National Day of Prayer, 2023, 29535-29536 [2023-09867]

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• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 88 (Monday, May 8, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 29535-29536]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09867]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 88 , No. 88 / Monday, May 8, 2023 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 29535]]

                Proclamation 10570 of May 3, 2023

                
National Day of Prayer, 2023

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                In periods of peace and prosperity and in times of 
                struggle and strife, countless Americans turn to prayer 
                to seek guidance, bolster our faith, and brace our 
                spirits when we need it most. Prayer is both a personal 
                and communal act--composed of our most intimate 
                thoughts and a practice observed by multitudes across 
                our diverse Nation in every language, culture, 
                religion, and belief system. On this National Day of 
                Prayer, we recognize the profound power of prayer, 
                grounded in deep humility and hope.

                The right to pray is enshrined in our Constitution and 
                stamped firmly in the American tradition. The belief 
                that prayer can move mountains is, at its core, a 
                belief in making the impossible possible. There is 
                nothing more American than believing in the endless 
                possibilities of what we can do when we do it together.

                Throughout our history, prayer has empowered moral 
                movements and fueled efforts to strengthen our 
                democracy. It was deeply rooted in the fight to abolish 
                slavery and the expansion of voting rights and voter 
                access. And it continues to compel us to uphold our 
                founding creed that all of us are created equal, are 
                made in the image of God, and deserve to be treated 
                with dignity and equality throughout our lives.

                We will never fully know how prayer has quietly 
                influenced every aspect of American life--bringing 
                comfort to service members on the battlefield, 
                grounding the spirits of astronauts in space, guiding 
                the healing hands of medical professionals tending to 
                our loved ones, and fortifying the faiths of millions 
                of worshippers in every corner of our Nation. There is 
                hardly an aspect of American life that is not touched 
                by the silent supplications of prayer to fulfill our 
                hopes and our aspirations.

                Earlier this year, I was honored to speak at a Sunday 
                service at the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 
                Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, now pastored by 
                Senator Raphael Warnock. In that sacred place, praying 
                and contemplating Dr. King's moral vision of a 
                ``Beloved Community,'' we were reminded that so much 
                more unites us than divides us. We are all bound 
                together by our love of country and our belief in 
                democracy. Today, I pray that we can see each other as 
                we should: not as enemies but as neighbors, and not as 
                adversaries but as fellow Americans and human beings. 
                Only when we see ourselves in each other will justice, 
                as scripture tells us, ``roll down like waters,'' 
                righteousness become ``a mighty stream,'' and America 
                fulfill its true promise as a land of liberty and 
                justice for all.

                The Congress, by Public Law 100-307, as amended, has 
                called on the President to issue each year a 
                proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a 
                ``National Day of Prayer.''

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by virtue of the 
                authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 4, 2023, 
                as a National Day of Prayer. I call upon the citizens 
                of our Nation to give thanks, in accordance with their 
                own faith and conscience, for our many

[[Page 29536]]

                freedoms and blessings, and I invite all people of 
                faith to join me in asking for God's continued 
                guidance, mercy, and protection.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                third day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand 
                twenty-three, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and forty-seventh.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2023-09867
Filed 5-5-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P