When we get sick, especially if that sickness is more severe, it can be difficult to accept it as part of God’s divine plan. We may even be tempted to distrust God, blaming him for our current state of health.
However, while we may never truly know why God permits certain evils to occur, we can be certain that he does so for our eternal benefit.
We may not like to hear that, but it can be observed, either in our own lives or in the lives of the saints, that sickness is often allowed to bring us closer to God.
For those times when we struggle with this realization, we should turn to prayer to ask God’s help in accepting our sickness. Here is a prayer adapted from the Golden Manual that focuses on this aspect of sickness and helps us resign ourselves to God’s mysterious will.
Lord, I accept this sickness from your hands, and entirely resign myself to your blessed will, whether it be for life or death. Not my will, but yours be done: your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.Lord, I submit to all the pains and uneasiness of this my illness; my sins have deserved infinitely more. You are just, O Lord, and your judgment is right.Lord, I offer up to you all that I now suffer, or may have yet to suffer, to be united to the sufferings of my Redeemer, and sanctified by his passion.Lord, I desire to praise you for ever, in sickness as well as in health; I desire to join my heart and voice with the whole Church of heaven and earth, in blessing you for ever.
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If a member of your family is sick, say this prayer
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Prayer to St. Camillus for the recovery of the sick
And today we celebrate...