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Summary
- The 1928 Book of Common Prayer has a prayer “For One about to undergo an Operation,” which asks God to comfort the patient and “bless the means made use of for his cure.”
- Short prayers cover the night before, the morning of surgery, the surgical team, the family in the waiting room, pain and slow healing, and hard news.
- The 1906 Presbyterian Book of Common Worship and the 1928 Prayer Book supply traditional prayers for a sick family member, for recovery and for thanksgiving when recovery begins.
- The Catholic Catechism (paragraph 1515) says it is fitting to receive the Anointing of the Sick just before a serious operation; the Orthodox Church offers Holy Unction to the sick, and the 1928 Prayer Book has an office of Unction of the Sick.
- Saints Cosmas and Damian, third-century physicians and martyrs, are regarded as patrons of physicians and surgeons; Colossians 4:14 calls Luke “the beloved physician.”
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Psalm 4:8; 41:3; 56:3; 139:12; Isaiah 40:31; 41:10; Jeremiah 17:14; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Philippians 4:6–7; Colossians 4:14; James 5:14–15; 1 Peter 5:7). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- The Book of Common Prayer (Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.), Standard Book of 1928, as printed by D. B. Updike, 1930. Family Prayer, “For One about to undergo an Operation” and “For the Recovery of a Sick Person,” p. 597; Visitation of the Sick, “A Thanksgiving for the Beginning of a Recovery,” pp. 315–316; “Unction of the Sick,” p. 320; Collect for Saint Luke the Evangelist, p. 253. PDF facsimile by Satucket Software: https://www.artisticdailyprayers.org/uploads/3/0/1/6/30164961/bcp1928std.pdf
- The Book of Common Worship (Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.). Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-school Work, 1906. Family Prayers, “For the Sick,” p. 160. https://archive.org/details/bookofcommonwor00pres/page/160/mode/1up
- 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. “Come, Holy Ghost,” p. 52. https://archive.org/details/AManualOfPrayers1888/page/52/mode/1up
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997. Paragraphs 1514–1516. https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_two/section_two/chapter_two/article_5/ii_who_receives_and_who_administers_this_sacrament.html
- Orthodox Church in America. “Holy Unction.” The Orthodox Faith, vol. 2, Worship. https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/worship/the-sacraments/holy-unction
- Meier, Gabriel. “Sts. Cosmas and Damian.” The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04403e.htm
- “Careful (adj.).” Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/careful
