We thank you for the natural majesty and beauty of this land.
They restore us, though we often destroy them.
Heal us.
We thank you for the great resources of this nation. They make us rich, though we often exploit them.
Forgive us.
We thank you for the men and women who have made this country strong. They are models for us, though we often all short of them.
Inspire us.
We thank you for the torch of liberty which has been lit in this land. It has drawn people from every nation, though we have often hidden from its light.
Enlighten us.
We thank you for the faith we have inherited in all its rich variety. It sustains our life, though we have been faithless again and again.
Renew us.
Help us, O Lord, to finish the good work here begun. Strengthen our efforts to blot out ignorance and prejudice, and to abolish poverty and crime. And hasten the day when all our people, with many voices in one united chorus, will glorify your holy Name. Amen. (BCP 838-9)
+ For Heroic Service
O judge of the nations, we remember before you with grateful hearts the men and women of our country who in the day of decision ventured much for the liberties we now enjoy. Grant that we may not rest until all the peoples of this land share the benefits of true freedom and gladly accept its disciplines. This we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP 839)
From war’s alarms, from deadly pestilence,
be thy strong arm our ever sure defense;
thy true religion in our hearts increase,
thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace.
(Verse 3, “God of our Fathers,” National Hymn, Hymnal #718)
O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
and mercy more than life!
America! America! God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law.
(Verse 2, “O beautiful for spacious skies,” Hymnal #719)
O Trinity of love and power,
our people shield in danger’s hour;
from rock and tempest, fire and foe,
protect them where-soe’er they go;
thus evermore shall rise to thee
glad praise from space, air, land, and sea.
(Verse 4, “The Navy Hymn,” Hymnal #579)
This National Holiday takes us back to our Book ofCommon Prayer and Hymnal. Beyond thanks for our military women and men, this year we remember all those in our lives who re keeping us safe from the threat of the pandemic. May God’s healing light surround them all.