Prayer Before Lighting Candles

Master of the World, Omnipotent One from whom no plan is withheld, grant me merit through the lighting of holy Shabbat candles, that our souls—mine and my dear husband's—may shine with precious light, as it is written (Isaiah 54): "And I will make your windows of rubies, and your gates of carbuncles, and all your border of pleasant stones." May I and my husband merit, through the lighting of holy Shabbat candles, holy and pure children, noble in spirit, wind, and soul. May their souls and bodies shine like the soul and body of Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our Teacher), peace be upon him, who placed a veil over his face. May the light of the holy Shabbat candles draw down the light of our holy Rebbe [Rebbe Nachman] upon my husband, upon me, and upon all our offspring—sons, daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters—until the end of all generations. May their light proceed and shine from moment to moment, more and more, as it is written: "But the path of the righteous is as the shining light, that shines more and more unto the perfect day."

Master of the World, of great power and mighty strength, whose abundant kindness is unsearchable, and the intensity of Your kindness cannot be measured—that which You wish to bestow upon me, upon my husband, upon all my family, upon the entire House of Israel, and upon the whole world in the merit of lighting these candles. And at this moment that I stand now before You to light the Shabbat candles, whose light is drawn from the Or HaGanuz (Hidden Light) of the seven days [of Creation], please, O Merciful and Gracious One, whose mercy and kindness have no end, save me . . . daughter of . . . Your maidservant. May I merit to draw down, through the lighting of Shabbat candles, the light of the seven days, which is the light of our holy Rebbe, that it may spread throughout the entire world. May all the inhabitants of the world see this wondrous light, and may this Hidden Light, which is the light of our holy Rebbe, shine within all souls. May all the souls in the world glow and shine in the merit of lighting these candles, and may they recognize the power of Your Kingship in the merit of these candles which draw down the Hidden Light from worlds about which it is said: "Eye has not seen, O God, beside You." May I merit from now and forever to be on the level of Sarah and Rivkah (Rebecca), about whom it is said that their candle never extinguished. So too, may the light that I merit to draw down now through these Shabbat candles go and grow, go and increase, until all inhabitants of the world return right now, in the blink of an eye, in teshuvah sheleimah (complete repentance) and recognize the power of Your Kingship. May I merit that at the hour of lighting these candles, I be surrounded by six hundred thousand angels created from all the commandments I have performed from my inception until now. And so may they surround every person from Israel, until we merit—I, my husband, all the members of my household, all my family, and all Your people, the House of Israel—to return in teshuvah sheleimah before You in the merit of lighting these candles. And may we all merit to see the Or HaGanuz (Hidden Light) eye to eye at every moment, and may we all, and all Your people, the House of Israel, merit through lighting these candles the illumination of the 370 Lights (Shin-Ayin Nehorin), in whose merit the complete Geulah (Redemption) will come speedily in our days, Amen.