Prayer in U.S. House of Representatives the Day After the Bombing of Pearl Harbor

It was Sunday, August 28, 2005. I had driven home to visit my mother for her birthday. Right before I left I remembered that when my father (a minister) died back in 1980, the contents of his church office were moved into the garage of my mother's house. I had taken an interest in doing some writing about my own Christian faith and remembered from many years before that there were many boxes of his "preacher books" plus a couple of file cabinets where he kept manilla folders with his notes from almost 30 years of his sermons. I thought to myself, "There must be some great stuff in there that might provide good material for my writing!"

My mother used the garage for storage and not for parking cars so when I opened it, I found boxes of my brother's household goods that were nevershipped to Alabama when he moved, boxes of my sister's stuff from whenshe moved to a new house, and even a mattress my mother told me belongedto my niece's boyfriend. How did that get in there? After moving some old furniture, I found my father's file cabinets where they have beensitting for 25 years. I think I'm the only one who has ever even looked inside them and maybe only three times in that 25 years.

I found several drawer of manilla folders, each with notes for a particular sermon, as I expected. I removed one draw full of sermons to take home with me to look for ideas for my own writing. In the back of one of the drawers, I found something I never knew about. It was a brown, thin, hardcover book. When I read the title, I knew I had to rescue this little book from obscurity. To me, it was a genuine historical gem.

Prayers

Offerred by the Chaplain

Rev. James Shera Montgomery, D.D.

At the Opening of the Daily Sessions of the

House of Representatives of the United States

During the Seventy-Seventh and

Seventy-Eigth Congresses

1941-1944

Based on the date of publication, I guessed that this book must have belonged to my grandfather, also a preacher. I have since traded emails with my Uncle who said my grandfather actually met Rev. Montgomery on trip to Washington, DC and received the book from him directly. My uncle also said my grandfather had commented on "what a great guy he was." My
father inherited the contents of my grandfather's church office when my grandfather passed away.

Here's a scan of the front cover of the book.

The inside title page:

Here is the House Resolution authorizing the printing of this book of
prayers.

Apparently the chaplain got to dedicate this book of his prayers, which he did - dedicating it to his father.

I discovered that this historical gem containing a glimpseinto the spiritual life of my nation's past was originally offered forsale for $0.35 a copy.

Here's the first page of prayers.

I knew enough about history to know that these were the years of World War II. Captured in the pages of this book were the opening prayers offerred to our Congressman during the greatest struggle of war in my nation's history. I quickly searched to see if it included the prayer
offerred immediately after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was there!

Imagine if you will that you were this chaplain. Your nation had just been bombed and the Pacific fleet decimated. Before you was the Houseof Representatives of the United States of America. A declaration of war was likely. What would you say? What would your prayer be like? Here in the public record, is what the man who really had to do it said, beginning at the bottom of page 60 and continuing to page 61 below. See the opening prayer for Monday, December 8, 1941.

I think the words of this chaplain still offer us some wisdom for today. Remember our nation's leaders in your prayers tonight and remember our brave service men and women fighting today's war on terrorists.