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Summary
- The Catholic Compline prayer “Visit, we beseech Thee, O Lord, this habitation, and drive far from it all snares of the enemy” is quoted from the 1888 Manual of Prayers, together with “Hear us, O holy Lord,” the prayer the Roman Ritual uses when it blesses homes.
- In the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, “Lighten our darkness” asks God to defend the household “from all perils and dangers of this night.”
- Psalm 91, which the Orthodox read at the Sixth Hour and at Great Compline, promises that no “plague come nigh thy dwelling,” and Russian Orthodox Christians call it “Живый в помощи.”
- The short prayers are for the property, the doors and windows, the children, peace between the people of the house, health, a house that feels unsettled, the decisions of running a household, guests, thanks for a home, the days after a break-in, and dedicating a home to God.
- Orthodox parishes bless homes with holy water after Theophany, Catholics can ask a priest for the Roman Ritual’s blessing of homes, and Protestants bless a house with prayer and Scripture.
- The “hedge of protection” comes from Job 1:10, where Satan says God has made “an hedge about him, and about his house.”
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Deuteronomy 28:6; Joshua 24:15; Job 1:10, 22; Psalm 4:8; 91:1–2, 5, 10–11; 121:8; 127:1; Proverbs 24:3; Zechariah 2:5; Matthew 19:14; Luke 10:5; Galatians 5:22–23; Ephesians 4:29; Hebrews 13:2; 1 John 1:5; 3 John 2). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- 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. Evening Prayers, The Office of Compline, p. 75. https://archive.org/details/AManualOfPrayers1888
- Lasance, F. X. The Catholic Girl’s Guide. New York: Benziger Brothers, 1906. Devotions for Mass, p. 465.
- Foley, Michael P. “The Asperges Ritual and the Mystery of Dwelling.” New Liturgical Movement, 12 January 2024. https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2024/01/the-asperges-ritual-and-mystery-of.html
- The Book of Common Prayer (Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.), Standard Book of 1928. Evening Prayer, “A Collect for Aid against Perils,” p. 31; The Order for the Visitation of the Sick, p. 308. PDF facsimile: https://www.artisticdailyprayers.org/uploads/3/0/1/6/30164961/bcp1928std.pdf
- Hapgood, Isabel Florence, trans. Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic (Greco-Russian) Church. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, 1906. Introduction (the Book of Needs); The Sixth Hour, p. 49; Grand Compline, p. 151. https://www.ponomar.net/data/hapgood.pdf
- Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. “The Prayer for the Blessing of Homes at Theophany.” https://www.goarch.org/-/the-prayer-for-the-blessing-of-homes-at-theophany
- “Псалом 90 «Живый в помощи вышняго»” (Psalm 90, “He that dwelleth in the help of the Most High”). Фома (Foma). https://foma.ru/psalom-90-zhivyiy-v-pomoshhi-vyishnyago.html
- National Domestic Violence Hotline. https://www.thehotline.org/
- GOV.UK. “Domestic abuse: how to get help.” https://www.gov.uk/guidance/domestic-abuse-how-to-get-help
- Фонд поддержки детей, находящихся в трудной жизненной ситуации. Детский телефон доверия 8 800 2000 122. https://fond-detyam.ru/
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