A selection of prayers from various faith traditions chosen by the chaplains at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
The Aaronic Blessing - from the Jewish and Christian faiths
The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you
And be gracious to you;
The Lord turn His face toward you
And give you peace.
(Numbers 6:24–26, NIV)
Gaelic blessing
May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be ever at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face
And the rain fall softly on your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.
A prayer from the Muslim faith
Oh Lord of mankind, cure his illness;
You are the Healer and nothing can be cured except by you,
through a painless cure.
(Bukhari, vl-10/602, Muslim, vl-4/1721)
A Prayer for a Loved One Who Has Died
You shared life with us: God give eternal life to you.
You gave your love to us: God give his deep love to you.
You gave your time to us: God give his eternity to you.
You gave your light to us: God give everlasting light to you.
Footprints in the sand
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.
So I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life,
there have only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?"
The Lord replied,"The times when you have seen only one set of footprints,
is when I carried you."
Copyright © 1984 Mary Stevenson, from original 1936 text, All rights reserved
