Prayer for Saturday (Shavuot)

The Jewish holiday of Shavuot begins at sundown today.

Life is eternal, and love is immortal,
and death is only a horizon;
and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.
~ Rossiter Worthington Raymond

Mourner’s Kaddish*

Glorified and sanctified be God’s great name throughout the world which He has created according to His will. May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime and during your days, and within the life of the entire House of Israel, speedily and soon; and say, Amen.

May His great name be blessed forever and to all eternity.

Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, extolled and honored, adored and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, beyond all the blessings and hymns, praises and consolations that are ever spoken in the world; and say, Amen.

May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life, for us
and for all Israel; and say, Amen.

He who creates peace in His celestial heights, may He create peace for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen.

(Source: Orthodox Union website)

* Kaddish is not a prayer for the deceased. Nowhere in Kaddish is the name of the deceased mentioned and there is no mention of death, loss or mourning. With the saying of the Kaddish prayer, the mourner both affirms his faith in God and calls on the community to join him in affirming his statement. When a mourner publicly inspires other Jews to affirm their faith in God, this greatly benefits the soul of the departed. A Rabbi should be consulted as to the proper time and place to say Kaddish which requires a Minyan (a quorum of ten adult male Jews.)

This Week’s Affirmation:

“I trust in the process of life.”

(For more on Affirmations, go to my Affirmations Page.)

Prayer for Friday

If there is meaning in life at all,
then there must be meaning in suffering.
~ Viktor E. Frankl

Where eternal luster glows,
the realm in which the light divine is set,
place me, Purifier, in that deathless,
imperishable world.

Make me immortal in that realm
where movement is accordant to wish,
in the third region,
the third heaven of heavens,
where the worlds are resplendent.

(Vedic Funeral Hymn – Rig Veda, Aitareya Aranyaka 6-11)

This Week’s Affirmation:

“I trust in the process of life.”

(For more on Affirmations, go to my Affirmations Page.)

Prayer for Thursday (Ascension Day – Orthodox)

Today is Ascension Day in the Eastern Orthodox Christian traditions.

Truly, it is in the darkness that one finds the light,
so when we are in sorrow, then this light is nearest of all to us.
~ Meister Eckhart

Christ our eternal King and God, You have destroyed death and the devil by Your Cross and have restored man to life by Your Resurrection; give rest, Lord, to the soul of Your servant who has fallen asleep, in Your Kingdom, where there is no pain, sorrow or suffering. In Your goodness and love for all men, pardon all the sins he (she) has committed in thought word or deed, for there is no man or woman who lives and sins not, You only are without sin.
For You are the Resurrection, the Life, and Repose of Your servant, departed this life, O Christ our God; and to You do we send up glory with Your Eternal Father and Your All-holy, Good and Life-creating Spirit; both now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen

(Eastern Orthodox Prayer for the Dead)

This Week’s Affirmation:

“I trust in the process of life.”

(For more on Affirmations, go to my Affirmations Page.)