A Service of Healing Prayer (EoW)


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

Antiphon: A new heart will I give you

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.

Antiphon: A new heart will I give you

Scripture Reading

Luke 13:10-13

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, ‘Woman, you are set free from your ailment.’ When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising 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.

Let us confess our need for God’s healing grace.

Compassionate God,
we confess our weaknesses and our need for your strengthening touch. We confess that some illnesses stem from our own fault,
while others are beyond our control. We turn to you, source of life,
and ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ for the gifts of true healing and life in you. Amen.

May the God of love visit you in your times of trial and weakness, and raise you to newness of life, through Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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.

Saturday Morning Prayer for Eastertide (May 20)

Saturday Morning Prayer for Eastertide (Daily Prayer for All Seasons)


Collect for the Saturdays:

Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all your works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


Opening

Alleluia! Risen Lord, come be with us,
and teach our hearts to live in you. Alleluia!

Prayer

Jesus, divine companion: As the day unfolds, give us strength to understand and eyes to see, as you teach us to walk the soft earth, related to all that lives. Amen.

Praise

A Song of Wisdom (Wisdom 10:15-19, 20b-21)

Wisdom freed from a nation of oppressors *
a holy people and a blameless race.
She entered the soul of a servant of the Lord, *
withstood dread rulers with wonders and signs.
To the saints she gave the reward of their labors, *
and led them by a marvelous way;
She was their shelter by day *
and a blaze of stars by night.
She brought them across the Red Sea, *
she led them through mighty waters;
But their enemies she swallowed in the waves *
and spewed them out from the depths of the abyss.
And then, Lord, the righteous sang hymns to your Name *
and praised with one voice your protecting hand; F
or Wisdom opened the mouths of the mute *
and gave speech to the tongues of a new-born people.

Scripture

Matthew 13:24-30

He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” He answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” But he replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’

Meditation

Ascension by Malcolm Guite

We saw his light break through the cloud of glory
Whilst we were rooted still in time and place
As earth became a part of Heaven’s story
And heaven opened to his human face.
We saw him go and yet we were not parted
He took us with him to the heart of things
The heart that broke for all the broken-hearted
Is whole and Heaven-centred now, and sings,
Sings in the strength that rises out of weakness,
Sings through the clouds that veil him from our sight,
Whilst we our selves become his clouds of witness
And sing the waning darkness into light,
His light in us, and ours in him concealed,
Which all creation waits to see revealed .

Prayers

Risen Christ, open our hearts to your grace and truth.
May we walk in newness of life.

Teach us to love others in the power of the Spirit.
May we walk in newness of life.

Here, the people may add particular intercessions or thanksgivings.

Strengthen us as witnesses to your love.
May we walk in newness of life.

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.

Prayer

God our Deliverer, by water and the Holy Spirit we have been buried with Christ and raised to the new life of grace: Give us inquiring and discerning hearts, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works. Amen.

Going Out

Alleluia! Risen Lord, come be with us,
and teach our hearts to live in you. Alleluia!