The Rosary for Peace was first published by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops following the attacks on 9/11. Pope Francis has called on all Catholics to pray for peace for Ukraine:
SORROWFUL MYSTERIES
The First Decade: Meditate on the Mystery of the Agony in the Garden
Our Father...
“My heart is nearly broken with sorrow; stay here and keep watch with me.” (Monday of Holy Week, Morning Prayer, Antiphon I)
Hail Mary...
“Help us to bear witness by following Christ’s example of suffering.” (Passion Sunday, Evening Prayer I, Prayer)
Hail Mary...
“Here I am, Lord God, I come to do your will.” (Psalm 40:7-8) (Passion Sunday, Office of Readings, Responsory)
Hail Mary...
“You have redeemed us with your precious blood; hear the prayer of your servants and come to our help.” (Monday of Holy Week, Office of Readings, Responsory)
Hail Mary...
“My soul is in anguish, my heart is in torment.” (Good Friday, Evening Prayer, Antiphon 2)
Hail Mary...
“Father, if this cup may not pass, but I must drink it, then your will be done.”(Matthew 26:42) (Passion Sunday, Communion Rite)
Hail Mary...
“Through her heart, his sorrow sharing/ All his bitter anguish bearing.” (Our Lady of Sorrows, Sequence)
Hail Mary...
“Be glad to share in the sufferings of Christ! When he comes in glory, you will be filled with joy.” (1 Peter 4:13) (Our Lady of Sorrows, Communion Antiphon)
Hail Mary...
“Grant that we may bring love and comfort to our brothers and sisters in distress.” (The Blessed Virgin Mary at the Foot of the Cross I, Collect)
Hail Mary...
“For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed in a garden.” (Holy Saturday, Office of Readings, from an ancient homily on Holy Saturday)
Hail Mary...
Glory be...
The Second Decade: Meditate on the Mystery of the Scourging at the Pillar
Our Father...
“Now you come to scourge me and lead me to the cross.” (Passion Sunday, Evening Prayer I, Antiphon I)
Hail Mary...
“Christ was scourged and treated with contempt, but God’s right hand has raised him up.” (Passion Sunday, Evening Prayer II, Antiphon I)
Hail Mary...
“On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back.” (Holy Saturday, Office of Readings, From an ancient homily on Holy Saturday)
Hail Mary...
“Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled,/ she beheld her tender Child,/ all with bloody scourges rent.” (Our Lady of Sorrows, Sequence)
Hail Mary...
“Though he was sinless, he suffered willingly for sinners.” (Passion Sunday, Preface)
Hail Mary...
“He offered himself as a victim for our deliverance.” (Holy Eucharist, Preface I)
Hail Mary...
“By your own blood, Lord, you brought us back to God.” (Passion Sunday, Morning Prayer, Responsory)
Hail Mary...
“The Father of mercies has given us an example of unselfish love in the sufferings of his only Son.” (Passion Sunday, Prayer of the People)
Hail Mary...
“He humbled himself for our sakes; may you follow his example.” (Passion Sunday, Prayer of the People)
Hail Mary...
“I fill out in my flesh what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ, for the sake of his Body, which is the Church.” (The Blessed Virgin Mary at the Foot of the Cross I, Communion Antiphon)
Hail Mary...
Glory be...
The Third Decade: Meditate on the Mystery of the Crowning with Thorns
Our Father...
“The head that once was crown’d with thorns/ Is crown’d with glory now.” (Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Office of Readings, Hymn)
Hail Mary...
“Christ is the King of all creation.” (Christ the King, Prayer after Communion)
Hail Mary...
“Have mercy on us for whose sake you endured so much.” (Monday of Holy Week, Office of Readings, Responsory)
Hail Mary...
“You will rule over all.” (Christ the King, Evening Prayer I, Responsory)
Hail Mary...
“You choose the weak and make them strong in bearing witness to you.” (Preface of Martyrs)
Hail Mary...
“You have entered on the way that the Lord has graciously opened up for you, until you receive the crown of glory.” (Common of Several Martyrs, Office of Readings, From a letter by St. Cyprian, bishop and martyr)
Hail Mary...
“I have kept the faith; now a crown of holiness awaits me.” (Common of One Martyr, Office of Readings, Responsory)
Hail Mary...
“By your own blood, Lord, you brought us back to God.” (Monday of Holy Week, Morning Prayer, Responsory)
Hail Mary...
“The Lord will bless his people with peace.” (Christ the King, Midmorning Prayer, Responsory)
Hail Mary...
“Come let us worship Jesus Christ, the King of Kings.” (Christ the King, Invitatory)
Hail Mary...
Glory be...
The Fourth Decade: Meditate on the Mystery of the Carrying of the Cross
Our Father...
“Jesus Christ accepted the cross and freed us from the power of the enemy.” (Wednesday of Holy Week, Collect)
Hail Mary...
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” (Common of One Martyr, Evening Prayer II, Antiphon 1)
Hail Mary...
“Through the cross you brought joy to the world.” (Good Friday, Song at the Veneration of the Cross)
Hail Mary...
“Lord, by the suffering of Christ your Son you have saved us all from death.” (Good Friday, Prayer)
Hail Mary...
“See the cross of the Lord; let all his enemies flee.” (Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Office of Readings, Antiphon 1)
Hail Mary...
“If we share fully in the sufferings of Christ, through Christ we shall know the fullness of his consolation.” (Common of One Martyr, Evening Prayer I, Antiphon 3)
Hail Mary...
“You suffered for us; have mercy on us.” (Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Evening Prayer II, Antiphon 2)
Hail Mary...
“Grant that by carrying our cross each day, we may come to share in his Resurrection.” (The Blessed Virgin Mary at the Foot of the Cross II, Prayer after Communion)
Hail Mary...
“Though innocent, he accepted death to save the guilty.” (Passion Sunday, Preface)
Hail Mary...
“Lord, through your cross bring us to the glory of your kingdom.” (Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Evening Prayer I, Intercessions)
Hail Mary...
Glory be...
The Fifth Decade: Meditate on the Mystery of the Crucifixion
Our Father...
“We must glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Evening Prayer I, Antiphon 3)
Hail Mary...
“Christ our Savior, on the cross you embraced all time with your outstretched arms.” (Good Friday, Morning Prayer, Intercessions)
Hail Mary...
“O Christ, you humbled yourself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” (Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Evening Prayer I, Intercessions)
Hail Mary...
“The death of your Son gives us hope and strengthens our faith.” (Passion Sunday, Prayer after Communion)
Hail Mary...
“We worship you, O Christ, and we praise you; because by your cross you have redeemed the world.” (Good Friday, Midmorning Prayer, Responsory)
Hail Mary...
“Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit.” (Handbook of Indulgences, Pious Invocation)
Hail Mary...
“Through his cross, Christ our peace has reconciled us to God.” (Our Lady of Sorrows, Evening Prayer, Antiphon I)
Hail Mary...
“At the cross with motherly love, she embraces her scattered children, reunited through the death of Christ.” (The Blessed Virgin Mary at the Foot of the Cross I, Preface)
Hail Mary...
“Raise us up to share in the triumph of your cross.” (Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Morning Prayer, Intercessions)
Hail Mary...
“Christ our life, by your death on the cross you destroyed the power of evil and death.” (Good Friday, Morning Prayer, Intercessions)
Hail Mary...
Glory be...
— Catholic News Service
The Silent Night Chapel, which is in the town of Oberndorf in the Austrian state of Salzburg, is a monument to the Christmas carol "Silent Night." The chapel stands on the site of the former St. Nikola Church, where on Christmas Eve in 1818 the carol was performed for the first time. (CNS photo/courtesy www.stillenacht.com)OBERNDORF, Austria — The Christmas song "Stille Nacht" ("Silent Night") may have put the town of Oberndorf, Austria, on the map, but it's the chapel memorializing the beloved carol that is the town's main attraction.
Best seen blanketed in snow, the small octagonal-shaped chapel, just 13 miles from Salzburg, is a tourist destination any time of year.
With a storied past, the song plays a key role in a small Alpine town, a brief ceasefire during World War I and a beloved local debut.
An often-shared legend says Father Joseph Mohr wrote the lyrics because his parish organ was broken. He asked Francis Xavier Gruber, the parish organist and school master, to come up with the music to accompany it just hours before Christmas Eve midnight Mass at St. Nikola Church in 1818.
Actually, Father Mohr wrote it as a poem two years earlier while living in Mariapfarr, Austria.
But the song, "Stille Nacht," did make its debut Dec. 24 in 1818 at St. Nikola with Father Mohr on guitar playing Gruber's melody and both men singing as the broken organ sat idle.
The Silent Night Chapel stands on the spot where St. Nikola Church stood before successive floods in the 1890s. That parish church was rebuilt a half-mile upstream and the abandoned chapel sat for years. It was razed in 1913.
A decade later, construction began on a new chapel on the same spot; it was completed Aug. 15, 1937, the feast of the Assumption.
Now translated into 300 languages, the song ranks among the most popular hymns. This year, Pushpay, an electronic giving platform, released results from last year's survey of users, putting "Silent Night" as third favorite after "O Holy Night" and "O Come all Ye Faithful."
UNESCO added the carol to its World Heritage List in 2011 in recognition of the song's universal cultural and social value.
On Christmas Eve in 1914, during World War I, the song prompted a cease-fire as French and British troops faced off against German troops in Flanders, Belgium. Both sides sang Christmas carols, but "Silent Night" was the only one they all knew. The soldiers met briefly to sing, play games and trade goods.
The Silent Night Chapel stands near the Silent Night Museum in the Silent Night District. A lovely gift shop features unique Christmas ornaments, books and picturesque postcards.
The town is very walkable. Must-sees are the Salzachdamm, constructed in 1920, and the Salzach River, which brought prosperity to the area from the shipping industry, especially moving salt to large transport ships. Don't miss the bridge over the Salzach that connects Oberndorf with Laufen on the edge of Bavaria in Germany.
A stop by the Silent Night Post Office will net a Christmas stamp and a seal for your outgoing mail. If you time it right, you can visit the Christmas Market there starting in mid-November.
Every Christmas Eve since 1953, the chapel commemorates the song with a performance at 5 p.m. that draws people to hear and join in singing the familiar lyrics:
Silent night, holy night!
All is calm, all is bright.
Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child.
Holy infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
This first stanza of the three translated from the original German six stanzas is familiar to most. The simple words and melodic tune promote that sense of peace the people of Austria were looking for after the Napoleonic Wars.
The song ranks among the top tier of most popular Christmas carols. It has been recorded by vocalists from Bing Crosby in 1935, to Mariah Carey, the a capella group Pentatonix and countless more.
The soothing song still delights more than 200 years since its debut in an Austrian village.
— Ann Augherton, Catholic News Service
More Online:
To hear an audio article with "Silent Night" being sung from the chapel, go to bit.ly/3WpnvTV.