Proclamation 3359—National Day of Prayer, 1960

Whereas by the grace of God we live in a good land where each citizen can enjoy the blessings of liberty; and

Whereas our forebears did establish in this land a Nation whose law defends and whose spirit ever nourishes that liberty; and

Whereas the Congress, by a joint resolution approved April 17, 1952 (66 Stat. 64), sought to remind our citizens of this heritage by providing 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":

Now, Therefore, I, Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States of America, do hereby set aside Wednesday, the fifth day of October 1960, as a National Day of Prayer; and I call upon my countrymen to observe it, remembering:

First, that it is not by our strength alone, nor by our own righteousness, that we have deserved the abundant gifts of our Creator;

Second, that the heritage of a faith born of hope and raised in sacrifice lays upon its heirs the high calling of being generous and responsible stewards in our own and among the kindred nations of the earth;

Third, that in this time of testing we shall ever place our trust in the keeping of God's commandments, knowing that He who has brought us here requires Justice and mercy in return;

And finally, that as we lift our thankful hearts to Him, we will see clearly the vision of the world that is meant to be and set our hearts resolutely toward the achievement of it.

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 twenty-second day of July in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eighty-fifth.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

By the President:

CHRISTIAN A. HERTER,

Secretary of State