While the International Paraneoplastic Association is non-sectarian and non-denominational, many of our members find spiritual solace in prayer and meditation. With that in mind we offer the following prayers for sufferers and caregivers. If you have any special prayer which you would like to share please forward it to the webmaster for inclusion on this page.
Mother Teresa's Prayer
Dearest Lord, may I see you today and every day in the person of your sick, and whilst nursing them minister to you. Though you hide yourself behind the unattractive disguise of the irritable, the exacting, the unreasonable, may I still recognize you and say, "Jesus, my patient, how sweet it is to serve you."Lord, give me this seeing faith, then my work will never be monotonous. I will ever find joy in humoring the fancies and gratifying the wishes of all sufferers.
O beloved sick, how doubly dear you are to me, when you personify Christ; and what a privilege is mine to be allowed to tend to you.
Sweetest Lord, make me appreciative of the dignity of my vocation and its responsibilities. Never permit me to disgrace it by giving way to unkindness or impatience. And, while you are Jesus my patient, deign also to be to me a patient Jesus, bearing with my faults, looking only to my intention, which is to love and serve you in the person of each of your sick.
Lord, increase my faith, bless my effort and work, now and forevermore.
Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is sadness joy; where there is darkness, light.
O Divine Master, grant that I not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; not so much to be understood, as to understand; not so much to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.
John Main, a Benidictine monk who developed meditation techniques, suggested that we meditate twice a day for a minimum of twenty minutes per session. The technique of meditation is very simple:
If you would like to learn more about meditation there is a website at: http://info.cf.ac.uk/ccin/main/socecon/roath/church/medit.html
A Psalm of David
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want;
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters;
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art
with me;
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
O bhikshus! Do not grieve! Even if I were to live in the world for as long as a kalpa, our coming together would have to end.
You should know that all things in the world are impermanent; coming together inevitably means parting. Do not be troubled, for this is the nature of life. Diligently practicing right effort, you must seek liberation immediately. Within the light of wisdom, destroy the darkness of ignorance. Nothing is secure. Everything in this life is precarious.
Always wholeheartedly seek the way of liberation. All things in the world, whether moving or non-moving, are characterized by disappearance and instability.
Stop now! Do not speak! Time is passing. I am about to cross over. This is my final teaching.
Psalm 121
The Lord My Guardian
I raise my eyes toward the mountains.
From where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
II
God will not allow your foot to slip;
your guardian does not sleep.
Truly, the guardian of Israel
never slumbers of sleeps.
The Lord is your guardian;
the Lord is your shade
at your right hand.
By day the sun cannot harm you,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will guard you from all evil,
will always guard your life.
The Lord will guard your coming and going,
both now and forever.
