Stillness, Healing, and Endurance

MOST merciful God, Power of our souls, Healer of our diseases, unto Thee would we come. Amid the haste and hurry of common life Thou seemest to pass away. Amid the cares and anxieties and all the turmoil of our inner mind we cannot hear Thee knocking at the door, seeking to enter and to bless. But now would we quiet our souls before Thee; now would we feel ourselves enwrapped with Thy unspeakable presence, and know Thee as the joy and strength of life. Quicken Thou our faith and hope and aspiration, that we may be upborne above all unrest and irritation, and be made sharers in Thy perfect calm. Lengthen these moments of prayer, we beseech Thee, until our whole life becomes a continual aspiration after Thee.

Father of all mercies! God of all comfort! we bring before Thee the record of our lives, stained with the memories of sin and failure. Be patient with us, for if Thou turn Thy face from us, we are lost. Cast us not from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from us. Call us back to the right and holy path, Thou Shepherd of our souls. Place upon us once more Thy blessed yoke; set us face to face with our unaccomplished tasks, and we will prove our penitence by the constancy of our wills in the strength of Thy forgiving grace. Give unto us what Thou commandest, and then command what Thou wilt.

Here would we remember before Thee the wants and sorrows of our fellows. Have mercy, we entreat Thee, upon any who are entangled in earthly things, who it may be, have given up all hope of the higher life. Leave them not to themselves, but waken them to the vanity of all that is temporal, that they may find satisfaction only in the things that are eternal. Be present with Thy help to the tempted. By some sweet memory or dear affection reinforce the powers of the soul, that the mind may think only of what is fair and lovely and of good report, and the will resist to the uttermost the assaults of wrong. Unto those, O God, who feel the pain and darkness and mystery of life, let the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings. Remember in pity, the sick, the distressed of body or of mind. Many and great are the disorders of our mortal nature, but Thy medicines are mightier. Open the souls of all who lie in beds of weariness to the inflow of Thy Divine Life. In the silence may they hear Thy voice saying, "I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears, behold, I will heal thee." For the burden-bearers, the tempest-tossed, the afflicted and not comforted, we pray. Thy consolations are greater than all the sorrows of the world. Bind up the broken-hearted, and with Thy touch heal those wounds of the soul that bleed and will not cease. Give a spirit of endurance and of trust to those whose thorn in the flesh must remain. Save them from despair, from the indifference of a heart without faith, and perfect Thy strength in their weakness. Comfort all men everywhere with Thy light, and guide them by Thy Spirit, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.