Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
Thanksgiving Day Sung Holy Eucharist will be celebrated at 10AM, Thanksgiving Day. Pray for all travelers, chefs, and merrymakers. Pray for those who are alone. Pray for all who are keeping our roads passable and safe. Pray for all emergency workers.
Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Lord Christ, when you came among us, you proclaimed the kingdom of God in villages and towns: Grant that your presence and power may be known throughout this land. Have mercy upon all of us who live and work in Yorktown, Somers, Mahopac, Carmel, and Peekskill (and all of Northern Westchester and Putnam Counties); On this Thanksgiving Day we ask you to grant that all the people of our nation may give thanks to you for food and drink and all other bodily necessities of life, respect those who labor to produce them, and honor the land and the water from which these good things come. All this we ask in your holy Name. Amen.
O God, our heavenly Father, whose glory fills the whole creation, and whose presence we find wherever we go: Preserve those who travel this Thanksgiving Eve, Day and Weekend; surround them with your loving care; protect them from every danger; and bring them in safety to their journey’s end; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
It was not uncommon for Christians who came to the Americas to celebrate one or more days of thanksgiving to God throughout the year. This practice continued in many and various ways until states began to establish official government days of thanksgiving. In 1863, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln made proclamation that there be a National Day of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November. In 1939, during the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt attempted to move the national celebration back one week to the second-to-last Thursday in November. However, his proclamation was not mandatory and the result was that twenty three states celebrated Thanksgiving on the penultimate Thursday of the month, twenty-two states celebrated Thanksgiving on the final Thursday of November, and other states, following Texas’ lead, celebrated both “Franksgiving,” as it became known, and Thanksgiving as government holidays. In 1941 Congress settled the matter by designating the Thursday in the fourth week of November as Thanksgiving Day. The Episcopal Church has officially celebrated a Day of Thanksgiving in November since at least the 1892 Prayer Book. The 1892 and 1928 Prayer Books state that “in November, the first Thursday (or, if any other day be appointed by the Civil Authority, then such day) shall be observed as a Day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God, for the Fruits of the Earth, and all other Blessings of his merciful Providence.” The current Prayer Book offers propers for Thanksgiving but designates no specific day or month for the feast to be celebrated.