Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Politics and Religion
Classic Pestilence Prayers & Maundy Thursday

Classic Pestilence Prayers & Maundy Thursday

Last updated on: April 9, 2020 at 6:00 am by Gene Veith

0 Comments

Classic Pestilence Prayers & Maundy Thursday 2020-04-05T17:29:56-04:00 Gene Veith

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Here it is Maundy Thursday and we can’t go to church for Communion! But we can still celebrate this holiday, this holy day.

The church gathers around Word and Sacrament, Pastor William Cwirla has observed, and the individual Christian has recourse to the Word and Prayer. Even when the churches are closed due to the coronavirus, we have access to the Word of God through Bible reading, and we can pray any time we want. Online worship lets us hear the Word of God in preaching and lets us join with our fellow church members in prayer.

And there is another facet of Maundy Thursday that we often overlook, but that we can now dwell on. The word “Maundy” comes from the Latin mandatum, meaning “command,” as in “mandate.” On the Thursday before His death, Jesus not only instituted the Lord’s Supper, He washed His disciples’ feet and gave His followers a new mandate:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

We can do that even while we are quarantined. In fact, I am seeing it more and more, as Christians connect with their neighbors and members of their congregation, check on each other, offer to get supplies for those most at risk for the virus, and in other ways follow Christ’s new commandment despite their forced isolation. The “mutual consolation” of fellow Christians goes on. We may not be able to have Communion on Maundy Thursday, but we can still have the Communion of the Saints. Both of which have to do with Christ’s Body.

We can see some of that even on this blog. Last week I posted a prayer “In Time of Pestilence” from the 1860 Lutheran Prayer Book by Benjamin Kurtz, which had been forwarded to me by a friend. In the comments, Setapart shared a prayer on the same subject by C. F. W. Walther, no less, the key founder of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Then I heard from a reader named Ziggy Rein who went to the trouble of translating a “Prayer in pandemics, plagues, and fear of death” from a German book published by Concordia Publishing House in 1895. And also in the comments P. T. McCain recommended a collection of classic Lutheran prayers published by CPH, which I subsequently ordered and am finding to be wonderful.

So, honoring Maundy Thursday as a time of prayer and joining together in Christian love in the shadow of the pestilence, let us pray. . . .

C. F. W. Walther, “Time of Epidemic,” General Prayers #101, in For the Life of the Church — A Practical Edition of Pastor Walther’s Prayers and Addresses,” trans. Rudolph Prange (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2011), p. 126:

Almighty, eternal God, Lord of life and death, we thank You that in these evil times You have graciously cared for us. Indeed, You are wielding over us the stern rod of a pestilence that has, sadly, taken many a dear brother and sister out of our midst; but even so You have our welfare at heart.

Through the present epidemic You remind us that we must die, not to frighten us and to drive us to despair, but in order that we may divorce ourselves from this perilous world, be awakened from every sinful slumber into which we may fall, set our house in order, acknowledge our sins, and, above all, through firm faith take refuge in Your dear Son, our only Savior and Conqueror of death.

Grant, we beg of You, that Your call to repent and to prepare for death may be ignored by none of us, but that we may all take refuge in Jesus Christ, cling to Him day and night, and finally depart in peace.

You do not want us to abandon Your work at a time like this, but to ‘work while it is day, for the night is coming, when no one can work’ [John 9:4].

Oh, therefore grant us grace in this evening hour, as at the portals of eternity; to deliberate in Your fear upon those things that are beneficial to Your dear children To that end direct our understanding and our minds and let our efforts be crowned with success according to Your gracious will and for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen.

This collection includes yet another prayer by Walther for this need, obviously common in the 19th century, “In Time of Epidemic,” General Prayers #20. You can access it through the “Look Inside” feature on Amazon.

Ziggy Rein, translator, “Prayer in Pandemic, Plagues, and Fear of Death,” from Evang.-Lutherischer Gebets-Schatz. [Ev.-Lutheran Treasury of Prayers]. (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. 1895), pp. 339–341. Posted here with the permission of the translator:

Almighty, eternal God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Lord of heaven and of earth! We poor, miserable sinners must confess that we have offended You, O God, with our sinful life and being in the most detestable way. You therefore are pouring out Your wrath upon us justly and You attack us with various plagues, epidemics, and illnesses.

What are we to do now? Should we despair? Far be it from us! We realize indeed that we not only have deserved this prevalent epidemic now as punishment for our various sins, but also doubtlessly greater and worse punishments.

Where shall we flee to then, where shall we turn to, that we may be safe from this and other epidemics and plagues? Alone to You, Lord Jesus Christ. We have no other consolation, neither in heaven nor on earth, without You, You Who have redeemed us.

Indeed, You will not cast away Your creation; therefore, we call out, groan, and shout to You humbly from our whole heart and say: God, have mercy and obliterate all our sin according to Your enormous grace, goodnes,s and mercy. Cease Your disfavor, fury, and wrath over us. Show us again Your grace and spare us graciously from this now prevailing epidemic and horrible illness. Let us entreat You, O Lord, let us entreat You, and spare us. Protect and shield us in a fatherly manner that this epidemic won’t harm or strike, snatch away or carry off anyone.

If it is, however, Your divine will that our life is ended in such an epidemic and we shall depart this life, Your gracious will be done, which is always the best. We commend ourselves with body and soul, with wife and child, and the entire household into Your divine mercy and fatherly hand, ask humbly from our whole heart, if we are thus overtaken by such a last hour and it is now that our body and soul shall part, You would graciously keep us in our right senses that we can commit our soul with a clear mind and grant us a blessed end as well, so that we may thus enter into eternal life through temporal death, which is an end to all affliction and misery and which opens the door to eternal life, the sooner to be with the Savior and to rejoice eternally in heaven with all God’s chosen.

This You would, O faithful God and Father, grant through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, lauded for eternity. Amen.

It turns out, the German prayer book that contains this prayer has been translated in its entirety as the Lutheran Prayer Companion, trans. Matthew Carver (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2018). This is the very book that P. T. McCain recommended!

We learn that the above prayer, entitled “Prayer in Contagious Epidemics and Plagues” (#427 on p. 263), is from the Riga Prayer Book of 1719, from what is present-day Latvia.

This collection is indeed a treasury. It includes 482 prayers like this–tough-minded, passionate, reflecting deep spiritual experience, from a more devout time than our own–drawn from the rich heritage of Lutheran spirituality. The prayers cover just about any topic you can think of.

For example, there is a whole section on “Vocation,” with 58 prayers on topics such as “Prayer when choosing a vocation,” “Prayer when a person begins a business,” and “Prayer for comfort in trials related to one’s calling.” Most of these are about the family vocations, with prayers on marriage (including bad and troubled marriages), having children (including having a stillborn baby and the risk of death in childbirth), and family life (sending one’s children off to school, moving to a new residence, etc.)

There are also prayers for extraordinary situations that most of us hopefully will ever experience but which are fascinating and edifying to read nonetheless. For example, “Prayer against the fear of strange apparitions” and others involving spiritual warfare against the demonic realm. And at least five prayers for the use of those who are about to be executed.

Illustration: “Praying Hands” (1508), by Albrecht Dürer / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

coronavirus and the church

coronavirus epidemic

COVID-19 quarantine

Lutheran spirituality

Previous Post

April 8, 2020

The Government Will Even Bail Out Churches

Next Post

April 10, 2020 Holy Days for the Church in Exile

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"I know wired earbuds are making a comeback (I never stopped using them as I ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

"VCRs, tape decks, and cassette players are all having a revival among a segment of ..."

Tom Hering

Luther on Tools

"As a (retired) lawyer I see potential liability from sharing things like power or sharp ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

"I am not sure the items you mentioned, though disused, discontinued, discarded, could be considered ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category America Apologetics Art baseball Bible Blog Christ Church crime Culture Economics Education Ethics Family Food Football Government History Holidays Holy Week Humor International Islam Language Law Life Issues Literature Media Medicine Movies Music Nature News Personal Philosophy Politics psychology Reformation Religions Sacraments Science sex Social Science Sports technology television terrorism Theology Uncategorized Vocation war

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Blessed are the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the meek. Where was this sermon delivered?

Select your answer to see how you score.

On a mountain In the temple By the sea In a synagogue

Books by This Author Books by Gene Veith

See All Titles »