If you’re feeling overwhelmed and anxious in these uncertain times, as many of us are, we hope this collection of prayers and spiritual resources will be of some comfort. If you have a poem, prayer or resource that is helping you in this time please feel free to share it in the comments!
Prayers and Meditations
It can be really helpful in times of anxiety to turn to the words of those who have gone before us, especially when we may not be able to think of what to pray ourselves. Here are some of our favourites that we come back to time and again.
All shall be well, and all shall be well,and all manner of things shall be well.- Julian of Norwich
Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.
- St Teresa of Avila
3. The Jesus Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.- St Patrick
5. The Rosary
If you're not sure how to pray the rosary check out this really handy guide!
Looking after your wellbeing
1. Here are a couple of articles from Mind (a UK mental health charity) and the BBC, with some really good advice about looking after your mental wellbeing especially whilst working from home or in isolation.
Mind: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/coronavirus-and-your-wellbeing/
BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51873799
2. We produced a resource with Space to Breathe, called Well Beings, all about looking after your mental health as a student. You can find the Well Beings resource here.
3. Blurt, a mental health foundation set up to help people with depression, are doing a check-in post on Facebook every day at 11am. They're a really great charity who are always really encouraging - if you're in need of some community in the next couple of weeks go check out their Facebook page and join in with their #BlurtCheckingIn.
4. Calm have released some free meditations and resources for helping with anxiety.
Spiritual Resources
1. Taizé Live Streamed Prayer
From Monday onwards, every evening at 7:30pm GMT Taizé are broadcasting a prayer with a small group of brothers live from the community. You can join in on Facebook.
2. Church of England Prayer and Liturgy
The Church of England have released some prayer and liturgy resources especially to do with the Coronavirus. You can find that and other related resources on their website.
3. "Common Prayer: A Liturgy For Ordinary Radicals" App
Based on the book "Common Prayer: A Liturgy For Ordinary Radicals", by Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, the app helps today’s diverse church pray together across traditions and denominations with morning, midday, and evening prayers for every day of the year. With an ear to the particulars of how various liturgical traditions pray, this app offers a tapestry of prayer that celebrates the best of many traditions. Following the 12 Marks of New Monasticism, this app also offers guidance for putting faith into action each month, complete with links to further reading that will deepen your understanding of how God is at work in the world. You can download the app for free in the Google Play Store or the iPhone App Store.
4. The Examen
The Daily Examen is a technique of prayerful reflection on the events of the day in order to detect God’s presence and discern his direction for us. It is a method of reviewing your day in the presence of God, a chance to put aside some time for thankful reflection. You can learn more about it on the Ignatian Sprituality website, and find a handy prayer card outlining the steps of the Examen to download or print. Fr James Martin S.J. also has a daily Examen podcast you can listen and pray along with.
5. Faith in the Time of Coronavirus
This bible study tool, written by SCM Member Josh Mock, is based on the article Faith in the Time of Coronavirus by Fr James Martin, an American Jesuit priest. It can be used both in a group and individually to reflect on the situation and how we respond.
6. Inclusive Churches with Online Worship
The wonderful Revd Kate Harford has started a thread of inclusive churches who are currently offering online worship, sermons, etc. You can find the list on twitter.
There is so much that churches and individuals are putting online at the moment, with ministers live streaming services, people running Bible studies online, starting online community prayer groups plus more. Feel free to link to any that you know of below!
And Finally...
Following the Good Eggs on Social Media
Let's be honest, we're probably going to be spending a lot of time on social media regardless of the advice to limit our time spent scrolling, so it's essential to fill our feeds with people who are going to encourage and lift us up. Here are some great people to follow on Facebook and Twitter, who consistently post encouraging, hopeful content:
If you have any other prayers, meditations, or resources to help build community and lower anxiety please do share them with us in the comments!