Djibouti, Somalia

Intercessions

We are thankful for:

• the beauty of Creation and  resources from lands and sea
• the stable governance and economic development that Djibouti has experienced in recent years
• the many ways churches and humanitarian organizations have prayed for and responded to the needs in Somalia.

We pray for:

• protection of natural resources and coastal land
• an end to hunger, violence, crime and conflict in Somalia
• effective reconciliation and peace-building
• stable governments that further the common good for all the people
• those who have fled this area that they may be welcomed in new homelands.

Prayers

You who give sustenance to your creatures, O God,
Put water for us in the nipples of rain!  

You who poured water into oceans, O God,
Make this land of ours fertile again!  

Accepter of penance, who are wealthy, O God,
Gather water in rivers whose beds have run dry!  

You who are glorious, truly bounteous, O God,
Our cries have undone us, grant a shower of rain!  

You who are clement, truly worshipped, O God,
Milk water for beasts which are stricken with thirst!  

Creator of nature who made all things, O God,
Transmute our ruin to blessing and good!  

We have done much remembrance, O God who remembers,
Loosen upon us rain from the clouds!  

You who are merciful and compassionate, O God,
Milk rain from the sky for those in need!  

You who are truthful, Creator, O God,
We accept in submission whatever you say!  

You who mete out good and evil, O God,
In this land we are broken, milk the clouds from above!  

The earth and the sky you constructed, O God,
We cannot get water, bring forth drops of rain!  

The darkness of night you transfigure, O God,
And make daylight follow; milk the sky lavishly!  

You who open all and give sustenance, O God,
People have scattered; send forth healthy rain!  

Almighty, perfector of counsels, O God,
Pour for us rain which would make the land wet!  

You who are bounteous, the protector, O God,
We cannot survive drought, send us rain from your store!  

You who drive the air which sways the trees, O God,
It is you whom we praised, grant us the goodness of rain!  

You who are worshipped and answer prayers, O God,
Make the rain spread over the whole of the land!  

Bestower of victories, benefactor, O God,
Bring us faultless rain which makes us dwell where it falls!  

You who are one and are trusted, O God,
Provider of all, give water to your people!  

You who spark off lightning from clouds you have loaded, O God,
It is you who have power over rain which satisfies abundantly!  

You who fill water-holes dug in wadis, O God,
Milk rain on this land, cream-giving rain!  

You who used to relieve the strangest plights, O God,
It is to you that I have turned for help!

(Somali, Somalia. Heart of Prayer, comp. Anthony Gittins, CSSp, Collins, 1985. Used with permission.)

Allah! (Lord)
Make me among those whom you have guided.
Make me among those whom you have pardoned,
and make me among those to whom you are a patron.
Bless that which you have bestowed on me
and shield me against the evil of what you have decreed.
Truly, you are the one who decrees and none can decree over you.
The one to whom you show allegiance can never be abased,
and the one whom you take as an enemy
is never honoured and mighty.
You are the blessed and the exalted.

(“Allah” is Arabic for “God”.)

(© Saadiya Hirse, Somali)

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