When I was in Prison
A Prayer for an Execution
Lord Jesus Christ,
In all of human history, You are the only God Who
- Has sat in the death house,
- Walked the “Perp” walk to the place of your killing,
- And suffered execution.
As I sit on the cold, concrete floor of this death cell,
Barely twenty feet from where I will be killed,
I have nothing
- Not a cup,
- No property,
- Not even a sheet.
The clothes on my back belong to the state.
My very body belongs to the state.
Lord Jesus, You also were stripped and left with nothing.
There are crowds outside the prison chanting for my death.
Lord Jesus, You also heard the crowds chanting for your death.
And, there are my mother and a few friends-very few friends-standing by me to the end.
My Lord Jesus, your Blessed Mother and the holy women and John-only John-stood by you to the end.
And, there are the guards.
Some have been kind.
Some have not been kind.
So it was with You, Jesus, and the guards on your death squad.
Some mocked and struck You.
Yet others testified to your divinity.
Oh Lord, they are coming for me.
They are coming to take me and kill me.
I am terrified.
My Lord, You have traveled this ground before.
Stay with me, Jesus.
They are here, Lord.
Oh please, lead me through this, Jesus.
Oh my God, they are really killing me.
Lord, remember me in your kingdom.
And forgive them, Lord.
They do not know what they are doing.
Amen.
Dale S. Recinella
Catholic Lay Chaplain
Florida’s Death Row &
Solitary Confinement
Susan Recinella
Clinical Psychologist
for mentally ill adults,
and Catholic Lay
Minister to Families
of the Executed
