Here’s
a set of Advent candle-lighting prayers from Katherine Hawker’s Liturgies Outside website.
Peace Prayers for Advent
Advent
1: Peace in our World
On
this first Sunday of Advent, we pray for peace in our world.
Headlines
from the news this week:
(add appropriate
headlines)
Peacemaking
God, we turn to you in prayer.
The
world around us trumpets violence and destruction.
Nations
know war all too well.
Your
invitation to carry an olive branch seems ludicrous
as
the call to arms is sounded.
Help
us to seek your reconciliation.
(Light one
purple/blue candle)
Advent
2: Peace with the Earth
On
this second Sunday of Advent,
we
pray for peace with the earth.
Headlines
from the news this week:
(add appropriate
headlines)
Peacemaking
God, we turn to you in prayer.
The
earth groans under the weight of its human inhabitants.
Our
trail is too often measured by its destruction.
The
love you share for all of your creation atrophies in our hands.
Help
us to seek your harmony.
(Light two
purple/blue candles)
Advent
3: Peace in our Relationships
On
this third Sunday of Advent,
we
pray for peace in our relationships.
Headlines
from the news this week:
(add appropriate
headlines)
Peacemaking
God, we turn to you in prayer.
As
families and friends gather for the holiday season,
our
collective stress level often reaches a tragic peak.
Domestic
violence and substance abuse are on the rise again this season.
The
very people we claim to love
can
at the same time be the source of our pain.
Help
us to seek your serenity.
(Light three
purple/blue candles)
Advent
4: Peace within Ourselves
On
this fourth Sunday of Advent,
we
pray for peace within ourselves.
Headlines
from the news this week:
(add appropriate
headlines)
Peacemaking
God, we turn to you in prayer.
Caught
in the frenetic holiday rush,
a
still small voice beckons from within.
Our
frantic pace belies the aimlessness that holds us hostage.
Created
for relationship, our isolation eats at the fabric of our being.
Help
us to seek your tranquility.
(Light four
purple/blue candles)
~
written by Katherine Hawker, 2001.
Posted on Liturgy Outside. http://liturgyoutside.net/
