Other Prayers

Prayer to Our Lady of Walsingham

Walsingham has a special place in many of our hearts, and like all of our churches, the Shrine Church is closed for public worship. But its pattern of prayer continues, and the Shrine clergy are praying for us and asking Our Lady of Walsingham to pray with us and for us. This is the particular focus of Shrine Prayers, which happens at 6pm each evening and continues to happen. There, at the window of the Holy House, the Rosary is prayed and intercessions from around the world are placed at Our Lady’s feet. Please do pray for the Shrine, that God will uphold it and its ministry of prayer at this testing time.

O Mary, recall the solemn moment when Jesus, your divine son, dying on the cross, confided us to your maternal care.   You are our Mother, we desire ever to remain your devout children.   Let us therefore feel the effects of your powerful intercession with Jesus Christ.   Make your name again glorious in the shrine once renowned throughout England by your visits, favours, and many miracles.   Pray, O holy Mother of God, for the conversion of England, restoration of the sick, consolation for the afflicted, repentance of sinners, peace to the departed.   O blessed Mary, Mother of God, Our Lady of Walsingham, intercede for us.   Amen.

O Lord God, word incarnate, Jesus of Nazareth, have mercy on us.

The following prayer is the Church’s oldest prayer to Our Lady written after the Council of
Ephesus in 431AD.

Mother of God, we fly to you, our shade and shelter on our pilgrim’s way.

Look kindly on our prayers, and turn not from us in our time of need.

But free us from the dangers that beset us radiant and holy Virgin.   Amen.

Prayers for those affected by the Coronavirus pandemic

Keep us, good Lord, under the shadow of your mercy.   Sustain and support the anxious, be with those who care for the sick, and lift up all who are brought low; that we may find comfort knowing that nothing can separate us from your love in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

(The Church of England)

God of healing and hope, in Jesus, you meet us in our places of pain and fear.   Look with mercy on those who have contracted the new virus, on any who are vulnerable, and on all who feel in danger.   Through this time of global concern, by your Holy Spirit bring out the best not the worst in us.   Make us more aware of our interdependence on each other, and of the strength that comes from being one body in you.   Through Christ our wounded healer.   Amen.

(The Rev’ d Dr Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin’s in the Field)

A prayer for those in authority

Loving God, in Christ Jesus, the servant of all, you call us to the service of others.   Grant to those who govern the community the skill to recognise its urgent needs and the strength to pursue the common good.   Endow us all with patience and courage, that we may care for the suffering, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and sustain the needy.   Through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

(The Roman Catholic Conference of Bishops in England and Wales)

Other prayers for use

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
(from St Patrick’s Breastplate)

Be present, Spirit of the living God,
and renew us in our pain and grief, so that we,
who are wearied by the changes and chances of this fleeting world,
may rest upon your eternal changelessness.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

O Lord, support us all the day long of this troublous life, until the shadows lengthen,
and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over,
and our work is done.   Then, Lord, in thy mercy, grant us a safe lodging, a holy rest,
and peace at the last. Amen.
(St John Henry Newman)

God of all care and compassion you take us through deep waters but never abandon us in the storm; we walk in the dark but you never leave us without light.   Be with us in the night of our anxiety and in the day of our over-confidence so that we may keep faith with each other as you have kept faith with us in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Stephen Oliver)

Almighty God, Father of mercies, in his earthly life your Son Jesus Christ went about doing good, healing all manner of sickness and disease among the people: Comfort, heal and sanctify those who suffer in body, mind or spirit: Grant to all doctors and nurses, and to all who tend the sick, skill, sympathy and patience; bless all who labour to prevent suffering, make them instruments of your healing love, and continue through them your loving purposes among us, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Praise be to you, Lord Jesus Christ, for all the gifts which you have given to me for all the pain and insults you have borne for me. O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, may I see you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by day. Amen.
(St Richard of Chichester)

Be mindful, Lord of your people, for whose sake our Lord Jesus Christ, when betrayed, did not hesitate to yield himself into the hands of his enemies and undergo the suffering of the Cross: who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

O God of unchangeable power and light eternal, look kindly upon the wonderful mystery of your Church, and by the tranquil operation of your perpetual providence, carry forward the work of human salvation: and let the whole world feel and see, the things which were being cast down are being raised up, and the things which had grown old are being made new, and all things are returning to perfection, through him in whom they have their source, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(An ancient prayer for Easter)