At 5:00 pm this evening, in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, the Holy Father Francis presided over the recitation of the Holy Rosary to implore the gift of Peace. We publish below the Prayer of the Holy Father to the Blessed Virgin Mary:
O Mary, our Mother, we are here again before you. You know the pains and the fatigues that overwhelm our hearts at this hour. We raise our gaze to you, we immerse ourselves in your eyes and we entrust ourselves to your heart. For you too, O Mother, life reserved difficult trials and human fears, but you were brave and bold; you entrusted everything to God, you responded to him with love, and you offered yourself unconditionally. As a fearless Woman of Charity, you quickly went to help Elizabeth; you promptly perceived the need of the spouses during the wedding at Cana; With inner strength on Calvary, you illuminated the night of pain with Easter hope. Finally, with the tenderness of a mother, you encouraged the fearful disciples in the Upper Room and, with them, you welcomed the gift of the Spirit.
Now we beseech you, hear our cry! We need your loving gaze that invites us to trust in your Son Jesus. You who are ready to welcome our pain, come to our aid in this time when we are oppressed by injustice and devastated by war. Wipe away the tears from the suffering faces of those who mourn the death of their loved ones. Awaken us from the lethargy that has darkened our path and strip our hearts of the weapons of violence, so that the prophecy of Isaiah may soon be fulfilled: “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift sword against nation, neither will they learn war any more” (Is 2:4).
Turn your maternal gaze upon the human family, which has lost the joy of peace and has misplaced the sense of brotherhood. Intercede for our world in danger, that it may safeguard life and reject war; that it may care for the suffering, the poor, the defenseless, the sick and the afflicted, and protect our common home.
We beseech you the mercy of God, O Queen of Peace! Convert the hearts of those who nourish hatred, silence the noise of weapons that cause death, extinguish the violence that dwells within man and inspire projects of peace in the decisions of those who govern nations.
Mary, Queen of the holy Rosary, untie the knots of selfishness and dispel the dark clouds of evil. Fill us, your children, with your tenderness, lift us up with your kind hand and give us your motherly caress, which makes us hope for the coming of a new humanity where “the desert will be like an orchard, and the orchard will be like a forest. Justice will dwell in the desert, and righteousness will dwell in the orchard. The work of justice will be peace” (Is 32:15-17).
O Mother, Salus Populi Romani, pray for us!
Prayer of the Holy Rosary presided over by Pope Francis to implore the gift of Peace
