When you have difficulty loving your enemies, pray this prayer



God can help you soften your heart, especially when your feelings don't leave much room for charity.

Jesus said to his disciples: "I tell you, I love your enemies and I pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). For many this is a difficult teaching, which is not easy to incorporate into our life, especially when our feelings are intense.

Yet, as Christians, we are called to imitate the example of Jesus, who also forgave those who killed him.

Here is a prayer adapted from the book of the 19th century The key to heaven which can help to soften our hearts a little, praying for our "enemies", asking God to bless them and show them his mercy.

O God, peace-loving and conservative of charity, give peace and true charity to all our enemies. Instill in our hearts an inviolable love of your charity: that the desires we conceive with your holy inspiration can never be changed. In particular, look gracefully (here from the names to those for whom you pray), for whom we implore your mercy and grant them the health of the mind and body, so that they can love you with all their might. Amen.