When it is said
In the Gelasian Sacramentary it is the first of the prayers for peace at Mass.
Since 1549 the Book of Common Prayer has set it for every day at Evensong, or Evening Prayer.
Anyone can pray it alone at the end of a day, or whenever peace is hard to find.
Where it comes from
No author known
From the Gelasian Sacramentary
The Gelasian Sacramentary is a book of the Church’s prayers for Mass and the sacraments. Its one surviving copy was made about AD 750 in the Frankish lands and is now in the Vatican Library, though its core is older and comes from the Church of Rome.
H. A. Wilson, The Gelasian Sacramentary (1894); The Cult of Saints database, University of Oxford, record E07005
Peace in doing God’s work
The Oxford scholar William Bright gathered the Church’s old prayers in his book Ancient Collects. In its appendix he wrote that no prayer sets out more clearly the truth “that only in doing God’s work can we enjoy His peace”.
The Scripture in it
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.
In Latin
Deus, a quo sancta desideria,
et recta consilia et iusta sunt opera,
da servis tuis illam, quam mundus dare non potest, pacem;
ut et corda mandatis tuis dedita,
et, hostium sublata formidine,
tempora sint tua protectione tranquilla.
Per.
From the Gelasian Sacramentary, book 3, as H. A. Wilson printed it in 1894 (page 271).