Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 103 Part 3.djvu/929

 PROCLAMATION 5942—MAR. 17, 1989 103 STAT. 2997 without His aid?" Dr. Franklin knew that human wisdom alone could neither build nor keep a free and just government. As our first President, George Washington would continue to pray for guidance from "that powerful Friend" invoked by Ben Franklin. "I shall take my present leave," said the new President, "but not without re- sorting once more to that benign Parent of the Human Race in humble supplication that... His blessing may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations and the wise measures on which the success of this government must depend." Immediately after his Inauguration, President Washington made his way with the Con- gress through the crowds of well-wishers from Federal Hall to Saint Paul's chapel. There a prayer service was offered by the Chaplain of Congress for our new Nation. The great faith that led our Nation's Founding Fathers to pursue this bold experiment in self-government has sustained us in uncertain and perilous times; it has given us strength and inspiration to this very day. Like them, we do well to recall oiur "firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence," to give thanks for the freedom and prosperity this Nation enjoys, and to pray for continued help and guidance from oiir wise and loving Creator. For what President Washington wrote 200 years ago remains true today: "the liberty enjoyed by the people of these States, of worshipping Almighty God agreeably to Uieir con- sciences, is not only among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights." Since the approval of the joint resolution of the Congress on April 17, 1952, calling for the designation of a specific day to be set aside each year as a National Day of Prayer, recognition of such a day has become a cherished annual event. Each President since then has pro- claimed a National Day of Prayer annually under the authority of that resolution, continuing a tradition that actually dates back to the Conti- nental Congress, which issued the first official proclamation for a Na- ^ tional Day of Prayer on July 12, 1775. By Public Law 100-307, the first Thursday in May of each year has been set aside as a National Day of Prayer. NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 4, 1989, as a National Day of Prayer. I invite the people of this great Nation to gather together on that day in homes and places of worship to pray, each after his or her own manner, for imity in the hearts of all mankind. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seven- teenth day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirteenth. GEORGE BUSH

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