Prayer in Times of Bodily Suffering, by Grace Aguilar (ca. 1830s)

Contributor(s):

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

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11 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, self-reflection, teḥinot in English, 19th century C.E., תחינות teḥinot, 56th century A.M.

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	Prayer in times of bodily suffering.
	Answer me when I call, oh God of my righteousness. Thou who enlargest me when in distress, be now gracious unto me and hear my prayer. Hear my voice, oh Lord, when I cry. For the sake of Thy name, oh Lord, revive me.
	Behold, I acknowledge with fervent gratitude and praise that great abundant mercy which hath sustained me so long in health, which hath so long guarded me from disease and suffering of any kind. Blessed art Thou, oh my God, who healest the sick. Blessed art Thou who orderest death, and restorest to life, and causest salvation to spring forth.
	And most blessed Lord, I thank and bless Thee for my present suffering, for I know all that Thou ordainest is sent in mercy, in love; for mercy and love are thy attributes, oh God, and even what appeareth in itself chastisement and sorrow, is a blessing from Thy almighty hand.
	Then add yet more to Thy great mercies, oh God; let me still feel Thy spirit dwelleth within me, and guardeth me from those sinful repinings, or idle and frivolous thoughts, which sometimes float around the bed of sickness.
	Be Thou with me, support and strengthen me now, oh blessed Lord. Deprived of the amusements and pursuits of health and life, oh do Thou grant me those blessed thoughts of Heaven and of Thee, of religion and Thy Word, which will soothe me, not only in moments of weakness and langour, but even in the hour of intense and constant pain. If Thou art with me then, my God, if Thou wilt fill my mind with Thee, the pangs of the body are as naught.
	Blessed Lord, do Thou make my bed in my sickness; let me cling to Thee, and so trust in Thee and love Thee, that I may not look forward with gloom or terror, to a continuance of suffering, however long may be the period of my illness; however distant my recovery.
	Oh, merciful Father, guard me from repining, from impatience, from ill-temper; oh permit me cheerfully, patiently, resignedly, to meet Thy will, however it may be clothed in bodily or mental suffering.
	Guard me from indulging in wishes that may be contrary to Thy decree; in desires that may be sinful; and permit me, oh God, humbly and gratefully to acknowledge and bless Thy hand, for the blessings that still surround me, for the plenteous mercies that are daily mine.
	And may it please Thee, oh my God, to bless, protect, and reward all those who so kindly tend me; let not their health suffer, either from anxiety or fatigue; let them trust in Thee, and be ready to meet Thy will, whatever it may be; let not pettishness on my part, ever cause them pain; let gratitude and love ever gain the ascendancy in my heart, towards those whom Thou so mercifully decreest should tend me.
	Oh look down and answer me, oh Lord, my God; I pray not for the recovery of my body, but that it might please Thee to enlighten and deliver my soul from the sins of its polluted prison, that it may be prepared, should the final strife be near, for a glorified triumph over anguish and death.
	And while I thus pray, I acknowledge before Thee, oh Lord, my God, and the God of my fathers, God of the spirit of all flesh, that both my cure and death are in Thy power. May it be acceptable in Thy presence to heal me with a perfect cure, and may my memorial and prayer ascend into Thy presence, and be acceptable as the prayer of Hezekiah in his sickness.
	But if the time of my visitation to death be near, oh let my death be an expiation for all my sins, iniquities, and transgressions, wherein I have sinned, offended, and transgressed against Thee from the day of my existence; and let my portion be in the Paradise of Eden, and purify me to enjoy the future state reserved for the righteous.
	“Oh show me the path of everlasting life; for in Thy presence is the plenitude of joy, and at Thy right hand everlasting pleasures.” (Psalms 16:11)
	Blessed art Thou, oh Lord, who hearest prayer!

“Prayer in times of bodily suffering” by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in Essays and Miscellanies (1853), in the section “Sacred Communings,” pp. 204-207. The prayer does not appear in the UK edition of Sacred Communings (1853).

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. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“Prayer in Times of Bodily Suffering, by Grace Aguilar (ca. 1830s)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.

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.

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.)

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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