Anglican Prayers in Time of Pestilence

The liturgical and spiritual patrimony possessed by those former Anglicans who have entered into full communion with the Catholic Church is, as Pope Benedict XVI stated (would that he were still gloriously reigning!), a gift to be shared with the whole Church. 

For this reason, during the current coronavirus pandemic, it is appropriate to suggest the use of some of the more suitable Anglican prayers long ago drawn up for use “In the time of any common Plague or Sickness”.

The Scottish Book of Common Prayer of 1929 supplies a short collect, as follows:

O ALMIGHTY and merciful God, with whom are the issues of life and death: Grant us, we beseech thee, help and deliverance in this time of grievous sickness and mortality, and sanctify to us this affliction, that in our sore distress we may turn our hearts unto thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The English Book of Common Prayer of 1552 contained another suitable prayer, revised and enlarged for the standard 1662 version as follows:

O ALMIGHTY God, who in thy wrath didst send a plague upon thine own people in the wilderness, for their obstinate rebellion against Moses and Aaron; and also, in the time of king David, didst slay with the plague of pestilence threescore and ten thousand, and yet, remembering thy mercy, didst save the rest: Have pity upon us miserable sinners, who now are visited with great sickness and mortality; that, like as thou didst then accept of an atonement, and didst command the destroying angel to cease from punishing, so it may now please thee to withdraw from us this plague and grievous sickness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

It will be evident why the main addition made at the time of the Restoration was to insert the phrase “didst send a plague upon thine own people in the wilderness, for their obstinate rebellion against Moses and Aaron; and also”, lest the prayer seem somewhat too anti-royalist.

The Irish Book of Common Prayer of 1926 supplies the following intercession:

O ALMIGHTY God, the Lord of life and death, of health and sickness: Have pity upon us miserable sinners, now visited with great sickness [and mortality]. Withdraw from us this grievous affliction. Sanctify to us, we beseech thee, this thy fatherly correction. Enlarge our charity to relieve those who need our help. Bless the remedies applied to assist them. Give us prudence to see, and vigour to use, those means which thy providence affords, for preventing and alleviating such calamities. And, above all, teach us to know how frail and uncertain our condition is, and so to number our days, that we may seriously apply our hearts to that holy and heavenly wisdom, whilst we live here, which may in the end bring us to life everlasting; through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thine only Son our Lord. Amen. 

Finally, from the special prayers appointed to be said at the time of the Great Plague of London in 1665 comes this magnificently lengthy and Scripture-laden effusion:

O Most gratious God, Father of Mercies, and of our Lord Jesus Christ; look down upon us, we beseech thee, in much pity, and compassion, and behold our great misery, and trouble. For there is wrath gone out against us, and the Plague is begun. That dreadful Arrow of thine sticks fast in our flesh, and the Venime thereof fires our bloud, and drinks up our spirits; And shouldst thou suffer it to bring us all to the dust of Death, yet must we still acknowledge, that Righteous art thou, O Lord, and just are thy judgements. For our Transgressions multiplied against thee, as the sand on the Sea-shore, might justly bring over us a Deluge of thy Wrath. The cry of our sins, that hath pierc’t the very Heavens, might well return with showers of Vengeance upon our Heads. While our Earth is defiled under the Inhabitants thereof, what wonder; if thou commandest an evil Angel to pour out his Vial into our Air, to fill it with Infection, and the noisome Pestilence, and so to turn the vary breath of our Life into the savour of Death unto us all! But yet we beseech thee, O our God, forget not thou to be gracious: neither shut thou up thy loving kindnesse in Displeasure. For his sake, who himselfe took our Infirmities, and bare our Sicknesses, have mercy upon us; and say to the destroying Angel, It is enough. O let that bloud of sprinkling, which speaks better things then that of Abel, be upon the Lintel, and the two side posts in all our Dwellings, that the Destroyer may passe by. Let the sweet Odour of thy blessed Son’s all-sufficient Sacrifice, and Intercession (infinitely more prevalent then the typicall Incense of Aaron) interpose between the living and the dead, and be our full, and perfect Atonement, ever acceptable with thee, that the Plague may be stayed. O let us live and we will praise thy Name; and these thy judgments shall teach us to look every Man into the plague of his own heart: that being cleansed from all our sins, we may serve thee with pure hearts all our dayes, perfecting holinesse in thy fear, till we come at last, where there is no more Sicknesse, nor Death, through thy tender Mercies in him alone, who is our Life, and our Health, and our Salvation, Jesus Christ, our ever blessed Saviour, and Redeemer. Amen[.]

UPDATE: And here is another prayer from the same order of service, perhaps less well-put but still pertinent:

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, whose Judgments are most severe, and terrible against obstinate offenders; but thy Mercies infinite to all, that with hearty Repentance, and true Faith turn unto thee: We, the sinful people of this land, whom for our iniquities, and manifold transgressions thou hast in many places most justly visited with the noisom Plague, and Pestilence, come now before the Throne of thy grace in the Name of thy dear Son, in whom thou art well pleased; and in confidence of that Atonement which he hath made for us, most humbly beseech thee to pardon, & forgive us all our sins in thought, word, or deed committed against thy Divine Majesty; to work in us dayly more and more a true, hearty, and unfeigned Sorrow, and Repentance for the same; to plant in our hearts a sincere and setled Resolution, by the assistance of thy Grace, to lead the rest of our lives in careful Obedience to thy holy Will in all things; and so to remove from us this Plague, and grievous Sickness, that we be not utterly consumed by means of thy heavy hand. To this end, grant us, good Lord of thy grace & mercy, all things conducing hereunto; Seasonable Weather, and good Air, and wholsom Food, & powerful Medicines, and whatever else thou seest to be good, and profitable for us; together with a due Care, and Conscience in using of the same; that we neither presume, nor tempt thy Majesty by neglecting the Means, which thou hast appointed, nor yet despair of thy Blessing in the diligent use of them, nor in any event repine, or murmure at thy Providence, what portion soever it allots us: But that submitting our selves to thy good pleasure in all things, we may commit the keeping of our Souls to thee in well-doing, as unto a faithfull Creatour; with compassionate pity, and charity (as we are able) succouring the sick, and preserving the whole, and praying fervently for All: and finally, that depending entirely upon thy Goodness, we may wait the hour of thy gracious Deliverance in Faith and Hope, and constant Patience, with perfect Resignation to thy wise, and just Appointment in all things; To the which we betake our selves, and the whole Nation, and what ever concerns us. Be mercifull unto us, O God be mercifull unto us, for our souls trust only in thee, and under the shadow of thy Wings shall be our refuge, till this Calamity be overpast [cf. Ps. 57. 1.]; which we beseech thee speedily to remove, if it be thy will, O Lord God of Mercies, and Father of Compassions, and to restore the voice of Joy, and Health once more into our Dwellings, for the alone Merits sake of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, our only Mediatour, and Advocate. Amen.