My mother loved this prayer. A copy of it hung on the south wall of the “front room” in the our farm house during the 1950s. I can still hear Perry Como singing it on our black and white television set.
Bless this house, O Lord we pray,
Make it safe by night and day . . .
Bless these walls so firm and stout,
Keeping want and trouble out . . .
Bless the roof and chimneys tall,
Let thy peace lie overall . . .
Bless this door that it may prove,
Ever open,
To joy and love . . .
Bless these windows shining bright,
Letting in God’s Heavenly light,
Bless the hearth, ablazing there,
With smoke ascending like a prayer!
Bless the people here within,
Keep them pure and free from sin . . .
Bless us all that we may be,
Fit O Lord to dwell with thee . . .
Bless us all that one day we may dwell,
O Lord! With Thee!
(Words and Music by Helen Taylor
and May H. Morgan ( a.k.a. Brahe ), 1927)
Do you remember something unusual on the walls of your childhood home?
That’s a lovely prayer. I hadn’t heard it before. The memory your question prompted for me is the image of the radio my mother kept on a shelf in the kitchen to listen to music as she worked.
Some rooms had a clear glass bulb containing a liquid. They were fire extinguishers. I guess they were thrown at the base of a fire.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8jftLWZtndt23KvY9
Wow, had to look that up. History of fire extinguishers, what’s in old glass ones: Early glass fire grenades were full of a salt water solution with added bicarbonate of soda or muriate of ammonia. Hey, I learned something today!
Glad I could be part of that.
Those glass bulbs had Carbon Tet(rachloride) which put out fires but the fumes from them were terrible. Highly hazardous to your health, it was banned nearly worldwide in the mid 1980s. I used to use it as a cleaning solvent, along with about every other now known carcinogen. I’m fortunate to have survived it all, as well as once being a heavy smoker, but quit over 40 years ago
Bad stuff, but who new?
Learning something new every day!
Interesting to find another person who knows about those glass bulbs. Fortunately we never had to use on in our house. You had bad exposures. Good that you are ok. Thanks for your comment.
What a sweet poem – I don’t think I had ever heard this.
I guess you have to be old enough! Black and white TV.
Such a beautiful prayer! I do not remember this one….It is really a lovely family prayer. Thank you for sharing this!
Waves of warmth and remembering from Perry! Thanks so much Joy.
Awe, lovely memory for you. Too often text in a frame on the wall tends to get ignored. I have a fond memory of a clown face on black velvet which my mom and I painted together. It was an oil painting-by-numbers job. It hung in my bedroom throughout my growing up years.
Helped to remember Perry singing it! Clown face, huh? I’ve never seen a paint-by-numbers on velvet. Wonder what that would be worth now!
My parents always had an odd oil painting of Paris (purchased there) hanging behind the sofa. Mom still has it. I wonder what my brother will do with it when he inherits it.
That’s a lovely prayer.
This is beautiful!
Thank you for sharing this lovely writing. We had a decoupage plaque with the first two stanzas. I never knew there was more to the prayer. Like your mom, I always liked it but I don’t recall ever hearing it to music. This stirred long forgotten memories. Thanks!
I’m so thankful that I ran into it again.