Crazy Stable

Night Windows, by Edward HopperCome to bed, says the spouse to the blogger. How late are you going to stay up here?

For all those seeking sleep tonight, here's another prayer by the mighty St. Augustine of Hippo. For a titan of theology, he reveals a tender heart in this nighttime prayer. Somehow, it evokes the glimpsed nighttime windows of New York City for me: those lit with golden wealth, or the fluourescent strips of hospital rooms, or the bare bulbs of poverty. When are you going to turn out that light and come to bed?

A Nightly Prayer

Watch, O Lord,
with those who wake, or watch or weep tonight,
and give your angels charge over those who sleep.
Tend your sick ones, O Lord Jesus Christ;
rest your weary ones;
bless your dying ones;
soothe your suffering ones;
pity your afflicted ones;
shield your joyous ones;
and all for your love's sake.
Amen.

- St Augustine of Hippo

Most nights, I don't so much fall asleep as pass out. But if I had a few moments of consciousness I'd like to follow the advice of Russian Orthodox saint, Theophan the Recluse*: "It is the essence of evening prayer to thank God for the day and everything that happened, both pleasant and unpleasant; to ask forgiveness for all wrongs committed, promising to improve during the next day; and to pray that God preserve you during sleep. Express all this to God from your mind and from your whole heart." Here is an Eastern Orthodox night prayer that does the job:

O Lord our God, however I have sinned this day in word, deed or thought, forgive me, for Thou art gracious and lovest mankind.

Grant me peaceful and undisturbed sleep. Send me Thy guardian angel to shield me and protect me from every evil;

for Thou art the Guardian of our souls and bodies, and unto Thee we ascribe glory, to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

* St. Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894) was a holy monk and bishop and a prolific spiritual writer. This is a picture of him...

...but I confess I am reminded of Mel Brooks' The Twelve Chairs and Dom Deluise's rascally Father Fyodor in that under-appreciated gem.