What is Thanksgiving Day?

A civil holiday observed annually in the United States of America on the last Thursday in November. It is now celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. The president issues a proclamation, calling on the citizens, all Federal officials, and others subject to Federal authority to observe the day as one of national thanksgiving and prayer. […] The custom originated in 1621, when Governor Bradford of the Plymouth colony appointed a day for public praise and prayer after the first harvest, and the practice spread throughout the other New England colonies. The first national observance was when President Washington, at the request of Congress, recommended Thursday, 26 November, 1789, to the people of the United States "as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God". This proclamation exhorted the people to "beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best". It was the first observation of the day on the date that present custom holds it.

 
Excerpted from the “New Advent” Catholic Encyclopedia.
 
We encourage you to attend the Eucharist (Mass, which in Greek means thanksgiving) and to give thanks to our Lord for all the blessings he has bestowed on us.