Look with mercy, O God our Father, on all whose increasing years bring them weakness, distress, or isolation. Provide for them homes of dignity and peace; give them understanding helpers, and the willingness to accept help; and as their strength diminishes, increase their faith and their assurance of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.
This gentle prayer for those in the later years of life first appeared in the American Book of Common Prayer of 1979, titled "For the Aged." The Anglican Church in North America carried it into its 2019 prayer book almost word for word, renaming it "For the Elderly" and adding a blank to name someone by name.