Orthodox prayers for peace in the world and in time of war

Prayers for peace in the world, and for when war comes near.

Picture: Eugène Delacroix, Christ on the Sea of Galilee, 1854

4 prayers

For peace in the whole world

St Silouan’s prayer for peace

Plain English only: no traditional English wording is given for this prayer

Lord, let all Your peoples understand Your loveand the sweetness of the Holy Spirit,so that people may forget the sorrow of the earth,leave behind everything bad,and cling to You in love,and live in peace,doing Your will, to Your glory.

O Lord, make us worthy of the gift of the Holy Spirit,so that we may understand Your gloryand live on earth in peace and love.Let there be no malice, no wars, no enemies,but let love alone reign,and there will be no need for armies or prisons,and life will be easy for everyone on earth.

St Silouan was a Russian monk on Mount Athos and died in 1938. He asks God for a world with no malice, no wars and no enemies, where love alone reigns.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from Silouan’s Russian, as a Russian collection of prayers prints it. How the wording is made.

Where it comes from, and the Russian

When war is close

St Ephrem’s prayer for peace

I hear a cry of terror on my towers,as my defenders shout while they guard my walls.Quiet that cry with the voice of Your peace!

Let the noise of my farmers announce peace outside my walls,and the sound of my people announce it inside them,so that I may praise God outside my walls and within them.

The Church and her clergy will praise You for Your salvation,and so will the city and all who live in it.O Lord, let the sound of peacebe the reward of their pleading voices!

Traditional wording, 1898

A voice of terror, I have heard on my towers;as my defenders cry, while they guard my walls.Still Thou it with the voice of peace!

The noise of my husbandmen, shall speak peace without my walls:the shouting of my dwellers shall speak peace within my walls,that I may give peace without and within.

The Church and her ministers shall give praise for Thy salvation;the city and its dwellers.Be the voice of peace, O Lord, the reward of their voices!

St Ephrem wrote it about AD 359, when news reached his city of Nisibis that a Persian army was on its way. The city asks God to quiet the cries on her walls with His peace.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from Gustav Bickell’s 1866 Latin translation of the Syriac (verses 25, 26 and 28), with Stopford’s 1898 English beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: J. T. Sarsfield Stopford, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 13, 1898.

Stopford ends the second verse “that I may give peace without and within”. Bickell’s Latin has “ut Deum laudem”, that I may praise God, and the plain wording follows it.

Where it comes from, and the original

For peace and protection

The collect for peace

O God, author and lover of peace,to know You is to live,and to serve You is to reign.Protect us who call on Youfrom every attack,so that we who trust in Your defencemay fear no enemy’s weapons.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ.Amen.

Traditional wording, 1549

O God, which art author of peace, and lover of concord,in knowledge of Whom standeth our eternal life,Whose service is perfect freedom;Defend us Thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies;that we, surely trusting in Thy defence,may not fear the power of any adversaries,

through the might of Jesu Christ our Lord.Amen.

A Roman Mass book copied about AD 750 holds this short prayer to God, the author and lover of peace. It asks Him to shield those who trust Him, so that no enemy’s weapons make them afraid.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Latin of the Gelasian Sacramentary, with the English of the 1549 Prayer Book beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: The Book of Common Prayer, The Book of Common Prayer, in Edward Cardwell’s edition, 1549.

Where the Latin calls God the author and lover of peace, the 1549 English has “author of peace, and lover of concord”. Its “in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom” stands for the Latin’s “Whom to know is to live, Whom to serve is to reign”. The Latin ends on “Per”, the first word of “Through our Lord Jesus Christ”.

Where it comes from, and the Latin

When the news frightens you

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength,a help always near in times of trouble.

So we will not fear, though the earth gives way,though the mountains slide into the heart of the sea,though its waters roar and foamand the mountains shake as it surges.

There is a river whose streams bring joy to the city of God,the holy place where the Most High dwells.God is within the city; it will not fall.God will help it at the break of day.

The nations rage, and kingdoms totter;He raises His voice, and the earth melts.The LORD of hosts is with us;the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see the works of the LORD,the ruins He has made on the earth:He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;He breaks the bow and snaps the spear;He burns the chariots with fire.

“Be still, and know that I am God.I will be exalted among the nations;I will be exalted in the earth.”

The LORD of hosts is with us;the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Traditional wording, 1611

God is our refuge and strength,a very present help in trouble.

Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed,and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.

There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God,the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved:God shall help her, and that right early.

The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved:He uttered His voice, the earth melted.The LORD of hosts is with us;the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Come, behold the works of the LORD,what desolations He hath made in the earth.He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth;He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder;He burneth the chariot in the fire.

Be still, and know that I am God:I will be exalted among the heathen,I will be exalted in the earth.

The LORD of hosts is with us;the God of Jacob is our refuge.

When nations rage and kingdoms totter, God is still our fortress. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth, and He breaks the bow and snaps the spear.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Hebrew, with the King James Version beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: The King James translators, The King James Version, 1611.

Where it comes from, and the original

Scripture for this

Then He will judge between the nations and arbitrate for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer take up the sword against nation, nor train anymore for war.

Isaiah 2:4 In Isaiah’s vision of the last days, the nations beat their swords into plowshares and never again train for war.

⁶Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you prosper. ⁷May there be peace within your walls, and prosperity inside your fortresses.”

Psalm 122:6-7 God’s people are called to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for peace within her walls.

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come.

Matthew 24:6 Jesus said, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.”

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Matthew 5:9 Jesus blesses the peacemakers and says they will be called sons of God.

For He Himself is our peace, Who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility

Ephesians 2:14 Christ Himself is our peace. He tore down the wall of hostility that divided Jews and Gentiles.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

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