Opening of Mass - priest says we remember all those who died in the war (singular). BUT when we get to the prayers no mention of those who died. Something about those affected by war and those who mourn but no mention of the dead. WHY?
Tomorrow's 10.30 a.m. Mass is "For the people of the parish".
Why not as it always used to be for those who have died in war???? Lovely flower arrangements using poppies and accompanied by a lit candle with poppies. It is SO important that the new generation are reminded of those who gave their lives so that we could live in freedom.
Listen at 6.30 p.m. to radio 3 to John Foulds' World Requiem not sung since 1926 but a fascinating and moving work.
Our 10.00 am will end with a procession to The Calvary at the entrance gate of our church, this was Abergavenny's first war memorial. We'll lay a wreath of poppies there, recite the De Profundis and conclude with prayers for those who gave their lives so freely for our freedom.
I think that with our armed forces being in Iraq and Afghanistan, people are all too aware of the sacrifice they make, especially in the less affluent areas that are recruited from. I know that in my own Liverpool school the pupils are very aware as most of them know people serving .
Alan
organist wrote:Tomorrow's 10.30 a.m. Mass is "For the people of the parish". Why not as it always used to be for those who have died in war????
Our main Mass tomorrow (Sunday) is a Requiem Mass for 'The Fallen in the Wars'. In years gone by, that Mass has always started with a procession of parishioners who served in the wars, one cf whom carried a poppy wreath which was placed on a stand on the Sanctuary.
Sadly, our last two remaining ex-servicemen died this year, so tomorrow the wreath will be carried by one of our young people.
The Vigil Mass tonight (Saturday), was our School Mass with many children and their parents present. Part of our PP's homily was devoted to those who had given their lives for us - and you could have heard a pin drop!
I've just watched the Festival of Remembrance on BBC1 - and used my usual half box of tissues - and was impressed by the number of young people taking an active part.
I mean no disrespect and I think there was a discussion of this last year but I thought that we did not have Remembrance Sunday as a theme? So I didn't do anything for it intentionally, just stuck to the theme. Which in fact meant dropping Abide With Me as the opening or closing hymn. I just get confused. I thought it was like Harvest and such themes, not part of the cycle. Next week though, is Prisoner's Sunday with a second collection, according to our newsletter. Such confusion.
I did wonder if Father would keep them to a silence at 11 am as we finished Mass but he didn't think of that and we finished a bit before then anyway. There was then a Baptism.
We had two mins silence at during the Prayer of the Faithful, which ended up being about 11:06. It was interupted only by the kids thundering back from the children's liturgy. PofF was followed by "What shall we pray" 449 in Laudate
What shall we pray was an inspired choice! Today at the Anglicans we had a Eucharist with a 2 minute silence with me playing Last post and Reveille on the organ (had to search to find my Dad's copy of it - it was under Blair, Hugh!). The reason for this was the Guides opted for the earlier service. We then started the 10.45 service for the Royal British Legion late so the Croft Burial sentences got left out so that the silence was at 11 a.m. We did get to sing "Thou knowest Lord" and "I vow to thee my country" as well as "O God our help". "Love divine" to Blaenwern (much prefer Stainer's tune!). I played a lot of organ music - Solemn melody of Walford Davies, Elegy by Thalben-Ball. Nimrod, In memoriam by Elgar and the Bach St Anne fugue! Nothing like the organ to stir the emotions!
At the Eucharist we sang "Make me a channel" "For the healing of the nations" to Picardy and "Forth in the peace of Christ".
Gwyn wrote:Once referred to by one of the kids in the choir as Blind Worm.
Similarly, according to my music group we sing "Alleluia,sing to Jesus" to the tune "Hydrofoil"!
At our Vigil Mass on 10th November we too used "What shall we pray?", which I think is an excellent hymn. The biddings included references to the victims of war as well, though the other hymns and 90% of the homily reflected the readings of the 32nd Sunday rather than Remembrance Sunday.
On Sunday I went to the Remembrance Service at the little CofE church in my parents' village. The service was short and good, though not as well attended as one might have hoped. I had the impression there were more names read out than there were people present, but reflecting how many men were lost even from such a small area really brought home the scale and horror of the loss of life in those wars.
