Question for Day 1:

What thoughts come to mind when I think of the people who have died as a result of protecting and defending countries?

Bible Quote for Day 1:

‘He has sent me to proclaim that the time has come when the LORD will save his people and defeat their enemies. He has sent me to comfort all who mourn’ Isaiah 61:2

Prayer for Day 1:

Do not stand by my grave and weep.                     I am not there.

I am a thousand winds that blow.                           I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.                        I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush,            I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.                   Do not stand at my grave and cry.

I am not there, I did not die.      

(Stephen Cummins)

Question for Day 2:

How can I develop a sensitivity to those suffering from loss?

Bible Quote for day 2:

‘Show sympathy to those who have lost a loved one, and mourn with them’ Ecclesiasticus 7:34

Prayer for Day 2:

God of all life,

When your people are mourning,                           make us patient listeners

to the memories of happy times.                            make us sensitive carers

so that we support but do not weaken.                 Make us good friends,

so that we can hold the future open                      for when our friends are ready to face it,

Hear our prayers for the recently bereaved.        Amen   

(The Iona Community)

Question for Day 3:

What thoughts do I have about eternal life?

Bible Quote Day 3:

‘The testimony is this: God has given us eternal life, and this life has its source in his Son’ 1 John 5:11

Prayer for Day 3:

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord,

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

May they rest in peace. Amen   

(Traditional Catholic Prayer)

Question for Day 4:

How can my prayer help create peace through loss in a broken world?

Bible Quote for Day 4:

‘the Lord is near to those who are discouraged; he saves those who have lost all hope’ Psalm 34:18

Prayer for Day 4:

We remember, Lord, the slenderness of the thread which separates life from death, and the suddenness with which it can be broken. Help us also to remember that on both sides of that division we are surrounded by your love.

Persuade our hearts that when our dear ones die neither we nor they are parted from you.

In you may we find peace and in you be united with them in the body of Christ who has burst the bonds of death and is alive evermore, our saviour and theirs forever and ever.

(Dick Williams)

Question for Day 5:

What part can I play in keeping Remembrance Day special?

Bible Quote for Day 5:

 ‘He sets the time for sorrow and the time for joy, the time for mourning and the time for dancing’ Ecclesiasticus 3:4

Prayer for Day 5:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

We are the Dead. Short days ago

Between the crosses, row on row,                                       

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

That mark our place; and in the sky                                     

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

The larks, still bravely singing, fly                                         

In Flanders fields.

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

Take up your quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

(John McCrae)

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Bishop Richard Challoner

During his lifetime and after his death, he was considered not only as a model of every virtue but as a saint. We are asked to pray that our Blessed Lord, through the Pope, may reward him further, by raising him to the altars of the Church as a Saint.

Prayer for the Beatification of Bishop Richard Challoner

O God who made your servant Richard,

a true and faithful pastor of your little flock in England,

raise him, we beseech you, to the altars of thy Church,

that we, who have been taught by his word and example

may invoke his name in heaven,

for the return of our country to belief in the Gospel,

and to the unity of all Christians in the one Church of Jesus Christ.

We ask this through the same Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Bishop Richard Challoner

Pray for us