A Prayer for Anxiety

The Catholic prayer for anxiety begins where Scripture commands: "Be nothing solicitous; but in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7, Douay-Rheims). Anxiety is answered by handing the care to God — not suppressed, but placed, named and whole, into hands stronger than ours. We give the prayers first, and the doctrine of trust behind them afterwards.

A Catholic prayer for anxiety and worry

This prayer gathers the two great scriptural commands — cast the care, and be not solicitous — into a single petition. Say it slowly, naming the fear where the brackets stand:

O Lord my God, Thou hast said: "Cast thy care upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee" (Psalm 54). I cast upon Thee now this care that weighs on me: [name it]. I cannot carry it, and Thou hast never asked me to carry it alone. Take from my heart the worry that crowds out Thy peace; give me light to do what I must do, and grace to leave to Thee what I cannot do. Keep my heart and mind in Christ Jesus, and let Thy peace, which surpasseth all understanding, stand guard where my fears have stood. Amen.

The psalm the prayer quotes is God's own instruction: "Cast thy care upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall not suffer the just to waver for ever" (Psalm 54:23). St Peter repeats it to the whole Church: "Casting all your care upon him, for he hath care of you" (1 Peter 5:7). The ground of the prayer is not our composure but His care.

An act of confidence in the Sacred Heart

The shortest and surest prayer for anxiety relief in the Catholic tradition is the indulgenced ejaculation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, found in the Raccolta, the Church's official collection of indulgenced prayers:

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee.

Seven words, sayable in a crowded room, in a hospital corridor, in the middle of the night, a hundred times a day. Anxiety turns the soul inward, circling the same fear; this prayer turns it outward, to a Heart that was itself "sorrowful even unto death" in Gethsemani (Matthew 26:38). Each repetition is another act of trust, and trust is precisely what anxiety lacks.

A short prayer for anxiety, worry and fear

When fear strikes suddenly — a wave of panic, a racing heart, a dread without a name — a long prayer is impossible and a short one is enough. The tradition supplies these, any of which can be prayed in a single breath:

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee.

"Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me" (John 14:1).

My Jesus, mercy.

Lord, save me — as Peter cried when he began to sink (Matthew 14:30).

For a prayer for anxiety and panic attacks, the last is fitted exactly to the moment: Peter's prayer was three words, prayed while sinking, and "immediately Jesus stretching forth his hand took hold of him" (Matthew 14:31). God does not require calm as a condition of hearing us. The same short prayers serve for test or exam anxiety — said once before the paper is opened, the matter then left in God's hands while the work is done.

The St Dymphna prayer for anxiety

St Dymphna, a seventh-century Irish virgin and martyr venerated for centuries at Gheel in Belgium, is the traditional patroness of those afflicted with nervous and mental disorders; her feast is kept on May 15 in the Roman Martyrology. Those suffering anxiety, nervousness or depression have long asked her intercession:

O God, who didst give to St Dymphna the grace of purity and fortitude even unto martyrdom, grant through her intercession to all who suffer anxiety, nervousness and affliction of mind, calm in their trouble, light in their darkness, and perseverance in their trust in Thee. St Dymphna, patroness of the anxious and afflicted, pray for us. Amen.

At Gheel the afflicted were received and cared for by the townspeople for centuries under her patronage — the Church has never treated affliction of the nerves as a shame to be hidden. Her life and the devotion to her are given fully in St Dymphna.

A prayer for anxiety and depression

When anxiety is joined to depression — when fear alternates with a heaviness that will not lift — the soul should pray not for feelings but for endurance and light, and it should lean on the invitation of Christ Himself: "Come to me, all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you" (Matthew 11:28).

Lord Jesus Christ, who didst call the burdened to Thyself, I come to Thee burdened. My mind is dark and my heart is afraid, and I cannot pray as I would. Accept this coming as my prayer. Sustain me through this day only; I leave tomorrow in Thy hands. Send me the help Thou wilt — Thy grace, Thy sacraments, and the care of those Thou hast given skill to heal — and keep me, even in darkness, from letting go of Thee. Amen.

Note the petition for the care of those Thou hast given skill to heal: grace does not abolish the ordinary means. The Church has never opposed prayer to the physician — "Honour the physician for the need thou hast of him: for the most High hath created him" (Ecclesiasticus 38:1). Pray, frequent the sacraments — above all Confession, which lifts the heaviest burden of all — and use the lawful help God provides. What Scripture itself says of this affliction is treated in What Does God Say About Anxiety?.

A night prayer for sleep and anxiety

Anxiety keeps its worst hours at night, when the mind has nothing to do but circle. The Church's own night prayer, Compline, ends the day with Psalm 4: "In peace in the selfsame I will sleep, and I will rest: for thou, O Lord, singularly hast settled me in hope" (Psalm 4:9). A night prayer for anxiety, said at the bedside:

Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit, and with it every care of this day. What I have done, receive; what I have failed to do, forgive; what I fear for tomorrow, take from my hands, for the night is Thine and the morning is Thine. Grant me quiet sleep, and if I wake in fear, wake me to Thy presence. Amen.

If sleep will not come, do not fight the thoughts one by one; return to the single short prayer — Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee — and let it answer every fear that rises. The same trust opens the morning: "Be not therefore solicitous for to morrow; for the morrow will be solicitous for itself" (Matthew 6:34).

A prayer for someone with anxiety

When it is a son, a daughter, a friend or a spouse who suffers, we may carry them to God as the four men carried the paralytic to Christ — on our faith when theirs is weak (Mark 2:3-5):

Lord Jesus, I bring before Thee [name], whom Thou lovest, who is afflicted with anxiety and fear. What I cannot reach in him, Thou canst reach. Calm his mind, steady his heart, guard his sleep, and let him feel the ground of Thy care beneath him. Give me the patience and the words to help him, and where I can do nothing, let my prayer stand in the breach. Through the intercession of St Dymphna, grant him Thy peace. Amen.

Intercession of this kind is not a substitute for presence and help; it is what makes them supernatural. For the wider petition for peace of soul and home, see A Prayer for Peace.

Trust in Providence: why prayer calms anxiety

The prayers above are not techniques for calming the nerves; they work upon the root. Our Lord's teaching on anxiety is a doctrine before it is a consolation: "Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they?" (Matthew 6:26). The argument is from Providence — the truth that God's governance extends to every particular of every life, so that nothing reaches us except through His permission.

Anxiety, at its root, is the practical doubt of this truth; prayer is its practical affirmation. The remedy for worry is therefore not the resolution to stop worrying — which no one has ever kept — but the repeated, concrete act of handing each care to the One who "hath care of you." When the trial itself is heavy and long, the Church has further words for it in A Prayer in Difficult Times.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good Catholic prayer for anxiety?

Begin with Scripture's own prayer-command: "Cast thy care upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee" (Psalm 54:23), and the ejaculation from the Raccolta, "Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee." Both are short, both are the Church's own, and both do the one thing anxiety cannot: they hand the care to God.

What is a short prayer for anxiety, worry and fear?

"Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee" — seven words, indulgenced by the Church, repeatable in any moment. Christ's own words serve equally: "Let not your heart be troubled" (John 14:1), turned into a petition: Lord, let not my heart be troubled; I believe in Thee.

What is the St Dymphna prayer for anxiety?

It is a prayer asking the intercession of St Dymphna, the Irish virgin and martyr honoured at Gheel, who is the traditional patroness of those suffering nervous and mental afflictions. The prayer asks, through her intercession, calm in trouble, light in darkness, and perseverance in trust in God.

Is there a prayer for anxiety and depression?

Yes. Pray on the invitation of Christ: "Come to me, all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you" (Matthew 11:28) — asking endurance for this day only, and naming the coming itself as the prayer when words fail. The Church joins this to Confession, the sacraments, and the lawful care of physicians, which Scripture itself commends (Ecclesiasticus 38:1).

What is a good prayer for sleep and anxiety?

The Church's night prayer ends the day with Psalm 4: "In peace in the selfsame I will sleep, and I will rest: for thou, O Lord, singularly hast settled me in hope." Commend your spirit and the day's cares into God's hands at the bedside, and if sleep will not come, answer every rising fear with the same short act of trust in the Sacred Heart.

How do I pray for someone with anxiety?

Carry the person to God by name, as the four men carried the paralytic to Christ on their own faith (Mark 2:3-5): ask calm for his mind, guard for his sleep, and for yourself the patience and words to help him. St Dymphna is traditionally invoked for those afflicted in mind and nerves.

Is there a prayer for anxiety and panic attacks?

In the moment of panic, pray Peter's prayer as he sank: "Lord, save me" (Matthew 14:30) — and remember that "immediately" Christ stretched forth His hand. God does not require calm before He hears; the shortest cry from the midst of fear is a true and complete prayer.

The prayers, psalms and litanies of the tradition — including the prayers to the Sacred Heart — are in the Iter Fidei app, in Latin and English with audio. Join early access here.

Sources. Philippians 4:6-7; Psalm 54:23; Psalm 4:9; Matthew 6:26-34; Matthew 11:28; Matthew 14:30-31; Matthew 26:38; Mark 2:3-5; John 14:1; 1 Peter 5:7; Ecclesiasticus 38:1 — all Douay-Rheims. The Raccolta (collection of indulgenced prayers), ejaculation to the Sacred Heart. Roman Martyrology, May 15, St Dymphna, virgin and martyr.