PRAYER BEFORE AN OPERATION   Father, as I face this operation, I come to You with my fears and misgivings and ask You to put into my heart the needed courage to face the day with unwavering confidence in Your goodness and protection. May the knowledge that You do not slumber nor sleep while I am in a deep sleep, be an assurance to me that I need not worry nor be afraid. Calm my nerves, put my mind at ease and, in Your Mercy, forgive me all my sins.   Give to the surgeon a steady hand and the skill to do his task with ease and perfection. Give to my loved ones the reassuring faith that You are with us, the Keeper of my body and the Lover of my soul! Calm all their anxieties during the coming hours of my operation.   Into Your Hands I entrust my well being. All this I ask, Father, in the Name of Jesus and through the merits of His Most Precious Blood.