Each year on Dec. 12, the Canadian Catholic Indigenous Council shares a prayer or reflection to mark the National Day of Prayer in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples. This year the council is sharing the prayer spoken by Pope Francis at Lac Ste Anne during his 2022 penitential pilgrimage to Canada. On Dec. 12, I invite the faithful of the Archdiocese of Vancouver to remember our Indigenous Brothers and Sisters as we celebrate this day of prayer on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas.

“Lord, as the people on the shores of the Sea of Galilee were not afraid to cry out to you with their needs, so we come to you, Lord … with whatever pain we bear within us. We bring to you our weariness and our struggles, the wounds of the violence suffered by  Indigenous brothers and sisters. In this blessed place, where harmony and peace reign, we present to you the disharmony of our experiences, the terrible effects of colonization, the indelible pain of so many families, grandparents and children. Lord, help us to be healed of our wounds. We know, Lord, that this requires effort, care and concrete actions on our part; but we also know that we cannot do this alone. We rely on you and on the intercession of your mother and your grandmother. Yes, Lord, we entrust ourselves to the intercession of your mother and your grandmother, because mothers and grandmothers help to heal the wounds of our hearts.”

+ J. Michael Miller, CSB
Archbishop of Vancouver