Stanislas de La Rochethulon sends the prayer to Pope Benedict XV in 1915. On 20 January 1916 it appears in Italian on the front page of L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper.
- Around 1918: a Franciscan friar prints the prayer on the back of a holy card of St Francis, without naming him as its author. This is how the link to the saint begins. The first explicit attribution to St Francis follows in 1927.
- 1927: the first known English version, slightly shortened, appears in January 1927 in the Quaker magazine Friends' Intelligencer in the United States.
- The Second World War: Francis Spellman, then Archbishop of New York (made a cardinal in 1946), distributes millions of copies. In 1946, Senator Albert W. Hawkes reads it into the Congressional Record.
- 1967: South African songwriter Sebastian Temple sets it to music as the hymn "Make Me a Channel of Your Peace", still sung in many churches.
- 1979: Mother Teresa opens her acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo by asking everyone present to pray it with her. In the same year, Margaret Thatcher paraphrases it on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street after winning the general election.
- 2001: Christian Renoux, a historian at the University of Orléans, publishes a book-length study of the prayer's origins, La prière pour la paix attribuée à saint François: une énigme à résoudre.
St Francis of Assisi lived from about 1181 to 1226, almost seven centuries before the prayer was first printed. It is not his text. Yet it fits his spirit: poor in words, rich in self-giving, turned towards the other person.
What the prayer means
An instrument, not a spectator. Most prayers for peace ask that peace may come. This one asks to become the instrument of peace. The responsibility moves from the sky into the heart of the one who prays.
Eight pairs. Hatred and love, offence and pardon, discord and union, error and truth, doubt and faith, despair and hope, darkness and light, sadness and joy. Each pair describes a real situation into which you can carry something.
The turn in the second part. Not first seeking to be consoled, understood or loved, but consoling, understanding and loving. That is the real school of peace: taking the first step without waiting for the other person's.
How to pray the Prayer of St Francis in eight minutes
- Arrive (1 min). Sit down. Take one slow breath.
- Presence (1 min). Feel your feet, your hands, the light around you.
- Pray (1 min). Say the whole prayer slowly, aloud or in silence.
- One pair (2 min). Which line touches you today? Where is there discord, offence or doubt in your life right now? Think of one person to whom you can bring the opposite this week, and wish them well.
- Give (1 min). One long, slow exhale. Let the good you wished travel outward, to the whole world.
- Silence (1 min). Stay in what remains.
- Close (1 min). Say the first line once more: "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace."
Every Sunday at 8 PM your local time, Cosmic Peace Prayers invites you to these eight minutes, wherever you are. The timer on our home page rings a soft bell at the beginning and at the end. For prayers from other traditions, read our prayers for world peace or the short prayers for peace.
Questions about the Prayer of St Francis
Did St Francis of Assisi write the Prayer of St Francis?
No. The prayer was first printed in December 1912 in the French magazine La Clochette, with no author named, almost seven centuries after St Francis died in 1226. It became linked to him from around 1918, when a Franciscan printed it on the back of a holy card of the saint.
Who wrote "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace"?
Nobody knows for certain. The historian Christian Renoux considers Father Esther Bouquerel, founder of the association that published La Clochette, a possible author. The question remains open.
Why is it still called the Prayer of St Francis?
Because it has circulated under his name for about a hundred years, on holy cards and in prayer books, and because it matches his humility, his love of reconciliation and his peacemaking.
What is the difference between the Prayer of St Francis and the Peace Prayer of St Francis?
There is none. "Prayer of St Francis", "Peace Prayer of St Francis", "St Francis Prayer" and "Simple Prayer for Peace" are names for the same text, which begins with "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace".
Can I use the prayer freely?
Yes. The French original of 1912 is in the public domain, and you are welcome to use the English translation on this page, which is our own, for prayer, worship and teaching. Some modern versions and musical settings, such as hymns, may be protected by copyright.