Morning Prayer (Another day has dawned), by Grace Aguilar (ca. 1830s)

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=50886

Date: 2023-05-14

Last Updated: 2025-03-31

Categories: Addenda

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

Excerpt: "Morning prayer (Another day has dawned)" by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in Essays and Miscellanies (1853), in the section "Sacred Communings," pp. 226-227. In the UK edition of Sacred Communings (1853) the prayer appears with small variations of spelling and punctuation on pages 93-94. . . .

Content:

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	Morning prayer.
	Another day hath dawned, oh most merciful and ever blessed God. Oh grant that it may be passed in virtue.
	Give me, oh our Father, that command over my heart during this day, that whatever may chance to annoy or grieve me, I may never lose that even temper and thankful spirit which are most acceptable to Thee, oh God of mercy and of love.
	Let not trifling things have power to vex or irritate me, but give me that sense of my own unworthiness, that whatever be Thy almighty will, I may bow in submission to it. I am but a worm in Thy presence, oh my God, and dare I murmur, whatever be Thy just decrees?
	But in Thy great mercy, oh our Father, preserve me this day from sorrow and suffering; grant that I may perform my earthly duties with a willing heart and joyous spirit.
	Oh preserve me from sin; guard me from the temptations that encircle me, that when I pray before Thee at night, oh my God, my conscience may be at peace, and my whole soul glow in adoration unto Thee.
	Hear me, almighty and gracious God, hear me from Thy throne of justice and mercy, and if my prayer seem acceptable in Thy sight, oh my God, for the sake of that great and holy Name, by which Thou hast promised to show mercy unto thousands of Thy people Israel, oh pour Thy blessing on me, and grant my prayer. — Amen.

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“Morning prayer (Another day has dawned)” by Grace Aguilar was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in Essays and Miscellanies (1853), in the section “Sacred Communings,” pp. 226-227. In the UK edition of Sacred Communings (1853) the prayer appears with small variations of spelling and punctuation on pages 93-94.

Source(s)

 

 

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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