Proclamation 3750—National Day of Prayer, 1966

Abraham Lincoln spoke these words in 1865:

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

Now, once again, we are engaged in a struggle that demands our courage, that tests our will, that asks us to persevere through a time of hostile uncertainty.

We pray for an end to that struggle, for a time of healing, in which we and all other nations may turn our hands to the work of building and planting, of teaching and caring.

We pray for God's guidance through the storm of conflict, for His wisdom in the search for peace, for His mercy and forgiveness toward all men, friend and foe.

Congress has provided that the President shall set aside a day each year as a National Day of Prayer, "on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups and as individuals."

Now, Therefore, I, Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States of America, do hereby set aside Wednesday, October 19, 1966, as a National Day of Prayer.

On that day, each according to his own custom and in his own faith, let us

—Recognize our dependence upon Almighty God.

—Express thanksgiving for the blessings He has bestowed upon us.

—Examine our hearts in the light of His word; end the brutal divisions between His children.

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 first day October in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety-first.

LYNDON B. JOHNSON

By the President:

DEAN RUSK

Secretary of State