In Time of Great Sickness and Mortality

O MOST mighty and merciful God, in this time of grievous sickness, we flee unto thee for succour. Deliver us, we beseech thee, from our peril; give strength and skill to all those who minister to the sick; prosper the means made use of for their cure; and grant that, perceiving how frail and uncertain our life is, we may apply our hearts unto that heavenly wisdom which leadeth to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

1928 Book of Common Prayer (U.S.)

This prayer did not appear in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. That edition contained a much different prayer, "In the time of any common Plague or Sickness". This prayer is also missing from the 1979 edition of the Book of Common Prayer; apparently, pandemics weren't high on the list of concerns in 1979. I imagine that the great flu pandemic of 1918 was still on the minds of those who composed the 1928 edition. 

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