Continental Congress (March 16, 1776) as recorded in the Journals of Congress, passed without dissent a resolution presented by General William Livingston declaring May 17, 1776, as a National Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer:
<The Congress....desirous...to have people of all ranks and degrees duly impressed with a solemn sense of God's superintending providence, and of their duty, devoutly to rely...on his aid and direction...
We do earnestly recommend Friday, the 17th day of May be observed by the colonies as a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer; that we may, with united hearts, confess and bewail our manifold sins and transgressions, and, by sincere repentance and amendment of life, appease God's righteous displeasure, and, through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, obtain this pardon and forgiveness.> 1776CC001
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1776CC001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Continental Congress, March 16, 1776, passed a resolution declaring May 17, 1776, as a National Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer, presented by General William Livingston. Journals of Congress, Vol. II, p. 93. The Journals of the Continental Congress 1774-1789 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1905), Vol. IV, pp. 208-209. Carl E. Prince, ed., The Papers of William Livingston, 5 vols. (Trenton: New Jersey Historical Commission, 1979), Vol. I, pp. 43-44. Stephen Abbott Northrop, D.D., A Cloud of Witnesses (Portland, Oregon: American Heritage Ministries, 1987; Mantle Ministries, 228 Still Ridge, Bulverde, Texas), p. 287-288. "Our Christian Heritage," Letter from Plymouth Rock (Marlborough, NH: The Plymouth Rock Foundation), p. 3. M.E. Bradford, Religion & The Framers-The Biographical Evidence (Marlborough, NH: Plymouth Rock Foundation, 1991), p. 5.