Thanksgiving Proclamation 1777
by the Continental Congress:
The first national Thanksgiving proclamation
IN CONGRESS
November 1, 1777
FORASMUCH as it
is the indispensable Duty of all Men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty
God; to acknowledge with Gratitude their
Obligation to him for Benefits received, and to implore such farther
Blessings as they stand in Need of: And it having pleased him in his abundant
Mercy, not only to continue to us the innumerable Bounties of his common
Providence; but also to smile upon us in the Prosecution of a just and
necessary War, for the Defense and Establishment of our unalienable Rights and
Liberties; particularly in that he hath been pleased, in so great a Measure, to
prosper the Means used for the Support of our Troops, and to crown our Arms
with most signal success:
It is therefore recommended to the legislative or
executive Powers of these UNITED STATES to set apart THURSDAY, the eighteenth
Day of December next, for SOLEMN THANKSGIVING and PRAISE: That at one Time and
with one Voice, the good People may express the grateful Feelings of their
Hearts, and consecrate themselves to the Service of their Divine Benefactor;
and that, together with their sincere Acknowledgments and Offerings, they may
join the penitent Confession of their manifold Sins, whereby they had forfeited
every Favor; and their humble and earnest Supplication that it may please GOD through the Merits of JESUS CHRIST, mercifully
to forgive and blot them out of Remembrance; That it may please him graciously
to afford his Blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and
prosper the public Council of the whole: To inspire our Commanders, both by
Land and Sea, and all under them, with that Wisdom and Fortitude which may
render them fit Instruments, under the Providence of Almighty GOD, to secure
for these United States, the greatest of all human Blessings, INDEPENDENCE and
PEACE: That it may please him, to prosper the Trade and Manufactures of the
People, and the Labor of the Husbandman, that our Land may yield its Increase:
To take Schools and Seminaries of Education, so necessary for cultivating the
Principles of true Liberty, Virtue and Piety, under his nurturing Hand; and to
prosper the Means of Religion, for
the promotion and enlargement of that Kingdom, which consisteth "in
Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy
Ghost."
And it is further recommended, That servile Labor, and
such Recreation, as, though at other Times innocent, may be unbecoming the
Purpose of this Appointment, be omitted on so solemn an Occasion.
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In 1789, A Proclamation By George Washington
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.
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President
Abraham Lincoln's Proclamation of Thanksgiving
Issued,
October 3, 1863
The
year that is drawing towards its close has been filled with the blessings of
fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly
enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others
have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail
to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the
ever watchful providence of Almighty God.
In
the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has
sometimes seemed to invite and provoke the aggressions of foreign States, peace
has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have
been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the
theater of military conflict; while that theater has been greatly contracted by
the advancing armies and navies of the Union.
The
needful diversions of wealth and strength from the fields of peaceful industry
to the national defense have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship.
The axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of
iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than
heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that
has been made in the camp, the siege and the battlefield; and the country,
rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to
expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
No
human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great
things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing
with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
It
has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and
gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American
people; I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United
States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign
lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of
Thanksgiving and Prayer to our beneficent Father, who dwelleth in the heavens.
And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to
him that, for such singular deliverances and blessings; they do also, with
humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His
tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in
the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently
implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation
and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to
the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.
In
testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United
States to be affixed.
Done
at the city of Washington this third day of October, in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the
United States the eighty-eighth.
Abraham
Lincoln
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And may I add on this Thanksgiving Day 2013:
Let each and every day have a measure of Thanksgiving to GOD for blessings great and small, and even just for living...and joy and communion be found everlasting for all, whosoever will, come to and believe into Christ Jesus our LORD, who came down from Heaven, was made man, paid for our sins at the Cross, died as was raised the Third Day, walked the Earth for a month and a half more before ascending into Heaven before many witnesses. A Testimony uncontested by those ancients, even the most hostile of them, of the same generation as these events occurred in.
May you worship and give thanks to GOD wherever you are, and may GOD smile upon and bless you as according to your needs, through riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
May all we who believe into Jesus Christ, and proclaim Him as the Only Way, Truth, and Life offered by the Father unto the world, unite in prayers of Thanksgiving on this day and all days...be we Gentile (of the nations) or Jew (the blessed first chosen of GOD's favor, to be honored by the saints when fellow believers into Yeshua/Jesus among us, and still to be shown greater patience and understanding/intelligent courtesy otherwise).
And to the Jews, whether or not fellow believers with me in Yeshua as Messhiach and HASHEM, whether or not fellow citizens with us here in America, or reading this abroad; who for the first time in more than a century and a half, get to celebrate both the Festival of Lights and a Day of Thanksgiving in unison with the Gentiles of the United States: I sincerely wish them a happy, peaceful, safe, blessed, and healthy Hanukkah.
Shalom.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Peace.
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