Orthodox prayers for the sick and for healing

These prayers are for when you or someone you love is sick. Add the name of the one who is ill, or pray them for yourself.

Picture: John Bridges, Christ Healing the Mother of Simon Peter’s Wife, 1839

5 prayers and 2 to the saints

A short hymn, with their name

Troparion for the sick

O Christ, You alone are quick to help.Come quickly from on highand visit Your suffering servant (name).Free them from sickness and bitter pain.Raise them up to sing to Youand glorify You without ceasing,through the prayers of the Mother of God,O only Lover of mankind.

O Christ, You alone are quick to help.Come quickly from on highand visit me, Your suffering servant.Free me from sickness and bitter pain.Raise me up to sing to Youand glorify You without ceasing,through the prayers of the Mother of God,O only Lover of mankind.

Traditional wording, 1894

Thou that alone art quick to help, O Christ,make manifest from on high a speedy visitation to Thine ailing servant:deliver him from sicknesses and bitter pains,and raise him up, that, without ceasing, he may praise and glorify Thee,through the God-bearing one’s entreaties,O Thou sole Lover of mankind.

The short hymn Orthodox Christians say at home for someone who is ill. It comes first under “Prayers for the sick” in Russian prayer books.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: G. V. Shann, Book of Needs of the Holy Orthodox Church, 1894.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

Longer, for healing and forgiveness

Prayer for a sick person

Master Almighty, holy King,You discipline,but You do not put to death.You hold up those who are fallingand lift up those who are cast down.You heal the sufferings of the body.We pray to You, our God:in Your mercy visit Your servant (name),who is ill,and forgive them every sin,done willingly or unwillingly.

Yes, Lord, send down Your healing power from heaven.Touch their body, put out the fever,and calm the suffering and every hidden weakness.Be the Physician of Your servant (name).Raise them from the bed of pain and the couch of suffering,whole and well,and give them back to Your Church,pleasing You and doing Your will.

For it is Yours to have mercy on usand to save us, our God,and to You we give glory,to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,now and always,and for ever and ever. Amen.

Master Almighty, holy King,You discipline,but You do not put to death.You hold up those who are fallingand lift up those who are cast down.You heal the sufferings of the body.I pray to You, my God:in Your mercy visit me, Your servant,for I am ill,and forgive me every sin,done willingly or unwillingly.

Yes, Lord, send down Your healing power from heaven.Touch my body, put out the fever,and calm the suffering and every hidden weakness.Be a Physician to me, Your servant.Raise me from the bed of pain and the couch of suffering,whole and well,and give me back to Your Church,pleasing You and doing Your will.

For it is Yours to have mercy on usand to save us, our God,and to You we give glory,to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,now and always,and for ever and ever. Amen.

Traditional wording, 1894

Master Almighty, holy King,Who chastenest, and killest not,Who supportest them that are falling,and settest up them that are cast down,Who restorest the bodily afflictions of men;we entreat Thee, O our God,that Thou wouldest send down Thy mercy upon this oil,and upon them that are anointed therewith in Thy name,that it may be to them for the healing of soul and body,and for the cleansing and removal of every passion,and of every sickness and wound,and of every defilement of flesh and spirit.

Yea, O Lord, send down from heaven Thy healing power;touch the body; allay the fever; soothe the suffering;and banish every lurking weakness.Be the Physician of Thy servant, (name),raise him from a bed of suffering, and from a couch of ailmentwhole and perfectly restored,granting him in Thy church to be acceptable, and one that doeth Thy will.

For it is Thine to have mercy and to save us, O our God,and to Thee we ascribe glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,now and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.

Since ancient times this has been the prayer read most widely over the sick. It asks God to touch the body and put out the fever, as Jesus did for Peter’s mother-in-law, and to raise the sick person up whole and well.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Church Slavonic of the Russian prayer books, with Shann’s 1894 translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: G. V. Shann, Book of Needs of the Holy Orthodox Church, 1894.

The traditional wording is the priest’s version from the service of anointing the sick, so it asks God to bless the oil. The Russian prayer books print a version for home. It leaves out the oil and asks mercy and forgiveness for the sick person instead. The plain English follows that version.

Where it comes from, and the Church Slavonic

When you are the one who is ill

Heal me, O Lord

Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed.Save me, and I will be saved,for You are my praise.

Traditional wording, 1611

Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed;save me, and I shall be saved:for Thou art my praise.

The prophet Jeremiah’s prayer, one line long, to say for yourself. He asks God to heal him and to save him, because God is the One he praises.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Hebrew of Jeremiah 17:14, with the King James Version beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: The King James translators, The King James Version, 1611.

Where it comes from, and the original

For someone you love

Lord, the one You love is sick

Lord, look,the one You love is sick.

Traditional wording, 1611

Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick.

When Lazarus fell ill, his sisters sent Jesus this one line and did not even ask Him to come. St Augustine saw trust in it: it was enough that Jesus knew, because He does not love and then forsake.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek of John 11:3, with the King James Version beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: The King James translators, The King James Version, 1611.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

For any illness

Prayer for healing

Master Almighty,Physician of souls and bodies,You humble and You lift up;You discipline, and You heal again.In Your mercy visit Your servant (name),who is sick.Stretch out Your arm,full of healing and cure,and heal them.Raise them up from their bed and from their sickness.

Rebuke the spirit of sickness.Drive away from them every wound,every pain, every affliction,every fever or chill.And if there is any fault or sin in them,set them free from it, pardon it and forgive it,for You love mankind.

Yes, Lord, through Christ Jesus our Lord,spare the one You have made.With Him You are blessed,together with Your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit,now and always,and for ever and ever. Amen.

Master Almighty,Physician of souls and bodies,You humble and You lift up;You discipline, and You heal again.In Your mercy visit me, Your servant,for I am sick.Stretch out Your arm,full of healing and cure,and heal me.Raise me up from my bed and from my sickness.

Rebuke the spirit of sickness.Drive away from me every wound,every pain, every affliction,every fever or chill.And if there is any fault or sin in me,set me free from it, pardon it and forgive it,for You love mankind.

Yes, Lord, through Christ Jesus our Lord,spare me, the one You have made.With Him You are blessed,together with Your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit,now and always,and for ever and ever. Amen.

Traditional wording, 1999

O Almighty Master, Physician of souls and bodies,Who humbleth and raiseth up, Who chasteneth and again healeth:As Thou art merciful, do Thou visit our brother (sister), N., who is sick.Stretch forth Thine arm, full of healing and cures,and heal him (her), raising him (her) up from his (her) bed and illness.

Do Thou forbid the spirit of sickness;dismiss from him (her) every wound, every infirmity, every sore, every fever and seizure.And if there be imputed unto him (her) iniquity or transgression,do Thou loose, remit and forgive him (her), out of Thy love for mankind.

Yea, O Lord, be merciful unto Thy creation,in Christ Jesus, our Lord, with Whom Thou art blessed,together with Thy Most-holy, Good and Lifegiving Spirit,now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

This prayer “for every kind of illness” already stands in the oldest Byzantine service book that survives, which dates from the late 700s. It asks God, the Physician of souls and bodies, to forgive and to stretch out His arm and heal.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek, with “Your servant” from the Russian prayer books. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: St Tikhon’s Monastery, The Great Book of Needs, Volume III, 1999.

The traditional wording is translated from the Church Slavonic of the Russian Book of Needs, the priest’s service book. Like the Greek, it prays for “our brother (sister)”. The plain English says “Your servant”, as the Russian prayer books for home do.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

To a saint · St Panteleimon

Troparion of St Panteleimon

Holy victor and healer Panteleimon,pray to the merciful Godthat He may grant our soulsforgiveness of sins.

Traditional wording, 1894

Thou holy pain-enduring one, physician too,O Pantelimon, mediate with God the merciful,that He may grant our souls remission of iniquities.

Panteleimon was a doctor who treated the sick and the poor without charge, healing them in the name of Jesus Christ, and he died a martyr. His four-line hymn is easy to say at a sickbed.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek, with Shann’s 1894 translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: G. V. Shann, Book of Needs of the Holy Orthodox Church, 1894.

Shann has “pain-enduring one” where the Greek has “victor”.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

To a saint · Sts Cosmas and Damian

Troparion of Sts Cosmas and Damian

Holy wonderworkers who took no payment,visit us in our sicknesses.Freely you have received;freely give to us.

Traditional wording, 1906

O sainted Unmercenaries and Wonderworkers,visit ye our infirmities.Freely ye have received,freely give ye unto us.

The brothers Cosmas and Damian were doctors who never took payment. Their hymn ends on Christ’s own words, “Freely you have received; freely give,” and it is sung when the sick are anointed.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek, with Isabel Hapgood’s 1906 translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: Isabel F. Hapgood, Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church, 1906.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

Patron saints of healing The saints people ask for help with this, their stories and their prayers.

Scripture for this

¹⁴Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

James 5:14-15 The passage Holy Unction rests on. It is the first of the service’s seven readings from the apostles’ letters.

⁵When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came and pleaded with Him, ⁶“Lord, my servant lies at home, paralyzed and in terrible agony.” ⁷“I will go and heal him,” Jesus replied.

Matthew 8:5-7 A Roman officer begs Jesus to help his suffering servant, and Jesus answers at once. The Russian service of prayer for the sick reads it.

²Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds— ³He Who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases, ⁴Who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion, ⁵Who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Psalm 103:2-5 The psalm tells the soul not to forget God’s gifts, among them that He forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.

I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’

Matthew 25:36 Jesus counts looking after someone who is sick as looking after Him.

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.

2 Corinthians 12:9 Paul begged the Lord three times to take away an affliction. This was the answer, for anyone still waiting to be healed.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

A psalm for this

Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am frail; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are in agony.
Psalm 6:2

The Orthodox Church sings the first verses of Psalm 6 near the start of Holy Unction.

Psalm 6 Read the whole psalm, with St Athanasius’s advice on when to pray it.

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