Wedding reading
Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace
Attributed to St Francis of Assisi
“Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace” by Attributed to St Francis of Assisi is a prayer read at weddings and funerals alike. It takes about 50 seconds read aloud, usually by the officiant. It is in the public domain, so the full text is printed on this page and goes straight into a ceremony script.
The full text
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; And where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek To be consoled as to console; To be understood as to understand; To be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Public domain, so these words can be printed in a ceremony script or an order of service.
What it is about
First printed in 1912 and not actually by St Francis — but it is the one people want.
Read at weddings and funerals alike. Themes: peace · giving rather than receiving · a life of service · a nurse or teacher or volunteer · gentle theology.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace” take to read aloud?
“Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace” takes about 50 seconds read aloud at a ceremony pace, which is slower than conversation — roughly 130 words a minute. That is the figure the run-sheet uses when it works out the timing for the whole service.
Who usually reads “Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace”?
Usually the officiant rather than a guest reader. “Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace” runs about 50 seconds, which sits inside the part of the service the officiant is already leading, and keeping it there means it is carried by the person who has rehearsed it.
Can “Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace” be printed in a ceremony script?
Yes. It is in the public domain, so the full text is on this page and can be printed in a script or an order of service.
Where this text was checked
Wording confirmed through a reputable secondary source that reproduces someone else’s transcription. Due a check against a primary edition.
Checked
A reading is two minutes of the hour.
The rest is the welcome, the vows, the ring exchange, the pronouncement — and the timing that holds them together. Answer some questions about the couple and get the whole ceremony, written out, with this reading in its place.
Other readings that suit the same service
- El Malei Rachamima minute and a halfTraditional memorial prayer
- Mourner's Kaddisha minute and a halfTraditional, Aramaic
- The Lord's Prayer40 secondsMatthew 6, King James Bible
- Words of Committal (Book of Common Prayer, 1662) — short form20 secondsBook of Common Prayer
- In the Midst of Life (Book of Common Prayer, 1662)30 secondsBook of Common Prayer
- Eternal Rest (Requiem aeternam)10 secondsTraditional Catholic prayer