TO BE OBSERVED AS A NATIONAL HOLIDAY
Monrovia, Liberia – President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr., has by Proclamation declared Friday, April 12, 2024, as “National Fast and Prayer Day” and is to be observed throughout Liberia as a National Holiday. A statement from the Foreign Ministry states that the Day is to be commemorated as a time of prayer, fasting, meditation, and supplication in order to ensure that the nation, the state, and mankind as a whole will reap the rewards of our collective efforts.
In addition, the Proclamation calls on all clerics, priests, elders, deacons, evangelists, imams, and locals of all religious persuasions to come together in their houses of worship, in every city, town, village, hamlet, and home inside the boundaries of the Republic of Liberia, in plain, affordable clothing, to fast, pray, and practice meditation starting at eight in the morning.
According to the press release, all official offices, commercial buildings, and marketplaces will be closed throughout the celebration. Additionally, all citizens and foreign residents will abstain from their regular daily activities in honor of God’s guidance and love.
The proclamation emphasizes that Liberians’ resilience in maintaining democratic institutions was crucial to attaining this milestone and that Liberia’s democratic institutions serve as an example for the region and the world. On Election Day, a large number of Liberians exercised their right to vote peacefully, laying the groundwork for the nation’s second democratic transfer of power in over 70 years.
The Proclamation further notes that, by God’s grace, our nation has been saved from numerous acts of great injury, devastation, and destruction caused by uncommon and extraordinary outbreaks of natural phenomena and man-made national crises.
The Proclamation recounts that there are large numbers of the nation’s kith and kin living in uncertain conditions in the Diaspora, and the need for remembrance in prayers of those who have made the supreme sacrifice remains unfulfilled.
In humility, the Liberian people have always bowed to the Almighty God, asking for protection, guidance, and peace in their country’s affairs. This is emphasized in the Presidential Proclamation. Declaring the second Friday in April of each year as a “National Fast and Prayer Day,” the Proclamation is in accordance with Chapter One of the Patriotic and Cultural Observances Law of the Republic of Liberia. It is a day of fasting and prayer for the prosperity of the region.
