Prayer for Strength Under Bodily Affliction, by Grace Aguilar (1837)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription) and Grace Aguilar

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6 May 2023 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

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Well-being, health, and caregiving

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English vernacular prayer, teḥinot in English, 19th century C.E., disabled bodies, תחינות teḥinot, 56th century A.M.

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Prayer for strength under bodily affliction.
	O Lord my God, if Thou hast ordained that weakness and disease should deprive me of the health which Thou hast mercifully permitted should continue for so long a time; O grant that my spirit may not fail, whatever Thou mayest think fit in Thy wisdom to cause my body to suffer.
	I do not murmur, O Lord my God, for I know all that Thou ordainest is sent in mercy, to make us more fitted for another and more glorious sphere, to purify and cleanse us for Thyself.
	I do not repine, O Lord, yet, at the time of bodily suffering, when pain deprives us of our natural rest, when weakness imprisons our energies, when we turn restless and uneasy on our couch, and our irritated blood causes us to behold everything through a wrong medium, and we are ready to repine at every annoyance, and become impatient with those around us; then, O Lord, bestow on me strength of mind, a calm contented spirit to enable me to acknowledge Thy hand, and feel that all is sent in mercy, even though it appear as chastisement.
	Let not temper fail, but permit gratitude alone to fill my heart towards those whom Thou hast ordained should tend me in those moments of weakness and disease;
	strengthen my spirit, though my bodily strength should fail; and turn my thoughts to thyself, O God, in those moments when every amusement may be denied me, when sickness may deprive me of those pleasures and pursuits natural to health and life; O let me not repine for them, but bestow on me that calm and grateful spirit, those holy and blessed thoughts, which will enable me to bear all bodily affliction with a resigned and even a rejoicing spirit.
	O most merciful Father, hear my prayer, and do not Thou forsake me in those moments when Thou mayest ordain bodily health should forsake me.
	Be Thou with me, strengthen, fortify, support me then, O Lord; let me lie under the shadow of Thy wings; let me feel Thou wilt make my bed in my sickness, and strengthen my soul while my body faileth. Then, though pain encircle me, my thoughts shall be my comfort; though sleep forsake me through the weary hours of night, I will not fear, for Thou wilt be with me, and draw my thoughts to Thyself.
	O hear me, my God, and in Thine infinite mercy bestow on me that blessed strength, those holy and consoling thoughts, which will enable me to bear all bodily afflictions with that spirit most acceptable to Thee.
	Blessed art Thou who answerest all who call upon Thee. Amen.

“Prayer for strength under bodily affliction” by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in Sabbath Thoughts and Sacred Communings (1853), and included in the section “Prayers in Illness,” pp. 121-123. The prayer appears between one dated 31 December 1836 and another dated 14 January 1837, along with several other undated prayers. In Essays and Miscellanies (1853) the prayer appears on pages 189-190.

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. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike . 4.0 . International .

“Prayer for Strength Under Bodily Affliction, by Grace Aguilar (1837)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Grace Aguilar

Grace Aguilar (2 June 1816 – 16 September 1847) was an English novelist, poet and writer on Jewish history and religion. Although she had been writing since childhood, much of her work was published posthumously. Among those are her best known works, the novels Home Influence and A Mother's Recompense. Aguilar was the eldest child of Sephardic Jewish refugees from Portugal who settled in the London Borough of Hackney. An early illness resulted in her being educated by her parents, especially her mother, who taught her the tenets of Judaism. Later, her father taught the history of Spanish and Portuguese Jews during his own bout with tuberculosis which had led the family to move to the English coast. After surviving the measles at the age of 19, she began to embark on a serious writing career, even though her physical health never completely recovered. Aguilar's debut was an anonymous collection of poems, The Magic Wreath of Hidden Flowers. Three years later she translated Isaac Orobio de Castro's Israel Defended into English at her father's behest. Later her The Spirit of Judaism drew interest and sales in both Britain and the United States after being published in Philadelphia by Isaac Leeser. He added a preface to the work elucidating his differences with her, the first of many clashes her work would have with mainstream Jewish thought. In the 1840s her novels began to attract regular readers, and Aguilar moved back to London with her parents. Despite her success, she and her mother still had to operate a boys' Hebrew school to stay solvent, which she resented for the time and energy it took from her writing. In 1847, she became ill again with a spinal paralysis which she did not let prevent her from visiting her brother in Frankfurt. Her health worsened and she died there that September.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17