​A Litany of Freedom, Lament, and Hope for Haiti
By Rev. Joseph Constant, Prayer Service,
Virginia Theological Seminary, 2/28/2026

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Leader - God of freedom and justice, you heard the cries of the enslaved and led them out of bondage. You walked with our ancestors through fire and struggle, and on the first day of January 1804, you made a way where none seemed possible.

People - We give You thanks, O God of liberation.

Leader - For the courage of those who rose up believing that oppression was not your will, for faith that declared dignity where the world saw none, and for a nation born not of privilege but of sacrifice.

People - We remember, and we give you thanks.

Leader - Yet today, O Lord, we bring before you, our lament. For the children who fear, cannot go to school, for families displaced from their homes, for communities living in and for lives diminished by violence and neglect.

People - How long, O Lord? Hear the cry of Your people.

Leader - For leadership that has failed to serve, for power sought without responsibility, for corruption that has stolen hope and dignity.

People - Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.

Leader - For those who carry weapons instead of wisdom, for those who profit from chaos, and for systems that protect the guilty while the innocent suffers.

People - Deliver us, O God of justice.

Leader - For the faithful people who continue to pray, serve, and endure; for mothers and fathers who refuse to give up; for teachers, nurses, clergy, and all who stand for life.

People - Strengthen them, O Lord, and renew their hope.