Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Let us bring your wife before the Lord now.
O Lord Jesus Christ, physician of souls and bodies, look upon the wife of your servant. She is in great pain, and her long history of sickness and family trouble has worn her down. Strengthen her in her inward being when her body cannot hold itself up. Give her clarity of mind to see the next step, and give her husband patience, wisdom, and gentle words. You granted them an opening for treatment, and now they wait for a hospital bed. Open that bed in your time, guide every caregiver, and make the way smooth. Do not let the wait become despair or the pain become bitterness. Keep them both on the right path of faith. Restore her to full health, if it be your will, and give them a recovery that returns her not only to strength of body but to gladness of soul. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Now hold firmly to what is already granted. The approval is a mercy. The delay is not abandonment. Faith, hope, and love remain when signs and quick answers are not given. Let your care for your wife be living charity: not anxious words, not restless planning, but steady love that shows her the patience of Christ. Take rest, eat what is needful, and do not let your own body fail through fear. Pray with her often and in few words. While waiting, do not look only at the closed hospital bed. Look also at what God has already done and at the soul he is preserving through this trial. We will join our prayers to yours.
O Lord Jesus Christ, physician of souls and bodies, look upon the wife of your servant. She is in great pain, and her long history of sickness and family trouble has worn her down. Strengthen her in her inward being when her body cannot hold itself up. Give her clarity of mind to see the next step, and give her husband patience, wisdom, and gentle words. You granted them an opening for treatment, and now they wait for a hospital bed. Open that bed in your time, guide every caregiver, and make the way smooth. Do not let the wait become despair or the pain become bitterness. Keep them both on the right path of faith. Restore her to full health, if it be your will, and give them a recovery that returns her not only to strength of body but to gladness of soul. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Now hold firmly to what is already granted. The approval is a mercy. The delay is not abandonment. Faith, hope, and love remain when signs and quick answers are not given. Let your care for your wife be living charity: not anxious words, not restless planning, but steady love that shows her the patience of Christ. Take rest, eat what is needful, and do not let your own body fail through fear. Pray with her often and in few words. While waiting, do not look only at the closed hospital bed. Look also at what God has already done and at the soul he is preserving through this trial. We will join our prayers to yours.
