Many Catholics grow up completely believing that the Peace Prayer also known as Make Me An Instrument of Your Peace was written by St. Francis of Assisi. I am no exception. The prayer goes like this:

Lord make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon 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.

However, scholars tracing the origins of this prayer discovered that it first appeared in France in 1912 in a small spiritual magazine called La Clochette (The Little Bell). It was published in Paris by a Catholic association known as La Ligue de la Sainte-Messe (The Holy Mass League), founded in 1901 by a French priest, Father Esther Bouquerel (1855-1923). The prayer bore the title of ‘Belle prière à faire pendant la messe‘ (A Beautiful Prayer to Say During the Mass), and was published anonymously.

Around 1920, the prayer was printed by a French Franciscan priest on the back of an image of St. Francis with the title ‘Prière pour la paix‘ (Prayer for Peace) but without being attributed to the saint. Between the two world wars, the prayer circulated in Europe and was translated into English. During World War II and immediately after, this prayer began circulating widely as the Prayer of St. Francis, and over the years has gained worldwide popularity with people of all faiths.

It has been prayed and sung and quoted by presidents, politicians and celebrities the world over. And like the city of Assisi, this, too. has become intertwined with the legend and life Saint Francis, who today remains one of the most venerated of all Christian saints.

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