This day and this night,
                        may I know O God
            The deep peace
                        of the running wave
            The deep peace
                        of the flowing air
            The deep peace
                        of the quiet earth
            The deep peace
                        of the shining stars
            The deep peace of the Son of Peace.

God before me, God behind me,
God above me, God beneath me.
I on your path O God
You, O God on my way.
In the twistings of the road
In the currents of the river
Be with me by day
Be with me by night
Be with me by day and by night.                              

O Christ of the least and the homeless
O Christ of the lost and betrayed
Come close to me this night
That I may come close to you.
As you watched me with care at my soul’s shaping
Look on me now with grace.
As you blessed me with light at the sun’s rising
Shine on me now with love.

                                                Philip Newell from Each Day and Each Night

A shade are you in the heat O God
A shelter are you in the cold.
Eyes are you to the blind O God
A staff are you to the weak.
An island are you at sea O God
A rock are you on land.
O my soul’s healer
Keep me at evening
Keep me at morning
Keep me at noon .
I am tired, astray and stumbling
Shield me from sin.
O my soul’s healer
Shield me from sin.

            A prayer in the Celtic tradition  Philip Newell in Each Day and Each Night

O Christ you are a bright flame before me
You are a guiding star above me
You are the light and love
I see in other’s eyes.
Keep me O Christ
in a love that is tender
Keep me O Christ
in a love that is true
Keep me O Christ
in a love that is strong
Tonight, tomorrow and always.    

A Celtic style prayer for evening

Safeguard your faithful people in the sanctuary of your love O God.
Shelter them this night in the shelter of the saints.
God to enfold them
God to surround them
God in their watching
God in their hoping
God in their sleeping
God in their ever-living souls.

I lie down this night with God
And God will lie down with me.
I lie down this night with Christ
And Christ will lie down with me.
I lie down this night with the Spirit
And the Spirit will lie down with me.
The Three of my love will be lying down with me.
I shall not lie down with sin
Nor shall sin or sin’s shadow lie down with me.
I life down this night with God
And God will lie down with me.

            A prayer in the Celtic tradition, from Philip Newell

My Christ, my love, my encircler,
Each day, each night,
Each light, each dark,
Be near me, uphold me,
My treasure, my truth.

A prayer in the Celtic tradition by Philip Newell

May those without shelter
     be under your guarding this day O Christ
May the wandering
     find places of welcome.
O son of the tears, of the wounds,
     of the piercings,
May your cross this day be shielding them.

            Philip Newell in Celtic style

That wisdom was born with me in the womb
   thanks to be you, O God.
That your ways have been written into
   the human body and soul
   there to be read and reverenced
thanks be to you.
Let me be attentive
to the truths of these living texts.
Let me learn
  of the law etched into the whole of creation
  that gave birth to the mystery of life
and feeds and renews it day by day.
Let me discern the law of love in my own heart
  and in knowing it
obey it.
Let me be set free by love, O God.
Let me be set free to love.

            Philip Newell

Glory be to you, O God,
   for the gift of life
   unfolding through those who have gone before me.
Glory be to you, O God,
for your life planted within my soul and in every soul coming into the world.
Glory be to you, O God,
   for the grace of new beginnings
   placed before me in every moment and encounter of life.
Glory, glory, glory
   for the grace of new beginnings in every moment of life.

            Philip Newell

For the first showings of the morning light
  and the emerging outline of the day
  thanks be to you, O God.
For earth’s colours drawn forth by the sun
its brilliance piercing clouds of darkness
and shimmering through leaves and flowing waters
  thanks be to you.
Show to me this day
amidst life’s dark streaks of wrong and suffering
  the light that endures in every person.
Dispel the confusions that cling close to my soul
  that I may see with eyes washed by your grace
  that I may see myself and all people
  with eyes cleansed by the freshness of the new day’s light.

            Philip Newell

The vitality of God be mine this day, the vitality of the God of life.
The passion of Christ be mine this day, the passion of the Christ of love.
The wakefulness of the Spirit be mine this day, the wakefulness of the Spirit of justice.
The vitality and passion and wakefulness of God be mine that I may be fully alive this day, the vitality and passion and wakefulness of God that I may be fully alive.

            Philip Newell

A Prayer for the Evening

For the night skies opening outwards
   star upon star
   expanse after expanse
thanks be to you, O God.
For the mystery of your presence
   in and beyond all that can be seen
   thanks be to you.
Guide me further this night
   into the inner universe of my soul
ever opening inwards
light upon light
new depth after new depth.
Guide me through strange and fearful spaces
   towards the place of your eternal dwelling
and assure me again that in drawing closer to you
I draw closer to the heart of every living being
   that in drawing closer to you
I approach the heart of life.

Philip Newell

A Morning Prayer

In the silence of the early morning
    your Spirit hovers over the brink of the day
    and new light pierces the darkness of the night.
In the silence of the morning
life begins to stir around me
    and I listen for the day’s first utterances.
In earth, sea and sky
and in the landscape of my own soul
I listen for utterances of your love, O God.
I listen for utterances of your love.

            Philip Newell

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession

For the night followed by the day
   for the idle winter ground
   followed by the energy of spring
for the infolding of the earth
followed by bursts of unfolding
   thanks be to you, O God.
For rest and wakefulness
   stillness and creativity
reflection and action
thanks be to you.
Let me know in my own soul and body
   the rhythms of creativity that you have established.
Let me know in my family and friendships
the disciplines of withdrawal and the call to engagement.
Let me know for my world
the cycles of renewal
   given by you for healing and health
the pattern of the seasons
   given by you for the birth of new life.

            Philip Newell

In the morning light, O God,
    may I glimpse again your image deep within me
    the threads of eternal glory
    woven into the fabric of every man and woman.
Again may I catch sight of the mystery of the human soul
    fashioned in your likeness
    deeper than knowing
more enduring than time.
And in glimpsing these threads of light
    admist the weakness and distortions of my life
    let me be recalled
to the strength and beauty deep in my soul.
Let me be recalled
    to the strength and beauty of your image in every living soul.

            Philip Newell

Glory be to you, O God,
   for the gift of life
   unfolding through those who have gone before me.
Glory be to you, O God,
for your life planted within my soul
   and in every soul coming into the world.
Glory be to you, O God,
for the grace of new beginnings
   placed before me in every moment and encounter of life.
Glory, glory, glory
   for the grace of new beginnings in every moment of life.

            Philip Newell

In the many details of this day
    let me be fully alive.
In the handling of food
and the sharing of drink,
in the preparing of work
and the uttering of words,
in the meeting of friends
and the interminglings of relationship
    let me be alive to each instant, O God,
let me be fully alive.

            Philip Newell

At the beginning of time and at the end
   you are God and I bless you.
At my birth and in my dying,
in the opening of the day and at its close,
   in my waking and my sleeping
   you are God and I bless you.
You are the first and the last,
   the giver of every gift,
   the presence without whom there would be no present,
   the life without whom there is no life.
Lead me to the heart of life’s treasure
   that I may be a bearer of the gift.
Lead me to the heart of the present
   that I may be a sharer of your eternal presence.

            Philip Newell

In the silence before time began,
in the quiet of the womb,
in the stillness of early morning
is your beauty.
At the heart of all creation,
at the birth of every creature,
at the center of each moment
is your splendour.
Rekindle in me the sparks of your beauty
that I may be part of the splendour of this moment.
Rekindle in me the sparks of your beauty
that I may be part of the blazing splendour
that burns from the heart of this moment.

Philip Newell

Glory be to you, O God,
for the rising of the sun,
for colour filling the skies
and for the whiteness of daylight.
Glory be to you
for creatures stirring forth from the night,
for plant forms stretching and unfolding,
for the stable earth and its solid rocks.
Glory be to you
for the beauty of your image
waking in opening eyes,
lighting the human countenance.
Glory be to you. Glory be to you.
But where the glistening is lost sight of,
where life’s colours are dulled
and the human soul grows hard,
I pray for grace this day,
I pray for your softening graces.

Philip Newell

That in the elements of earth, sea and sky
I may see your beauty,
that in wild winds, birdsong and silence
I may hear your beauty,
that in the body of another and the interminglings of relationship,
I may touch your beauty,
that in the moisture of the earth and its flowering and fruiting
I may smell your beauty,
that in the flowing waters of springs and streams
I may taste your beauty,
these things I look for this day, O God,
these things I look for.

Philip Newell

A Night Prayer

As earth requires rest
and the seas need time to be replenished,
so in resting may I be made more alive,
so in stillness may my creativity be born anew.
Bless me in the night, O God,
that I may wake refreshed.
With your ministering messengers of sleep
bless me in the night.

            Philip Newell

That from my depths new life emerges
thanks be to you, O God.
That through my body
and bodies of men and women everywhere
heaven’s creativity is born on earth,
children of eternity are conceived in time
and everlasting bonds of tenderness
are forged amidst the hardness of life’s struggles,
thanks be to you.
That in my soul
and the soul of every human being
sacred hopes are hidden,
longings for what has never been are heard
and visions for earth’s peace and prosperity are glimpsed,
thanks be to you.
For those near to me who are in turmoil this day
and for every family in its brokenness,
for the woundedness of my own life
and for every creature that is suffering,
O God of all life, I pray.

            Philip Newell

In the gift of this new day,
in the gift of the present moment,
in the gift of time and eternity intertwined
let me be thankful
let me be attentive let me be open to what has never happened before,
in the gift of this new day,
in the gift of the present moment,
in the gift of time and eternity intertwined.

            Philip Newell

In the temple of my inner being,
in the temple of my body,
in the temple of earth, sea and sky,
in the great temple of the universe
I look for the light that was in the beginning,
the mighty fire that blazes still from the heart of life,
glowing in the whiteness of the moon,
glistening in night stars,
hidden in the black earth,
concealed in unknown depths of my soul. 
In the darkness of the night,
in the shadows of my being, O God,
let me glimpse the eternal.
In both the light and the shadows of my being
let me glimpse the glow of the eternal.

J. Philip Newell from "Sounds of the Eternal: A Celtic Psalter"