Novena to Our Lady Of Peace

The novena to Our Lady of Peace is a nine-day prayer asking the Blessed Virgin, under her ancient title Queen of Peace (Regina Pacis), to obtain from her Son "that peace which the world cannot give" — peace among nations, peace in our homes, and above all the peace of a soul at rest in God. It is prayed most often in the nine days leading to the feast of Our Lady of Peace on 9 July, but it may be begun at any time of trouble, war, or unrest of heart. Below we give the full authentic prayers — the indulgenced Hail, most august Queen of Peace, the Prayer for Peace, and the nine days' intentions — together with the story of this devotion and the variants that the faithful most often seek.

The full novena to Our Lady of Peace

This is the complete devotion. Say the same prayers each day, adding only the distinct intention for that day. It is short enough to keep from memory and old enough to have carried the Church through the darkest years of the last century. If you are new to this form of prayer, our guide to what is a novena explains why we pray for nine days.

Begin each day with the Sign of the Cross, and name your intention:

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

O Mary, Our Lady of Peace, obtain for me the graces I ask in this novena, and especially (here name your request). The Lord has dealt with us according to His mercy; He has given us joy of heart, that peace may flourish in our days and for ever.

Then say the day's intention (given below), and continue with the prayers that are the same every day:

A Prayer for Peace

O God, from whom proceed all holy desires, all right counsels, and all just works: give to Thy servants that peace which the world cannot give; that our hearts may be set to keep Thy commandments, and that, being delivered from the fear of our enemies, we may pass our days in peace under Thy protection; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hail, most august Queen of Peace (Ave Augustissima Regina Pacis)

This is the great indulgenced invocation at the heart of the devotion:

Hail, most august Queen of Peace, most holy Mother of God: through the Sacred Heart of Jesus, thy Son, the Prince of Peace, obtain that His anger may be appeased and that He may reign over us in peace. Amen.

The Memorare to the Queen of Peace

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me. Amen.

Then conclude:

Three times: Our Father … Hail Mary …

Three times: Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us.

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

The nine days' intentions

Say one of these each day, in order, after the opening prayer:

• Day 1 — Peace among the nations. Queen of Peace, obtain an end to war and hatred among peoples, and turn the hearts of rulers to justice, that the world may rest under the reign of thy Son, the Prince of Peace.
• Day 2 — Peace in our families and homes. Obtain reconciliation where there is division, patience where there is strife, and love in every household, that our homes may be, like Nazareth, a dwelling of peace.
• Day 3 — Peace of soul. Obtain for me the pardon of my sins and freedom from every disorder of heart, that, being at peace with God, I may possess the calm that no trouble can take away.
• Day 4 — Peace in the Church. Guard the Church of thy Son against her enemies within and without; keep her bishops, priests, and people in unity and truth, and give her peace in our day.
• Day 5 — Peace in trial and fear. In sickness, loss, and every anxiety, obtain for me trust in God's providence, that I may cast my cares upon Him and not be afraid.
• Day 6 — Courage and constancy. Obtain for me the strength to do my duty without complaint, to bear wrongs patiently, and to keep the peace of Christ even when it is costly.
• Day 7 — Peace with our enemies. Soften my heart toward those who have wronged me; obtain the grace to forgive as I am forgiven, and to be, so far as it depends on me, at peace with all.
• Day 8 — Peace at the hour of death. Obtain for me and for all the dying a holy and peaceful death, in the friendship of God, that we may pass from this life into the peace that has no end.
• Day 9 — Consecration to the Queen of Peace. I place myself, my family, and all my needs under thy mantle, O Queen of Peace. Reign in my heart, and lead me at the last to the everlasting peace of thy Son. Amen.

Novena to Our Lady Queen of Peace

The novena to Our Lady Queen of Peace and the novena to Our Lady of Peace are one and the same devotion under two names — Queen of Peace being simply the fuller form of the title. It was Pope Benedict XV who, in the darkest year of the First World War, added the invocation Regina Pacis, ora pro nobis — "Queen of Peace, pray for us" — to the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1917, and commended this very devotion to a bleeding world. So whether you search for the novena prayer to Our Lady Queen of Peace or to Our Lady of Peace, the prayers above are the ones you want.

The novena to Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage

The novena to Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage — Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje, the beloved Lady of Antipolo in the Philippines — is a distinct and older devotion. The image was carried across the Pacific from Mexico aboard the galleon El Almirante in 1626, and the safe crossing, together with six later Manila–Acapulco voyages made under her patronage and unharmed by pirates, won her the twofold title of Peace and Good Voyage. She is invoked for safe travel by sea, air, and land, and for a peaceful passage through life to a good death — the last and greatest of all voyages. The prayers above may be said in her honor with that intention named; travelers may also wish to add the novena to St Raphael, the angel who guided Tobias safely on his journey.

The short version of the novena

When time is short, the devotion reduces to its two essential prayers: name your intention, say the Prayer for Peace and the indulgenced Hail, most august Queen of Peace, and close with three times Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us. That short form, said faithfully each of the nine days, is a complete and worthy novena. It pairs naturally with a daily decade of the Rosary; if you would like to add one, see how to pray the Rosary.

The novena to Our Lady of Sorrows for peace

Some seek a novena to Our Lady of Sorrows for peace — bringing the desire for peace to the Mother who stood beneath the Cross and knew the sword of grief foretold by Simeon. This is a fitting instinct: she who bore the greatest sorrow with perfect peace is a sure patroness for hearts in turmoil. For that devotion in full, with its seven sorrows, see our novena to Our Lady of Sorrows; it may be offered with the intention of peace named throughout, and joined to the prayers above.

Our Lady of Peace of Santa Clara

Those who search for the Our Lady of Peace Santa Clara novena have in mind the Shrine of Our Lady of Peace in Santa Clara, California, crowned by its great statue of the Blessed Virgin as Queen of Peace. The shrine is a place of pilgrimage under this same title, and the novena prayed there is the devotion given above. Wherever it is said — at a shrine or at your own bedside — the prayer and the Mother it reaches are the same.

How to pray this novena

A novena is nine consecutive days of prayer, and this one is traditionally kept from 30 June to 9 July, closing on the feast of Our Lady of Peace. But it need not wait for July: begin it whenever peace is wanting — in the world, in your family, or in your own heart. Choose a fixed time each day, say the prayers unhurried and aloud where you can, and name your intention plainly at the start. Where it is possible, join the novena to Mass and Holy Communion, or at least to a decade of the Rosary. Above all, pray in submission to God's will: the peace we ask is His gift, and He gives it in His own way and hour. The Immaculate Heart of Mary, at Fatima, asked for exactly this — prayer and reparation for the peace of the world.

The story of Our Lady, Queen of Peace

The title Queen of Peace is ancient in the Church, though it was raised to new prominence in a modern hour of need. Mary is Queen of Peace first because she gave the world its Peace: she bore in her womb the "Prince of Peace" foretold by Isaias (Isaias 9:6), and at His birth the angels sang "peace on earth to men of good will" (Luke 2:14). She is the true Ark of peace, the woman whose fiat undid the war that sin had opened between man and God.

The devotion took its familiar form in the trenches and grief of the First World War. In 1915 and again in 1917, as Europe consumed a generation, Pope Benedict XV pleaded for an end to what he called "the suicide of civilized Europe," and turned the whole Church toward the Mother of God. In 1917 he inserted the invocation Queen of Peace, pray for us into the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, turning the whole Church toward the Mother of God under this title. The short prayer at the center of this novena, Ave augustissima Regina pacis — Hail, most august Queen of Peace — is older still: Pope Pius IX had enriched it with indulgences by a decree of 1846, and the Raccolta, the Church's official collection of indulgenced prayers, granted three hundred days' indulgence for its recitation and a plenary indulgence to those who said it daily for a month. It was the same summer of 1917 in which Our Lady appeared at Fatima asking prayer and penance for peace, so that the whole year seems marked by Heaven's answer to the world's agony; the novena to Our Lady of Fatima belongs to the same grace.

Under this title the Blessed Virgin is honored as patroness of many places — of El Salvador, of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts (the Picpus Fathers), whose feast of Our Lady of Peace falls on 9 July, and of countless shrines from Antipolo in the Philippines to Santa Clara in California. In every one of them the plea is the same as ours: that she who bore the Prince of Peace would obtain His reign in our hearts, and turn away His just anger from a world grown deaf to Him. That is why she intercedes so surely here: the Queen of Peace cannot be indifferent to those who beg the very gift she was chosen to bring.

Frequently Asked Questions

When do you pray the Our Lady of Peace novena?

The novena is traditionally prayed for the nine days from 30 June to 9 July, ending on the feast of Our Lady of Peace kept by the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts. But it is not bound to those dates: begin it any time you or those you love stand in need of peace — in war, in family strife, in fear, or in interior unrest. Nine consecutive days is the only rule.

What is the difference between Our Lady of Peace and Our Lady Queen of Peace?

There is none of substance — Queen of Peace (Regina Pacis) is simply the fuller form of the same title, made familiar when Pope Benedict XV added it to the Litany of Loreto in 1917. The same prayers, the same feast, and the same Blessed Virgin answer to both names.

Who is Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage?

She is the Blessed Virgin honored under the title Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje, the Lady of Antipolo, whose image crossed the Pacific from Mexico by galleon in 1626. Because those who sailed under her protection reached port safely and unharmed by pirates, she is invoked for peace and for a good voyage — safe travel, and a peaceful passage through this life to the next.

What prayer is at the heart of this novena?

The indulgenced Ave augustissima Regina pacis — "Hail, most august Queen of Peace, most holy Mother of God: through the Sacred Heart of Jesus, thy Son, the Prince of Peace, obtain that His anger may be appeased and that He may reign over us in peace." Pope Pius IX enriched it with indulgences in 1846, and Pope Benedict XV set the Queen of Peace before the whole Church during the First World War; it is the prayer to say if you say only one.

Can I pray this novena for peace in my family?

Yes — it is one of the most fitting of all its uses. The second day's intention is given expressly for peace in the home, and you may name your family's particular need at the start of each day. Our Lady, who made of Nazareth a house of perfect peace, is the natural refuge of divided or troubled families.

Is there a printable text or PDF of the novena?

The complete text is given above — the opening prayer, the nine days' intentions, the Prayer for Peace, the Hail, most august Queen of Peace, and the closing invocations — and may be copied to keep beside you for the nine days. The Iter Fidei app also carries the whole devotion with day-by-day reminders and audio, so it can be prayed from your phone without a printed sheet.

Why is Mary called the Queen of Peace?

Because she gave the world its peace. She bore the "Prince of Peace" (Isaias 9:6), and by her fiat the enmity between God and man, opened by sin, was healed. She is Queen of Peace both as Mother of Christ our Peace and as the powerful intercessor who obtains His peace for us — the peace "which the world cannot give."

Pray the novena to Our Lady of Peace with day-by-day reminders and audio in the Iter Fidei app, in Latin and your own language. Download it here.

Sources. Holy Scripture (Isaias 9:6; Luke 2:14); the prayer Ave augustissima Regina pacis, indulgenced in the Raccolta by Pope Pius IX (decree of 1846); the addition of the invocation Regina Pacis, ora pro nobis to the Litany of Loreto by Pope Benedict XV (1917); the collect for peace O God, from whom proceed all holy desires (Roman Missal); the feast of Our Lady of Peace (9 July); the traditional history of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage of Antipolo (Manila galleon, 1626).