Prayer for the Sabbath Morn, by Grace Aguilar (ca. 1830s)

Contributor(s):

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

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

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Shaḥarit l'Shabbat ul'Yom Tov, Saturday

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

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Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Prayer for the Sabbath morn.
	Father Almighty! may it please Thee in Thine infinite mercy, to pour Thy blessing on Thy Sabbath day, and grant us that grace which will enable us to employ it in a manner acceptable to thee.
	Removed far from our own land, scattered as fugitives among the nations, as a just punishment for our sins against Thee; oh my God, Thou knowest the many things which combine to render the task so difficult, to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy; the many interruptions which disturb us, and prevent the sacred day from retaining that holiness which alone can render it acceptable to Thee.
	Oh remember these things, merciful Father. Remember Thou hast visited us in Thy wrath, and taken Thy Holy Spirit from us, and have compassion, for without the fulness of Thy grace within us, how can we address Thee with constancy and fervour? Worldly thoughts, earthly objects, mingle with our prayers, and turn them away from Thee. Our weak and corrupted natures cannot fix attention on things relating to Thee alone, without the help of those outward forms, of which, in our exiled and destitute state, we are now deprived.
	Oh, my God, permit then Thy righteousness to be at work within us. Let Thy grace fix our hearts and souls on Thee this day, which by miracle and precept Thou hast sanctified unto Thyself. Let Thy blessing be amongst us this day, oh my God, more particularly on the members of this family; and so sanctify us that Thy mercy may form Thy temple in the midst of us, where Thy spirit will dwell for evermore.
	Oh teach us to pray to Thee, to bless Thee for the innumerable blessings granted, us this week.
	Enlighten our eyes that we may look well within ourselves, to know and to confess our sins; and give us Thy divine help to depart from them, and become more worthy in Thy sight, in the week that is now dawning.
	Let Thy spirit rest upon Thy Word, oh Lord, that we may understand it better; and each Sabbath day improve us in the knowledge of Thee, and of Thy Law.
	Grant us that holy temper which will turn our thoughts to Thee, even if worldly interruptions occur to distract our attention from those studies most acceptable to Thee.
	Oh sanctify us and bless us, Almighty Father; we would devote this day to Thee. Oh guard us from all temptation to turn aside from seeking Thee; and, in Thine infinite mercy, teach us those things most acceptable to Thee.
	Blessed be Thy Name, merciful and beneficent Father, now and evermore. — Amen and Amen.

“Prayer for the Sabbath morn” by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in Essays and Miscellanies (1853), in the section “Sacred Communings,” pp. 234-236. In the UK edition of Sacred Communings (1853) the prayer appears with small variations of spelling and punctuation on pages 140-142.

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. Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication . 1.0 . Universal .

“Prayer for the Sabbath Morn, 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