FIELD OF HONOUR
CAPTAIN MICHAEL RAMSAY
PADRE, ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION # 293
1.
O CANADA
2.
INVOCATION: Grace be
unto you and peace, from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ. The souls
of the righteous are in the hand of God. Their bodies are buried in peace; but
their name liveth forever more.
At
the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th
month, time stands still for a moment; and we remember those who died, not for
war, but for a world that would be free and at peace.
3.
OPENING REMARKS
·
MC
·
Mayor
4.
SCRIPTURE READING: A
Reading from the 23rd Psalm.
The
LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He
maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he
leadeth me beside the still waters.
He
restoreth my soul:
he
leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
for
his name's sake.
Yea,
though I walk through the valley
of
the shadow of death,
I
will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy
rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou
preparest a table before me
in
the presence of mine enemies:
thou
anointest my head with oil;
my
cup runneth over.
Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in
the house of the LORD forever.
5.
PRAYER: Almighty God.
You are our refuge and strength; we humble ourselves in Your presence, and,
remembering the great things you have done for us, we lift up our hearts in
adoration and praise. As you have gathered us together this day, we give You
thanks for all who served their country in time of trial.
In
remembrance of those who made the supreme sacrifice, make us better men and
women, and give us peace in our time, O Lord.
6.
LAST POST
7.
SILENCE – 2 MINUTES
8.
REVEILLE
9.
LAMENT
10.
ADDRESS: This is our second Remembrance Day where, instead of
gathering in the Glenwood Centre, we are obliged only to gather outside in the
cold and the weather. More than 100 years ago, from 1914-1918, Canadians, First
Nations, our allies, and our foes, stood outside on days such as today and days
with weather much more miserable than today. They stood in the trenches, they
stood in the mud, they lived in the mud, they died in the mud.
They
were in the mud in a foreign land out of loyalty to us; they were there out of
love for us, their friends and their families. 1-in-5 Canadians never did return
to experience the warmth and love of their home. In the Alberni Valley, of the only 1 600 people who lived
here in 1914, 116 signed up to go overseas in just the first few months of the
war alone. Many of them never did return home.
To put this in perspective, many of us
know someone who has died in the current pandemic that is tragically sweeping
our world and our country. 29 022 people out of our current population of 38
million Canadians have died of Covid-19; In World War II, when Canada had only
11 million people 45 400 of them died in that war and in World War I, when our
population was a just more than 7 million people, 61 000 Canadians gave their
lives. If you were alive then, someone you knew and probably someone you loved,
died in the mud and in the rain and in the war. We are here to remember them
today.
This July it is 100 years since the Great
War Veterans Association (one of the forerunners of our Royal Canadian Legion)
adopted the Poppy as our flower, our symbol of Remembrance.
The symbol comes from Lt.-Col John
McCrae’s now famous poem, “In Flanders Fields”. Lt.-Col John
McCrae served in World War I. He treated the wounded during the Second Battle
of Ypres in 1915 when his friend, Lt. Alexis Helmer, was killed in battle. Lt.
Helmer’s burial inspired the poem, "In Flanders Fields", written on
May 3, 1915. Less than 3 years later, on January 28, 1918, while commanding No.
3 Canadian General Hospital (McGill) in France, Lt.-Col. McCrae died of
pneumonia he caught while serving in weather much more miserable than
today: serving in the trenches, serving in the weather; He died in part from
the weather and entirely due to the war. McCrae’s legacy has lived on from his
poem and today as we wear our poppies, let us remember all of those who have
laid down their lives for us. Let us not forget. We will remember them.
In the Christian faith, of which I am a
pastor, we have a hope for a future where there will be no more wars, no more
death, and no more sorrow – only peace. May that day come soon! And let us always
remember all those who have lived and died so that you and I may have a chance,
even now, to live out our lives in peace and security. Let us remember.
We
will remember them.
11.
LAYING OF THE WREATHES
12. BENEDICTION: Almighty God, as You have gathered your
people together this day in hallowed remembrance, we give You thanks for all
who laid down their lives for our sake, and whom You have gathered from the
storm of war into the peace of Your presence. Let the memory of their devotion
ever be an example to us, that we at the last. Being faithful unto death, may
receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
13.
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN
First
Nations Graves
O
Almighty God, the great Ruler and architect of the Universe, we offer thanks
for the life of those who have gone on before and we ask your divine help for
the future. We desire your presence with us this day and may your guiding light
penetrate the hearts of all assembled here. We pray you at this time to cherish
the mothers, the widow and the fatherless of our brave men and women who made
the supreme sacrifice. Give them strength to overcome. Be near them in their
solitude and give us all the will to be an inspiration to all the world that
the peace of God which passeth all understanding may be with us now for all
eternity.
O
God of peace, may the memory of wars strengthen our efforts for peace.
O
Father of souls, may the memory of those who died inspire our service to the
living.
O
Builder of the Kingdom of Love, may the
memory of past destruction move us to build for the future.
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