“Matthew, Mark, Luke and John” is a well known Prayer (also called Black Paternoster) and nursery rhyme, originally sung as a gospel.
The lyrics are usually repeated by kids before they go to sleep.
The “Matthew, Mark, Luke and John” rhyme was first published as a charm or blessing in 1656, England, by Thomas John Ady in his book “Candle in the Dark: Or, A Treatise Concerning the Nature of Witches & Witchcraft”
“Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
The bed be blest that I lie on.”
The origins of this prayer can be traced back to Babylonia’s ancient times in a prayer. It has a Jewish equivalent that was rediscovered in medieval times and said as a blessing prayer before sleep: “In the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, may Michael be at my right hand; Gabriel at my left; Uriel before me; Raphael behind me and the Shekhinah of God be above my head”
“Matthew, Mark, Luke and John” Lyrics
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
Bless the bed that I lie on.
Four corners to my bed,
Four angels round my head;
One to watch and one to pray
And two to bear my soul away