Lead, Kindly Light: Prayer of St. John Henry Newman

St. John Henry Newman (1801-1890) wrote these verses in 1833, years before he became a Catholic, while he was stranded on a ship becalmed between Corsica and Sardinia, weak from illness and longing to get home to England. Unsure of the future, he asked only for enough light to take the next step. The poem became one of the best-loved hymns in the English language.

It is a perfect prayer for times of uncertainty, discernment, illness, grief, or a new chapter of life, when you cannot see the whole road. Newman became a Catholic in 1845 and a cardinal in 1879, and he was canonized in 2019. His feast is October 9.

The Prayer

Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on! The night is dark, and I am far from home; Lead Thou me on! Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see The distant scene; one step enough for me. I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou Shouldst lead me on; I loved to choose and see my path; but now Lead Thou me on! I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears, Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years! So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still Will lead me on, O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till The night is gone, And with the morn those angel faces smile, Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!

Sources: The Pillar of the Cloud by John Henry Newman (1833), public domain.

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