It’s the size of a business card, and it sits in a glass case on our mantle. It holds the story of what may have been one of the most powerful and successful prayers of the 20th century, and the meaning it had for one special soldier.
It was 70 years ago that the last “good war” ended. Most of the men and women who fought that war are gone, but their memories and stories of that time have been passed down through the generations. Many never spoke of what they saw. No one spoke of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. One of the most critical battles of World War II was the Battle of the Bulge in December of 1944. The Germans had launched an offensive that drove a bulge into the Allies front lines as they tried to sweep through the freezing cold and snow into Germany to finally end the war.
The Third Army led by General George Patton was leading the charge across Europe. The Germans had surrounded American troops in Bastogne. The weather was rainy and foggy for days preventing Patton’s advance and grounding bombers that were needed to drive back the Germans and save the trapped troops in Bastogne.
Msgr. James O’Neill was the Chief Chaplain of the Third Army. In an article written in 1971, O’Neill says the story of the prayer started with a phone call on the morning of December 8, 1944 at Third Army headquarters in France. O’Neill writes that Patton called him and said, “This is General Patton; do you have a good prayer for weather?” O’Neill told Patton he would find one and report to him in an hour. He found no formal weather prayers anywhere. So he made up the following:
“Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies and establish Thy justice among men and nations.”
O’Neill knew this prayer wasn’t just for Patton, and that it would be at least given out to chaplains. He thought that since it was Christmas time, the general might want to extend Christmas greetings. On the back of the index card on which he wrote the prayer he wrote:
“To each officer and soldier in the Third United States Army, I Wish a Merry Christmas. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We march in our might to complete victory. May God’s blessings rest upon each of you on this Christmas Day. G.S. Patton, Jr, Lieutenant General, Commanding, Third United States Army.”
O’Neill tells of how he went to Patton’s office to show him the prayer. He writes that Patton read the prayer and said, “Have 250,000 copies printed and see to it that every man in the Third Army gets one.” O’Neill says he showed Patton the greeting on the back, and asked the general to sign it to give it a personal touch. Patton complied. O’Neill then writes that Patton invited him to sit down and talk about the power of prayer. The general was a great believer in prayer. He wanted to know if O’Neill thought there was enough praying being done by his men. O’Neill quoted Patton as saying, “There are three ways that men get what they want: by planning, by working, and by Praying.” O’Neill was told to put out a training letter to all the chaplains in the Third Army about the importance and power of prayer.
My father-in-law Howard Hagan was a radio operator in a tank recon unit attached to the 10th Armored Division that fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He never spoke about his experiences in the war until much later in his life. He suffered a stroke in 1997, that left him in wheelchair until his death in 2011. Shortly after his stroke, I noticed a copy of the prayer in a glass case on an end table in his apartment. I admired it and he told me he was given it during the Battle of Bulge. He said I could have it, but I said no, it should stay with him. I also found out that my mother-in-law found the copy of the prayer in his wallet after he suffered the stroke. He had been carrying the prayer with him everyday for 50 years.
I think Patton and my father-in-law are reflective of a generation that experienced the horrors of war and man’s inhumanity to man, and turned to God, for not only victory, but maybe for understanding and peace of mind.
About three weeks after O’Neill’s meeting with Patton, the weather cleared. Patton’s Third Army swept across Europe. Hundreds of Allied planes were launched in perfect flying weather, and the rest is history. O’Neill writes that he met Patton again in January of 1945 in Luxembourg. He writes, “He stood directly in front of me, smiled: “Well, Padre, our prayers worked. I knew they would.” Then he cracked me on the side of my helmet with his riding crop. That was his way of saying, “Well done.”
After my father-in-law was admitted to a nursing home, my wife told him again how much I admired the copy of the prayer. He said he wanted me to have it. It now sits on our mantle. I never got the chance to ask him what the prayer meant to him at the time. But, he was a devout Catholic and had a strong faith in God. He was from that generation that didn’t share their emotions about the terrible things they saw. I want to believe that he carried that prayer all those years because of what it meant to him. And now, how much it means to me.
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