(Prayer.)

Be Thou with us, O gracious loving Father, and preserve unto us our daily bread, which Thou during the present harvest doest everywhere distribute. Above all grant favorable weather and constant sunshine, that the ripening grain may all fully mature, so that which yet remains in the fields may be stored away in good condition. Bless that which has been gathered into barns, that it may be prepared for our daily use, increase it while passing through our hands in preparing it, may it be blessed to our nourishment; grant us life and health, peace and quietude, to enjoy all that Thou hast given in such a manner, that it may not only give strength to the body, but also be good and wholesome to the soul, so that Thy temporal blessing may thus in manifold ways redound to our welfare. When Thou hast heard these our petitions and prayers, then remind us also of our obligations, and 168 grant that we acknowledge all our substance to be the gift of Thy goodness, that we heartily thank Thee for it, savingly use it, serve our bodies with it, as is meet, willingly impart of it to others, and finally devote and use all we have received of Thee alone unto Thy honor. Do Thou continue in future to bless our land with Thy gracious visitation, improve and enrich it with great fertility. Give warmth to the dust of the earth. Refresh the fields with fruitful showers, water their furrows, moisten the plowed ground, and do Thou prosper the grain to be sown therein, that the land may continue to yield forth its increase, the valleys be covered with corn, so that we may shout for joy and sing Thy praise forevermore.