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Summary
- The priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24–26, “The LORD bless thee, and keep thee,” is short enough for a family to say together; the 1928 Book of Common Prayer turns it into a bedtime prayer (“The Lord bless us and keep us”).
- Traditional graces before meals come from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and, for Catholics, the 1888 Baltimore Manual of Prayers (“Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts”).
- The 1928 Prayer Book’s Family Prayer section has prayers for families, for those we love, for relatives far away and for parents, quoted with page numbers.
- Eleven short prayers cover protection, peace at home, a quarrel, illness, a struggling relative, a child who has left the faith, money worries, parenting, faith at home, thanksgiving and serving others.
- Deuteronomy 6:7 tells Israel to talk of God’s words at home, and the Catholic Catechism (paragraph 2685) calls the family “the first place of education in prayer.”
- In the US, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233 and the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans answer on 116 123.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Numbers 6:22–27; Deuteronomy 6:7; Joshua 24:15; Psalm 68:6; 121:8; Malachi 4:6; Matthew 5:16; 6:11; Luke 15:20; Acts 10:2; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 4:26, 32; Philippians 4:7, 19; 1 Thessalonians 5:18; James 1:5, 19). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- The Book of Common Prayer (Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.), Standard Book of 1928. Forms of Prayer to be used in Families, pp. 587–600: A Shorter Form, Morning and Evening, pp. 592–593; “For the Children,” p. 596; “For the Absent,” pp. 596–597; “For Those We Love,” p. 597; “For a Blessing on the Families of the Land,” p. 598; Grace before Meat, p. 600. PDF facsimile: https://www.artisticdailyprayers.org/uploads/3/0/1/6/30164961/bcp1928std.pdf
- A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity, prepared and published by order of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. New York: Catholic Publication Society, 1888. Grace before and after Meals, p. 58. https://archive.org/details/AManualOfPrayers1888/page/58/mode/1up
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997. Paragraph 2685. https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_four/section_one/chapter_two/article_3.html
- National Domestic Violence Hotline. https://www.thehotline.org/
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. https://988lifeline.org/
- Samaritans. “Contact a Samaritan.” https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/
