Prayer and Prayer Diary
There's so much about our church that we can pray for. Please build these suggestions into your own prayers, day by day.
Prayer Diary for June 2021
29 Tue Peter & Paul, Apostles, for our Bishop Ian & all the College of Bishops
30 Wed for Helen Kemp, HT Safeguarding & PVG Officer
Prayer Diary for July 2021
1 Thu Serf, Bishop, 500, Revd Christoph Wutscher, our Rector
2 Fri Cathy Johnston, our Lay Representative
3 Sat Thomas, Apostle, for those in India recovering from Covid
4 PENTECOST 6 for all those re-building their lives and livelihoods
5 Mon for those who work in ‘hospitality’
6 Tue Palladius, Bishop, c450, for perseverance despite setbacks
7 Wed for those who clean our church building
8 Thu for our Director of Music Alistair Warwick, Choir & Music Group
9 Fri for the Revd Val Nellist
10 Sat for Mary Kenyon & Flower Arrangers
11 PENTECOST 12 for those elected to Boards & Committees post General Synod
12 Mon Drostan of Deer, Abbot, c600, for the Revd Graham Willey
13 Tues for CHAS and all hospices for children
14 Wed for Rachel Campbell, Secretary & Vestry Members
15 Thu Robert Nellist, our Treasurer & Diocesan PVG Officer
16 Fri for patients & staff attending A & E department at FVRH
17 Sat Jane Haining, missionary, 1944, for a strong faith in dark times
18 PENTECOST 8, that locally we seek how to fulfil ‘The St Andrew Declaration’
19 Mon for the fellowship of the Tiny Tots Café
20 Tue Helen Kemp, HT Safeguarding & PVG Officer
21 Wed William Wilberforce, 1833, for those working to end all slavery
22 Thu Mary Magdalene, for mental health & wellbeing of all ages
23 Fri for our Muslim friends & neighbours
24 Sat for the victims of domestic assault and abuse
25 PENTECOST 9 for Police Officers in Forth Valley & their families
26 Mon James, Apostle & Martyr, for Ian our Bishop
27 Tue John Comper, 1903, for our Altar Servers, Brian, Mike & Suzanne
28 Wedthat there are no hindrances to vaccines reaching worldwide.
29 Thu Martha, Mary & Lazarus of Bethany, for Home fellowship Groups
30 Fri Silas, Companion of St Paul, for the Stirling Street Pastors
31 Sat Ignatius Loyola, Priest & Religious, for the Order of Society of Jesus
Saints and Heroes inspiring our prayers in July
3rd Thomas the Apostle has the unfortunate label “Doubting”, because he
did not readily accept the Risen Jesus because he was absent when he
appeared to the others. To show that doubts can change into strengths,
after Pentecost the tradition is that he travelled as far as SW India
preaching the Gospel of the Resurrection.
6th Palladius, Bishop, c450. Pope Celestine sent him on a mission to
Ireland,a generation before Patrick, which ended in failure. He is
remembered for perseverance in the face of much discouragement.
12th Drostan of Deer, Abbot, c600. After education on Iona by Columba
with the community, he lived as a hermit in Glen Esk in Angus
before becoming the first Abbot at Deer in Aberdeenshire.
17th Jane Haining, 1944. At the General Synod this year her name was
added to the Calendar of Saints and Heroes. She was a C of S missionary
in Budapest caring for Jewish children. When war broke out she refused
the option of retuning to Scotland and chose to remain with the children.
“If the children need me in the days of sunshine, how much more do they
need me in the days of darkness” She was transported with the children
and died in Auschwitz Birkenau Concentration Camp on 17 August 1944 .
21st William Wilberforce, Social Reformer 1833. He was a member of the
“Clapham Sect”, so called because most of them worshipped in this district
of London. He believed that God loved all people equally and that this
should influence our laws. He became MP for Hull and as a
Parliamentarian used his position to bring about the abolition of the slave
trade in this country. He did not bring this about alone but with the
assistance of others. Suggested Reading: ‘Burying the Chains, by Adam
Hochschild. Nor did he ‘abolish slavery’ as this evil is still present in
different forms in the world including UK.
26th James, Apostle & Martyr. As one of Jesus’ closest friends he witnessed
two events which must have strengthened his faith: The Transfiguration of
Jesus and the raising of Jairus’ daughter.
Prayer Diary for August 2021
1 PENTECOST 10 for residents and staff in Care Homes in and around Stirling
2 Mon for the Revd Chrstoph Wutscher, our Rector
3 Tue for those leaving prison this morning after serving a sentence
4 Wed for Helen Kemp, HT Safeguarding & PVG Officer
5 Thu Oswald of Northumbria, Martyr 642, for good political leadership
6 FRI TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD, for my local GP Practice
7 Sat Boisil of Melrose, for the Revd Graham Willey
8 PENTECOST 11, how shall HT respond to ‘Action plan on Climate Change’?
9 Mon John Mason Neale, priest, 1866, for those who write hymns for today
10 Tue Lawrence, deacon & Martyr, for ‘Christians Against Poverty’
11 Wed Clare of Assisi, religious, 1253, for the Revd Val Nellist
12 Thu Blane, missionary, c590, for Altar Servers, Brian, Mike & Suzanne
13 Fri Florence Nightingale,1910, for those called to be and training as nurses
14 Sat Maximilian Kolbe, priest & martyr 1940, ‘O Jesus I have promised…’
15 PENTECOST 12, for the Magazine Team & that HT is kept int he public eye
16 Mon Mary The Virgin, for the Forth Valley Branch of MU
17 Tue for Rachel Campbell, Secretary & Vestry Members
18 Wed, for Robert Nellist, our Treasurer & Diocesan PVG Officer
19 Thu, for our Director of Music Alistair Warwick, Choir & Music Group
20 Fri Bernard of Clairvaux, abbot, 1153, for present day devotional writers
21 Sat, for St Saviour’s B of A re-opening after renovations and Covid closure
22 PENTECOST 13 for the victims of scams and fraud
23 Mon for the continuing valuable fellowship of the ‘Tiny Tots Café’
24 Tue Bartholomew, Apostle, for Ian our Bishop
25 Wed Ebba of Coldingham, abbess, 683, for Cathy Johnston, our Lay Rep
26 Thu for those starting a prison sentence this evening
27 Fri Monica 387, Alistair, Sarah, Gen, Youth & Children’s ministries
28 Sat Augustine of Hippo, bishop 430, for Christians in N Africa
29 PENTECOST 14 for those who teach and those who learn
30 Mon Beheading of John the Baptist, to guard against making rash promises
31 Tue Aidan of Lindisfarne, bishop, 651, that I consider making a ‘retreat’
Saints and Heroes inspiring our prayers in August
5th Oswald of Northumbria, Martyr & King 642. After a defeat he was exiled to
Iona where he became a Christian. Some years later when the king who had
defeated him had died Oswald wanted Northumbria to be Christian and sought
help from the monks of Iona to evangelise. Aidan led the mission and many
turned from paganism to Christ. But after only eight years Oswald was killed. It
was not long before people built a shrine to him and he was acknowledged as a
martyr.
9th John Mason Neale, priest, 1866. An author and hymn writer his ministry was
dogged with ill-health. From 1846 until his death he was Warden of Sackville
College, East Grinstead in Sussex. As well as his literary activities he founded
the Sisterhood of St Margaret in 1854 for the education of girls and care of the
sick, which despite early violent opposition, even rioting, from extreme
Protestants developed into one of the leading Anglican religious communities. He
excelled as a hymn writer such as ‘O happy band of pilgrims’ and he inspired
‘Hymns Ancient & Modern’ He knew over twenty languages and made translations
from Latin and Greek as well as being the author of numerous books for children.
13th Florence Nightingale, 1910. Although brought up to be an educated young
lady, and so able to avoid the horrors and sufferings in the world, both near and
far, this is not what she chose. She knew that God had called her and after a few
years realised what it was. She trained as a nurse and took a group of other
nurses to care for the soldiers sick and wounded in the Crimean War. The
conditions were terrible. The reports she compiled, her ideas and her drive did
much to improve the conditions for the soldiers. This was just the start of
providing all round higher standards in hospitals and creating awareness that
nursing is a skilled, highly trained, respected profession.
31st Aidan of Lindisfarne, bishop, 651. Originally he came from Iona but when he
was asked to evangelise Northumbria by King Oswald he moved as Bishop
to Lindisfarne (Holy Island), one of the Farne Islands off the Northumbrian coast.
A selection of our favourite prayers, to help you express your feelings to God and to draw comfort and support from Him.
Saints and Heroes