Day of Prayer Planned May 1
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WASHINGTON — Special activities are planned in many communities across the country Thursday, May 1, in observance of the 34th National Day of Prayer.
President Reagan, in proclaiming it, urged that “our hopes and aspirations, our sorrows and our fears” and “most especially our love” all be “turned to God.”
The observance has been proclaimed annually by each President since Harry S. Truman in 1952, but many earlier Presidents issued national calls to prayer, with the first such observance declared in 1775 by the Continental Congress.
A sponsoring national committee, co-chaired by Mrs. Bill Bright of Arrowhead Springs, Calif., suggests that Americans “take five at 12”--five minutes of prayer at noon on the day.
At least 20 states, and 25 cities have issued parallel proclamations. Special activities range from a huge prayer breakfast in Sacramento to an eight-hour succession of devotional speakers in Washington’s Senate office building.
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