God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you breathed your Divine Spirit into our ancestral parents, you imparted to them and to all of creation, the deep peace of Your own heart. We come to you today, as a nation, with hearts that mourn and souls that are disturbed by the wanton and savage violence that took the lives of your little ones and their teachers in Texas. May the last thoughts they had have brought a smile to their face. May the last eyes they looked into be those of friends and others who cared for them. May their innocent hearts and souls have been touched by Your tender mercy, Your Fatherly welcome, and the beatific vision of Your Son, the Prince of Peace! Father deliver our nation from the evil scourge of violence and destruction. Settle Your peace, once again, in the soul of every person that we might treat each other, and in particular, our innocent children, with dignity, honor, and a firm concern for our common life.
To those who endured this dark evil, raise them to glory in Your Kingdom. To us who remain lesser people because of their cruel passing, grant hope and steep us in a cleansing grief. Bless their families who suffer and make the memory of the little ones and their teachers – eternal! Amen.