The Office of the Chaplain United States House of Representatives

Opening Prayer

03/17/2026
Chaplain Margaret Grun Kibben

God of the ages, we recall the words of Saint Patrick's breastplate, when we too bear witness to the strength of Heaven revealed in the light of the Sun, in the speed of the lightning, in the swiftness of the sea, in the stability of the Earth, and in the firmness of the rock.

This is the strength that You have provided us to face this day. And You, O Lord, alone are the source of that strength.

From You and through You and for You are all things. Deep are the riches of Your wisdom and knowledge.

 And it is Your omniscience that directs us, Your might that upholds us, and Your spirit that inspires us to serve You. May we live up to the responsibility You have entrusted to us as we labor in these Halls.

To You, God Almighty, be all praise and honor. Amen.

Romans 11:33,36

Thought of the Week

Our lifelong nostalgia, our longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we now feel cut off, to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside, is no mere neurotic fancy, but the truest index of our real situation. And to be at last summoned inside would be both the glory and honor beyond all our merits and also the healing of that old ache. 

—C.S. Lewis

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