In the past few weeks, we have all been distressed by the images of incredible destruction in Ukraine and the death and displacement of so many Ukrainians by an incomprehensible war. Unthinkable for us has been the targeting and bombing of apartment buildings, maternity hospitals and civilian safe havens in major Ukrainian cities by the Russian military.
While we have responded to parish collections for Ukrainian relief, supported refugee assistance in neighboring countries and prayed for successful peace talks that would lead to a cease-fire or an end to the war, we still feel helplessly caught in the middle of a bad and unpredictable dream.
The specter of a global conflict, which we had conveniently dismissed after the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union, has returned in a new and menacing way.
As a result of these current events, I was brought back to a memory of being a second-grader in Miss Nancy Huhn’s classroom in fall 1961. It was during the Berlin Crisis and about a year before the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The border between East and West Berlin was closed by East German and Soviet troops in mid-August. East Germany began construction of a wall. In the United States, Air National Guard units were mobilized.
By the later part of October 1961, U.S. tanks with live munitions faced Soviet tanks similarly armed at the checkpoint on either side of the sector boundary (100 to 200 meters apart) for 18 hours. Alert levels of NATO and the U.S. Strategic Air Command were heightened. We seemed to be on the precipice of another global war.
Pope John XXIII, in his “Message for Peace” of Sept. 10, 1961, called for prayer for world leaders and their citizens that they would not be “dazzled by exacerbated nationalism and destructive rivalry,” and that relationships be regulated by truth, justice, love and the gentle rule of Christ. (https://www.vatican.va/content/john-xxiii/en/messages/pont_messages/1961/documents/hf_j-xxiii_mes_19610910_pace.html)
Later in September, on the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, the pope issued an apostolic letter in which he speaks to the value and effectiveness of praying the rosary for peace and protection in times of political turmoil and warfare.
He recommended praying the rosary for peace during the month of the most holy rosary, October. (https://www.vatican.va/content/john-xxiii/it/apost_letters/1961/documents/hf_j-xxiii_apl_19610929_religioso-convegno.html)
Back in our own diocese, Bishop Clarence Issenmann made an appeal on the feast of St. Francis, Oct. 4, 1961, that the Prayer for Peace recited communally after every Sunday Mass be recited after all Masses, devotions and other services from that date until Jan. 1, 1962.
He also asked every parish to hold a weekly Holy Hour for the preservation of peace. Pastors were asked to encourage their parishioners to make visits to the Blessed Sacrament and to arrange a schedule of adorers before the tabernacle during the daytime hours.
I remembered that I had kept a copy of the Prayer for Peace, written in the language of its day, in the missal that I used in grade school. The text is as follows:
“Almighty and Eternal Father, God of wisdom and mercy, whose power exceeds all force of arms and Whose protection is the strong defense of all who trust in Thee, enlighten and direct, we beseech Thee, those who bear the heavy responsibility of government throughout the world in these days of stress and trial.
“Grant them the strength to stand firm for what is right and the skill to dispel the fears that foment discord; inspire them to be mindful of the horrors of atomic war for victor and vanquished alike, to seek conciliation in truth and patience, to see in every man a brother – that the people of all nations may, in our day, enjoy the blessings of a just and lasting peace.
“Conscious of our own unworthiness, we implore Thy mercy on a sinful world in the name of Thy Divine Son, the Prince of Peace, and through the intercession of His Blessed Mother and all the saints. Queen of All Saints, pray for us. Queen of the Holy Rosary, pray for us. Queen of Peace, pray for us.”
We prayed that prayer daily in the last months of 1961 and again in the fall of 1962 when the world seemed on the brink of destruction. And those prayers for peace were granted.
Today, we should again storm heaven with fervent prayer, asking God to enlighten the heads of government, inspire them to be mindful of the horrors of nuclear war and to seek conciliation in truth, that we and all of our brothers and sisters throughout the world may again enjoy the blessings of peace.