Christian Pure

Prayers to Find Something Lost: Keys, a Ring, a Pet or a Missing Person

Christian Pure Team

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Summary

  • Short prayers cover the search itself, keys and wallets, a ring or keepsake, an important document, a theft, a missing animal, the moment of finding and a loss that is final.
  • For a missing person, the police come first; in the US the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children answers on 1-800-THE-LOST, and in the UK Missing People answers on 116 000.
  • Scripture tells of Saul’s lost donkeys (1 Samuel 9:20), Elisha’s floating axe head (2 Kings 6:5–7) and Mary and Joseph finding Jesus after three days (Luke 2:46).
  • Catholics ask Saint Anthony of Padua (1195–1231) to pray for lost things, a custom tied to the words “resque perditas” in Julian of Speyer’s responsory Si quaeris.
  • Russian Orthodox Christians pray to the martyr John the Warrior, whose Life stresses his help in recovering stolen or lost things.

“Lord, you know exactly where it is. Calm me, help me remember where I last had it, and open my eyes as I look. If it is gone for good, give me peace about it. Amen.” Catholics also ask Saint Anthony of Padua to pray for lost things; Russian Orthodox Christians ask the martyr John the Warrior. If a person is missing, especially a child, call the police before anything else, and pray while you wait. In the US, after…

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Bibliography (Click to show)
  • Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (1 Samuel 9:20; 2 Kings 6:5–7; Matthew 6:19–21, 32; Luke 2:44–48; 12:6; 15:4, 8–9; 19:10; Philippians 4:6). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
  • Dal-Gal, Niccolò. “St. Anthony of Padua.” The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01556a.htm
  • “The Miraculous Responsory of St. Anthony of Padua.” New Liturgical Movement, June 2013 (Latin text of the Si quaeris). https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2013/06/the-miraculous-responsory-of-st-anthony.html
  • Basilica of Saint Anthony, Padua. “Si quaeris.” https://www.santantonio.org/en/content/si-quaeris
  • “Иоанн Воин” (John the Warrior). Православная энциклопедия (Orthodox Encyclopedia), vol. 24, pp. 8–19. Moscow: Church Research Center “Orthodox Encyclopedia.” https://www.pravenc.ru/text/471095.html
  • National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. “Get Help Now.” https://www.missingkids.org/gethelpnow
  • Missing People. “Get help.” https://www.missingpeople.org.uk/get-help

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