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Heavenly Father! Our minds are troubled, and our hearts unutterably grieved. We had prayed and ardently hoped for a cause of thanksgivings, but amidst universal gloom, lamentations resound through the land. At this hour of national anguish, we fly unto Thee for relief. | |
Oh! teach us to understand how the distressing bereavement forced upon us by a loathsome wretch is made to agree with Thy Paternal design. A ray of Thy in finite wisdom will chase away the cloud that hangs over our spirits. | |
Not because Garfield was eminently virtuous do we sigh and mourn at his departure. Surely, his righteousness has walked before him and prepared the way to the glories whereto Thou hast uplifted his soul. The loss we deplore is the deprivation of a chief under whose lead the Republic of Thy godly Washington, would have been cleansed from dross, and have reached a higher standard of public morality. | |
No more will America profit by the counsel of Thy upright servant. The lips which a live coal from the altar of Purity had touched,[1] Isaiah 6:6-8. are sealed forever in death. Bent with sorrow we have this day accompanied to its final home the body whose restoration would have been our joy. The tears of Thy afflicted children bedew their countenances, their blessings are wreaths of unfading flowers crowning yonder sepulchre. | |
May we, O Heavenly Father! often turn our thoughts thereunto, and, remembering the foul sin of dishonesty which occasioned the opening of that untimely grave, may we vow to carry out the principles of rectitude, which the dear dead has left as a legacy. Grant that our resolves may receive a complete realization through the unswerving adherence of Chester Allan Arthur[2] The 21st President of the United States, Chester Arthur (1829-1886) served in office from the death of Garfield in 1881 until 1885. to the oath he solemnly took in Thy divine presence. Then will the oppressive feelings which so distress us now find relief. | |
Heavenly Father! We commend to Thy grace her whose cheeks, furrowed with age, have more deeply sunk in by reason of the trials and decease of her great son, and with her take also in Thy merciful care the woman whose tenderness of wifely devotion illustrates a character sublimely pious. May the respectful love which millions bear them bring alleviation to their anguish, and Thy signal protection to the surviving offspring of our sainted President prove both a sweet and lasting consolation. | |
Oh! Shield America from calamities, exalt her in righteousness, and keep her as ensign to the world of national probity and universal freedom until time shall be no more. Amen. |
This prayer by Rabbi Sabato Morais after the death of President James Garfield is recorded in an undated newspaper clipping preserved on page 176 of the Sabato Morais Ledger. The clipping appears next to one printed in the Jewish Record on 30 September 1881, a few days prior to Yom Kippur that year. From the column borders similar to both clippings, the prayer appears to also have been published in the Jewish Record, possibly as part of a service in eulogy for the fallen president sometime soon after 19 September.
Source(s)
Prayer after the death of James Garfield [1881-09] (Sabato Morais Ledger, p. 176)
Notes
“Prayer upon the death of President James A. Garfield, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (after 19 September 1881)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
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William Allen Rogers – The late President Garfield Scene at the Beside immediately after Death Longbranch 19 September 1881 – (MeisterDrucke-185716)
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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17
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