February 09, 2013: The solemn celebration of the XXI World Day of the Sick will be
held at the Marian Shrine of Altötting, Germany on 11 February 2013. The theme of
this year’s world day of the sick is taken from the gospel of Luke: “Go and do likewise”
centered on the Good Samaritan.
Ahead of the main celebrations the prayer for
the World Day has been published in several languages on Saturday. The prayer begins
with invoking the name of the Almighty. Then it recalls the many exemplary witnesses
who trod the path of tribulation. The prayer then seek the intercession of St. Anna
Schäffer, Blessed Pope John Paul II and Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta. The prayer
describes her as ‘a true angel in the dark nights of the marginalised and the dying.
Here
is the full text of the prayer Almighty and eternal God, you are our foundation
and our support, you are the hope that never abandons us, and the Love that
gives itself on the Cross and the Resurrection of Jesus. Make your Face shine on
all sick people, the suffering and the dying. Be merciful with them. Still
send Good Samaritans who will serve and heal sick, suffering and dying people, and
help the weakest, disinterestedly.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, today we turn
to you and we pray to you: You know the pain of the defenceless, when suffering
cannot be distanced. Through your being at the foot of the cross and your suffering
as a mother, you became for us the salvation of the sick. Through your intercession,
may we have the strength and the courage to look at the crucified Christ, and
may we bear our sufferings with courage, entrusting ourselves to him.
God,
full of goodness, Our Father. we thank you for the very many exemplary witnesses who
trod a pathway of tribulation, and whom you have given to us as our intercessors. We
thank you for St. Anna Schäffer, who was harshly afflicted from an early age, being
confined to bed because of a grave accident. We turn to you, St. Anna Schäffer:
By striving for an intimate friendship with Jesus Christ who was crucified
and rose again, you managed not only to bear your suffering but also to sacrifice
yourself with him for other suffering people, above all for those who felt
they had no hope. Through your intercession help us, as well, to embrace our
lives even if they are afflicted by pain, to look with trust to the crucified Christ, and
to tread our pathway in the certainty that the love of Christ is stronger than
any pain, stronger than evil, and stronger than death.
We thank you for
the Blessed Pope John Paul II. He was always at the side of the sick, intrepid
defender of human life. We turn to you Blessed Pope John Paul II: Let it be
that through prayer we may obtain the strength of faith, and the certainty that
we will not become lost, and that with the whole of our lives and our sufferings we
will be safe in the hands and heart of God. Give us courage through the example
you gave of dying, in the last hours of our lives as well.
We also thank
you for the Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta, a true angel in the dark nights
of the marginalised and the dying. We turn to you Blessed Mother Theresa, who
trusting in the infinite love of Jesus Christ and in his sacrifice of death on
the cross, always ensured that the light of this love of his penetrated the darkness
of suffering. Obtain for us the faith and the awareness that we can ourselves become
a light for other suffering people. Let us be able to shine forth hope, and
let us, as well, recognise in our sick and suffering neighbour the Face of our
Lord and give to that person our ready help.
God, One and Triune, we now
place ourselves in your generous paternal hands. We trust in your boundless love, and
you watch over us on good days and difficult days, in life and in death. Through
our pain, let our faith and our trust in you be renewed so that all of the people
of God can experience the grace of redemption. Now and forever. Amen.