LITANY OF LABOR & SOCIAL JUSTICE
from the 1941 Evangelical & Reformed Hymnal
Deacon: O Son of God, once carpenter of Nazareth,
PEOPLE: Have mercy upon us, guide and bless our daily toil.
Deacon: Remember not our iniquities, nor the sins and oppressions of those who were before us, but spare us, good Lord; through we have defaced thine image in man, despoiled the work of thy hands,
and made labor a curse through our sins,
PEOPLE: Spare us, good Lord.
Deacon: From greed and selfishness; from envy and covetousness;
from pride and contempt; and from all uncharitableness,
PEOPLE: Spare us, good Lord.
Deacon: From injustice, oppression, and slavery; from keeping back the price of labor; and from binding upon men
burdens to grievous to be borne,
PEOPLE: Spare us, good Lord.
Deacon: From the love of money;
from trust in the uncertainty of riches,
and from regarding a man’s life as consisting
of the abundance of things which he possesseth,
PEOPLE: Spare us, good Lord.
Deacon: From bribery and corruption;
from unjust dealing and dishonest practices;
from taking unfair advantage and seeking unrighteous profit; from all trade in temptation
and commerce and things harmful to the body or soul,
PEOPLE: Spare us, good Lord.
Deacon: From strife and contention;
from the inequalities that breed unrest and discontent; from bitterness and distrust;
from all denial of our common humanity
and our brotherhood in Christ,
PEOPLE: Spare us, good Lord.
Deacon: By thy humble birth, by thy cradling in the manger;
by the poverty of thy home
and the obscurity of thine early years,
PEOPLE: Good Lord, deliver us.
Deacon: By thy daily toil; by thy weariness, hunger, and thirst;
by thy ministering to the multitude;
by thy journeyings to preach the glad tidings,
when thou hadst not where to lay thy head,
PEOPLE: Good Lord, deliver us.
Deacon: We beseech thee to hear us, that thou wilt deliver
thy holy Church universal from the worship of mammon,
from bondage to the world,
and from all complicity in social evil
and silence at wrong.
PEOPLE: We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord
Deacon: That thou wilt deliver all who are enslaved,
overworked or burdened;
protect all whose labor brings them into danger
or leads them into temptation;
and comfort those whose toil is monotonous,
or without joy,
PEOPLE: We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
Deacon: That thou wilt bring near the day when men shall toil,
not for their own gains, but for the common good;
when all commerce shall be brotherly, all labor prayer, all work worship,
and men shall rejoice
in the things that their hands have made,
PEOPLE: We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
Deacon: That thou wilt hasten the coming of thy kingdom
and its righteousness;
put an end to international and industrial strife;
establish a true fellowship among men;
and restore the apostolic order where no man shall regard aught of the things that he possesseth as his own,
but all things shall be for the service of his fellow men,
PEOPLE: We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
Pastor: Heavenly Father,we remember before thee
those who suffer want and anxiety from lack of work.
Guide the people of our land so to use our wealth
and resources that all persons may find suitable and fulfilling employment
and receive just payment for their labors,
through thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with thee and the Holy Spirit,
one God, through all ages of ages.
PEOPLE: Amen.
