PRAYER IN TIME OF WAR

 
O BLESSED PRINCE OF PEACE!

We adore Thee.

We love Thee.

We praise Thee.

In this hour of dreadful need,

We implore Thee, dear Jesus—Save us!

Crimsoned war clouds gather once again about us

To rain down ruin, blood, and death.

Save us or we perish from the earth;

Save us by Thy love for mankind,

By Thy love for Thy Church,

By Thy love for souls,

Save us, for we cannot save ourselves!

By Thy pierced heart, save us!

Make our hearts one with Thine,

That our will may be Thy will,

Thy divine love, our love,

That we may make reparation for

  the sins of the world,

Thus to avert the wrath of Thy justice

Upon a willful, sinful world,

A world that has defied Thy laws,

Mocked Thy love,

And taken unto itself strange gods.

 
By Thy Sacred Wounds, O Jesus, save us!

Heal Thou the wounds of a world now dying.

A world crucified on its cross of sin,

By wounds of anarchy and atheism,

Despotism and slavery, fear and greed,

Wounds of disease, desolation, and death.

Pour into the soul of this stricken world, O God,

The oil and wine of Thy mercy and truth.

 
By Thy thorn-crowned head, O Jesus save us!

Make the light of Thy holy mind

Shine into the minds of men,

Dispelling distrust and deceit,

Inspiring them with the purposes of Thy will,

That by common council and consent,

Mutual understanding and co-operation,

Men may build through Thee

Enduring and universal peace,

A peace which man alone cannot find,

The peace which God alone can give.

 
O Blessed Prince of Peace,

Who rulest by love and love alone,

We consecrate ourselves to Thy Sacred Heart.

With faith and hope and love,

We follow Thee, O Jesus, and beg Thee,

Reign in the kingdom of our hearts,

And grant, that through Thy Church

Men may learn to live,

In happiness and liberty and peace.

Amen.

BY JOHN FRANCIS CARDINAL SPELLMAN