Battles and Prayers

from New Church Life by Bruce Henderson

Luxembourg American Cemetery (my photo from 2014)

War is the ultimate challenge to the Christmas prayer: “Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” (Luke 2:14)
Even in war the spirit of Christmas has silenced guns with the power of
prayer and offered a glimpse of the hope of peace to soldiers in battle.
There was the famous “Christmas Truce” during the Battle of Ypres just
before Christmas in the early days of World War One in 1914. Thousands
of French, German and British soldiers spontaneously left their trenches to
sing carols and exchange greetings, food and souvenirs. It was an improbable
respite but lent some hope – as the cruel, prolonged war resumed the next day
– for the ultimate cause of “peace on earth.”

There was a similar spiritual experience during the intense Battle of the
Bulge in World War Two – where desperate Allied troops eventually broke
through into Germany and went on to win the war. That campaign was led by
Gen. George Patton, a notoriously profane leader but also a man of resolute
faith who believed in the power of prayer.

His U.S. Third Army was stalled and struggling in bitter winter weather –
numbing cold, snow and mud. On December 8 the exasperated Patton asked
his chief chaplain to distribute a prayer to 250,000 men scattered among 20
divisions. The prayer read simply: “Pray when driving. Pray when fighting.
Pray alone. Pray with others. Pray by night and pray by day.”

The Third Army included 500 chaplains, representing 32 denominations,
and Patton wanted them up front, where men were fighting and dying. Two days
after these prayer cards were distributed, the Germans launched a terrifying
barrage that cost the Third Army 19,000 deaths and 50,000 wounded. It was
estimated that more unarmed chaplains were lost, proportionately, than any
other group.

Brig. Gen. Harry Semmes wrote that Patton relied on his faith more than
most commanders, and “always read the Bible, particularly the life of Christ
and the wars of the Old Testament. He knew by heart the order of morning
prayer of the Episcopal Church. His thoughts, as demonstrated daily to those
close to him, repeatedly indicated that his life was dominated by a feeling of
dependence on God.” He saw Patton as “an unusual mixture of a profane and
highly religious man.” Gen. Omar Bradley echoed the feeling that Patton was both irreverent and reverent. He “strutted imperiously as a commander, but knelt humbly before
his God.”

At the height of the battle in the Ardennes Forrest, Patton wrote: “Destiny
sent for me in a hurry when things got tight. Perhaps God saved me in this
effort. We can and will win, God helping. Give us Victory, Lord.”
On Dec. 23 the skies suddenly lifted, allowing the Allied Air Force
to wreak havoc on German forces and supply lines, turning the tide of this
pivotal battle. By January Hitler’s defeat was certain. Winston Churchill called
it “the greatest American battle of the war.”

In Patton’s prayer he asked for good weather but also implored God to
“crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies” and establish justice
among men. One of his chaplains came across weary, frozen soldiers still
clutching their prayer cards, firmly believing that “God stopped the rain in
answer to their prayers.”

Patton – in a reflective moment of humility – wrote: “Those who pray do
more for the world than those who fight, and if the world goes from bad to
worse, it is because there are more battles than prayers.”