Brothers and sisters, we meet today as the only predominantly Christian nation in Asia. Our non-Christian countrymen are also people of faith. All of us believe in the goodness and the justness and the righteousness of God.

But our own mortal humility should make us wonder if we have not truly pleased God as a nation; we may not have served him as we should. Rather, we may have relied more on our puny strength and selfish pride to achieve a certain measure of growth.

We have not sincerely prayed for one another as a people of God. We may have forgotten that our freedoms today were founded on prayer, were gained in utter subjection ten years ago to the will and the wisdom of God Almighty. Thus, we may have missed out on the blessings and protection that heaven can dispense to those who are its own.

Today, therefore, as leader of our people, I promulgate Proclamation No. 720 declaring every twenty-fifth of February, of every year, as a National Day of Prayer, reconciliation and renewal.

On the occasion of our remembrance of the miracle that is EDSA 1986 — otherwise known as the People Power Revolution — the whole Filipino nation, and all Filipinos are urged to take time from their concerns, schedules and activities — wherever they may be — to pray and intercede for the nation at precisely 3:00 p.m., Manila time, for at least ten minutes. The time 3:00 p.m. was chosen in order to link our nation to the victory that was won on calvary when Jesus Christ died on the cross, having fulfilled his mission of redemption for mankind.

There are actually four prayers that I suggest we offer.

Let us pray, first of all, that God lend his wisdom to those in authority. This is mandated by the holy scriptures in 1 Timothy 2:1-2, so “that we may be able to lead undisturbed and tranquil lives in perfect piety and dignity.” and we know that god’s wisdom is what our leaders need to help bring us to the “promised land.”

Our second prayer should ask God for peace and order in our land. Genuine peace is a gift from God (John 14: 27) who is a god of order. We need to have both, his peace and his kind of order, so that our nation may walk in his ways.

We must pray for reconciliation among all Filipinos. We need to reach out to God and to one another in sincerity and in truth, in humility, repentance and forgiveness so that we may all receive God’s mercy. Only thus can we be reconciled to God and to one another.

Third, let us pray for economic recovery and prosperity, keeping faith with God’s promise of well-being and abundance for his people.

Lastly, let us beseech the good lord to bring about the renewal of the Filipino nation and, thereafter, to use the Philippines as his light to Asia. The catholic church has been inspired by God with a vision for the future of a church and a nation renewed, and has sounded the call for our country to be truly “a light to the nations.”

I ask every Filipino to join me in common cause for the healing and renewal of our country, and all together implore almighty god for his divine intervention in our individual, family, community and national concerns.

May every Filipino, from this moment forward, pray and intercede together, for all these inspired intentions, which will surely evoke god’s powerful and beneficial response!

Amen.