Tag: Thanksgiving
Proclamation of Thanksgiving
This is the proclamation which set the precedent for America’s national day of Thanksgiving. During his administration, President Lincoln issued many orders similar to this. For example, on November 28, 1861, he ordered government departments closed for a local day of thanksgiving. Sarah Josepha Hale, a 74-year-old magazine editor, wrote a letter to Lincoln on… Read More ›
Presidents From Lincoln to FDR Kept the Thanksgiving Tradition Going
Lincoln started the process of making it a federal holiday in 1863, crystallizing something that had been around since the days of the Pilgrims The Civil War was raging when Abraham Lincoln issued a presidential proclamation that started the process of making Thanksgiving, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, a federal holiday. Previous presidents… Read More ›
Being thankful for the dark times
A thanksgiving retreat We had a retreat on thankfulness this Mon-Wed of this week (2016). This time of the year the number is usually small; we had five participants. Usually we have larger groups. I do like the smaller ones however. When I started off the discussion, I reminded the group that when thinking about… Read More ›
In the nation, as in the individual, it is character that counts
. . .For the very reason that in material well-being we have thus abounded, we owe it to the Almighty to show equal progress in moral and spiritual things. With a nation, as with the individuals who make up a nation, material well-being is an indispensable foundation. But the foundation avails nothing by itself. That… Read More ›
Psalm 142(141): “I cry with my voice to the Lord!”
On the evening of 3 October 1226, St Francis of Assisi lay dying: his last prayer was, precisely, the recitation of Psalm 142[141] that we have just heard. St Bonaventure recalls that Francis “burst out with the exclamation of the Psalm: “I cry with my voice to the Lord, with my voice I make supplication to… Read More ›
Dr. Franklin Explains the Thanksgiving Tradition
There is a tradition that in the planting of New England, the first settlers met with many difficulties and hardships, as is generally the case when a civiliz’d people attempt to establish themselves in a wilderness country. Being so piously dispos’d, they sought relief from heaven by laying their wants and distresses before the Lord… Read More ›
The Hallelujah of Thanksgiving
Gratitude is not only the posture of praise. It is also the basic element of real belief in God. When we bow our heads in gratitude, we acknowledge that the works of God are good. We recognize that we cannot, of ourselves, save ourselves. We proclaim that our existence and all its goods come not… Read More ›
George Washington and the First Thanksgiving
Most Americans know that George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving Day proclamation, but I wonder how many have read it. Perhaps this Thanksgiving we should not only read but pray it and submit ourselves and our Nation to the God of our fathers, both Abraham and Washington. [New York, 3 October 1789] By the President… Read More ›
Thank you for…
Gratitude is not only the posture of praise but it is also the basic element of real belief in God. When we bow our heads in gratitude, we acknowledge that the works of God are good. We recognize that we cannot, of ourselves, save ourselves. We proclaim that our existence and all its goods come… Read More ›
What is the origin of America’s annual Thanksgiving Day?
The Pilgrims left Plymouth, England, on September 6, 1620. Their destination? The New World. Although filled with uncertainty and peril, it offered both civil and religious liberty. For over two months, the 102 passengers braved the harsh elements of a vast storm-tossed sea. Finally, with firm purpose and a reliance on Divine Providence, the cry… Read More ›