Etty Hillesum's Sunday morning prayer

In the midst of the Second World War, when fear reigned and the noose tightened around this young Jewish woman, Etty Hillesum increasingly felt the need to nurture the light within her. This prayer, written on July 12, 1942, remains for us today an act of faith to ponder in all the difficult times the world may be going through. It reminds us of the role and responsibility that each of us carries within us.

Updated on 31/03/2026|Reading time : 5 min


Etty Hillesum's prayer

"These are frightening times, my God. Last night for the first time I lay awake in the dark, my eyes burning, images of human suffering flashing before me. I'm going to promise you one thing, God, oh, a trifle: I'm going to keep hanging on to the present day, like so many weights, the anxieties that the future inspires in me; but that takes a certain amount of training. For now, enough is enough.

I'm going to help you, my God, not to extinguish yourself in me, but I can't guarantee anything in advance. One thing is becoming increasingly clear to me: it's not you who can help us, but we who can help you - and in doing so, we help ourselves. That's all we can save in these times, and it's also the only thing that counts: a little of you in us, my God. Perhaps we can also help bring you to light in the martyred hearts of others. Yes, my God, you don't seem to be able to change a situation that is ultimately inseparable from this life. I'm not asking you to account for it; on the contrary, it's up to you to call us to account, one day.

It's becoming clearer to me with every beat of my heart that you can't help us, but that it's up to us to help you and defend to the end the home that shelters you within us. There are people - would you believe it? - who, at the last minute, try to put silver vacuum cleaners, forks and spoons in a safe place, instead of protecting you, my God. And there are people who seek to protect their own bodies, which are now nothing more than the receptacle of a thousand anxieties and a thousand hatreds. They say: I won't fall under their clutches! They forget that we're never under anyone's clutches as long as we're in your arms.

This conversation with you, my God, is starting to calm me down a bit. I'll have many more with you in the near future, keeping you from running away from me. I'm sure there will be times when you won't have enough of me, my God, when my trust won't feed you so richly, but believe me, I'll keep working for you, I'll stay faithful to you and I won't chase you out of my enclosure.

I don't lack the strength to face the great suffering, the heroic suffering, my God, I rather fear the thousand little everyday worries that sometimes assail you like a biting vermin. Finally, I desperately scratch myself and say to myself every day: another trouble-free day, the protective walls of a welcoming home slip around your shoulders like a familiar, long-worn garment; your place setting is set for today and the white sheets and blankets are soft and warm.and the white sheets and cozy blankets of your bed await you for another night, so you have no excuse for wasting even the smallest atom of energy on these little material worries.

Use every minute of this day wisely, make it a fruitful day, a strong stone in the foundation for the days of misery and anguish ahead. Behind the house, the rain and storm of the last few days have ravaged the jasmine, its white flowers floating scattered in black puddles on the flat roof of the garage. But somewhere inside me, that jasmine continues to bloom, as exuberant and tender as ever. And it spreads its fragrance around your home, my God.

You see how I take care of you. Not only do I offer you my tears and my sad forebodings, on this windy, gray Sunday morning I even bring you a fragrant jasmine. And I'll offer you all the flowers I meet along the way, and they're legion, believe me. I want to make your stay as pleasant as possible. And to take a random example: locked up in a narrow cell and seeing a cloud passing beyond my bars, I would bring you that cloud, my God, if I had the strength to do so. I can't guarantee anything in advance, but intentions are the best in the world, you see.

Now I'm going to devote myself to this day. I'm going to spread myself among men today, and evil rumors and threats will assail me like so many enemy soldiers assaulting an impregnable fortress." Etty Hillesum

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"I will help you, my God, not to extinguish yourself within me " writes Etty Hillesum. Prayer is essential to maintain our relationship with God. Prayer rekindles our faith, which God so desperately needs to save us.

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