New resources for National Aboriginal Day of Prayer

The Primate, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, is encouraging Canadian Anglicans to celebrate the National Aboriginal Day of Prayer with official propers that were adopted at General Synod 2010.

Sweetgrass is commonly used in Indigenous ceremonies that promote peace and healing.
Sweetgrass is commonly used in Indigenous ceremonies that promote peace and healing.

Since 1971, Canadian Anglicans have marked the National Aboriginal Day of Prayer on a Sunday close to June 21. Aboriginal Peoples have long recognized June 21, the summer solstice, as a sacred day, and in 1996 it was officially named National Aboriginal Day by then-Governor General Roméo LeBlanc.

“As we come to National Aboriginal Day this year, we have…so much for which to be prayerful,” Archbishop Hiltz said in a letter commending the propers. “Some of our prayers express contrition, some thanksgiving, and some express our strong need for the continuing guidance of the Creator.”

The propers are a joint creation of the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples and the Faith, Worship, and Ministry Committee, which have worked together since the 1990s to create worship materials for the National Aboriginal Day of Prayer. Prayers are available in English and French. Translation into Indigenous languages is in progress.

In his letter, Archbishop Hiltz highlights landmarks in the relationship between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals in the Anglican Church of Canada. He notes the church’s 1993 apology for residential schools, the 1994 signing of the Anglican Indigenous Covenant, and the 2007 appointment of the Right  Rev. Mark MacDonald as National Indigenous Anglican Bishop.

“May God bless our vows to journey in partnership one with another,” writes the Primate. “Till we’ve seen the journey through, may God’s will and word be ‘a lantern to our feet, a light upon our path’ (Psalm 119:105).”


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