---
type: "LegalText"
title: "36 U.S.C. § 119"
description: "National Day of Prayer"
jurisdiction: "us"
corpus: "united_states_code"
kind: "code_section"
title_number: 36
title_name: "PATRIOTIC AND NATIONAL OBSERVANCES, CEREMONIES, AND ORGANIZATIONS"
chapter_number: "1"
chapter_name: "PATRIOTIC AND NATIONAL OBSERVANCES"
section: "119"
citation: "36 U.S.C. § 119"
status: "current"
release_point: "119-100"
release_date: "2026-06-26"
source: "official"
source_url: "https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc36@119-100.zip"
source_identifier: "/us/usc/t36/s119"
source_file: "data/legal/raw/us/code/title-36/usc36.xml"
source_hash: "346567ae154168adf63ebdb36302fca6aba5d8f321d73bb1ea540b1e306a540d"
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text_hash: "80cccacb6685280f2877214df208d3e2f869e6574ecc2f1603fd4607bbb59d20"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-04"
confidence: "official"
tags: ["legal", "us-code"]
---

# 36 U.S.C. § 119 - National Day of Prayer

## Text

The President shall issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals.

(Pub. L. 105–225, Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1258.)

## Notes

Historical and Revision Notes RevisedSectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 11936:169h.Apr. 17, 1952, ch. 216, 66 Stat. 64; May 5, 1988, Pub. L. 100–307, 102 Stat. 456.