Prayers
A Doctor’s Prayer
I see the suffering children and say I must help, I see the pain and hurt and I know, I can’t ignore when I feel and hear the call To respond and do my best To reach the sick and end the pain and bring healing, and respite. So few of us are left to heal and mend the hurt and sickness. We have fallen ill when we took the risk to save and help the others, the stranger and we too have suffered and have died. I ask why has all the world so little care As corona ravages the humble and the poor, And the vaccines are reserved for the rich and not the weak? Wicked hunger, squalor, and disease spreads with corona in nations that have brought conflict, riots and war upon themselves by corruption and by greed and are cursed to suffer and despair. We, and all humanity with the compassion and concern can call for justice for the rich to share the wealth and heal the world so all are safe to live in peace without the suffering and the fear. by Father Shay Cullen Profiles in Catholicism
A prayer for Native Americans with and affected by Covid-19
Heavenly Father,
We know that Your Providence guides all things.
As we persevere through the current pandemic,
we ask You to send Your Holy Spirit
upon the Native American people,
who are suffering with high death rates and severe isolation
as a result of this pandemic.
May Your Spirit console these people,
and give them the confidence that,
although an illness may weaken or destroy the body,
You, Father, in communion with Your Son and Your Spirit,
are ever present in the souls of all who believe.
We ask You to keep these people close to You
through the Sacraments of the Holy Catholic Church
and through the generosity of Christians.
And we ask this through Christ Jesus, Our Lord.
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Lily of the Mohawks,
please intercede to Our Heavenly Father
for all the Native American people as they suffer.
Kateri, you lived through small pox,
an illness that took the lives of your family members
and left you with scars on you face,
but your face was miraculously cleared upon your death
as a sign of your holiness and devotion to
Our Lord and His Blessed Mother.
We ask you, Kateri, to intercede for the Native American people,
that, in the midst of the isolation, illness, and death that they are now experiencing,
they may devote themselves with constant vigor
to Our Crucified Lord and His Sorrowful Mother,
so that this time of suffering may be a time of great grace.
Amen. by Eileen Quinn Knight, Ph.D. Profiles in Catholicism
A prayer for all healthcare workers with Covid-19
“To kiss the leper”
Lord, we live in a fallen world raised up in you!
St. Francis is remembered for kissing a leper and
Any number of other saints have done remarkable deeds
Out of a love that risked all in order to help all –
Inspire us, today, to take the path of going out to others.
Lord let us know you love us – St. Francis help us!
Lord, we live in a fallen world raised up in you!
There are many, countless people, whose outstretched hands
Are helping innumerable others to bear their illness: secretary to
Surgeon, porter to manager, nurse and doctor, seen or unseen –
Of no religion or Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Jew or Christian.
Lord let us know you love us – St. Francis help us!
Lord, we live in a fallen world raised up in you!
Those that have taken the risk to help have often gone without
The company of their spouse, of their family and of their friends
Living a different rhythm of time and place to protect others –
Unite the human family in the care of all, especially the vulnerable.
Lord let us know you love us – St. Francis help us!
Lord, we live in a fallen world raised up in you!
We cannot but ask, indeed beg, that those who have fallen ill
While helping others, and who are sharing in your passion,
The passion of love that goes beyond an indifferent distance –
Will share in the gift of being touched by the resurrection.
Lord let us know you love us – St. Francis help us!
Lord, we live in a fallen world raised up in you!
Come to those who have fallen ill, whose lives are dwindling
Through giving life to others, those who have grown tired and sore,
Worn out in the day in and day out of daily care – those on the edge Of eternity and those who have passed on to help from heaven.
Lord let us know you love us – St. Francis help us!
Lord, we live in a fallen world raised up in you!
You know who is ready to meet you, who needs more time,
Who is willing to wait, who is surrounded by others ready
To let your will be done and your mystery of love be finished –
Let your mercy abound and renew and enrich us.
Lord let us know you love us – St. Francis help us!
by Francis Etheredge Profiles in Catholicism
Prayer for all police and firefighters with Covid-19 and who have died from Covid-19
Good and Gracious God,
You place each one of us in your loving embrace. We want to live this journey with You, Lord. Our firefighters: Edward Singleton and Mario Araujo have given their skills to you dear Lord and now rest with you. Help all those left behind to remember the joy and gift you were to them. Our police officers: Marco DiGranco, Joseph Cappello, and Clifford Martin have given You their best. They now, too, rest in your loving arms. All of us Lord, are grateful for the skills that they brought in service to You and in love of us. The sacrifice is unbridled and unbelievable. They took part in all that is difficult about the pandemic. The messiness, the ugliness and the horror of this disease was something all the firefighters and police officers were willing to do for us. Help us to be grateful to them and to all who are working in this field. We ask you this through Christ our Lord, in union with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
by Eileen Quinn Knight, Ph.D. Profiles in Catholicism
A Prayer for Seminarians with COVID-19
Good and gracious God,
We give you thanks for the abundance of hope you give us. We thank you for hope so strong, that it overcomes doubt, suspicion, fear. So many in the world are suffering from fear and trepidation in the face of COVID-19 which terrorizes the world. We ask especially Lord for you to watch over and protect priests who celebrate the sacraments for the people of God. We also ask for you to bless, protect, and teach seminarians. At this time, we pray for those seminarians who suffer from the COVID-19 virus. We also ask that you watch over and bless all who are ill at this time. May we see through the darkness Lord and realize that suffering and death were conquered by you on the Cross. Lord, we look to the Resurrection and are comforted by the great grace of eternal life with You
by Ryan Brady Profiles in Catholicism
A Prayer for Holocaust Survivors Who Have Died from COVID 19
Our Father, Avinu, we bow our heads and hearts in prayer.
Many of your People, the Jewish People,
who by Your Grace survived the Holocaust in Europe,
have been infected by and died from coronavirus.
This saddens the hearts not only of Jews,
but people of all faiths,
especially Christians, who were the major perpetrators of the Shoah.
We Christians today, repenting for what Christians then did,
join with the Jewish People in praying today for the survivors
of the Nazi genocide.
We Christians join with the Jewish People is calling on people of all faiths to pray for these good people, stricken a second time, this time by a pandemic which is out of control and killing many innocent people of all faiths. Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, people of all faiths must come together in prayer in this country and around the world, for the survivors of genocide who are in danger and who have died. May they rest in your Peace, Oh Lord.
And may their memory be for a blessing.
by Dr. Eugene Fisher Profiles in Catholicism
A Coronavirus Prayer for this Weary Winter
Jesus Christ, Light of the World,
You understand what it is like to feel alone in the midst of great suffering.
Remain with us as we continue to endure the coronavirus pandemic.
Awaken our hearts as we bear witness to the sickness, the sacrifice, even death.
In these dark months we cry, “How long, O Lord?”
Help us to watch and pray for signs of your hope.
When we long for a world returned to normal, inspire us to work toward a world transformed.
When we feel forgotten and lonely, help us to find solidarity through your love.
When we cannot see your face, help us to see you in others, especially the essential workers, first responders and medical professionals who labor tirelessly.
As we walk through this time of darkness, give us faith that we are headed toward brighter days.
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When we feel only sorrow in our souls, help us to know that the joy of the Gospel remains as true now as ever.
When we feel only grief in our hearts, help us to find consolation in knowing that those who are sick or have died are held in your loving embrace.
As we walk through this time of darkness, give us faith that we are headed toward brighter days.
Give light to our eyes. Let us show that light to one another.
Even in winter, when the ground appears barren, it is warmed by the light of your creation; seeds are nourished and green shoots are pushing up toward the sun.
Jesus Christ, be our light.
by Kerry Weber America
Prayer in Coronavirus Times
Holy Virgin of Guadalupe, Queen of the Angels and Mother of the Americas: We fly to you today as your beloved children. We ask of you to intercede for us with your Son, as you did at the wedding in Cana. Pray for us, loving Mother, and gain for our nation and our world ,and for all our families and our loved ones, the protection of your holy angels, that we may be spared the worst of this illness.
For those already afflicted, we ask from you to obtain the grace of healing and deliverance. Hear the cries of those who are vulnerable and fearful,wipe away their tears, and help us to trust.
In this time of trial and testing, teach each of us in the Church to love one another and to be patient and kind. Help us to bring the peace of Jesus to our land and to our hearts.
We come to you with confidence, knowing that you truly are our compassionate Mother, health of the sick, cause of our joy.
Shelter us under the mantle of your protection, keep us in the embrace of your arms, help us always to know the love of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen. by Carmen Julia Rodríguez Profiles in Catholicism
Prayer for Archbishop Moses Costa of Bangladesh, Victim of Covid 19
Oh Lord, we are the midst of a terrible plague, a pandemic which threatens us all, especially the elderly. Archbishop Costa, Oh Lord, was 70 years old, but still actively helping to teach your faith and how to practice it for the good of others, to the youth of his diocese.
We pray for the repose of his holy soul, that he may live with you forever in peace and joy.
Lord, we pray also for all those who have caught or are threatened by this plague, which is all of us, particularly our loved ones who like him are among the elderly and who, like the archbishop, are facing untimely deaths. survive and live. Amen by Dr. Eugene Fisher Profiles in Catholicism
Worry Not. A Pandemic Prayer
Loving God, your world is a mess. For all its beauty, your creation is now showing its fierce, destructive power. Everywhere on our small globe (and nowhere more than in these United States), people are threatened with death—and dying—from an unforeseen, implacable virus. Young and old, suddenly or slowly after many weeks in a hospital, your beautiful sons and daughters are leaving us.
Countless brave people—medical caregivers like doctors and nurses, essential workers who provide food and keep our cities functioning—are threatened, too. Our efforts to keep this plague from spreading have devastated our economies, driving some toward desperation and despair. Many are stricken daily with searing anxiety. Even the bravest among us wake in the middle of the night in fear. Our political life struggles to be both compassionate and practical. Alas, we the people are fearfully divided.
Yes, Lord, we remember what Jesus of Nazareth taught us: “Do not be anxious about your life, what shall you eat or what shall you drink, nor about your body, what you shall wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?... Which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to your span of life?... Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things…. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things shall be yours as well.”
Jesus told us not to be anxious, “for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.” And then, in the Our Father, as he taught us how to pray, he concluded by telling us to beg you to deliver us from evil.
But, merciful God, it is not only anxiety about tomorrow, or the longing to be free from sin, that troubles, even terrifies our hearts these days. It is the precarious weakness and murderous power of your own natural creation. How can we not tremble before the threat it poses to our shared human life? Don’t you know that all the faithful—even your most devoted servants—are being shaken?
For what, then, shall we pray? And how? Send us, please, your Spirit to teach us.
Grant us the discerning, humble courage that knows your grace is everywhere—and acknowledges our responsibility for the world you have entrusted to us.
Surely, we pray for courage. But not just any courage. Grant us discerning courage, the courage of our scientists laboring into the night to understand the scourge laying waste to us. The courage of civic leaders teaching us patience, often at great cost. The courage of fellow citizens who refuse to surrender to self-regard. The discerning, humble courage that knows your grace is everywhere—and acknowledges our responsibility for the world you have entrusted to us. The courage to live our faith in Jesus of Nazareth, through whom we are one with you in caring for our troubled world. Help us to live this courage in hope.
Gracious God, we pray for hope. But what kind? Not just hope for a world in your hands at the end. But a hope that rises every morning for a day that is yours and ours together. Hope that knows you want light and life for us all—and for all of us to do whatever we can so that your human family finds light and life.
You give us a world to shape in your image, loving God. But it has turned on us. What shall we say and pray? I turn to your Son, who taught us your love unto a mortal end that was an eternal beginning. I turn to the women and men who became his own and lived not for themselves but in service to others. I turn—to trust. Trust that there is scarcely any limit to what our human family can do for each other if we are selfless enough.
And trust that when we have given all we can, we will again and still and forever be given you, your very Self—in your hands not only at the end but always.
Amen. by Leo J. O’Donovan, SJ Commonweal
Prayer for a Pandemic that has affected the elderly
We put our lives O Lord in your loving hands. At the time of this pandemic to break may we who have no risk factors remember others suffering from illnesses. May we who have the luxury of time spend it in prayer for hospital workers and grocery workers who provide us with what we need. Help us to take care of our health through social distancing and washing our hands. May we who have the flexibility to care for others remember those who have no options. May we who have to cancel our trips remember those who have no safe place to go. May we who are losing our margin money in the tumult of the economic market remember those who have no margin at all. May those of us who can quarantine at home remember those who have no home. As fear grips our country, let us choose love. During this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other, let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace of God to our neighbors. Amen
by Eileen Quinn Knight, Ph.D. Profiles in Catholicism
A Prayer for Those Who Have Died from the Coronavirus:
Part II: The Plight of Parting
Oh God, the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit,
Mary, Mother of the Lord
And all angels and saints:
You are the radiant welcome:
The abundantly beautiful company
Of all who have died – no more alone
Than particles in the plasma of the sun.
Let the grace of passing be as water running clear in your hands,
Our lives as colorful as stones in purest spring water,
Let the grace of passing be as light in the windows of the soul,
Our lives have lost their darkness dripping with brightness,
Let the grace of passing be as spring blossoms, brightly lit flowers,
Our lives as tulips brimming with your luminous presence!
Let your work of redemption not forget the forgotten
And cure the ills of the heart unaddressed in passing
Turning hopeless to hope and the anguished to peace.
Let your love fill the lives of the left and discover, a-new,
A prayer in the pain of loss and the grief of going
And grant relief to the burdened by cares and worry.
Father – Forgive us:
We could not visit because of isolation
We could not visit for fear of troubling others
We could not help who helped instead of us
We could not be there because of frailty
We could not be there because of the distance
We could not be there because of the cost
We could not be there because of the living
We could not be there because of the dying
We could not be there because …
Father: Have mercy on us!
Let this long Sunday resound with hope,
And leap like a flame from the fire:
Of Good Friday’s suffering;
Holy Saturday’s peaceful pause;
And Easter’s transfigured rising!
Let this Eastertide be turned into blessings!
Let this time of pain be pierced with Love!
But if any dead lie neglected and any left unloved
Let an angel visit in the moment of need
Healing, tenderly, the wounds still bleeding,
And embrace, with an unbelievable blessing,
The heartbroken and life lived almost lost!
Oh, Blessed Trinity in One!
Oh, Holy Family!
Oh, Witnesses of Love!
Let us beg you
To wake with a welcome
All who have died
And help all who are left!
by Francis Etheredge Profiles in Catholicism
A Prayer for Fr. Giuseppe Beradelli
Lord of all peoples and all ages, you are a God of the living, not of the dead. Your servant Giuseppe Beradelli loved life. As parish priest of Fiorano, he zipped around town in a red motorcycle, greeting people with an exuberant “Pace e bene!”. He shared the joy of being your son, and then, when the time came, he shared the pain of being your son. He refused the help of a ventilator so that a younger man with the coronavirus might be saved. He died as your servant. Those who lose their life for your sake will find it. Grant him eternal rest, O Lord. Amen
by Father Joseph Chamblain, O.S.M. Profiles in Catholicism
A Prayer for Healthcare Workers and First Responders
God, you promise to stay close
to those who are loving and true.
Be close now and accompany
those healthcare workers and first responders,
who have fallen ill, and
who have been faithful in their work
to care for others, especially those most in need.
Restore their health, so they may once more serve.
Give them renewed hope and courage.
Instill in us a deep appreciation for all those
entrusted with our safety, security, and health.
Continue to watch over your family.
We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen
by Father Louis Cameli Profiles in Catholicism
A Prayer for Healthcare Workers and First Responders
Lord, one time your daughter, our sister St. Teresa, addressed you, as only she could, musing that the reason you have so few friends is that you treat them so badly.
Dare I suggest the same is happening today?
So many of you children, nurses, doctors, aides and first responders find themselves under stress, dire stress in serving you as they server your other children. How is your love shown when they are so afflicted and in such danger? How is it a sign of your love when we, your children, put additional burdens on them? When we add to their stress?
Allow us to pray O Lord, from the depths of our hearts, help us to make our own, the words of your prophet David:
God is our refuge and our strength,
an ever-present help in distress.
Thus we do not fear, though earth be shaken
and mountains quake to the depths of the sea,
Though its waters rage and foam
and mountains totter at its surging.
The LORD of hosts is with us;
our stronghold is the God of Jacob.(Psalm 46)
Sustain us O Lord sustain us. Sustain us O Lord, sustain us. Amen
by Father David O. Brown, O.S.M. Profiles in Catholicism
Pope Francis’ Prayer to Mary during the coronavirus pandemic
O
Mary,
you always shine on our path
as a sign of salvation and of hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick,
who at the cross took part in Jesus’ pain, keeping your faith firm.
You, Salvation of the Roman People,
know what we need,
and we are sure you will provide
so that, as in Cana of Galilee,
we may return to joy and to feasting
after this time of trial.
Help us, Mother of Divine Love,
to conform to the will of the Father
and to do as we are told by Jesus,
who has taken upon himself our sufferings
and carried our sorrows
to lead us, through the cross,
to the joy of the resurrection. Amen.
Under your protection, we seek refuge, Holy Mother of God. Do not disdain the entreaties of we who are in trial, but deliver us from every danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin.
by Pope Francis
Coronavirus Prayer
Jesus Christ, you traveled through towns and villages “curing every disease and illness.” At your command, the sick were made well. Come to our aid now, amids the global spread of the coronavirus, that we may experience your healing love.
Heal those who are sick with the virus. May they regain their strength and health through quality medical care.
Heal us from our fear, which prevents nations from working together and neighbors from helping one another.
Heal us from our pride, which can make us claim invulnerability to a disease that knows no borders.
Jesus Christ, you traveled through towns and villages “curing every disease and illness.” Come to our aid now, that we may experience your healing love.
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Jesus Christ, healer of all, stay by our side in this time of uncertainty and sorrow.
Be with those who have died from the virus. May they be at rest with you in your eternal peace.
Be with the families of those who are sick or have died. As they worry and grieve, defend them from illness and despair. May they know your peace.
Be with the doctors, nurses, researchers and all medical professionals who seek to heal and help those affected and who put themselves at risk in the process. May they know your protection and peace.
Be with the leaders of all nations. Give them the foresight to act with charity and true concern for the well-being of the people they are meant to serve. Give them the wisdom to invest in long-term solutions that will help prepare for or prevent future outbreaks. May they know your peace, as they work together to achieve it on earth.
Whether we are home or abroad, surrounded by many people suffering from this illness or only a few, Jesus Christ, stay with us as we endure and mourn, persist and prepare. In place of our anxiety, give us your peace.
Jesus Christ, heal us.
by Kerry Weber America
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Prayer for Protection and Healing From Coronavirus