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Summary
- The 1928 Book of Common Prayer has a short family prayer “For Those We Love” that entrusts “all who are dear to us” to God’s care, and one “For the Absent” for loved ones who are away.
- Short prayers cover particular moments: when things go wrong, after an argument, fear of losing him, trust, being apart, purity, deciding about the future, a boyfriend who does not share the faith, and a breakup.
- Genesis 31:49, “The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another,” was engraved on Victorian “Mizpah” jewelry, though in Genesis it seals a wary agreement between Jacob and Laban.
- The Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraph 2350) asks engaged couples to “reserve for marriage the expressions of affection that belong to married love.”
- 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 can be prayed line by line for a relationship; the King James Version’s “charity” means love, and modern translations read “Love is patient, love is kind.”
- In the Orthodox tradition, Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom, who died on the same day in 1228, are regarded as patron saints of newly-weds.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Genesis 31:49; Psalm 34:18; Proverbs 3:5–6; 15:1; Ecclesiastes 4:9–10; Matthew 18:20; 1 Corinthians 13:4–7; 2 Corinthians 6:14; Ephesians 4:26, 32; Philippians 1:9; Colossians 3:13; 1 Thessalonians 3:12; 4:3; James 1:19). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- New International Version, 1 Corinthians 13:4. BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+13%3A4&version=NIV
- The Book of Common Prayer (Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.), Standard Book of 1928. Family Prayer, “For Guidance,” p. 595; “For the Absent,” pp. 596–597; “For Those We Love,” p. 597. PDF facsimile: https://www.artisticdailyprayers.org/uploads/3/0/1/6/30164961/bcp1928std.pdf
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997. Paragraph 2350. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P85.HTM
- Orthodox Church in America. “Saints Peter and Fevronia (tonsured David and Euphrosyne), Wonderworkers of Murom,” commemorated June 25. https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/06/25/101811-saints-peter-and-fevronia-tonsured-david-and-euphrosyne-wonderwo
- “Mizpah and Victorian Sentimentality.” Art of Mourning, 22 March 2024. https://artofmourning.com/mizpah-and-victorian-sentimentality/
- love is respect, National Teen Dating Abuse Hotline. https://www.loveisrespect.org/
