Remembrance Sunday Prayers Of Intercession: On this Remembrance Sunday, let us bring before the God of peace our prayers for the world, the church and all His people.
Merciful God, we pray for peace in our hearts and homes,
All gather in silence, and the presiding minister reads:
This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. Lamentations 3.21-23
God is our refuge and strength; a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46.1
REMEMBERING
An older person says:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
A younger person may reply:
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.
All affirm:
We will remember them.
The beginning of the two-minute silence may be signalled
The completion of the silence may be signalled
O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast,
and our eternal home;
Beneath the shadow of thy throne
thy saints have dwelt secure;
sufficient is thine arm alone,
and our defence is sure.
Before the hills in order stood,
or earth received her frame,
from everlasting thou art God,
to endless years the same.
A thousand ages in thy sight
are like an evening gone;
short as the watch that ends the night
before the rising sun.
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
bears all our years away;
they fly forgotten, as a dream
dies at the opening day.
O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
be thou our guard while troubles last,
and our eternal home.
READING
At the point when Jesus saw the groups, he went up the mountain, and after he plunked down his followers came to him. At that point he started to talk, and showed them, saying: “Favored are the poor in soul, for theirs is the kingdom of paradise. “Favored are the individuals who grieve, for they will be ameliorated. “Favored are the resigned, for they will acquire basically everything. Favored are the individuals who yearning and hunger for honesty, for they will be filled. Favored are the benevolent, for they will get benevolence. Favored are the unadulterated in heart, for they will see God. Favored are the peacemakers, for they will be called offspring of God. Favored are the individuals who are mistreated for the wellbeing of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of paradise. Favored are you when individuals scold you and aggrieve you and express a wide range of fiendishness against you erroneously for me. Cheer and be happy, for your reward is extraordinary in paradise, for similarly they oppressed the prophets who were before you.”
Matthew 5:1-12
Intercessions
¶The Church of Christ
Lord, giver of life, may your love break through where this earth has grown dark. Where justice is destroyed, let righteousness rule. Let the warmth and light of your love shine on the waste of our wrath and sorrow. Teach us, through you, to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which over the centuries has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and give peace to your Church, peace among nations, peace in our homes and peace in our hearts.
Lest we forget, lest we forget: Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer
¶Creation, human society, the Sovereign and those in authority
Lord, we pray for all who bear the burden and privilege of leadership. Pour upon them your gifts of wisdom and resolve in all situations of conflict so that those who would wage war shall instead beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, as they search without ceasing for reconciliation and peace.
Lest we forget, lest we forget: Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer
¶The local community
Lord, as we pray for those who seek reconciliation on the world stage, so do we pray for those in every community. Teach us when to climb down from our embattled certainties in search of even a hard and bitter peace. Teach us how to soften the bitterness through continual attempts at reconciliation. And teach us when to defend our truth unto the very end.
Lest we forget, lest we forget: Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer
¶Those who suffer
Lord, comfort all who, in bereavement, disability or pain, continue to suffer the consequences of war. Grant that we who dwell secure in this insecure world may be generous in caring for those who return to us injured in body or mind. Still we cry to you out of the darkness of our divided world: let not new clouds rain death upon the earth!
Lest we forget, lest we forget: Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer
¶The communion of saints
Ever-living God, we remember all those whom you have gathered from the storm of war into the peace of your presence; may they rise in glory, and let light perpetual shine upon them in their eternal rest.
Lest we forget, lest we forget: Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer
- Remembrance Sunday Intercessions
- Remembrance Sunday for primary schools
- Remembrance Sunday Haywards Heath
- Remembrance Sunday France
- Remembrance Sunday Aberdeen
RESPONDING IN HOPE AND COMMITMENT
Representative and other members of the public come forward to lay wreaths, light candles or offer other symbols of remembrance and hope, such as single flowers or crosses.
The Kohima Epitaph is said:
When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow we gave our today.
A hymn may be sung
The act of commitment is made:
Let us commit ourselves to responsible living and faithful service.
Will you strive for all that makes for peace?
We will
Will you seek to heal the wounds of war?
We will
Will you work for a just future for all humanity?
We will
The National Anthem(s) are sung
The following blessing is used:
God grant to the living grace, to the departed rest, to the Church, the Queen, the Commonwealth [or to the Church, the State] and all people, unity, peace and concord, and to us and all God’s servants, life everlasting. And the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you all and remain with you always.
Amen
For those who have died
Almighty and eternal God,
from whose love in Christ we cannot be parted,
either by death or life:
hear our prayers and thanksgivings
for all whom we remember this day;
fulfil in them the purpose of your love;
and bring us all, with them, to your eternal joy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
For those who have died on active service
O God of truth and justice,
we hold before you those men and women
who have died in active service:
in Iraq, in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
As we honour their courage and cherish their memory,
may we put our faith in your future;
for you are the source of life and hope,
now and for ever.
Amen.
At a bereavement
Father,
you know our hearts and share our sorrows.
We are hurt by our parting from those whom we loved:
when we are angry at the loss we have sustained,
when we long for words of comfort,
yet find them hard to hear,
turn our grief to truer living,
our affliction to firmer hope
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Lord, have mercy
on those who mourn
who feel numb and crushed
and are filled with the pain of grief,
whose strength has given up
You know all our sighing and longings:
be near to us and teach us to fix our hope on you
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Lord, do not abandon us in our desolation.
Keep us safe in the midst of trouble,
and complete your purpose for us
through your steadfast love and faithfulness,
in Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Amen.
Our eyes, Lord, are wasted with grief;
you know we are weary with groaning.
As we remember our death
in the dark emptiness of the night,
have mercy on us and heal us;
forgive us and take away our fear
through the dying and rising of Jesus your Son.
Amen
