Prayer for the Sick
Dear Jesus, Divine Physician and Healer of the sick, we turn to you in this time of illness. O dearest comforter of the troubled, alleviate our worry and sorrow with your gentle love, and grant us the grace and strength to accept this burden. Dear God, we place our worries in your hands. We place our sick under your care and humbly ask that you restore your servant to health again. Above all, grant us the grace to acknowledge your will and know that whatever you do, you do for the love of us. Amen.
Prayer for the Sick
Watch, O Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep tonight, and give your angels charge over those who sleep.
Tend your sick ones, O Lord Christ.
Rest your weary ones.
Bless your dying ones.
Soothe your suffering ones.
Pity your afflicted ones.
Shield your joyous ones.
And for all your love's sake. Amen.
Saint Augustine
Prayer in Time of Sickness or Trial
O good Jesus, I accept willingly this sickness [or trial] which it has pleased you to lay upon me. I confide all my pains to your Sacred Heart, and beg you to unite them with your bitter sufferings, and thus perfect them by making them your own.
Since I cannot render you the praise due to you because of the multitude of my sorrows and afflictions, I ask you to praise God the Father for all I suffer, with the same tribute of praise you offered him when your agony on the Cross was at its height.
As you thanked him with all the powers of your soul for all the sufferings and injustice which he willed you should endure, so, I pray you, give him thanks for my trials also. Offer my sufferings, physical and spiritual, to him together with your most holy pains to his eternal honor and glory. Amen.
Psalm for the Sick
O Lord, in your anger punish me not; in your wrath chastise me not. For your arrows have sunk deep in me; your hand has come down upon me. There is no health in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no wholeness in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have overwhelmed me; they are like a heavy burden, beyond my strength. Noisome and festering are my sores, because of my folly. I am stooped and bowed down profoundly; all the day I go in mourning. For my loins are filled with burning pains; there is no health in my flesh. I am numbed and severely crushed; I roar with anguish of heart. O Lord, all my desire is before you; from you my groaning is not hid. My heart throbs, my strength forsakes me; the very light of my eyes has failed me. For I am very near to falling; and my grief is with me always. Indeed, I acknowledge my guilt; I grieve over my sins. Forsake me not, O Lord,; my God be not far from me! Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation. Let me know, O Lord, my end and what is the number of my days, that I may learn how frail I am. A short span you have made my days, and my life is as nought before you; only a breath is any human existence. Hear my prayer, O Lord, to my cry give ear; to my weeping be not deaf! For I am but a wayfarer before you, a pilgrim like all my fathers. Turn you gaze from me that I may find respite, ere I depart and be no more.
Taken from Psalms 37 and 38Prayer for the Sick near Death
Almighty and Everlasting God, preserver of souls, who does correct those whom you do love, and for their betterment does tenderly chastise those whom you receive, we call upon you, O Lord, to grant your healing, that the
soul of your servant, at the hour of its departure from the body, may by the hands of your holy
Angels be presented without spot to you. Amen.
The Divine Mercy Chaplet
Recite on ordinary rosary beads.
The Our Father
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.
The Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
The Apostle's Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
Then on the "Our Father" beads (before each decade):
Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
On the "Hail Mary" beads (of each decade):
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Concluding Doxology (after five decades):
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world (Three times).
One or more of the following short texts may be recited with the dying person. If necessary, they may be softly repeated two or three times. You also may pray the
Litany of the Saints prayer.
Prayers for the Dying, Prayer One
“Who can separate us from the love of Christ?
Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
We have an everlasting home in heaven.
We shall be with the Lord forever.
We shall see God as He really is.
We have passed from death to life
because we love each other.
To you, Lord, I lift up my soul.
The Lord is my light and my salvation.
I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
My soul thirsts for the living God.
Everyone who believes in the Son has eternal life.
Amen.”
Prayers for the Dying, Prayer Two (Psalm 23)
“The Lord is my shepherd; nothing I shall want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
Beside restful waters he leads me;
He refreshes my soul.
He guides me in right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil;
for you are at my side.
With your rod and your staff that give me courage.
Amen.”
When the moment of death seems near, one of the following prayers may be said on behalf of the dying:
Commendation, Prayer One
“Go forth, Christian soul, from this world in the name of God the almighty Father, who created you, in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, who suffered for you, in the name of the Holy Spirit, who was poured out upon you, go forth, faithful Christian. May you live in peace this day, may your home be with God, with Mary, the virgin Mother of God, with Joseph, and all the angels and saints. Amen.”
Commendation, Prayer Two
“I commend you, my dear brother/sister, to almighty God, and entrust you to your Creator. May you return to him who formed you from the dust of the earth. May Holy Mary, the angels, and all the saints come to meet you as you go forth from this life. May Christ who was crucified for you bring you freedom and peace. May Christ who died for you admit you into his garden of paradise. May Christ, the true Shepherd, acknowledge you as one of his flock. May you see the Redeemer, face to face, and enjoy the vision of God forever. Amen.”
Commendation, Prayer Three
“Lord Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, we pray for your servant, [name here], and commend him/her to your mercy. For his/her sake, you came down from heaven; receive him/her now into the joy of your kingdom. Amen.”