By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Whereas in times of national crisis when we are striving to strengthen the foundations of peace and security we stand in special need of divine support; and
Whereas the Congress, by a joint resolution approved on April 17, 1952 (66 Stat. 64), has provided that the President “shall set aside and proclaim a suitable day each year, other than a Sunday, as a National Day of Prayer, on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation”; and
Click On:
- Read Judge Crabb’s Opinion Declaring the Day of Prayer Unconstitutional
- Barack Obama’s Day of Prayer Proclamation
- Americans United for Separation of Church and State
- National Day of Prayer Task Force
- Jefferson’s Separation of Church and State Letter (1802)
- Flagler “Day of Inclusivity” Answers National Day of Prayer
Whereas I deem it fitting that this Day of Prayer coincide with the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, which published to the world this Nation’s “firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence”:
Now, Therefore, I, Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Friday, July 4, 1952, as a National Day of Prayer, on which all of us, in our churches, in our homes, and in our hearts, may beseech God to grant us wisdom to know the course which we should follow, and strength and patience to pursue that course steadfastly. May we also give thanks to Him for His constant watchfulness over us in every hour of national prosperity and national peril.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington this 17th day of June in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and fifty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and seventy-sixth.
