A Prayer for Our Country

INDEPENDENCE DAY

July 4

The Collect.

O ETERNAL God, through whose mighty power our fathers won their liberties of old; Grant, we beseech thee, that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain these liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

You can find this prayer in the classic, traditional 1928 Book of Common Prayer. It's on page 263, always in the same place, always accessible.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . . "

The First Amendment in the Bill of Rights guarantees our God-given right to worship as we believe.

The history of our prayer book and that of our nation have been intertwined from the beginning. The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, was proposed by Congress in 1789, the same year in which the Book of Common Prayer, altered minimally from Thomas Cranmer's original, was introduced in America by the Episcopal Church.

photo - Flag of our nation at St. Thomas, New York