Prayer in the current Financial Crisis
 
Lord God, we live in disturbing days,
across the world,
prices rise,
debts increase,
banks collapse,
jobs are taken away,
and fragile security is under threat.
Loving God, meet us in our fear and hear our prayer:
be a tower of strength amidst the shifting sands,
and a light in the darkness;
help us receive your gift of peace,
and fix our hearts where true joys are to be found,
in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
Prayer prepared by the Church of England (Anglican)
 

 
A Litany in Honor of St. Joseph the Worker
 
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Husband of the Mother of God, pray for us.
Foster father of the Son of God, pray for us.
Head of the Holy Family, pray for us.
Joseph, chaste and just, pray for us.
Joseph, prudent and brave, pray for us.
Joseph, obedient and loyal, pray for us.
Pattern of patience, pray for us.
Lover of poverty, pray for us.
Model of workers, pray for us.
Example to parents, pray for us.
Pillar of family life, pray for us.
Comfort of the troubled, pray for us.
 
God made him master of his household.
And put him in charge of all that he owned.
 
Let us pray.
 
God our Father,
creator and ruler of the universe,
in every age you call us
to develop and use our gifts for the good of others.
With St. Joseph as our example and guide,
help us to do the work you have asked
and come to the rewards you have promised.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

The Sacramentary
 
 
Wisdom from St. Paul
 
I have learned, in whatever situation I find myself, to be self-sufficient.
I know indeed how to live in humble circumstances;
I know also how to live with abundance.
In every circumstance and in all things
I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry,
of living in abundance and of being in need.
I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.
Still, it was kind of you to share in my distress.

Philippians 4: 11-14
 

Psalm 90
 
O Lord, you have been our refuge
from one generation to the next.
Before the mountains were born,
or the earth or the world brought forth,
you are God, without beginning or end.
 
You turn us back to dust,
and say:  “Go back, children of earth.”
To your eyes a thousand years
are like yesterday, come and gone,
no more than a watch in the night.
 
You sweep us away like a dream,
like grass which springs up in the morning.
In the morning it springs up and flowers:
by evening it withers and fades….
 
Make us know the shortness of our life
that we may gain wisdom of heart….
Give us joy to balance our affliction
for the years we knew misfortune.
 
Show forth your work to your servants;
let your glory shine on their children.
Let the favor of the Lord be upon us:
give success to the work of our hands,
give success to the work of our hands.
 
 
Praise of a working mother
 
When one finds a worthy wife, her value is far beyond pearls.
Her husband, entrusting his heart to her, has an unfailing prize.
She brings him good, and not evil, all the days of her life.
She obtains wool and flax and makes cloth with skillful hands.
Like merchant ships, she secures her provisions from afar.
She rises while it is still night, and distributes food to her household.
She picks out a field to purchase; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She is girt about with strength, and sturdy are her arms.
She enjoys the success of her dealings; at night her lamp is undimmed.
She puts her hands to the distaff, and her fingers ply the spindle.
She reaches out her hands to the poor, and extends her arms to the needy.
She fears not the snow for her household; all her charges are doubly clothed.
She makes her own coverlets; fine linen and purple are her clothing.
Her husband is prominent at the city gates as he sits with the elders of the land.
She makes garments and sells them, and stocks the merchants with belts.
She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs at the days to come.
She opens her mouth in wisdom, and on her tongue is kindly counsel.
She watches the conduct of her household, and eats not her food in idleness.
Her children rise up and praise her; her husband, too, extols her:
"Many are the women of proven worth, but you have excelled them all."
Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting; the woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her a reward of her labors, and let her works praise her at the city gates.
 
Proverbs 31: 10-31