Prayer for Persecuted Christians — Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako

Prayer composed by Cardinal † Louis Raphaël I Sako, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans (See of Baghdad), shepherd of one of the most ancient and most tried Christian communities in the world. The Chaldean Church has, in the last two decades, lost dozens of faithful in attacks (Baghdad Cathedral, 2010), endured the exile of the Christians of the Nineveh Plain under the Islamic State (2014), and continues to bear witness to Christ in the midst of trial. This prayer is the voice of the persecuted Church from her own mouth, and has been adopted by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) and by the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) as the official prayer of the Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians — celebrated annually on 6 August, the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.

Lord Jesus Christ, you have taught us to pray to the Father in your name, and you have assured us that whatever we ask we shall receive. Therefore we turn to you with complete confidence, asking you for the grace and strength to persevere in this tempest, to obtain peace and security before it is too late. This is our prayer; and although it seems impossible to us, we entrust to you our survival and our future.

Help us, Father, in the name of your crucified and risen Son, Jesus, that we may continue to work together; to be free, responsible and loving; to find your will and do it with joy, zeal and courage.

At Cana, the Mother of Jesus was the first to notice that there was no wine. Through the intercession of Mary, we ask you, Father, to change our situation — as your Son changed water into wine — from death to life.

Amen.