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March 24, 2022 — Spirit & Verse is a monthly column of original poem-prayers composed by Cameron Bellm, a Seattle-based writer and mother of two whose “Prayer for a Pandemic” went viral, bringing solace and comfort to many struggling during COVID-19.

A Prayer for the Feast of St. Óscar Romero

St. Óscar Romero, courageous prophet and shepherd,

Forty years ago you cried out for peace,

For an end to violence and oppression.

Here we find ourselves, again,

Witnessing atrocities and untold suffering,

Suffering enough to shake our faith in humanity,

Perhaps even our faith in God.

St. Óscar Romero, you walked this road before us—

Infuse us with your holy wisdom,

Your brave commitment to speaking the truth,

Your persistence in breathing hope into hopeless situations,

Until our voices are united with yours

In one sacred call that echoes from heaven to earth:

In the name of God, stop this war.

Amen.

Previous Spirit & Verse poem-prayers:
A Prayer for Liminal Spaces
Answer the Knock: An Advent Prayer
Mary, Mother of Us All
A Prayer for World Day of Migrants and Refugees
A Prayer for Peace When the World is on Fire
A Prayer for the Ignatian Year
A Prayer for the Month of the Sacred Heart
A Prayer for Mary’s Month During a Pandemic
St. Joseph Prayer
A Prayer for Ash Wednesday
A Prayer for the Feast of the Epiphany
A Prayer for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
A Prayer for the Month of the Holy Souls
A Prayer for Living “Fratelli Tutti”
Our Lady of Sorrows
A Prayer for the Beginning of the School Year
A Prayer for the Feast of St. Ignatius

Cameron Bellm is a Seattle-based writer of prayers, poems, and devotionals. After completing her Ph.D. in Russian literature at the University of California, Berkeley, she traded the academic life for the contemplative life, informed by Ignatian spirituality and Catholic social teaching. She is the author of “A Consoling Embrace: Prayers for a Time of Pandemic” (23rd Publications, 2020). Cameron and her husband have two young sons, and, blessedly, playing with Legos often nurtures her spiritual life as much as reading the lectionary. You can find her at cameronbellm.com and on Instagram, @cameronbellm.