‘The Tears of Things’ – A Prayer inspired by the 8th Station of the Cross

A poignant poem/prayer written and kindly shared by Sr Kate Holmstrom SHCJ.

Art by Theophile Lybaert

“Weep not for me, but for your children.”
We are the women of Jerusalem.
We were standing by the Way of the Cross.
But we weep both for you, dear Lord,
And for our children.
We weep for all the sorrows of the world.

Photo by Kat J on Unsplash

‘We are the women of Ukraine.
We weep for our husbands who embraced us so tenderly,
Bidding us goodbye
as they stayed on to fight,
While we cowered in dark basements
Or struggled to escape to freedom,
Facing an unknown, frightening future,
Encouraging our little ones,
traumatised and fearful.’

‘We weep for our lost, premature babies
As others weep for their own, miscarried children
Or for themselves when they chose to abort
In a tragic miscarriage of judgement and despair.’

‘We are the women of Russia.
Our sons and sweethearts did not go willingly (fed by lies and false promises)
To bomb and kill people just like themselves, ourselves.
We grieve for them all
– whether living or dead.
We cry out in desperation …
but to what avail?’
‘We are the women of Afghanistan
Stripped of our future and condemned to silence.’

Art by Christos Magganas

‘We are the women of starving countries
Depriving ourselves of a morsel of bread to feed another.’

‘We are the women, old, cold or sick,
Haunted by nightmares of bills and debt.’


‘We are the women raped, beaten, abused
As we shudder and whimper, powerless and vanquished.’

‘You too wept,
Jesus of the tender heart,
Were overcome by the sorrow
at the death of Lazarus
And the destruction of Jerusalem, foretold.’  

‘Yes, Lord, still we weep for you
And we weep for all the children of misfortune.  
Mother of Sorrows – in our affliction we turn to you.
Tortured Lord – in your mercy, hear our prayers.’

Crying Women by Mikuláš Galanda

A Prayer for Peace in Ukraine: Господи помилуй, Lord have Mercy

When we are lost for words, prayers and laments like this one by Rev Jon Swales can help us express our heart’s desire to our Almighty God.

Father of Creation,
God of Peace,

The world has changed,
And so have our hearts,
As we face disappointment, 
disorientation and distress
Not knowing what will happen next.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

Putin and the Masters of War
Have opened the door to the beasts of war,
And it may overwhelm us.
Who is like the beast?
Who can fight against it?

Yet our grief, anxiety and fear
is nothing compared to that faced
by ordinary people living in Ukraine.

So we pray for,
The brave and the scared,
The soldier and civilian,
The elderly and the newborn,

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy. 

And so we pray for,
Those who have decided to fight,
Those who have decided to flee,
Those who resist but choose not to kill.

Lord have mercy.

Christ have mercy.

And so we pray for 
Those who this day will be wounded,
Those who this day will die,
Those who this day will mourn. 

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy

Father of Compassion,
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

We look to you,
In a world at war,
For hope, healing and help,
For grace, goodness and guidance,
For the cessation of war and the flourishing of peace.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy. 

Father of Peace,
God of Hope, 

After crucifixion,
Your Son was laid silent in the grave,
And then you spoke and he was raised to life.

Violence does not win,
It will not have the last word,
Death does not win,
It will not have the last word.

In the reconciliation of all things,
War will be no more.
In the reconciliation of all things,
All tears will be wiped away.
In the reconciliation of all things,
There will be a tree for the healing of the nations. 

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

Hospody pomyluy, Господи помилуй

Christ have mercy. 

Amen

To listen to this prayer being read by Rev Jon Swales, please click on the link below:

Lament and Hope: Prayers for Peace and Justice: A Prayer for Peace in Ukraine

You can find more laments, prayers and poems on the same podcast site, some are about the climate change disaster, some were in response to Covid, and there are more about the Ukraine as well.

Rev Jon Swales is Lighthouse Mission Priest (C of E) at Lighthouse West Yorkshire, which is is a fresh expression of church and registered Leeds-based charity which reaches out to those who are battered and bruised by the storms of life.

Some prayers and ideas shared at our Discussion Event on 4th November

About 20 of us met on Zoom on a cold evening with fireworks going off in the background! We had a good time together sharing issues and ideas around starting up and continuing activities and support for older people in our parishes at this strange time of transition.

Sister Bernadette from the Sisters of Mercy led us first in LAMENT remembering the difficult times we have come through and still have to navigate:

“As we gather this evening, we are conscious that we have lived and are living through a pandemic. This is something many of us may have never imagined.”

“The flow of life has changed, our way of life has been affected, and the crisis seems unending. Life has been difficult in so many ways and each person here tonight will be aware of that in some way, as an individual, a family, a colleague in a workplace or as a member of a Parish.”

“Our one constant through this journey of the pandemic has been our God, our companion, our comforter, our hope, our strength, our guide. The God who at times was close or who may have seemed far away.”

After a Lockdown poem, we moved on to expressing HOPE and STRENGTH as we move forward, with the words of Isaiah and prayers of commitment and faith:

We are not people of fear:
We are people of courage.
We are not people who protect our own safety:
We are people who protect our neighbours’ safety.
We are not people of greed:
We are people of generosity.
We are your people God, giving and loving,
Wherever we are,
Whatever it costs,
For as long as it takes
Wherever you call us.

We then broke into 3 DISCUSSION GROUPS on the following themes:

  1. Restarting or starting groups and activities
  2. Online or ‘in person’ or both?
  3. Supporting the vulnerable and reconnecting with the disconnected

GROUP 1: RESTARTING OR STARTING ACTIVITIES

With help from Hillary Wadsworth from Time to Shine, some of the themes discussed here were:

GROUP 2: ONLINE OR IN PERSON OR BOTH?

Rachel Beedle from Catholic Care who works with their older people’s groups facilitated this group – their main points were:

GROUP 3: SUPPORTING THE VULNERABLE AND RECONNECTING

Mo Crossley from Huddersfield facilitated this group, enabling input from SVP and others, resulting in a good discussion with the following main points:

Feedback showed that attendees enjoyed both the reflections/prayers and the discussions, and we hope it was helpful to all to come together and share ideas and concerns.

We are now starting to plan for some events/content in the Spring on the theme of ‘Finding our Calling in Later Life’ – watch this space (as they say!).

‘Healer of all Hurts, how long?’ – A Lament by Jon Swales

Father God,
Healer of All Hurts.

We come to you in our hour of need saying.

How Long? O Lord.
How Long?

We find our ourselves caught up in the storm of Covid.
We feel stranded and alone,
Cut off from those we love.

How Long? O Lord.
How Long.

We face shipwreck and catastrophe,
Battered and bruised by the storm of this pandemic.

Our nation is in peril,
Our NHS is stretched,
Our Souls feel anxious and afraid.

How Long? O Lord.
How Long?

Healer of all hurts,
We come to you in our hour of need pleading.

That you would still the wind and waves,


And act,
And move,
And comfort,
And heal,
And embrace us in your healing hands.

Covenant God,
Father of Lights,
We bring before your tender love.

Those who are sick,
Lord have mercy, Christ Have mercy.

Front Line workers for protection and resilience,
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.

For energy and patience for those homeschooling,
Lord have mercy, Christ Have mercy.

For the vulnerable and those shielding,
Lord have mercy, Christ Have mercy.

For ourselves in our boredom, frustration and anxiety.
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.

Father God,
Healer of All Hurts.
We come to you in our hour of need praising you,
That you do not leave us,
or forsake us.
You have shown your love to us in Jesus.

Covenant God,
Father of Lights,
We come to you in our hour of need praising you,
That there is not a hurt you will not heal.
Nor a tear you will not wipe away.
You have shown your love to us in Jesus.

We praise you that in Jesus is a balm to soothe our souls.
We praise you that in Jesus there is always hope.
We praise that in Jesus all will be well.

Until that day,
We Weep and Pray.

How Long? O Lord,
How Long?

Written by Rev Jon Swales, January 2021

Jon is Lighthouse Mission Priest (C of E) at Lighthouse West Yorkshire, which is is a fresh expression of church and registered Leeds-based charity which reaches out to those who are battered and bruised by the storms of life.

Find out more on their website.