Prayers & Practices

Franciscan Peace Prayer

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;
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.
Amen.

Breath Prayers For When Your Heart is Heavy but Your Resistance is Steady by Sarah Bessey

Inhale: Heal what is broken | Exhale: around us and in us.

Inhale: Every empire falls, | Exhale: Jesus, you remain.

Inhale: Hope can see in the dark, | Exhale: Give us eyes to see what is good.

Be Still and know Chant 3-Minute Meditation From the Center for Action and Contemplation

Be still and know that I am God / Be still and know that I am / Be still and know / Be still / Be

Prayer for Wholeness & Healing 5-minute meditation by the Center for Action and Contemplation

For this beautiful, limited day Blessing by Kate Bowler & Jessica Richie

Blessed are we who see the impossibility
of solving today.
I can’t be done.

God, there are lists on lists
and errands on errands
and a taste, like tin in my mouth,
of the unfinishedness of my life.

Am I counting items
instead of knowing what counts?

God, help me live here,
seeing the whole truth of what is.

Blessed are we who walk toward the discomfort,
bringing what gifts we have,
and our sufferings too,
whether of illness or loss,
grief or betrayal,
confusion or powerlessness.

Blessed are we who scoot up close
so we can whisper our loves, our fears,
all that feels to heavy to carry alone,
and all that we wish we could hold onto for longer.

Show me what I love.
Show me what I never want to lose.
Show me what I no longer need
here in this beautiful, limited day.

a breath prayer by Cole Arthur Riley

Inhale: This is too much to hold.
Exhale: So we hold it together.

Welcoming Practice presented by Cynthia Bourgeault

Hello, anger. Welcome, lump in my throat. Fear, we can be each other’s companions today.

“…by welcoming it instead, you create an atmosphere of inner hospitality. By embracing the thing you once defended yourself against or ran from, you are actually disarming it, removing its power to hurt you or chase you back into your smaller self.”

Nada te Turbe by Teresa of Avila

Nada te turbe,
nada te espante,
todo se pasa,
Dios no se muda,
la paciencia
todo lo alcanza.
Quien a Dios tiene
nada le falta.
Sólo Dios basta.

Excerpt of a prayer by Mirabai Starr, a translator of Teresa of Avila’s works

You [Teresa] lived that beautiful balance
Between active service
And quiet contemplation.
Teach us to be of use in this troubled world
At the same time that we cultivate
Joyous intimacy
With the Beloved who lives inside us.