A Prayer in the Time of Coronavirus

A ver­sion of these inter­ces­sions were read by the author at St James’, King Street in Syd­ney on the 18th of Octo­ber 2020. The ser­vice may be watched online and fea­tures the Choir of St James’ singing work by Ralph Vaugh­an Williams, Franz Schu­bert, and Thomas Tallis, with a ser­mon from Asso­ciate Pro­fes­sor Michael Horsburgh.

We pray for the peo­ple of this aching world: for all who suf­fer sick­ness, grief, and loss in the time of coro­n­avirus. We pray for all those sep­a­rat­ed from loved ones by lock­downs or the clos­ing of nation­al and state bor­ders, for all who mourn alone, or are denied a last farewell. We pray for wise lead­er­ship in the face of spi­ralling infec­tions. O Lord, restore the voice of joy and health into our dwellings!

And in your mercy,

Hear Our Prayer

We pray for physi­cians, nurs­es, para­medics, and for sci­en­tists seek­ing new treat­ments and a vac­cine for this virus. We pray for med­ical pro­fes­sion­als and hos­pi­tal staff who have fall­en ill, even as they fight to save the lives of strangers. Is there no balm in Gilead? Lord, grant heal­ing to the heal­ers! And may we build a world where human life is val­ued more than prof­it and health­care is avail­able for all.

Lord, in your mercy,

Hear Our Prayer

We pray for teach­ers and all who care for chil­dren. We pray for stu­dents, espe­cial­ly those about to sit their last exams. As young peo­ple face an uncer­tain future, give each con­fi­dence and pride in all they have achieved this year in defi­ance of great odds. We pray for busi­ness own­ers and work­ers strug­gling to hold on. We pray for singers, dancers, actors, and musi­cians forced into a long and painful silence. May the world soon resound with song and dance once more!

Lord, in your mercy,

Hear Our Prayer

We pray for your church, for your peo­ple and cler­gy and for all who share the Good News in dark times. We pray for our broth­ers and sis­ters of all faiths and tra­di­tions. We pray for all who have been sep­a­rat­ed from their com­mu­ni­ties by this pan­dem­ic and ask that your Holy Spir­it will strength­en and sus­tain your scat­tered church. 

Lord, in your mercy,

Hear Our Prayer

We pray for all in need. Bring peace and heal­ing to the sick, the anx­ious, and to all who are iso­lat­ed, cast out, or adrift. We pray for those unsafe in lock­down or wracked by pover­ty and hunger. We pray for inter­na­tion­al stu­dents and all with­out the secu­ri­ty of cit­i­zen­ship and per­ma­nent res­i­den­cy. Bring com­fort to pris­on­ers and refugees and those with­out a safe place to call home. We pray for all who live in the shad­ow of ter­ror­ism, tyran­ny, and war. As the world turns inwards dur­ing this pan­dem­ic, may we nev­er fail to ask: “who is my neigh­bour?”

Lord, in your mercy,

Hear Our Prayer

We give thanks that you offer up the waters of Eter­nal Life. We give you thanks for your faith­ful ser­vants of every age and remem­ber all who have died. As you gave the Samar­i­tan woman at the well your liv­ing water, fill our hearts with your spir­it so that we, with all your chil­dren, may find in you the joy of ever­last­ing life.

Lord, in your mercy,

Hear Our Prayer