Saturday Healing Prayers
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
Opening Prayer
Gracious God, we commend to your loving care all who suffer, especially those who gather virtually this day seeking your healing grace for themselves and for those they love. Give them patience and hope in their distress; strengthen and uphold them in mind and body; and grant, by your intervention, that all your people may be made whole according to your desire, through Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Canticle G
A Song of Ezekiel
Ezekiel 36:24-28
I will take you from among all nations; *
and gather you from all lands to bring you home.
I will sprinkle clean water upon you; *
and purify you from false gods and uncleanness.
A new heart I will give you *
and a new spirit put within you.
I will take the stone heart from your chest *
and give you a heart of flesh.
I will help you walk in my laws *
and cherish my commandments and do them.
You shall be my people, *
and I will be your God.
Scripture Reading
John 5:1-18
After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralysed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk.’ At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.
Now that day was a sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, ‘It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.’ But he answered them, ‘The man who made me well said to me, “Take up your mat and walk.” ’ They asked him, ‘Who is the man who said to you, “Take it up and walk”?’ Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, ‘See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.’ The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath. But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is still working, and I also am working.’ For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God.
Canticle N
A Song of God’s Love
1 John 4:7-11
Beloved, let us love one another, *
for love is of God.
Whoever does not love does not know God, *
for God is Love.
In this the love of God was revealed among us, *
that God sent his only Son into the world,
so that we might live through Jesus Christ.
In this is love, not that we loved God but that God loved us *
and sent his Son that sins might be forgiven.
Beloved, since God loved us so much, *
we ought also to love one another.
For if we love one another, God abides in us, *
and God’s love will be perfected in us.
A Litany for Healing:
Let us name before God those for whom we offer our prayers.
Holy and Mighty, wellspring of abundant life,
Hear and have mercy
Holy Immortal One, protector of the faithful,
Hear and have mercy
Holy Trinity, the source of all wholeness,
Hear and have mercy
Jesus, divine physician, you sent your disciples to preach the Gospel and heal in your name,
Hear and have mercy
Grant your grace to heal those who are sick, we pray to you, O God,
Hear and have mercy
Give strength and courage to all who are affected by COVID-19, we pray to you, O God,
Hear and have mercy
Give courage and faith to all who are disabled through injury or illness, we pray to you, O God,
Hear and have mercy
Comfort, relieve, and heal all sick children, we pray to you, O God,
Hear and have mercy
Support and encourage those who live with chronic illness, we pray to you, O God,
Hear and have mercy
Strengthen those who endure continual pain, and give them hope, we pray to you, O God,
Hear and have mercy
Grant the refreshment of peaceful sleep to all who suffer, we pray to you, O God,
Hear and have mercy
Befriend all who are anxious, lonely, despondent, or afraid, we pray to you, O God,
Hear and have mercy
Give rest to the weary, and hold the dying in your loving arms, we pray to you, O God,
Hear and have mercy
Help us to live our lives and prepare for death with confident expectation and hope of Easter joy, we pray to you, O God,
Hear and have mercy
Give your wisdom and compassion to health care workers, that they may minister to the sick and dying with knowledge, skill, and kindness, we pray to you, O God,
Hear and have mercy
Uphold those who keep watch with the sick, we pray to you, O God,
Hear and have mercy
Guide those who search for the causes and cures of sickness and disease, we pray to you, O God,
Hear and have mercy
Bring healing to this weary world and draw an end to this global pandemic, we pray to you, O God,
Hear and have mercy
Jesus, Lamb of God,
Have mercy on us
Jesus, bearer of our sins,
Have mercy on us
Jesus, redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us
Compassionate God: You so loved the world that you sent us Jesus to bear our infirmities and afflictions. Through acts of healing, he revealed you as the true source of health and salvation. For the sake of your Christ who suffered and died for us, conquered death, and now reigns with you in glory, hear the cry of your people. Have mercy on us, make us whole, and bring us at last into the fullness of your eternal life. Amen.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.
Generous God, we give you thanks for your beloved Jesus Christ, in whom you have shared the beauty and pain of human life. Look with compassion upon all for whom we pray this day, and strengthen us to be your instruments of healing in the world, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Going Out:
May the God of hope fill us with every joy in believing.
May the peace of Christ abound in our hearts.
May we be enriched by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, now and for ever.
Amen.
Virtual Chapel of St. Phoebe 