A Prayer for Labor Day

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and

economic achievements of American workers.  It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have

made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the

plans of the Central Labor Union.  The Central Labor Union held it second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on

September 5, 1883. 
                                                                                                                                                                                     

In 1884, the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union

urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a “workingmen’s holiday” on

that date.  The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many

industrial centers of the country.                                                                                                                                               

The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take was outlined in the first proposal of the holiday —

a street parade to exhibit to the public “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations” of the

community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families.  This became the

patters for the celebrations of Labor Day.  Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later as more

emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday.  Still later, by a resolution of the American

Federation of Labor Convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to

the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.

Although Labor Day is a secular day, a number of organizations and houses of worship express good wishes for the day

with prayers:

Prayer of Blessing the Work of Our Hands 

Blessed be the works of your hands,

O Holy One.

Blessed be these hands that have touched life.

Blessed be these hands that have nurtured creativity.

Blessed be these hands that have held pain.

Blessed be these hands that have embraced with passion.

Blessed be these hands that have tended gardens.

Blessed be these hands that have closed in anger.

Blessed be these hands that have planted new seeds.

Blessed be these hands that have harvested ripe fields.

Blessed be these hands that have cleaned, washed, mopped, scrubbed.

Blessed be these hands that have become knotty with age.

Blessed be these hands that are wrinkled and scarred from doing justice.

Blessed be these hands that have reached out and been received.

Blessed be these hands that hold the promise of the future.

Blessed be the works of your hands.

O Holy One.

What does Labor Day mean to you? Do you pray for the occasion even on secular holidays?