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A Call to Prayer and Public Witness for Peace in the Holy Land

Prayer for Advent 2025

Hear our prayer O Lord for all the people of your Holy Land;

we cry to you for the homeless, the bereaved,

the hungry, the sick, the injured and the despairing multitude.

Strengthen medical and aid workers

All who strive for the common good

and all who seek to lay firm foundations for peace.

God of all creation,

stir up in all, your vision of justice and peace.

Bless your faithful people in The Land of the Holy One.

Strengthen Cardinal Pizzaballa, Patriarch Theophilus,

The Right Reverend Hosam Naoum, Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem 

and all Christian leaders, equipping them to be prophets of justice and peace in our day.

 

In the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, we pray. Amen, amen.

 

Saviour eternal, life of the world unfailing,

Light everlasting and our true redemption.

Taking our humanity, in your loving freedom 

you rescued our lost earth and filled the world with joy.

By your first advent justify us, by your second set us free:

that when the great light dawns and you come as judge of all,

we may be robed in immortality, 

and ready Lord to follow in your footsteps blest.  

Amen.  (Salus Aeterna – Saviour Eternal, 11^th century)

 

The Angel of the Lord brought tidings to Mary

 and she conceived by the Holy Spirit.

 

All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).    Matthew 1: 22, 23 

A Prayer for the Holy Land for 21 September 2025

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world:
In your mercy, provide for all those in Gaza and beyond who suffer from hunger and starvation, that they may be given both physical bread to nourish their bodies and heavenly bread to sustain their souls.
By the power of your Spirit, bring a speedy end to this cruel war, the release of all captives, care for the sick and wounded, comfort for those who have lost loved-ones, and the opening of a pathway for a just and lasting peace here in the very homeland where your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, ministered during his earthly life; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen

The Most Reverend Dr. Hosam E. Naoum, Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, August 2025

Your prayers might focus on one or more of the issues below:

• An immediate ceasefire in Gaza
• Unfettered access to humanitarian relief.
• An end to violence in Israel and Palestine.
• The release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees.
• A meaningful peace process

To support these actions, we are working with Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and Churches Together England to create an accessible online hub of resources for prayer and action, including theological materials, liturgical resources, and guidance to help churches engage confidently with the complex realities of the region.

Prayer for Peace in the Holy Land

God of mercy and justice,

we lift before You the land made holy by Your presence.
Grant an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,
and open the way for unfettered humanitarian relief.
Bring an end to violence in Israel and Palestine,
and soften every hardened heart with Your peace.
We ask for the safe release of all hostages and detainees,
and for a true and meaningful peace process
that honors the dignity of every person.

Lord, make us instruments of Your peace. Amen.

Fr. Rami Asakrieh OFM

Fr. Rami is a Franciscan Brother, the parish priest of the Latin church of St Catherine in Bethlehem and Director of the social services department.

Praying for Mary’s Intercession for Peace in the Holy Land 

Our Lady, Queen of Palestine, extend your hand over the Holy Land and over all who live there: Jews, Muslims, Druze and Christians, Palestinians, Israelis, migrant workers and refugees.

Our Lady, intercede for us all and especially for the Church, the Body of your Son, Jesus Christ Our Lord. 

We have been sent to preach Good News to all in the land that is yours and His, the land of the patriarchs, kings, prophets, apostles and of the first community formed to walk in the way of your Son, the Mother Church of Jerusalem. 

This mission needs the courage and the perseverance, the wisdom and the faith that were yours, pray for us. 

On your knees He, who was your Lord and Master, learnt to speak and to pray, to act and to obey. 

We ask you to teach us to speak and to pray, to act and to obey today in the land called to be holy. 

In the midst of war and hatred, walls, occupation and discrimination, fear and rejection, instruct us how to be instruments of justice and peace, pardon and reconciliation. 

We affirm with you that he is our peace. 

Show us the way to incarnate in our life as Church both fidelity to your Son and an embracing love for all in this land, especially for those who are the poorest and the most excluded, the homeless, the refugees, the prisoners, those who are maltreated, oppressed and are victims of injustice. 

Our Lady, Queen of Palestine, you are our mother, given to us by your Son on the Cross. 

With you, we are called to be witnesses to the Resurrection that already heralds His Kingdom. 

Modelling ourselves on you, we ask Him to anoint us as Spirit filled proclaimers of the Good News that He has vanquished death by His death on the Cross and has given life to those in the tombs. 

May we, members of His Body the Church, be living signs that point to the Kingdom that is already among us. Amen.

Mother Mary, Queen of Palestine, pray for us.

_______

This prayer for Mary’s Intercession for Peace in the Holy Land was written by Father David Neuhaus, S.J. Fr Neuhaus is an Israeli Jesuit priest who has met with the Bishops of the Holy Land Co-ordination on a number of occasions to share his work and ministry. The prayer was included on Bishop Nichols Hudson's statement on 28th August 2025. Bishop Nicholas is Chair of the International Affairs department of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. 

PRAYER FOR A TORTURED LAND

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Eternal God of justice and mercy,

hear our prayer,

for the people of Gaza, the West Bank,

and all who live amidst the suffering and torture of the Holy Land.

 

Lord God, Father of all,

look with pity on those who see only distress and darkness,

the gloom of anguish. (Isaiah 8.22)

 

Lord Jesus, our Saviour,

when you bore for the whole world

the pain of sin and death,

you cried out to the Father,

‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me ?’

Hear the cry of those who look for peace,

but no good comes,

only terror. (Jeremiah 9.15)

 

Holy Spirit,

help us in our weakness

as we pray for the crushed in

body, mind and spirit. (Romans 8.26)

 

Lord, have mercy,

Christ, have mercy,

Lord, have mercy.

 

Almighty God,

we pray for our Christian brothers and sisters:

for the leaders of all the Churches

and their congregations.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 

We pray for all who give medical care

and all who strive to deliver aid.

Strengthen them as they wrestle

with overwhelming challenges.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 We hold in our hearts before you

the hungry, the sick, the mourning;

so many now groaning in despair.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 

We pray for those wielding power,

and those striving for a cease-fire

from which hope may come to be born.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 

We lift before you

The Friends of the Holy Land Team,

The Holy Land Committee,

and The Friends of the Holy Land Trustees,

as they seek to guide our work

and sustain the hope

that together we seek to nurture.

Hold them close to you

in hope and love.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

 

O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, listen and act and do not delay!  (Daniel 9.19)

Amen. Amen.

Links to prayers from other sites to help with your intercessions.

Churches together in Britain and Ireland

https://ctbi.org.uk/news-and-events/prayers-and-statements-on-violence-in-the-middle-east/

 

The Church of England

https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/topical-prayers/prayers-peace-and-hope

 

The Church of Scotland

https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/worship/prayers/prayers-for-peace/prayers-for-peace-in-israel-palestine

 

The Methodist Church

https://www.methodist.org.uk/faith/prayer/israel-palestine/prayers-for-israel-palestine/

 

24/7 Prayer

https://www.24-7prayer.com/resource/pray-for-peace-in-israel-and-gaza/

A Form of Prayer for Pentecost 2025

O Holy Spirit, Lord of grace,

  Eternal Fount of love,
Inflame, we pray, our inmost hearts
  With fire from heaven above.

As Thou in bond of love dost join
  The Father and the Son,
So fill us all with mutual love
  And knit our hearts in one.

All glory to the Father be,
  All glory to the Son,
All glory, Holy Ghost to thee,
  While endless ages run.             (C. Coffin, translated J Chandler 1837)

 

A Reading from the Letter of St Paul to the Romans,

chapter 8, verses 11-12, 15-17, 26-27, 35,37.

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

When we cry ‘Abba’, ‘Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit, that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ – if in fact we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.                                                    
     (New Revised Standard Version)

 

Come Holy Spirit!
Fill us with love, joy and peace
in Jesus our Risen Lord.
Empower our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land
with the life-giving and life-affirming
strength, hope and peace
found only through Jesus,
Lord of life and death. Amen.

Come, O Spirit of God,
and make within us your dwelling place.
May our darkness be dispelled by your light,
and our troubles calmed by your peace;
may all evil be redeemed by your love,
all pain transformed through the suffering of Christ
and all dying glorified in his risen life. Amen                      (after Celebrating Common Prayer)

 

In a troubled Holy Land
and across a confused and unstable world,
guide your people into all truth
and glorify your holy name,
through Jesus Christ,
our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

A Form of Prayer for Easter 2025

Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time on and for evermore.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
the name of the Lord is to be praised.   (Ps.113 verses 2,3)

Blessed be the hour, O Christ, in which you were born,
and the hour in which you died,
blessed be the dawn of your rising again.  Anon

 

A Reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans, chapter 6. Verses 3-13

All of us who have been baptized into the Messiah, Jesus, were baptized into his death.

That means that we were buried with him, through baptism, into death, so that, just as the Messiah was raised from the dead through the father’s glory, we too might behave with a new quality of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection.

This is what we know: our old humanity was crucified with the Messiah, so that the bodily solidarity of sin might be abolished, and that we should no longer be enslaved to sin. A person who has died, you see, has been declared free from all charges of sin.

But if we died with the Messiah, we believe that we shall live with him. We know that the Messiah, having been raised from the dead, will never die again. Death no longer has any authority over him. The death he died, you see, he died to sin, once and only once. But the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way you, too, must calculate yourselves as being dead to sin, and alive to God in the Messiah, Jesus. So don’t allow sin to rule in your mortal body, to make you obey its desires…..Rather, present yourselves to God, as people alive from the dead…to be used for the righteous purposes of his covenant
(The New Testament for Everyone   Translated by Tom Wright)  

God of grace and mercy,
we praise you for Jesus,
our Messiah and Lord,
the Hope of the world.
Lord, hear our prayer.

Through the waters of baptism
you lead your people
from the slavery of sin,
toward the Promised Land
of righteousness, justice and peace.
Strengthen Christians everywhere
in faith, hope and love.
Lord, hear our prayer.
In the name of Jesus,
crucified and risen,
we pray for all the people of the Holy Land
in their tribulation.
In the deep darkness of their suffering,
their pain, grief and hopelessness,
may the light of hope dawn upon them.
Lord, hear their cries.
Lord, hear our prayer.

We pray for the leaders of all the Churches in the Holy Land,
with all who put their faith in Jesus.
Keep them firm in faith,
as they walk the way of suffering together.
Keep their eyes on Jesus,
crucified and glorified,
as they hold to the promise of the Gospel.
Lord, hear our prayer

Strengthen those struggling daily
to bring aid to the grieving,
the sick, the homeless and the hungry.
Lord, hear our prayer.

Bless the Friends of the Holy Land
in our ministry of aid and support.
Stir hearts to encourage more donors,
active supporters and praying friends.
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

Risen Lord, you call us to follow you and to serve you.
In the power of the Spirit, strengthen us in your service,
that we may die to self, and live to the glory of the Father,
for your great love’s sake. Amen

Hymns of glory and of praise,
risen Lord, to thee we raise;
holy Father, praise to thee,
with the Spirit, ever be.   (Latin Breviary Hymn tr. Robert Campbell 1814-68)