English 
Chinese 
Dutch 
Arabic 
Spanish 
Portuguese 
Russian 
French 
Italian 
German 
Japanese 
Continue reading with a subscription
Get unlimited access to all our premium content and exclusive features.
Enjoy unlimited access, cancel anytime.
Summary
- Scripture records prayers made when nothing more could be done, among them Jehoshaphat’s “neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee” (2 Chronicles 20:12) and Jesus’ “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee” (Mark 14:36).
- Esther’s prayer, “help me a desolate woman, and who have no other helper but thee,” appears in the Greek text of Esther that Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include (Douay-Rheims, Esther 14:3).
- Traditional prayers are quoted from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, the Orthodox Liturgy of St. Basil (“the Hope of the hopeless”) and Great Compline in Hapgood’s 1906 translation, and the Memorare from the 1888 Catholic Manual of Prayers.
- In popular Catholic devotion, Jude Thaddeus is patron of hopeless causes and Rita of Cascia (1386–1456) was called in Spain “the saint of the impossible.”
- Scripture records prayers answered beyond hope, such as Hezekiah’s, and prayers answered another way, such as Paul’s request to lose his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:8–9).
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Genesis 18:14; 2 Kings 19:19; 2 Chronicles 20:6, 12; Esther 4:16; Psalm 50:15; Daniel 3:17–18; Jonah 2:1–2; Mark 3:18; 9:23–24; 11:25; 14:36; Luke 6:16; 18:1; John 14:22; 2 Corinthians 12:8–9; Philippians 4:6; James 5:16). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- The Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims translation, Esther 14:3, 14 (Project Gutenberg eBook no. 1581). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1581
- The Book of Common Prayer (Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.), Standard Book of 1928. Prayers and Thanksgivings, Collects, “Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom,” pp. 49–50. PDF facsimile: https://www.artisticdailyprayers.org/uploads/3/0/1/6/30164961/bcp1928std.pdf
- Hapgood, Isabel Florence, trans. Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic (Greco-Russian) Church. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, 1906. The Divine Liturgy (Liturgy of St. Basil), p. 109; The Office of Grand Compline, p. 160. https://archive.org/details/ServiceBookOfHolyOrthodoxChurchByHapgood
- A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity, prepared and published by order of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. New York: Catholic Publication Society, 1888. “Memorare,” pp. 381–382. https://archive.org/details/AManualOfPrayers1888
- Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. “The Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great,” preface. https://www.goarch.org/-/the-divine-liturgy-of-saint-basil-the-great
- Mershman, Francis. “St. Rita of Cascia.” The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13064a.htm
- National Shrine of Saint Jude. “History of the Shrine.” https://shrineofstjude.org/the-shrine/history-of-the-shrine/
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. https://988lifeline.org/
- Samaritans. “Contact Samaritans.” https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/
- Fund for Support of Children in Difficult Life Situations. Helpline for children, teenagers and parents, 8 800 2000 122. https://fond-detyam.ru/
