250 Years Ago Today - A Day of Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer; We Should Do the Same Today
On May 17, 1776, the Continental Congress declared a national “Day of Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer” across the American colonies.
Not humiliation in the modern sense, but humility before God.
Citizens were urged to confess their sins, fast, abstain from work, gather in prayer, and ask for divine intervention against what Congress called the “cruel purposes of our unnatural enemies” - Britain.
Before the Declaration of Independence…
Before the Constitution…
Before the birth of the United States…
The founders publicly called the nation to repentance, prayer and spiritual reflection.
John Adams himself wrote of the gravity of the moment, as the colonies stood on the edge of separation from Britain and the creation of an entirely new system of government.
A people attempting to break free from empire while placing themselves under what they believed was a higher authority than kings.
The Continental Congress declared May 17, 1776, as a national “Day of Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer” throughout the colonies. This resolution was passed on March 16, 1776, by the Second Continental Congress.
The purpose of this day was for the colonies to collectively confess their sins, seek God’s mercy and pardon through Jesus Christ, and implore divine assistance against their “unnatural enemies” during the Revolutionary War, as well as to establish peace and freedom in America. General William Livingston presented the resolution, and it passed without dissent.
George Washington, as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, acknowledged this proclamation and ordered all officers and soldiers to observe it with reverence and attention to their religious duties.
The Congress sought a “spirit of universal reformation among all ranks and degrees of our citizens” to become a “holy” and “happy people.”
This act by the Continental Congress was one of several proclamations for days of fasting and prayer issued annually throughout the Revolutionary War, demonstrating the deep-rooted faith of the leaders and the colonies during that period.