Evening Prayer (I thank Thee), 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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Bedtime Shema

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19th century C.E., תחינות teḥinot, 56th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, teḥinot in English, apotropaic prayers of protection

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Evening prayer.
	I thank Thee, oh my Heavenly Father, for the great mercies Thou hast vouchsafed me, in granting that another day should pass in health and gladness.
	I thank Thee for permitting me again to enjoy the calm repose of night, that no affliction of mind nor body should prevent my welcoming this season of quiet as a blessed gift from Thee.
	I thank Thee, oh Lord, for granting me the comforts of a home, and shelter from the night air, from temptations and from perils; and even the luxurious couch on which I lay me down to rest is Thy gift, oh merciful God, for how many of my fellow creatures are deprived of that luxury, and after working hard through the day, how different is the couch on which their wearied and perhaps aching limbs are laid, to that which Thou in Thy mercy hast vouchsafed me!
	Oh how tame are my praises, my words of thanksgiving, oh God! How unworthy I am of Thy goodness!
	And I thank Thee, most merciful, for granting me such kind parents, who, throughout the day, are ever ready to contribute to my enjoyments, to assist me with their counsel in my studies and other employments, and to aid me in the attainment of my pleasures and pursuits. Do Thou reward and bless them, oh Lord my God, and guard them from all evil, distress, or bodily suffering. And bless all those kind friends and relations Thou hast so mercifully bestowed on me.
	Father of Heaven! oh be Thou with me through the silent hours of night. Do not Thou forsake me in these senseless and unguarded hours. Thou, oh Lord, knowest the weakness of Thy creature; then have compassion on me, and preserve me from the sins and follies of my own mind, and the terrors and the dangers that dwell in darkness and in silence, and from which Thy mighty arm alone can shield us.
	Oh teach my thoughts to fly to Thee; to that glorious Heaven where Thou dwellest. Oh raise them from the grovelling earth, and bid them soar to Thee, where alone is perfect happiness and peace and glory.
	Permit me to rise up in the morning, prepared to worship Thee, to receive all enjoyments as blessings from Thy hand, of which I am unworthy; and sorrows as yet greater mercies, for they will chasten me, and draw me nearer Thee, and render me more fitted for another sphere.
	Oh Lord, my God, how dare I appeal to Thee for such great mercies, when every day, ay, every hour, either in word, or deed, or thought, I sin against Thee? Oh forgive my manifold transgressions; I acknowledge them, oh Lord, with an humble and penitent spirit, for I know that they are great, and I can do no good in a degree to atone for them, for improvident and thoughtless when opportunities of doing some trifling good do occur, too frequently do I neglect them.
	Father of Mercy! oh do not withdraw Thy goodness from me, unworthy as I am; do not forsake me, nor withdraw Thy Holy Spirit from me, for then the blessing Thou hast vouchsafed me, in permitting me to pray to Thee, will be denied me, and I shall become blinded and miserable as those whom Thou hast not permitted to know the holy consolation of humble and fervent prayer. Oh have mercy on such afflicted ones, oh Lord, and pour Thy Holy Grace, Thy Spirit, on their souls, and darkness and misery shall flee away, for they will know, and love, and praise their merciful Creator.
	Father, hear me! and in Thy mercy hearken to the cry of Thy servant, for Thou seest my heart and thoughts — Lord, oh make them ever full of love for Thee. — Amen.

“Evening Prayer (I thank Thee)” by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in Essays and Miscellanies (1853), in the section “Sacred Communings,” pp. 186-188. In the UK edition of Sacred Communings (1853) the prayer appears with small variations of spelling and punctuation on pages 107-109.

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. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“Evening Prayer (I thank Thee), 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