Before the ending of the day,
Creator of the world, we pray,
that with thy wonted favour thou
wouldst be our guard and keeper now.

From all ill dreams defend our eyes,
from nightly fears and fantasies;
tread under foot our ghostly foe,
that no pollution we may know.

O Father, that we ask be done,
through Jesus Christ thine only Son,
who, with the Holy Ghost and thee,
doth live and reign eternally. Amen.

Psalm 3:5; Matthew 6:10; Based on Te lucis ante terminum, (Latin, before 11th century)

Text Authorship:

• by John Mason Neale (1818 - 1866), "Before the Ending of the Day" [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Kerry Andrew (b. 1978), "Before the Ending of the Day", published 2005, first performed 2005 [ satb chorus and percussion ad libitum ], Kerry Andrew
      Publisher: Kerry Andrew [external link]  [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2026-02-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 75