[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 66 (Thursday, April 4, 1996)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 15175-15176]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-8605]




[[Page 15173]]

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Part III





The President





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Proclamation 6877--National Day of Prayer, 1996
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  Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 66 / Thursday, April 4, 1996 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 15175]]

                Proclamation 6877 of April 2, 1996

                
National Day of Prayer, 1996

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                America's heritage is rich with expressions of faith in 
                God. Indeed, the desire for religious freedom was one 
                of the chief reasons that early settlers risked their 
                lives to come to this land. Many of those who braved 
                the long ocean journey were men and women of devout 
                religious beliefs who sought a new home where they 
                might worship without persecution. The authors of our 
                Constitution recognized this history in the language of 
                the first amendment, and through times of uncertainty, 
                sorrow, and pain, the citizens of the United States 
                have called upon the wisdom and mercy of the Almighty 
                for guidance and strength.

                A National Day of Prayer, first proclaimed by the 
                Continental Congress in 1775, stems from the 
                understanding that faith is a fundamental part of our 
                Nation's social fabric. In an impassioned speech before 
                the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin 
                Franklin put the importance of prayer in perspective, 
                proposing that ``. . . prayers imploring the assistance 
                of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be 
                held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed 
                to business . . . . '' And so it has been to this day 
                in statehouses all over our great land.

                Today we cherish the liberties the first immigrants 
                fought so hard to obtain, and we enjoy a degree of 
                freedom and prosperity only dreamed of 200 years ago. 
                And though our citizens come from every nation on Earth 
                and observe an extraordinary variety of religious faith 
                and traditions, prayer remains at the heart of the 
                American spirit. We face many of the same challenges as 
                our forebears--ensuring the survival of freedom and 
                sustaining faith in an often hostile world--and we 
                continue to pray, as they did, for the blessings of a 
                just and benevolent God to guide our Nation's course.

                This occasion calls us to affirm our country's 
                spiritual roots and to humbly express our gratitude to 
                the source of our abundant good fortune. As we seek to 
                renew the values that have long strengthened America's 
                families and communities, let us reach out to God and 
                to one another for wisdom and courage. We should 
                celebrate this day in the tradition of our founders who 
                believed that God governs in the affairs of men and 
                women, and who based their greatest hopes, dreams, and 
                aspirations on the surety of divine protection.

                The Congress, by Public Law 100-307, has called on our 
                citizens to reaffirm annually our dependence on 
                Almighty God by recognizing a ``National Day of 
                Prayer.''

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 2, 
                1996, as a National Day of Prayer. I encourage every 
                citizen of this great Nation to pray, each in his or 
                her own manner, seeking strength from God to face the 
                challenges of today, requesting guidance for the 
                uncertainties of tomorrow, and giving thanks for the 
                rich blessings that our Nation has enjoyed throughout 
                our history. ``Do not pray for easy lives,'' said John 
                F. Kennedy in 1963, ``Pray to be stronger . . . .'' May 
                it be so with each of us.
                
[[Page 15176]]


                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                second day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen 
                hundred and ninety-six, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and twentieth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 96-8605
Filed 4-3-96; 11:10 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P