Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle
Not George S. Patton — actually Chaplain James H. O’NeillJames H. O'Neill1892–1972 · Chief Chaplain, Third U.S. Army
Patton ordered the prayer and had it printed on cards for his troops with his signed Christmas greeting on the back. The words themselves were composed by his Third Army chief chaplain, James H. O’Neill. O’Neill said so in his own published account ↗, and Wikiquote ↗ lists the prayer as misattributed to Patton.
“Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle” composed by Chaplain James H. O'Neill at the order of Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr., Third Army prayer card, December 1944 (often misattributed to Patton). · Verbatim: “Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies and establish Thy justice among men and nations.”
⚠ The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to George S. Patton. Use the credit shown above instead.
Can you use it?
? First printed on Third Army cards in December 1944. It may be a U.S. government work, but we have not confirmed its copyright status, so we assert none.
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Provenance
Where the words come from
Work
Third Army prayer card, with Patton’s Christmas greeting on the reverse
Composed by
Chaplain James H. O’Neill, at the direction of Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr.
Date
December 1944
Composer’s account
“The True Story of The Patton Prayer,” Review of the News, 6 October 1971
Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies and establish Thy justice among men and nations.
This is the text as O’Neill gives it in his 1971 account. He says he typed it on a 5″ × 3″ filing card. Many printed versions end with “Amen,” as in the copy reproduced by War on the Rocks ↗. The popular quotation is the card’s first two sentences, word for word.
December 1944, the card. O’Neill writes that Patton telephoned on the morning of 8 December 1944 asking for “a good prayer for weather.” Finding nothing suitable in the prayer books at hand, O’Neill says he typed an original prayer, and Patton ordered 250,000 copies printed (O’Neill’s account ↗).
The printing. The cards were printed on the offset presses of the 664th Engineer Topographic Battalion so that nearly every Third Army soldier could get one (The Old Topographer ↗). O’Neill’s own account calls the unit the 664th Engineer Topographical Company.
1947, Patton’s memoir.War As I Knew It carries a footnote on the prayer by Col. Paul D. Harkins. In his 1971 account, O’Neill says that footnote “is not the true account of the prayer Incident or its sequence” and states that “at the direction of General Patton I composed the now world famous Prayer” (O’Neill’s account ↗).
Today. Wikiquote lists the prayer under Patton’s Misattributed section. It notes that Patton commissioned the prayer and ordered copies printed with his signature, but that Chief Chaplain James H. O’Neill composed it (Wikiquote ↗).
The prayer was first printed on Third Army cards in December 1944. An Army chaplain wrote it on his commander’s orders, and an Army engineer unit printed it, so it may be a U.S. government work. Quotle.info has not confirmed its copyright status, so we assert none. O’Neill’s 1971 magazine article telling the story is a separate work with its own rights.
Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.
Fact-check
Why Patton gets the credit
The prayer went out on a card that every Third Army soldier was meant to receive, with Patton’s signed Christmas greeting on the back. So it has always been known as “Patton’s prayer.” He commissioned it and issued it, but he did not write it.
~
Memes, devotional sites and gift printsGeorge S. Patton Commissioned, did not write
Patton asked for the prayer, ordered it printed and signed the greeting on the back of the card. By O’Neill’s own account, O’Neill wrote the words (O’Neill, 1971 ↗).
~
Patton’s posthumous memoirWar As I Knew It (1947), Harkins footnote Different telling
The memoir’s footnote by Col. Paul D. Harkins gives its own version of how the prayer came about. O’Neill later wrote that it was not the true account of the incident or its sequence (O’Neill, 1971 ↗).
✓Chaplain James H. O’Neill composed the prayer at Patton’s direction in December 1944. Wikiquote ↗ lists it as misattributed to Patton.
Context
Why it mattered
In December 1944, constant rain was holding back Patton’s Third Army. He asked his chief chaplain for a prayer for good weather, and ordered 250,000 copies printed for his troops (War on the Rocks ↗).
When the skies cleared during the Battle of the Bulge, Patton gave O’Neill the Bronze Star Medal (Wikipedia ↗). That story turned the card into one of the best-known items of the war, and Patton’s name went with it.
At the direction of General Patton I composed the now world famous Prayer. — James H. O’Neill, 1971
The accounts disagree on dates
O’Neill dates Patton’s telephone request to the morning of 8 December 1944 (O’Neill ↗). One other retelling puts the exchange around 14 December (Scott Manning ↗). Some troops received their cards on 22 December (Scott Manning ↗; War on the Rocks ↗, which itself dates the prayer to 8 December). Every account agrees on who wrote the words. Only the dates differ.
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Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
1892–1972 · U.S. Army chaplain; Third Army chief chaplain under Patton
Msgr. James Hugh O’Neill was a Catholic priest who served as a U.S. Army chaplain from 1926 to 1952 and rose to the rank of brigadier general. As chief chaplain of Patton’s Third Army, he composed the 1944 weather prayer at Patton’s direction. When the weather cleared, Patton awarded him the Bronze Star Medal.
For writers & researchers
Cite this
Composer's account
O’Neill, James H. “The True Story of The Patton Prayer.” Review of the News, October 6, 1971. The prayer itself was first printed on Third Army prayer cards in December 1944. Archived Patton Society copy: https://web.archive.org/web/20160114131514/http://www.pattonhq.com/prayer.html.
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle’?” Last verified 2 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/almighty-and-most-merciful-father-we-humbly-beseech-thee-of/