Eternal God, we come with prayer, those pioneers to praise, who offered prisoners hope and care in half-remembered days; the honored few, whose names we know, a Howard or a Fry, and those unnoticed here below whose names are known on high. Bless those whose duty lies today within the prison wall; give them, on our behalf, we pray, an equal care for all. Draw near to those in sore distress with weary years to spend; dispel their fear and loneliness and be for them a friend. We pray for lives where hope is lost, a weary road to climb; the innocent who pay the cost and bear the scars of crime. Through all the world our prayer we make for those unjustly tried, the prisoners held for conscience' sake, in cells where martyrs died. O Christ, who once in mercy came to seek for those astray, the blessings of your saving Name be known in this our day. Your kingdom come, O Prince of peace, to burst oppression's chain, where hatred, crime and conflict cease, and grace and mercy reign.