Life is not complete without illness. When a person loses his health, he most often turns to the Lord.
The Church has long had a tradition of serving prayers “For the healing of the sick,” which can also be joined by a prayer to the Mother of God for health. As a merciful Mother, the Most Pure Virgin conveys to the Lord the petitions of loved ones for the healing of an ill family member.
One pious monk had a vision: many Angels and saints standing at the Throne of God. But among them he did not see the Mother of God. “Lord, where is the Most Pure One?” - the monk was surprised. “She walks the earth, healing the sick, clothing the poor and comforting the mourning,” answered the Lord. The plot of this parable is depicted on the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow”: the Mother of God extends her most pure hands to the unfortunate people around her.
The Church also venerates other icons in which prayers are offered to the Mother of God for health: the Healer, the Queen of All, the Deliverer, the Quick to Hear, etc.
Water Blessing Prayer to the Mother of God
Prayer services with the blessing of water appeared in the Church in connection with miraculous healings that took place in the 5th century. at the source dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The spring was located near Constantinople and, after the healing of a blind man, was constantly visited by Christians. The priests served prayer services with sprinkling of healing water and singing of the Mother of God.
Icon "Life-Giving Source"
In memory of these events, the icon “Life-Giving Source” was painted, the feast of which is celebrated on Easter days. The chants mention a woman who was healed of breast cancer.
The water-blessing prayer ends with a chant in honor of the Mother of God:
To my queen, offering
Blessings to my queen, my hope to the Mother of God, friend of the orphans and strange representatives, the sorrowful with joy, the offended patroness! See my misfortune, see my sorrow, help me as I am weak, feed me as I am strange. Weigh my offense, resolve it as you will: for I have no other help except You, no other representative, no good comforter, except You, O God of God, for you will preserve me and cover me forever and ever. Amen.
A request for health must be accompanied by the repentance of the sick person for sins with which he could anger the Mother of God.
What do they pray for?
It is believed that the Mother of God is most often prayed to by people who wish health to their child. After all, it was she who was able to give birth to a son in an immaculate conception. Parents who wish their baby health, in most cases pray to the Mother of God.
When reading a prayer to the Mother of God, people ask for the following things:
- about health;
- about healing the sick;
- about the health of a pregnant girl;
- about giving spiritual strength;
- assistance before surgery;
- about the health of the child and other family members.
If a person asks for help from the icon of the Holy Mother of God, then he will definitely receive it, if he has good intentions and with faith in his heart.
Belt of the Virgin Mary
Throughout the Christian world, a powerful shrine is known - the Belt of the Virgin Mary.
Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary
This is part of the robe of the Most Pure One, glorified by miracles since the 10th century. Healings from the Belt occurred regularly. At the ark with the Belt they pray for healing from cancer and infertility.
Prayer before the Belt
Oh, Blessed Mother of God, Most Immaculate and Joyful, may we, Thy weak people, rejoice, for by Thy Power and Power we have crushed all our enemies, visible and invisible, and let us glorify and magnify Thee, as the Invincible Victory of the All-Powerful.
Prayers to the Lord
Lord, God, Almighty, look upon us, Your sinful and unworthy children, who have sinned before You, who have angered Your goodness, who have brought Your righteous wrath upon us, who have fallen into the depths of sin. You see, Lord, our weakness and spiritual sorrow, weigh the corruption of our minds and hearts, the impoverishment of faith, the departure from Your commandments, the multiplication of family disorders, divisions and discord. Church members, You see our sorrows and tribulations, from illnesses, famines, drowning, burning and the internecine warfare taking place. But, Most Gracious and Humane-loving Lord, give understanding, instruct and have mercy on us, the unworthy. Correct our sinful life, quench discord and disorder, gather the scattered, unite the scattered, give peace and prosperity to our country, deliver us from grave troubles and misfortunes. All-Holy Master, enlighten our minds with the light of the teachings of the Gospel, warm our hearts with the warmth of Your grace and direct me to the doing of Your commandments, so that the All-Holy and Glorious may be glorified in us I am Yours, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.
After repentance of sins, you can pray for the health of the family, healing from illnesses and ailments.
Master, Almighty, Holy King, punish and do not kill, strengthen those who fall and raise up the overthrown, correct bodily sorrows of people, we pray to Thee, our God, Thy servant ( name) visit the weak with Thy mercy, forgive him every sin, voluntary and involuntary. Hey, Lord, send down Your healing power from Heaven, touch the body, extinguish the fire, tame passion and all lurking infirmities, be the doctor of Your servant (name), raise him up from the brink of death whole and all-perfect from the bed of bitterness, grant it to Thy Church, pleasing and doing Your will. For it is Yours to have mercy and save us, our God, and to You we send glory, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
If illnesses recede and the sick recover, one must not forget the prayer of thanks.
We thank Thee, Lord our God, for all Thy good deeds, even from the first age to the present in us, the unworthy, the former, about those known and not known, about those revealed and unmanifested, those who were in fact, and the word vom: who loved us as he loved the Only Begotten You are willing to give your Son to us. Make us also worthy of Your love. Give wisdom through Your word and through Your fear, inhale strength from Your power, and whatever we want or don’t want to sin, forgive, and not impute, and preserve our holy soul, and present To Your throne, I have a clear conscience, and the end is worthy of Your love for mankind. And remember, O Lord, all who call on Your name in truth: remember all who desire good or evil against us: for all are men, and every man is in vain. Moreover, we pray to You, Lord: grant us Your great mercy.
Icon of the Mother of God “Healer”
This is the image of the Blessed Virgin bending over the bed of a sick person. The source was the miraculous healing of the sexton of the Neverninsky Church (Moscow) at the end of the 18th century.
Icon of the Mother of God “Healer”
Lists of the “Healer” are placed in hospital churches and chapels, and turning to the Healer helps to overcome serious illnesses.
Prayer to the Healer
O Most Holy Lady Queen Theotokos, the highest of all heavenly powers and the holiest of all saints! We fall down and worship You before Your all-honorable and wholesome image, remembering Your wondrous appearance to the sick clergyman Vincent, and earnestly pray to You, the all-powerful intercessor and helper of our family: just as in ancient times you gave healing to that cleric, so now heal our souls and bodies, sick with the wounds of sins and many different passions, deliver us from all misfortunes, troubles, sorrows and eternal condemnation, save us from soul-destroying teachings and unbelief, from the flattering and arrogant attacks of invisible enemies, grant us a Christian death, painless, peaceful, shameless, to partake of the Holy Mysteries and grant us worthy to the impartial judgment of Christ stands at the right hand of the All-Righteous Judge and hear His blessed voice: “Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Amen.
Prayer during pregnancy
While waiting for the birth of a healthy baby, you can pray to the Lord. Requests addressed to him have enormous power.
During pregnancy, it is important for a woman not to be stressed, to remain calm, protecting the baby. After turning to the Lord, hope and peace will arise in the soul. But it is better to additionally protect yourself from stress. The Lord will help, and the rest is in the hands of the pregnant woman.
Healing of Seraphim of Sarov
The famous Russian saint St. Seraphim of Sarov more than once received the mercy of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Illnesses haunted him since childhood, and his mother prayed to the Most Pure One for the child’s recovery. When a religious procession took place near the house, she carried Seraphim in her arms and placed it next to the image of the Mother of God. The next morning my condition began to improve.
Venerable Seraphim of Sarov
Later, Venerable himself. Seraphim began to heal the sick, but claimed that this was happening “by the will of the Mother of God.”
Prayers to Orthodox saints for healing:
- Panteliummon the Healer
- Saint Luke Voino-Yasenetsky
- Nicholas the Wonderworker
His favorite icon was the Mother of God “Tenderness”; in front of her the monk prayed for his children who were overcome by infirmities.
Prayer of Tenderness
O Most Holy Lady Lady, Virgin Mary! Accept our unworthy prayers, save us from the slander of evil people and from vain death, grant us repentance before the end, have mercy on our prayers and grant joy in sorrow a place. And deliver us, O Lady Lady Theotokos, from every misfortune, adversity, sorrow, illness and all evil, and vouchsafe us, Thy sinful servants, to the right hand at the second coming of Thy Son, Christ our God, and make us heirs vouchsafed the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal life with all the saints for ever and ever. Amen.
What should a person be like when praying for healing?
Anyone who asks the Mother of God for help in prayer must be a spiritually strong Christian, he is obliged to lead a correct life. Only in this case, while saying a prayer, can a person be closer to the Mother of God and his requests will be heard.
The person praying must have strong faith and believe that every person has the right to healing. You should also know, at least minimally, verses from the Holy Scriptures. It is necessary to believe a person that it is through his prayer that his requests will be heard and, thanks to higher powers, supernatural acts will be performed.
You need to feel love for the person you are praying for. Healing is not possible from simple mechanical repetition of words. Therefore, it is necessary to believe and love, only in this case the prayers will be heard.
It doesn’t matter whether a person is sick himself or just wants to help someone else, everyone can read a prayer to the Mother of God for health. It is extremely important to stay healthy to make your dreams come true and lead a normal life.
- Prayer to Panteleimon the Healer for health
- Prayer to the Mother of God for help in business, love and at work - find here
- Prayer to the Mother of God for children -
A person must sincerely believe and know that his prayers will be heard. But if a prayer is said, but there is no result, then in this case the person does not have enough faith or is sinful. He needs to cleanse himself and reconsider the lifestyle he leads.
Help from the Most Pure St. Gabriel Sedmiezersky
The Most Pure Mother of God did not forsake another ascetic, St. Gabriel of Sedmiezersk, with Her mercy.
Venerable Gabriel of Sedmiezersk
While performing monastic obedience, Gabriel received a serious injury. Without hope of recovery, he prepared for death, praying to the Blessed Virgin. And She did not refuse to help Her prayer book, although the illness lasted 5 years.
The ascetic made a petition to the Mother of God on behalf of the sick man.
Prayer of Gabriel of Sedmiezersk
Most Holy Theotokos Virgin, who lives and saves Thy inheritance forever after death, hear the sighing of my soul, calling upon Thee for help!
Descend from heaven, come and touch my mind and heart, open the sight of my soul, so that I may see You, my Lady, and Your Son, the Creator, Christ and my God, and I will understand what His will is and what I am deprived of. Hey, my Lady, strive for Thy help and pray to Thy Son to greet me with His grace, so that the bonds of His love chained at His feet will remain forever, even in wounds and illness, even if sick and weakened in body, but at His feet.
To receive mercy from the Queen of Heaven, you do not have to wait for illness.
In all of the above cases, while still in health, the saints prayed to the Mother of God every day. The angelic greeting “Rejoice to the Virgin Mary” is suitable for daily prayer. It is advisable to pronounce it when passing by the image of the Mother of God.
Prayer to the Mother of God for the health of the child
When reading a prayer text, a woman asks for the preservation of all her children, including baptized, nameless, and pregnant ones. At the same time, they ask for intercession before the Lord, with a request to grant them something that will cleanse the soul and bring relief. The person reading the prayer turns to the Mother of God in order, through her participation, to save the baby from mental and physical suffering caused by parental sins.
O Most Holy Lady Virgin Theotokos, save and preserve under Your shelter my children (names), all youths, young women and infants, baptized and nameless and carried in their mother’s womb.
Cover them with the robe of Your motherhood, keep them in the fear of God and in obedience to their parents, pray to my Lord and Your Son to grant them what is useful for their salvation.
I entrust them to Your maternal supervision, for You are the Divine Protection of Your servants.
Mother of God, introduce me to the image of Your heavenly motherhood.
Heal the mental and physical wounds of my children (names) caused by my sins.
I entrust my child entirely to my Lord Jesus Christ and Your, Most Pure, heavenly protection.
Amen.
Send this prayer to your loved ones
Send this prayer to your loved ones
Send this prayer to your loved ones
Prayer for sick babies
They traditionally pray for the recovery and growth of babies in front of the rare image of the Mother of God “Mammal”. This prayer can be offered in front of any icon, the main thing is to apply love and faith.
Icon of the Mother of God “Mammal”
More about prayers for children:
- Mother's prayer for her son
- Mother's prayer for daughter
- Mother's prayer for children
Prayer before the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary "Mammal"
Receive, O Lady Theotokos, the tearful prayers of Your servants who flow to You: we see You on the holy icon, carrying in your arms and feeding with milk Your Son and our God, the Lord Jesus Christ: even though You gave birth to Him painlessly, yet motherhood weighs the sorrow and infirmity of your sons and the daughters of men, see: with the same warmth falling upon Thy whole-bearing image and tenderly kissing this, we pray to Thee, all-merciful Lady: we sinners, condemned to give birth to illnesses and to nourish our children in sorrows, mercifully spare and compassionately intercede, and our babies, also those who gave birth Deliver them from serious illness and bitter sorrow, grant them health and well-being, and their nourishment from strength will increase in strength, and those who feed them will be filled with joy and consolation, for even now, through Your intercession from the mouth of a baby and those who piss, the Lord will bring His praise. O Mother of the Son of God! Have mercy on the mother of the sons of men and on Your weak people: quickly heal the illnesses that befall us, quench the sorrows and sorrows that are upon us, and do not despise the tears and sighs of Your servants, hear us on the day of sorrow who fall before Your icon, and on the day of joy and deliverance accept the grateful praise of our hearts, lift up our prayers to the throne of Your Son and our God, may He be merciful to our sin and weakness and add His mercy to those who know His name, as we and our children glorify You, merciful intercessor and true hope of our race, forever and ever. Amen.
Prayer to the Mother of God for the healing of adults and children from various diseases
A prayer is read at the miraculous icon “Healer”
Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary called the Healer
Prayer text
Accept, O all-blessed and all-powerful Lady Lady Theotokos the Virgin, these prayers, now offered to You with tears from us unworthy Thy servants, who send up the singing of Thy whole-bearing image with tenderness, as if You yourself are here and heed our prayer, at whose request you have fulfilled , easing sorrows, granting health to the weak, healing the weakened and sick, driving away demons from demons, delivering the offended from insults, cleansing lepers and merciful to little children; Moreover, O Lady, Lady Theotokos, you free us from bonds and prisons and heal all manifold passions, for everything is possible through your intercession to your Son, Christ our God. O all-sung Mother, Most Holy Theotokos! Do not cease to pray for us, Your unworthy servants, who glorify You and honor You, and who worship Your most pure image with tenderness, and who have irrevocable hope and undoubted faith in You, the Ever-Virgin, most glorious and immaculate, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Troparion, tone 4
Like a bright star, asking for Divine miracles, Your holy image, Healer, grant us, Mother of God Mary, healing of mental and physical ailments, salvation and great mercy.
Kontakion, tone 6
The intercession of Christians is not shameful, the intercession to the Creator is immutable, do not despise the voices of sinful prayers, but advance, as the Good One, to the aid of us who faithfully call Thee: hasten to prayer, and strive to entreaty, ever interceding, the Mother of God, who honor Thee.
Nativity of the Virgin Mary, petitions for children
On September 21, the Church celebrates one of the great holidays - the Nativity of the Virgin Mary.
Nativity of the Virgin Mary
The Mother of God was born from elderly parents who were no longer able to have children. All their lives they remained childless in order to receive great mercy from God at the end of their days. Despite the infertility, the marriage of Joachim and Anna did not collapse, held together by joint prayer.
On Her birthday they pray to the parents of the Most Holy Theotokos and the Virgin Herself for the gift of children, for their health, for love. They ask for help for all occasions.
Prayer for the Nativity of the Virgin Mary
O Most Holy Lady, God-chosen Mother of Christ our Savior,
asked from God with holy prayers, dedicated to God and beloved by God!
Whoever does not please You or who does not sing Your glorious Nativity.
Your Christmas was the beginning of the salvation of people, and we, sitting in the darkness of sins, see You, the dwelling of the Impregnable Light.
For this reason, the florid tongue cannot sing songs about Thee according to its heritage.
Thou art more exalted than the Seraphim, O Most Pure One.
Otherwise, accept this present praise from Your unworthy servants and do not reject our prayer.
We confess your greatness, we bow down to you in tenderness, and boldly ask your child-loving and compassionate Mother for your quick intercession:
pray to Thy Son and our God to grant us, who have sinned a lot, sincere repentance and pious living, so that we may be able to do everything pleasing to God and useful to our souls.
Let us hate all evil, strengthened by Divine grace in our good will.
You are our shameless hope in the hour of death, grant us a Christian death,
a comfortable procession through the terrible ordeals of the air and an eternal legacy
and the ineffable blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven, may we, together with all the saints, silently confess Your intercession for us and may we glorify the one True God,
in the Holy Trinity we worship the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Recommendations
1 situation:
a relative (both a 16-year-old child and an old grandfather, a former or present scientist) became “something different”, began to withdraw, get irritated for no apparent reason, although “he had never been aggressive before”, start talking, talking with myself.
Typically, such behavior is first perceived as a joke, then surprise, then a discussion begins with the sick person, which can lead to serious conflicts and mistrust. If you suspect a person close to you has a mental disorder (we do not handle emergency situations, for example, in cases of severe aggression, the police and medical workers intervene here), you cannot argue.
It is advisable not to support a person’s painful misconceptions, try to be patient and caring, and persuade your loved one to seek medical help. Unfortunately, in our society, when it comes to psychiatry, in most cases it causes a smile, fear, surprise, but not sympathy and a desire to help a sick person, especially if this applies to a relative. Only later, when a sick person can feel and even understand that the help of a psychiatrist is for his benefit, will he himself be drawn to it.
At the initial stage, you should try to persuade the person to calm down, assess his degree of adequacy (if he used to trust you, but now he has no reason to, whether he understands you or is completely in his own feelings, etc.), understand whether there are threats to him and those around you.
It is impossible to forcibly help a person (involuntary hospitalization in a psychiatric hospital is carried out only by court decision), but everything possible must be done: attract relatives who will correctly understand and support, people who are authoritative for the patient, consult with a doctor.
Situation 2:
The patient was brought to a psychiatrist. There can be 2 ways here. The doctor will help you understand the situation, make a diagnosis, prescribe treatment, and give recommendations. Everything here is very individual. But it may also be that the doctor gives a recommendation, but not only the patient (due to inadequacy), but also the relative does not want to follow it.
I can give you an example. A mother brings her 20-year-old daughter to a psychotherapist. The daughter has painful sensations in her body: the bones, according to her, “go back and forth, fall through and hurt.” All specialists examined him, all studies were carried out, including MRI, no diseases were found, the symptoms did not correspond to the expected physical pathology.
A diagnosis of mental illness was made, medications were prescribed, and after a couple of months there was significant improvement. The patient stops taking the medications, after a while comes to the doctor with her mother, complains of deterioration, claims that the medications do not help, refuses help, runs out of the office, rushes about, says that she does not want to live. Hospitalization is suggested, since adequate dosages of drugs can only be prescribed in a hospital, and the response is a categorical refusal.
It is difficult to calm him down, persuade him to give an injection, and agrees to resume taking his medications. The doctor suggests that the mother call a psychiatric team to resolve the issue of hospitalization due to the risk of suicide, to which she receives the answer: “Well, she will kill herself, that means that’s her fate, I won’t put her in a mental hospital.” She was released home on a signature. The mother calls the next day, her daughter gets a little better, then disappears for six months. Another call to the doctor’s personal phone: the daughter is lying in bed, does not want to get up, complains of “movements in the body of some creatures” causing severe pain.
Recommendations were given, and the patient was finally hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital with schizophrenia. She was discharged with improvement, criticism of her condition appeared, and adequate therapy was selected.
Bottom line: fortunately, this story ended happily, but the patient suffered for several months until the mother believed in the need for hospitalization; I had to prescribe heavier drugs, and the treatment was delayed.
There is nothing to worry about if the patient refuses this doctor (for example, the patient has included the doctor in his delusional system) or the doctor himself understands that he will not be able to provide adequate assistance. Then it is necessary to involve colleagues, send them to a hospital, and, together with relatives, think through options for help and choose the best one. It happens that the patient returns after treatment and apologizes for his behavior, because he did not understand the pain and inadequacy at that time.
You should not change specialists (sometimes people come to me with dozens of recommendations from different doctors of the same specialty, which causes bewilderment). Well, 2-3 opinions is understandable, but more than 10!? The most common reason is that medications do not help immediately, side effects.
Some patients soon stop taking medications, and many diseases are chronic and require months or even years of maintenance therapy. A natural deterioration occurs, the new doctor does not yet know the peculiarities of the course of the disorder in this patient, experiments with treatment begin, a new selection of medications begins, resistance to treatment develops, previously effective drugs cease to work.
And one more thing: it is advisable, during your initial visit to the doctor, to bring, if not all, then the main examinations, extracts, tests. A psychiatrist is a doctor like everyone else, and the more information there is about the patient, the easier it is to understand the diagnosis. For example, if a person has a pathology of the thyroid gland, it is advisable to bring the latest hormone tests, since when hormonal levels change, the state of mind also changes (irritability, sleep disturbances, mood swings, etc.).
In some cases, antidepressants are not only unnecessary, but can be harmful; it may be worth limiting yourself to prescriptions from an endocrinologist and psychotherapy. Elderly people suffering from diabetes may confuse events and even behave inappropriately when blood glucose rises; here, prescribed antipsychotics are also not always necessary.
Situation 3:
the patient has been examined for a long time, the diagnosis is known, but the disease is progressing. Relatives begin to “look for a miracle”: consult the patient with leading specialists, go to the main scientific centers, some seek help abroad.
I have had a number of cases where patients returned from the USA, Europe, Israel, etc. with complaints that the prescription of drugs selected in Russia was refused, or that the treatment simply turned out to be ineffective, things got worse. Here I would advise you to find a specialist whom you trust and coordinate your actions with him. Only together can we help sick people provide adequate care and, if not cure, then improve their quality of life as much as possible.
Situation 4:
terminally ill patient in the final stage. There is an opinion, or rather another myth, that people do not die from mental illnesses, but mental illnesses are the same as somatic ones (i.e., diseases of the body), only the brain is sick, regardless of whether there is a visible focus there (for example, as a result of craniocerebral injury (damaged area of the brain) or not. For example, severe progressive dementia, the final stage of alcoholism with multiple organ disorders, the terminal stage of malignant forms of schizophrenia, and others. Here you have to decide individually, depending on the specific case.
“If a person cannot be cured, this does not mean that he cannot be helped.”
If you are destined to die, it is easier to do it among loving relatives on your bed, even if the person does not understand anything and does not recognize anyone. But he FEEL related to him. How a small child feels the affection of his mother, smiles or cries when his mother leaves. You will say - there is no comparison, children are our future, but here is a dying person who does not understand anything. Yes, this is true, but we must understand that any of us can, God forbid, end up in the place of this person...
Prayer to Nicholas the Wonderworker
The health of family members will be helped by a prayer addressed to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, whose good deeds and selfless help to the suffering are known to all Orthodox Christians. It is better to pray in church, but if this is not possible, you can do it at home in front of the icon of St. Nicholas.
Oh, Nicholas the All-Holy, saint of the Lord, our eternal intercessor, and our helper everywhere in all troubles. Help me, God’s servant (name), sad and sinful, in this life, ask the Lord to grant me forgiveness of my sins, for I have sinned in deed, in word, in thoughts and with all my feelings. Help me, the accursed one, Holy Wonderworker, ask our Lord for good health, deliver me from torment and ordeal. Amen.
Prayer to the Holy Trinity
If illnesses and illnesses do not leave your neighbors, you can turn to the Most Holy Trinity for protection and help with a prayer for the health of your family. This is an effective prayer, but it must be said by the baptized person and ask for help also for those baptized in the Orthodox faith.
O most merciful God, Father, Son and Holy Soul, worshiped and glorified in the indivisible Trinity, look kindly upon Thy servant (name), who is sickly possessed; forgive him all his sins; give him healing from his illness; restore his health and bodily strength; Give him a long and prosperous life, Your peaceful and exemplary blessings, so that together with us he brings grateful prayers to You, the All-Bountiful God and my Creator.
Most Holy Theotokos, through Your omnipotent intercession, help me to beg Your Son, my God, for the healing of God’s servant (name). All saints and angels of the Lord, pray to God for His sick servant (name). Amen.
