Resources for Prayer & Reflection

Videos

Prayers & Reflections

Ignatian Solidarity Network: Resources on social justice and spiritual activism.

Liturgies at St. Ignatius Church (via Livestream)

St. Agnes Parish

SF Interfaith Council List of Livestream Congregation Services throughout SF

Calmness Prayers

Resources for Spiritual Comfort and Support

Jesuit Resource: Jesuit Resource contains prayer indexes and a multifaith calendar.

Hallow: A Catholic meditation app to help you find peace and grow in your spiritual journey.

3-Minute Retreat: A short prayer break you can take from your computer with daily reflections based on Ignatian spirituality by Jesuit and lay contributors throughout the world.

Pray as you go: A daily spoken scripturally based Christian meditation (with music) made by the British Jesuits.

Sacred Space: A daily written Ignatian meditation based on the scriptures.

Reimagining the Examen App: Based on Thibodeaux’s book, Reimagining the Ignatian Examen. With soothing music and step-by-step guidance, users can choose from one of several themed Examens—picking the reflection that best fits their current state of being—or select the Examen of the day.

Jesuit Prayer App: Jesuit Prayer is your one-stop shop for Ignatian Spirituality on the go.

Breathe Peace World: (Created by Hanna Hymans Ostroff) Breathing peace is intuitive and natural inside Breathe Peace World. It is a sweet, fun, uplifting virtual reality experience designed for people of all ages.

A Litany of Blessing in Time of Grief

Before we breathed our first, O God,
you etched our names upon your hands,
like stretchmarks on our mother’s skin.
And those same hands that bear our lives
will carry us home as we breathe our last.

So even in our grief, O God,
let every breath we carry within
announce your goodness with praise unending.
For you have made us to be your own,
a people of your Spirit with blessing on our lips.

Therefore:
Sun and moon: Bless the Lord!
Stars of the sky: Bless the Lord!
Depths of ocean: Bless the Lord!
Birds of air: Bless the Lord!
Let all creation: Bless the Lord!

Blessed be God for doctors and nurses: Blessed be God forever!
For scientists and researchers: Blessed be God forever!
For pharmacists and technicians: Blessed be God forever!
For social workers and caregivers: Blessed be God forever!
For all who endeavor to keep us safe: Blessed be God forever!

Blessed be God for grocery clerks and janitors: Blessed be God forever!
For restaurant chefs and fast-food workers: Blessed be God forever!
For farmers and delivery drivers: Blessed be God forever!
For field laborers and postal carriers: Blessed be God forever!
For all who feed and care for us: Blessed be God forever!

Blessed be God for pastoral staffs: Blessed be God forever!
For clergy and religious who pray for us daily: Blessed be God forever!
For catechists teaching in creative new ways: Blessed be God forever!
For liturgical ministers tackling technology: Blessed be God forever!
For all who serve the domestic church: Blessed be God forever!

Blessed be God for teachers and parents: Blessed be God forever!
For those who sing and those who dance: Blessed be God forever!
For musicians, artists, composers, and poets: Blessed be God forever!
For comedians, actors, and story-tellers: Blessed be God forever!
For all who inspire and sustain our hearts: Blessed be God forever!

And blessed be God for the human spirit: Blessed be God forever!
That strives to live in more gentle ways: Blessed be God forever!
That connects with others while staying apart: Blessed be God forever!
That weeps and laughs and sits in silence: Blessed be God forever!
For the human family in deeper communion: Blessed be God forever!

In faith and love, we ask you, God, let not this virus consume our world.
But breathe your Spirit in us again that we may praise you unceasingly
with Christ our Lord, from whom all good things come.

--Diana Macalintal

Prayer for Washing Hands (shared by Rabbi Camille Shira Angel)

As I take up my hands
to wash them and reassure my heart
reassure my heart
I pray for healing and wholeness
for the whole world.
I remember that every life
is unique and of infinite value:
from those living
on the most remote part of the globe
to those in our cities.
to our neighbors and family members.
Let me use my hands for good.
to help bring love. 
and compassion to others.
“Let us lift up
our hearts and hands
to the Eternal.” (Lam 3:41)

--Rabbi Joseph Meszler 

You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.

--Thomas Merton

Pandemic

What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath—
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray. Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.

And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another’s hands.
(Surely, that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.

Promise this world your love--
for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.

--Rev. Lynn Ungar

A Prayer to Face COVID-19 with Hope and Solidarity

Dear God,

In this time of uncertainty and fear, help us be love, mercy, and peace for ourselves and for others as we face coronavirus in the United States and around the world.

Help us hold close in our hearts those who have died, and their loved ones who mourn them.
Those who are sick or are trying to seek medical care.
Those who don’t have paid sick leave, benefits, or job security.
Those whose schools have closed and don’t have access to food, safe homes, or technology.
Those who can’t travel to be with loved ones who are ill or dying.
Those who are facing discrimination and harassment because of their ethnicity.
Those who are struggling with loneliness during this time of social isolation.
Those who are frightened and losing hope.

Help us find joy, however small it seems.
Help us remain hopeful.
Help us remember that “All shall be well, for there is a force of love moving through the universe that holds us fast and will never let us go.”

Amen

Prayer in a Time of Peril

I know Your hand is not at rest,
nor your eyes, distracted,
nor your voice, silent.
I know that with each breath, you are with me.
Each beat of my heart is your song;
each morning, every evening, your gift.
But oh, my dear God, these are troubled days,
and I am prone to fear.
Please, in my fear, reveal to me verdant pastures;
in my loneliness, go with me to still waters;
in this struggle, restore my soul.
And if it is in shadow that I must walk,
take my hand and do not let me go
until there is no evil left to fear.
With your love, may I love;
with your hope, may I hope,
all the days of my life.
Amen.

--Sarah Hart

Prayer for Healthcare Workers

May the One who blessed our ancestors
Bless all those who put themselves at risk to care for the sick
Physicians and nurses and orderlies
Technicians and home health aides
EMTs and pharmacists
(And bless especially _______)
Who navigate the unfolding dangers of the world each day,
To tend to those they have sworn to help.
Bless them in their coming home and bless them in their going out.
Ease their fear. Sustain them.
Source of all breath, healer of all beings,
Protect them and restore their hope.
Strengthen them, that they may bring strength;
Keep them in health, that they may bring healing.
Help them know again a time when they can breathe without fear.
Bless the sacred work of their hands.
May this plague pass from among us, speedily and in our days.

--Rabbi Ayelet S. Cohen