Ireland: Archbishops quote St Francis to pray for Drumcree

Archbishop Eamon Martin and Archbishop John McDowell Image CCO

Source: Irish Catholic Media Office

Archbishop Eamon Martin, Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, and Archbishop John McDowell, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh have sent us the following message:

Following on from our joint statement last Sunday, and in light of the ongoing situation and discussions around Drumcree, as we approach the time of year when we remember Saint Francis of Assisi on his Feast Day (4 October), we are encouraging our clergy and people to include the well known prayer of Saint Francis in Sunday services and Masses, in family prayers and in private devotions over the weekend.

"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 Lord, 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 one receives,
it is in self-forgetting that one finds,
it is in forgiving that one is forgiven,
it is in dying that one awakens to eternal life. Amen."