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A Soldier's Prayer Book
A Soldier's Prayer Book
During the North African campaign, a bunch
of soldier boys had been on a long hike and
they arrived in a little town called Casino.
The next morning being Sunday, several of the
boys went to Church.
A sergeant commanded the boys in Church and
after the Chaplain had read the prayer, the
text was taken up next. Those of the boys who
had a prayer book took them out, but this one
boy had only a deck of cards, and so he spread
them out.
The Sergeant saw the cards and said, "Soldier,
put away those cards."
After the services was over, the soldier was
taken prisoner and brought before the Provost
Marshall. The Marshall said, "Sergeant, why
have you brought this man here?"
"For playing cards in church, Sir."
"And what have you to say for yourself, son?"
"Much, Sir," replied the soldier.
The Marshall said, "I hope so, for if not I
shall punish you more than any man was ever
punished."
The soldier said, "Sir, I have been on the
march for about six days.
"You see Sir, when I look at the Ace,
it reminds me that there is but one God.
And the Deuce reminds me that the Bible
is divided into two parts, the Old and
the New Testaments.
When I see the Three, I think of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
And when I see the Four, I think of the four
Evangelists who preached the Gospel; there
was Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
And when I see the Five, it reminds me of
the five wise virgins who trimmed their lamps;
there were ten of them: five were wise and were
saved, five were foolish and were shut out.
When I see the Six, it reminds me that in six
days, God made this great heaven and earth.
When I see the Seven, it reminds me that on the
seventh day, God rested from His great work.
And when I see the Eight, I think of the eight
righteous persons God saved when He destroyed
this earth; there was Noah, his wife, their sons
and their wives.
And when I see the Nine, I think of the lepers
our Savior cleansed, and nine out of the ten
didn't even thank Him.
When I see the Ten, I think of the Ten Commandments
God handed down to Moses on a table of stone.
When I see the King, it reminds me that there is
but one King of Heaven, God Almighty.
And when I see the Queen, I think of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, who is Queen of Heaven.
And the Jack or Knave is the Devil.
When I count the number of spots on a deck of
cards, I find 365, the number of days in a year.
There are 52 cards, the number of weeks in a year.
There are 4 suits, the number of weeks in a month.
There are 12 picture cards, the number of months
in a year.
There are 13 tricks, the number of weeks in a
quarter.
So you see, Sir, my pack of cards serves me as a
Bible, an Almanac and a Prayer Book."
And friends, the story is true. I know, I was that soldier."
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The earliest printed source I have seen is that
of the Rev. Taylor, reproduced below. This story
is also well known in the form of a song, called
"Deck of Cards", which has been performed by many
people (Tex Ritter and Ernest Tubb, among others)
but is particularly associated with the singer
Wink Martindale.
Here is a scan of a copy of a tract, which was
found sandwiched between the sheets of an 1811
bible.
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