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Prayer of the Guest Chaplain of the U.S. Senate: Rabbi Edward B.M. Browne on 30 August 1918

Guest Chaplain: Rabbl Edward B.M. Browne of New York City, honorary president of the American Jewish Seventy Elders
Sponsor: n/a
Date of Prayer: 30 August 1918


Contribute a translationSource (English)
Our Father who are in heaven, on earth,
and all over the universe,
hallowed is Thy name.
Thy kingdom has come with the dawn of creation
and, being established upon principles eternal and universal,
its laws enforce themselves alike in all climes and in all ages,
wherefore Thy will must be done among the celestial in heaven,
even as it is amongst Thy mortal sons on earth.
Thou hast endowed nature
with productive energies subservient to man’s will,
whereby Thou givest us this day our daily bread,
while by imparting us Thy divine spirit
Thou enablest us to enact laws for the guidance of society,
so that human passions lead us not into temptation,
but divine grace delivers us from all evil.
For that very purpose are here assembled
the Senators of our great Nation
in this Sinai of modern times,
and as Thou hast been with Moses on the peak of Horeb
so may Thy Shekinah rest to-day
upon every one of the Senators here assembled
and cause them to bear in mind
that while here to represent the will of the people
they shall not misrepresent the will of Thee,
who art our Father and our Lord.
We pray, O Lord, Thy special blessing
upon the President of the United States,
our “olive-branch” President,
who is waging this “olive-branch” war
to give a genuine “olive-branch” peace
to this blood-flooded world,
based upon the “golden rule”
and the divine principle of religious magnanimity
to forgive those who trespass against us,
even as Thou forgivest our trespasses against Thee.
We pray, O Lord, Thy special guidance
for our own patriotic boys
who are now ready to lay down their lives
for the cause of justice and humanity,
each of them being a “lamb of God
that taketh away the sins of the world.”
And bless, also, the patriotic mothers
who have sent out those boys
in order to sacrifice themselves
for their country
and for humanity.
We thank Thee, O Lord,
that Thou hast selected the United States
as the chosen people of modern times
to be the chief among all the nations of the earth
in this great universal struggle.
But let us not be vainglorious over that great distinction,
for whatsoever are our potentialities
for goodness and for greatness
they are only through Thee,
for Thine is the kingdom
and the power
and the glory
forever.
Amen.

This prayer of the guest chaplain was offered in the ninth month of the second session of the 65th US Senate, and published in the Congressional Record, vol. 56 part 10 (30 August 1918), page 9678.

Source(s)

Prayer of the Guest Chaplain – Edward B.M. Browne (Senate, 30 August 1918), p. 9678

 


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