October The Fourteenth

O MERCIFUL Father, to whose house of many mansions Thy child shall one day approach alone, by lying down to sleep, let Thy renewing hands be upon me, and Thy loving eyes behold me as I go to sleep this night. Thou who givest Thy beloved sleep, grant that I may rest at peace with Thee, and with all Thy creatures. Renew my body, and cleanse my heart and soul by Thy creative power, and grant that the morning light may make me rejoice alike in rendering new service to Thee, and in being one day nearer to the vision of Thy face; for His sake who died for us and rose again, Jesus Christ our Lord - Amen.

-- KEMPER BOCOCK
Comedian Ed Wynn, as King Bubbles, asleep with a candle in his ear. August 1944 photograph by Nina Leen. Life magazine archives.

August The Sixteenth

O THOU most holy and ever-loving God, we thank Thee once more for the quiet rest of the night that has gone by, for the new promise that has come with this fresh morning, and for the hope of this day. While we have slept, the world in which we live has swept on in its awful space, great fires have burned under us, great waters have been all about us, and great storms above us; but Thou hast held them back by Thy strong hand, and we have rested under the shadow of Thy love. The bird sat on the spray out in the darkness, the flower nestled in the grass, we lay down in our home, and all slept in the arms of God. The bird will trust Thee this day to give its morsel of meat, and the flower will trust Thee for its fresh raiment; so may we trust Thee this day for all the needs of the body, the soul, and the spirit. Give us this day our daily bread - Amen.

-- ROBERT COLLYER

May The Eleventh

GRANT me, O Lord, the royalty of inward happiness, and the serenity which comes from living close to Thee.
Daily renew in me the sense of joy, and let the Eternal Spirit of the Father dwell in my soul and body, filling every corner of my heart with light and grace, so that, bearing about with me the infection of a good courage, I may be a difuser of life, and may meet all ills and cross accidents with gallant and high-hearted happiness, giving Thee thanks always for all things - Amen.

-- L.H.M. SOULSBY

Series of photographs on "Happiness Story" by Nina Leen.

May The Eighth

ALMIGHTY God, by whose word all things work, by whose guidance all things go, so order our inward life, that we may be enabled to understand the things that we see; and by Thy guidance in the spiritual life and in charity, so order what there is disordered in our lives, so bring our minds to the truth, our consciences to the law, our eyes to the light, and our hearts to Thy true love, that, amidst the seeming discords of life, we may hear the music of the heavenly will, and catch ofttimes the charms of the heavenly order. So give us hope that we may pass on through time, into the higher and better education of the eternal life to come, and that at last we may know those things that are hidden, and which now we cannot know, and learn the glorious beauty and the glorious loving of the eternal years - Amen.

-- GEORGE DAWSON
Sister of Charity at the New York Foundling Hospital cradling a new arrival in her arms. Location: New York. Taken in 1943 by photographer Nina Leen.