Yoko Ono has placed a full-page ad in the New York Times calling upon the world to mark the anniversary of her husband John Lennon’s death as a day of healing for those who have suffered violence or war.

"Know that the physical and mental abuse you have endured will have a lingering effect on our society.… Know that your loss is our loss.… Know that the burden is ours," wrote the 73-year-old artist. "Forgive us."

John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged a peace 'bed-in' at a Montreal hotel in May 1969.
(Canadian Press)

Ono thanked the people who have given her comfort through the years since Lennon was gunned down on Dec. 8, 1980, by Mark David Chapman. Chapman remains in a New York prison, with his fourth request for parole recently turned down.

He has said that he saw himself as a "nobody" and wanted to get attention by shooting Lennon.

"I don't know if I am ready yet to forgive the one who pulled the trigger," notes Ono. "But healing is what is urgently needed now in the world."

The letter urges readers to apologize to those who have suffered through violence and to take responsibility for failing to intercede on behalf of victims around the world.

"Ask for forgiveness from those who suffered the insufferable," she writes.

"Let's wish strongly that one day we will be able to say that we healed ourselves, and by healing ourselves, we healed the world."

Ono and Lennon, who married in 1969, were known for their protests for peace, demonstrating against the Vietnam War and staging several "bed-ins" including one in Montreal in May 1969. Give Peace A Chance, recorded that year, became an anti-war song while Imagine (1971) has become an international song for peace.

A multi-media artist, Ono is also contributing works this year to an international  exhibit called "Liberation" launched Sunday in four museums in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Ono will display four works, including the film Bed In and the War is Over campaign.

Ono signed the message, which appeared on the back page of the "Week in Review" section, "With deepest love, Yoko Ono Lennon, New York City 2006," and added a sketch of Lennon and herself with son Sean holding a balloon.

With files from the Associated Press