Prayer [at the commencement of a writing project] (Father of mercies), by Grace Aguilar (ca. 1830s)

Contributor(s):

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

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

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Labor, Fulfillment, and Parnasah, Self-Reflection

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56th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, teḥinot in English, wards against excessive pride, 19th century C.E., writing, תחינות teḥinot

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Prayer.
	Father of mercies, Thou who hast given me not only the ability to think, but the power to express my thoughts in appropriate words; Thou who hast gilded my earthly lot with a gift so precious, that time never hangs heavily, nor are my spirits depressed from a mind vacant and unemployed; oh, my God, may Thy blessing fall upon my new appointed task.
	Grant me the power to embody the thoughts that are constantly flitting across my brain. Permit me to show forth Thy glory in all I write. And if worldliness and frivolity must mingle in my task, let them be hallowed by showing clearly those rocks against which, were I tempted, I might fall.
	In portraying the characters of others, oh my God, let my own heart stand before me with all its natural sins and faults. Let Thy blessing so sanctify my appointed task, that it may assist me in the knowledge of myself. Let my religious and moral duties appear even more clearly before me as I thus write.
	Oh, my God, I acknowledge Thy beneficent hand with fervent gratitude and thanksgiving, in the pleasure that Thy gift bestows; do Thou bless it unto me, by enabling me thus to show forth Thy glory, and obtain a better knowledge of myself.
	Father, Thou knowest my heart; oh have mercy on Thy servant. In my newly designed task, let it not gain as much dominion over my heart as did the last. I trust in Thy mercy, mighty Father. Oh guard me in future from such engrossing fancies. Enable me to give up with cheerfulness and good temper this, my favourite amusement, if duty in any way demands it. Guard me from sacrificing employments of more consequence to find time for this.
	Let Thy blessed spirit be with me, merciful Father; and oh! let me never for one moment forget that this enjoyment is Thy gift, and as such commands me ever to be prepared to render it back to Thee, whenever and however it may please Thee to recall it.
	Father, let not these thoughts depart from my soul, but sanctify and bless them.
	If it be acceptable to Thee, oh my God, grant me health and leisure, peace and ability to complete the task Thou hast enabled and permitted me to commence.
	But if such be not Thy will — if ill-health in those around me, increased duties, or any other cause, prevent the indulgence of my favourite pursuit, oh do Thou pour Thy blessing on my soul, that I may say from my heart with rejoicing love and trusting faith, “Not my will, not mine, but Thine, oh Lord, be done.”^[1] Cf. Mark 14:36 and Luke 22:42.
	My fervent petitions are before Thee, almighty and beneficent God, oh grant them according to Thy will. — Amen.

“Prayer (Father of mercies)” by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in Essays and Miscellanies (1853), in the section “Sacred Communings,” pp. 219-221. In the UK edition of Sacred Communings (1853) the prayer appears with small variations of spelling and punctuation on pages 132-134.

This prayer at the commencement of an as yet unidentified writing project seems to me to be possibly related to her “Hymn of Praise,” a prayer of gratitude at the culmination of a writing project. A detail in the prayer indicates this wasn’t her first writing project, so we know this prayer cannot refer The Vale of Cedars; or, the Martyr, begun in 1831 at the age of 15. (That work was published posthumously in 1850.) Aguilar began writing a number of works in the 1830s while she lived in Teignmouth, Devon. In 1835, Aguilar began writing The Magic Wreath of Hidden Flowers, published anonymously in 1839. In 1836, she began drafting the manuscript of her novel Home Influence, published in 1847. And in 1838, her translation of Israel Defended by Orobio de Castro was published. Any of these is a plausible candidate for the inspiration for this prayer. –Aharon Varady

Source(s)

Notes[+]

Notes
1	Cf. Mark 14:36 and Luke 22:42.

. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“Prayer [at the commencement of a writing project] (Father of mercies), by Grace Aguilar (ca. 1830s)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal 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