A Litany for Refugees

"Every scribe who has been instructed for the Kingdom of Heaven is like a householder, who brings down from his attics treasures old and new."

The following resource, I must note first, is not of my own devising. It was written by the Very Rev. Francis Bowes Sayre Jr (1915-2008), for the observances of World Refugee Year (1959-1960), and, following its debut at a commemorative liturgy on 28 June, was published in the Autumn 1959 edition of Cathedral Age, the magazine of the National Cathedral Association.

The Church must stand proudly independent of partisan interference, but it must also not be hesitant in calling the rulers of the nations into account; a flag-draped cross is an odious blasphemy, for all the flags of the nations will one day bow before He who reigns from that same cross. General Washington, the Father of Our County, understood this well, and it was due to regret at his own shortcomings that he never partook of the Lord’s Supper again after the Revolution. May our leaders endeavor to fashion their lives after his example!

In that spirit, with a deep love for my native land, I have typeset Dean Sayre’s Litany for Refugees for halfsheet use, and gently modified the text for clarity and broader utility, while preserving the hieratic register in which it was written. A digital version is available here, but I also present the updated text forthwith for your information and appreciation.

Use it with the integrity promised for you in the waters of Baptism and purchased for you in the Blood of Christ.

V. By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, when we remembered thee, O Sion.
R. As for our harps, we hanged them up upon the trees that are therein.
V. Sing us one of the songs of Sion!
R. How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?

V. O God, whose fatherly care reacheth to the uttermost parts of the earth;
R. Bless our brethren.
V. O Christ, giver of all health, the aid of all that turn to thee for succor;
R. Bless our brethren.
V. O Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling grace we are knit in one communion;
R. Bless our brethren.
V. Thou Triune Ruler, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth;
R. Bless our brethren.

V. Vouchsafe, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people; that by thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul;
R. Preserve them in thy mercy.

V. We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord, that it may please thee to remember in pity such as are this day destitute, homeless, or forgotten of their fellow humanity;
R. We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
V. That it may please thee to cheer with hope all discouraged and unhappy people;
R. We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
V. That it may please thee to comfort all uprooted and wandering families, uplifting those that are cast down;
R. We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
V. That it may please thee to relieve the distress of refugees, and even in the depths of their perplexity, save them from despair;
R. We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
V. That it may please thee to illumine the hearts of suffering children, giving them grace to stand fast in thy faith and to abide in thy love;
R. We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
V. That it may please thee to behold, visit, and relieve the sick, comforting them with a sense of thy goodness and enduing their souls with patience;
R. We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
V. That it may please thee to look upon all who, having neither burrow nor nest, have nowhere to lay their heads;
R. We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

V. For those who await their salvation in refugee camps,
R. Hear our prayer.
V. For those who have abandoned familiar paths to seek freedom among strangers,
R. Hear our prayer.
V. For those whose lives are enclosed in barricades of bitterness,
R. Hear our prayer.
V. For those who brave mountain passes or raging seas to keep their souls in liberty,
R. Hear our prayer.
V. For those who are fleeing from the ravages of war,
R. Hear our prayer.
V. For those who struggle against tyranny and oppression,
R. Hear our prayer.
V. For those destitutes fleeing the scourge of greed,
R. Hear our prayer.

V. O Lord, hear our prayer;
R. And let our cry come unto thee.

V. O God, thou hast cast us out, and scattered us abroad;
R. Thou hast moved the land and divided it.
V. O set me upon a rock that is higher than I;
R. For thou art my hope, and my defense.

Let us pray. O God, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy; Increase and multiply upon us thy mercy; that, thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O Lord, our heavenly Father, whose blessed Son came not to be ministered unto, but to minister; we beseech thee to bless all who, following in his steps, give themselves to the service of their fellow humanity. Endue them with wisdom, patience, and courage to strengthen the weak and raise up those who fall; that, being inspired by thy love, they may worthily minister in thy Name to the suffering, the friendless, and the needy; for the sake of him who laid down his life for us, the same thy Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

May Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, grant you to be strengthened with inward might by his Spirit; that, Christ dwelling in your hearts by faith, ye may be filled with all the fullness of God. Amen.