[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] re: Grace and bedtime prayers

[Perry1121 at aol.com]

Lloyd (and others),

I have often wondered if the prayers my family used before meals and bedtime 
were a larger part of our heritage. One of our bedtime prayers was similar: 
Ich bin klein, mein Hertz ist rein. Niemand soll drin wohnen, als Jesus allein. 
Amen.

The other bedtime prayer was: Muede geh' zu ruh; schliesse meine Euglein zu. 
Vater, lass die Augen dein, ueber meinen Bette sein.  Amen.

We followed either of these with the Vater Unser/Lord's Prayer in German.

At meals: Komm, Herr Jesu, Sei unser Gast/ Und segne was du uns bescheret 
hast. Amen. We also translated this into an English prayer for American speakers: 
Come, Lord Jesus, be our Guest, and let these gifts to us be blest.

My German Lutheran family was from Russian Poland near Lublin, with some 
relatives living on the other side of the Bug River in Volhynia. I was born in 
Germany after WWII and we immigrated to the U.S. in 1952. Delving into my 
heritage and discovering my virtual family is giving me great pleasure. 

Sigrid Pohl Perry