May He Support Us All the Day Long (Newman Evening Prayer)

This short prayer comes from the close of one of St. John Henry Newman's sermons, preached in 1834 when he was an Anglican vicar in Oxford. Its gentle images of lengthening shadows, a quiet world, and the fever of life ending make it a favorite evening prayer, and it is often prayed at funerals and at the bedside of the dying.

Pray it at the end of a long day, at Night Prayer, in old age, or for someone nearing the end of life. It asks God to carry us through every day until our work is finished, and then to give us safe lodging, holy rest, and peace at the last.

The Prayer

May He support us all the day long, till the shades lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done! Then in His mercy may He give us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen.

Sources: John Henry Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, "Wisdom and Innocence" (1834), closing prayer, public domain.

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