Prayer for Self-knowledge, by Grace Aguilar (ca. 1830s)

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=50570

Date: 2023-05-06

Last Updated: 2023-05-13

Categories: Repenting, Resetting, and Forgiveness

Tags: 19th century C.E., 56th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, self-reflection, teḥinot in English, תחינות teḥinot

Excerpt: "Prayer for self-knowledge" by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in Sabbath Thoughts and Sacred Communings (1853), pp. 99-100. In the section "Sacred Communings" (1852) in Essays and Miscellanies (1853) the prayer appears on pages 170-171. . . .

Content:

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Prayer for self-knowledge.
	Grant, O most merciful God, that I walk in the paths of righteousness; let not my foot slip or my thoughts turn astray, but be Thou my Guide and Staff,
	and give me, O my God, the true knowledge of my own sinful heart, that my faults may stand before me and I may know them;[1] Cf. Psalms 19:13.
	and grant me, O Almighty Father, Thy divine aid in conquering them, that I may become the support and comfort of my beloved parents.
	Blessed be Thy name, O eternal and ever blessed God, who graciously inclinest Thy ears to the prayers and petitions of Thy people Israel. Blessed be Thy name, now and evermore! Amen.

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“Prayer for self-knowledge” by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in Sabbath Thoughts and Sacred Communings (1853), pp. 99-100. In the section “Sacred Communings” (1852) in Essays and Miscellanies (1853) the prayer appears on pages 170-171.

Source(s)

 

 

Notes[+]

Notes

1	Cf. Psalms 19:13.

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: Grace Aguilar
  Bio: 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.
  Website: https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/aguilar-grace
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/grace-aguilar
• 
  Name: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
  Bio: 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.)
  Website: https://aharon.varady.net
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/aharon-varady-transcription

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