Having Surgery? Try These 5 Catholic Prayers for Healing and Peace

Going through a surgical process generates concern for both the person who needs surgery and their loved ones.

If you are facing this situation, these five prayers can be useful to ask for God's help.

In a recent article, Cate Von Dohlen, Content Marketing Lead for the Hallow app, noted that dwelling on negative emotions, such as discomfort, anxiety, and worry, “can feel like a never-ending amount of time.”

"Talking to God during this time is helpful – to give Him the burdens on our hearts and minds and do our best to trust in His plan," she added.

Von Dohlen recalled that the Anointing of the Sick is one of the best gifts we can receive before surgery. It's one of the seven sacraments and “a gift of healing for the whole person: mind, body, and soul.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that "By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests the whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, that he may raise them up and save them. And indeed she exhorts them to contribute to the good of the People of God by freely uniting themselves to the Passion and death of Christ." (CCC 1499)

If you wish to receive this sacrament, you can contact the local parish or ask the hospital if a Catholic priest can administer the anointing.

However, if you want to ask for God's support for a loved one who will undergo a surgical process or if you are recovering from surgery, the five prayers below can help.

Hallow's Prayers Before Surgery

"Jesus, I am anxious about my upcoming surgery, yet I trust in You. I trust You to help the physicians, nurses, and aids involved to heal me. I trust You to be with me during the procedure. Jesus, I trust in You. Jesus, I trust in You. Jesus, I trust in You. Amen."

"God, You are the Divine Healer. Please help me find patience for my healing. Please guide me to rest in Your presence in this time of waiting."

"Saint Luke, you are the patron saint of physicians and surgeons. Please pray for me and all those involved in my surgery or recovery. Help lead me to trust in Jesus."

Hallow's prayers for a friend or family member's surgery

"Lord, I thank you for the gift of physicians, hospitals, and medicine to help heal our loved ones. Please hold (name of your loved one) in Your palm as they undergo surgery. Guide the physicians, nurses, and aids for a peaceful surgery. And may [name of your loved one] have a gentle recovery. Amen."

"Holy Spirit, you have a gift to comfort and heal. Please rest in the operating room with (name of your loved one) and be present while they undergo surgery. Amen."

"Jesus, You are the Healer. Please guide the hearts, minds, and hands of all the physicians, nurses, and aids in (name of your loved one)’s surgery. May You lead them with Your grace and mercy in all the work they do."

Hallow's prayers for recovery and healing after surgery

"Heavenly Father, please help me have patience in this time of recovery. Help me seek rest in Your presence. Amen."

"God, you are the Divine Healer. I trust in Your healing and in Your timing for my recovery. Guide me to a healthier life, a life with less pain and more of Your Love. Amen."

Padre Pio's Prayer for Physical Healing

Heavenly Father, I thank you for loving me.
I thank you for sending your Son,
Our Lord Jesus Christ,
to the world to save and to set me free.
I trust in your power and grace
that sustain and restore me.

Loving Father, touch me now
with your healing hands,
for I believe that your will is for me
to be well in mind, body, soul and spirit.

Cover me with the most Precious Blood of Your Son,
our Lord, Jesus Christ
from the top of my head to the soles of my feet.
Cast anything that should not be in me.

Root out any unhealthy and abnormal cells.
Open any blocked arteries or veins
and rebuild and replenish any damaged areas.
Remove all inflammation and cleanse any infection
by the power of Jesus’ Precious Blood.

Let the fire of your healing love
pass through my entire body
to heal and make new any diseased areas
so that my body will function
the way you created it to function.

Touch also my mind and my emotion,
even the deepest recesses of my heart.
Saturate my entire being
with your presence, love, joy, and peace,
and draw me ever closer to you every moment of my life.

And Father, fill me with your Holy Spirit
and empower me to do your works
so that my life will bring glory and honor to your holy name. I ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.

One may also pray to Saint Camillus de Lellis, the patron saint of the sick, hospitals, nurses, and physicians.

Prayer to Saint Camillus

St. Camillus, special patron of the sick,
who during forty years didst devote yourself
with truly heroic charity to the relief
of their spiritual and temporal miseries:
since holy Church has confided them
to your mighty protection,
deign, from your heavenly glory,
to come now to their assistance.

Obtain for them either the cure of their maladies,
or patience and Christian resignation,
that they may be strengthened and sanctified
and at the same time obtain for us
the grace in life and death
to imitate you in the practice of divine love.
Amen.