The Virginia Theological Seminary has collected some excellent resources to support people of faith during this time of global pandemic.
Below are prayers that may be used as part of our own prayer life during this time apart.

Prayers written by the Rev. Dr. Barney Hawkins

A Prayer for a Person Suffering with COVID-19

(to be used over the phone or on Zoom/ FaceTime)

God of healing, God of hope, our souls are hungry for health and happiness. You are the Maker and Keeper of billions of galaxies of stars and planets seething in their violence. You are the delicate fashioner of the hummingbird’s wings and the infant’s lungs. You are the architect and creator of our fragile bodies. We know you are the caring Abba of us all. Be with _______, and drive far from her all sickness and all anxiety in body, mind, spirit and relationships. Deliver her from her suffering and may goodness and mercy follow her all the days of her life. We pray in the name of the Great Physician, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Amen.

(Written after reading Reynolds Price’s Letter to a Man in the Fire)

A Prayer for a Person in a 14-day Self-Quarantine

Suffering God, your Beloved Son endured temptations and the wilderness for forty days after his Baptism. New life gave him suffering. The Light was dark and the Word without a voice. From the solitary Jesus we learn that the broken bread is our only food. For once and always, O Lord, be present to those in self-quarantine. Give them ears to hear you say: “I am here.” Give them the grace to breathe in the perfect love that casts out fear. Give them food for their bodies and hope for their beings. This is our prayer for our brothers and sisters in Christ. In the healing name of Jesus, we make our petitions. Amen and so be it.

(Infused with the poetry of Malcolm Guite)

A Prayer for a Person Unable to Take the Eucharist

My Jesus, I believe that you are truly present in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. I love you above all things, and long for you in my soul. Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. As though you have already come, I embrace you and unite myself entirely to you; never permit me to be separated from you. Amen.

(Written St. Alphonsus de Liguori, 1696-1787, and discovered by Rev. Dr. Hawkins)

A Prayer for an Online Service of Parishioners, When Regular Services Have Been Canceled

Almighty God of the Cross and Loving God of Community, we are not in a church building today but Church is never canceled. We are not wise, and not very often kind. But we are the Body of Christ in your suffering world. We know that our vocation is to be the Light of this Christ whose Body we are. Give us courage to be the Church and to keep our minds on what matters—which is to keep loving the world which you have called good. Buildings crumble; the Church Year passes; but your Church endures from generation to generation. Make this for us a Feast Day of your Protection, your Plenty, your Purpose, your Plan and your Peace. All this we ask, as we pray in silence, with all the Saints and with each other. Amen.

(Echoing the poetry of Mary Oliver)

Prayers Written by the Rev. Dr. Kate Sonderegger

Prayer in Time of Isolation

Almighty God: Our times are in your hand. We call upon you in this hour of our need, when we are lonely and must stand apart. Be our strength, O Sovereign Lord, our calm in the midst of raging seas, our refuge and our dwelling place. Sanctify to us this time drawn away from others, even as your Son, O Father, drew away to a lonely place for prayer. Deepen our need of you, O Lord, that every breath may be a whisper of the Spirit’s prompting, a renewed searching of the deep things of God. Stir up in us the great act of intercession, that we may spend our time apart in prayer for the world you created and sustain. Bless us in our turning toward you, and make us a blessing to those who stand in need of you, the whole fragile earth. All this we ask in the name of great Physician, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

A Prayer in Time of Pandemic

This hour we turn to you, O Lord, in full knowledge of our frailty, our vulnerability, and our great need as your mortal creatures. We cry to you, as one human family, unsure of the path ahead, unequal to the unseen forces around us, frightened by the sickness and death that seem all too real to us now. Stir up your strength and visit us, O Lord; be our shield and rock and hiding place! Guide our leaders, our scientists, our nurses and doctors. Give them wisdom and fill their hearts with courage and determination. Make even this hour, O Lord, a season of blessing for us, that in fear we find you mighty to save, and in illness or death, we find the cross to be none other than the way of life. All this we ask in the name of the One who bore all our infirmities, even Jesus Christ our Risen and Victorious Lord. Amen.

Other Prayers

For Doctors and Nurses

Sanctify, O Lord, those whom you have called to the study and practice of the arts of healing, and to the prevention of disease and pain. Strengthen them by your life-giving Spirit, that by their ministries the health of the community may be promoted and your creation glorified; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Trust in God

God, the source of all health: So fill my heart with faith in your love, that with calm expectancy I may make room for your power to possess me, and gracefully accept your healing; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Recovery from Sickness

O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers: Mercifully accept our prayers, and grant to your servant N. the help of your power, that his sickness may be turned into health, and our sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

a Sick Person

Father of mercies and God of all comfort, our only help in time of need: We humbly beseech thee to behold, visit, and relieve thy sick servant N. for whom our prayers are desired. Look upon him with the eyes of thy mercy; comfort him with a sense of thy goodness; preserve him from the temptations of the enemy; and give him patience under his affliction. In thy good time, restore him to health, and enable him to lead the residue of his life in thy fear, and to thy glory; and grant that finally he may dwell with thee in life everlasting; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

When You Cannot Attend Worship

In union, O Lord, with your faithful people at every altar of your Church, where the Holy Eucharist is now being celebrated. I desire to offer you praise and thanksgiving. I remember your death, Lord Christ; I proclaim your resurrection; I await your coming in glory. And since I cannot receive you today in the Sacrament of your Body and Blood, I beseech you to come spiritually into my heart. Cleanse and strengthen me with your grace, Lord Jesus, and let me never be separated from you. May I live in you, and you in me, in this life and the life to come. Amen.