COLUMN: Grey Matters – For the rhythm of a day

Saint Augustine (354-430) is a church father who loved to pray. He wrote many beautiful prayers and even on his deathbed while his city Hippo was being besieged, he had prayers hung on his wall so he could read them one more time. One of Augustine’s most popular prayers is to the Holy Spirit, known as the “Breathe” prayer:

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy.

Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy.

Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy.

Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy.

Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy.

Amen.

St. Augustine’s “Prayer for the Sick” is another widely used pastoral prayer that is likely an adaptation of his theological writings on suffering:

Watch O Lord, with those who cannot sleep tonight.

Tend your sick ones.

Rest your weary ones.

Bless your dying ones.

Soothe your suffering ones.

Pity your afflicted ones.

Shield your joyous ones.

All for love’s sake, Amen.

Many of us desire to pray more, but we also need prayers that fit real life – short enough to remember, deep enough to shape us. These two prayers offer a simple spiritual rhythm: a “breath” prayer that gathers us for the day ahead, and a “prayer for the sick” that gently closes the day with compassion.

“Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit…” begins with a striking image: prayer as breathing. We do not strain to manufacture holiness; instead, we receive God’s life as a gift. Prayed at the start of the day, this brief petition is a spiritual orientation – turning our attention from whatever is urgent to the One who is essential for the day.

Each line names an everyday arena where we will soon be tested as we go through our day. We ask for holy thoughts before our minds fill with news, tasks, and worries. We ask the Spirit to act in us so our work – paid or unpaid, noticed or hidden – becomes an offering rather than mere effort. We ask for a heart drawn toward what is holy, so our love is ordered and steady on what is important and not ruled by impulse. We ask for strength to defend what is positively holy when cynicism or fear presses in. And we ask to be guarded—not from responsibility, but from the subtle drift away from God that can happen in ordinary hours.

At day’s end, our needs change. Morning prayer asks for direction; evening prayer asks for release. “Watch, O Lord, with those who cannot sleep tonight…” widens our focus beyond ourselves and places the whole night under God’s care. The prayer names people we easily overlook: the sleepless, the sick, the weary, the dying, the suffering, the afflicted, ending with “shield your joyous ones” which reminds us that even good days are not self-made; they too are held by grace. This prayer is a gentle practice for closing the day well. We stop carrying burdens that belong to God, and instead of replaying the conversations and problems of the day hopefully it is our conversation with God that lulls us to sleep.

I memorized this prayer to use at the end of my hospital shift. Sometimes my chaplaincy work is heavy, and I need this prayer. It is my way of saying, ‘Ok, God, I leave to you the night shift!’ Despite its brevity, this is a comprehensive prayer that is mindful of the patients and their afflictions, the actively dying, and the hospital staff who are weary.

Taken together, these prayers offer a pattern for everyday faith. In the morning we inhale grace – asking the Spirit to shape what we think, do, and love. At night we exhale worry – entrusting the vulnerable, the suffering, and our unfinished concerns to God’s watchful care. Breath by breath, day by day, prayer becomes less a performance and more a way of living.

Gary Dyck is a chaplain and spiritual care provider at a hospital and personal care home in the Southeast.