Prayer of Physicians

Prayer of the Catholic Physician

Lord Jesus, Divine Physician, who in Your earthly life showed special concern for those who suffer and entrusted to Your disciples the ministry of healing, make us ever ready to alleviate the trials of our brethren. Make each one of us aware of the great mission entrusted to us, that in the performance of our daily service we may be instruments of Your merciful love. Enlighten our minds, guide our hands, and make our hearts diligent and compassionate. Ensure that in every patient we know how to discern the features of Your divine Face. You, who are the Way, the Truth, and the Life, grant us wisdom and science to understand the mystery of the human person and find suitable remedies for ailments. May we always uphold the dignity of every human being, especially the weakest and most in need. Bless our studies, our work, and our teaching, that having loved and served You in Your suffering brethren, we may one day contemplate Your glorious countenance in everlasting peace. Amen.

The "Physician's Prayer" is a well-known text attributed to the ancient Jewish physician and philosopher Maimonides, though modern scholarship identifies its author as the 18th-century Jewish physician-philosopher Marcus Herz. Regardless of its authorship, the prayer expresses profound principles of medical ethics that resonate with Maimonides' own writings.

The prayer emphasizes the physician's role as a compassionate healer, seeking wisdom and guidance in their practice, and maintaining humility in the face of suffering. It asks for divine assistance to ensure that the love for the art of medicine always prevails over avarice, ambition, or the thirst for glory. Key themes include seeing patients as fellow human beings in pain, continuously seeking knowledge, and recognizing the limits of human understanding while striving to alleviate suffering.

Various religious traditions offer prayers for physicians, reflecting a shared desire for divine guidance and strength in the demanding medical profession. The Catholic tradition, for instance, includes prayers like the "Prayer of the Catholic Physician" by John Paul II, which asks the "Divine Physician" (Jesus) to make doctors instruments of merciful love, to enlighten their minds, guide their hands, and make their hearts diligent and compassionate. It also emphasizes discerning the divine face in every patient and defending life from conception to natural end.

Another Catholic prayer asks for skill, clear vision, kindness, and sympathy, and a true realization of the privilege of healing. Prayers often seek wisdom for diagnosis and treatment, strength for long hours, compassion for patients, and protection from the physical, mental, and spiritual toll of the work. They also ask for guidance during complex procedures, for effective communication with patients, and for the ability to maintain hope even in difficult cases. The ultimate goal is often to be a conduit of healing, recognizing that true healing comes from a higher power.

The core message across these prayers is a plea for divine assistance to embody compassion, wisdom, humility, and strength in the practice of medicine, recognizing the profound responsibility and challenges inherent in caring for human life.

OTHER PRAYER: "Lord of life, light my mind to know the remedies for my patient's illness, and touch my heart to feel compassion for their sufferings. When I stretch out my hand to treat the sick, let me heal them with a portion of your wisdom and your power. And when I cannot heal them, let me help them at least to deeper faith and resignation in your love. Amen."