Lead me from death to life,

from falsehood to truth;

lead me from despair to hope,

from fear to trust;

lead me from hate to love,

from war to peace.

Let peace fill our heart,

our world, our universe.

This Universal Prayer for Peace is an adaptation of a famous mantra in the Hindu Upanishads, written in Sanskrit between 800–200 BC. It appeared in the form used here towards the end of the 20th century when Satish Kumar, a former Jain monk based in the UK, crafted a version for people of all faiths and of none. The prayer was first used in public by Mother (now ‘Saint’) Teresa while speaking at St James’ Piccadilly in July 1981. And now, at noon every day, diverse communities gather world-wide to pray it, a wave of prayerful peace-longing rippling daily around the globe.

Interestingly, despite the emphasis on the prayer’s universality, the word ‘our’ doesn’t appear until the last sentence. Before that, it’s all singular, individual.  Perhaps there’s a resonance here with other words which have their roots in India: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

In 1936, Vaughan Williams wrote his cantata Dona Nobis Pacem in response to the storm clouds of war once again gathering across Europe. The opening movement (the first 4 minutes of the cantata below) sets these words: Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem (Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace). Even as the soprano sings her final, soft, low ‘pacem’, beating drums signal war’s advance. In our own time, praying with others for the world’s peace has rarely felt so vital.