大象传媒

Please note:

This script cannot exactly reflect the transmission, as it was prepared before the service was broadcast. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors that were corrected before the radio broadcast.

It may contain gaps to be filled in at the time so that prayers may reflect the needs of the world, and changes may also be made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.

IN: 大象传媒 Radio 4. At ten past eight Sunday Worship comes live from Portsmouth Cathedral and marks the 70th anniversary of D Day. The service is introduced by the Dean the Very Revd David Brindley and begins with verses from Psalm one hundred and twenty one 鈥� I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills.

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The choir sings

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I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills
Words:听 Psalm 121
听听听听听听听Music:听听 Barry Rose

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION

The Dean of Portsmouth welcomes everyone as follows

Welcome to Portsmouth Cathedral, the Cathedral of the Sea.听 The distinctive tower and cupola of this building was visible to the many tens of thousands of service men and women who gathered in and around Portsmouth in the months leading up to June 1944.听 At Southwick House just outside the city, plans had been laid for a massive invasion the aim of which was to free Europe from the tyranny of Nazism. From the Cathedral tower an observer would have seen ships and landing craft filling The Solent as allied troops from around the world prepared to cross the channel and to land on the beaches of Normandy.听 We are now seventy years on from those events - they are part of our history 鈥� but on this Day of Pentecost it is still right to gather and remember, to give thanks for those who fought and died, and to commit ourselves afresh as we cooperate with God's creative and redeeming Spirit,听 to work for peace and justice and an end to tyranny.

THE BIDDING PRAYER

Dean听Let us remember before God all who took part in the
Normandy landings; those who gave their lives as
comrades in the British Army, the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force and from other countries, who we remember with pride.
And we pray that, loyal to their example and their
sense of duty we may be ever vigilant of freedom,
peace and security.

We commit ourselves to work
in penitence and faith
for reconciliation between the nations,
that all people may, together,
live in freedom, justice and peace.

We pray for all
who in bereavement, disability and pain
continue to suffer the consequences of
fighting and terror.

We remember with thanksgiving and sorrow
those whose lives,
in world wars and conflicts past and present,
have been given and taken away.
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The choir continues鈥︹��

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The Lord himself is thy keeper

听听听听听听听Words:听 Psalm 121
听听听听听听听Music:听听 Barry Rose

Dean听We pray a prayer that we know was said in the heat of battle; or sometimes in the pain of injury and perhaps even in death, The Lord鈥檚 Prayer鈥�..

All听听Our Father,
who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.听 Amen.

谤别肠辞谤诲颈苍驳鈥︹赌�
Dean/Mary Verrier 鈥� nurse on 6th June South Parade Pier

A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew听
read by Claire Brown (School Nurse)听
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When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: 鈥楤lessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 鈥楤lessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 鈥楤lessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 鈥楤lessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 鈥楤lessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. 鈥楤lessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 鈥楤lessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 鈥楤lessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness鈥� sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 鈥楤lessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.听听听听听听听 (5.1-12)

Dean听听Some hymns have become traditional for use at times of national remembrance and commemoration.听 One of these is the majestic setting of Isaac watts words O god our help in ages past sung to the tune St Anne.听 Following the hymn, the Bishop of Portsmouth, Right Rev Christopher Foster will set the events of D Day in the context of Christian faith.

All sing听
O God, our help in ages past,
听听听听听Words: I Watts听 (1674-1748) alt.
听听听听听Tune: ST ANNE

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A D-DAY REMEMBRANCE

Homily 1 by Bishop Christopher after letter read by Joan Allen

Dean听听On 1st June 1944, just days before DDay, Arland Scott, a 26 year old soldier with the Royal Canadian Artillery wrote to his young wife and to his young baby daughter whom he had only briefly seen once on leave following her birth in May. Arland was fatally wounded on the Normandy beaches and died on 8th June.
This letter has been with Arland鈥檚 family these past 70 years, and now his daughter Joan will read his final letter鈥�.

A Letter from Portsmouth 鈥� June 1 1944
My Darling Wife and Baby
This is just a short note to say that I am still OK here.听 I haven鈥檛 had a letter from you for some time now.听 But I know that mail has been held up this last week.听 I won鈥檛 get any for a while now.听 I only wish I had got the pictures of my daughter.听 But I guess they will follow.
The weather here is fine, it is not so hot now as it was a few days ago but it is plenty warm enough yet.
Darling if you saw me now you would hardly know me.听 I have all my hair cut off.听 It sure feels funny with nothing to comb.
I sure miss you a lot my darling lover听 I miss my baby to.听 I know you will look after her just the way I want you to so I don鈥檛 worry about that.听 I just miss being with you and loving you like we always used to while we lived here.听 But just wait darling this old war can鈥檛 last forever.听 We will make up for all this when we get to find our home.
I haven鈥檛 had mail from home for a long time now I guess it is my fault for not writing often enough.听
Well darling I must get along.听 I have a lot of things to do this afternoon.听 Always remember I love you more than anything in this world.听 My thoughts and prayers are with you always.听 My only one darling sweetheart wife and lover.听 Give my daughter a kiss from her loving daddy and all my love and kisses to you darling.听 God bless you both for me.听
Always your devoted loyal and loving husband.

+Christopher
That moving letter touches us all. Tender love and the anxiety of prolonged silence deepened, more than most of us know, by the uncertainties and hardships of war, at home and away. And the emotional cost of the war lives on.听 It lives in the still-vivid memories of those who've experienced war first hand, witnesses to horrors no human being should endure.听 It lived in those waiting at home, helpless to protect those they love, unsure whether their babe in arms will ever meet its father.听 But, invisibly, it lives also in those of us who are too young to remember the war, or who were perhaps not even born.听 I was struck recently by some reflections from a trauma centre in South Africa that works with survivors of torture and their families.听 There, staff have realised just how deeply the children of people who鈥檝e experienced terrible suffering, sense and even live out the disturbing emotions of their parents 鈥� feelings of anger, and helplessness and fear; feelings of over-protectiveness, and longing.听 Without any first hand knowledge of what happened, such is their immersion in the emotional landscape of their parents, that they share in its cost.听 Just so for us, as those who experienced first hand the events of the1940s at first hand gradually become fewer, the memory lives on.听 We, the children and the grandchildren, know the love and the cost in our bones.听 And so, from our hearts and with all our being, we remember those events; we honour those people. And we offer our love, our prayers, our music, our gifts, our lives, as we seek to build on the peace for which our parents and grandparents gave so deeply. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. And Blessed are the peacemakers.

The choir sings
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听Words: M E Frye
听听听听听听听听听Music: Goodall
(Soloist: William Pepperell)

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Dean听听On January 6, 1941 President Roosevelt, even in the midst of Word War, set out his vision of Four Freedoms 鈥� a possible way to ensure peace and freedom in the world after conflicts had ended. In a moment Bishop Christopher will reflect on these but first we hear the text read by one of our Head Choristers Oliver Nash, whose father is Commanding Officer of HMS Defender, currently on deployment with the Royal Navy.

Reading: The Four Freedoms Roosevelt
read by Oliver Nash (son of RN CO HMS Defender)

In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression鈥攅verywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way鈥攅verywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want鈥攚hich, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants鈥攅verywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear鈥攚hich, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbour鈥攁nywhere in the world.
That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.

Homily 2 +Christopher听
A week ago, Europe elected its parliament.听 It wasn't long after D Day that the grand European project began, and now just shy of 70 years later low election turnouts and increasing euro-scepticism suggest that some people may be beginning to lose faith.听 In tough economic times, the bureaucracy, the legal complexities and the challenges of the Euro no doubt contribute to the understandable malaise.听 But there鈥檚 something else too.听 As slick modern buildings rise up in place of the scars of war rubble, and as national concerns preoccupy us all, a sort of forgetting is beginning to happen.听 Of course, where there has been such suffering, forgetting is healthy and good.听 It鈥檚 a sign that hurts are beginning to heal, that painful memories are beginning to ease, that nations once again feel confident and at peace. But, whatever our views about the EU and current political realities, some things must never be forgotten.听听 With the words 鈥渘ever again鈥� on their lips the pursuit of those freedoms which Roosevelt summarised became a cause to live for. Freedom of speech, freedom to worship, freedom from want and from fear calls us into a courageous fight for what is attainable for all. Our battleground is ethical, religious and political - and infinitely preferable to the alternative, and if we think the alternative could never happen again, we kid ourselves.听 Whatever our political persuasion, however we engage, the words 鈥渘ever again鈥� must remain on all our lips, as loud and defiant as 70 years ago. 'Go forth' begins the Blessing I and others have used this week as we have remembered. 'Go forth into the world in peace, be of good courage.' It's an important and urgent impetus for us. Never again will we settle our disputes through violent means; never again will we subject one another to such suffering, if we show the courage today we honour in those who gave on D Day.
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All sing听Eternal Father, strong to save,
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WILLIAM WHITING (1825-1878)
听听听听听听听听Tune: MELITA

Dean听听Prayer was important to many of those who took part in the D Day landings.听 Dwight D Eisenhower the commander of the allied forces, wrote the following prayers for use before the expedition.听 The prayers will be followed by the choir singing Pie Jesu from the Requiem by Andrew Lloyd-Webber, and then an act of remembrance will call to mind those who died in the D Day and Normandy campaigns.

THE听 PRAYERS听听
Based upon the prayer for D Day of Dwight D. Eisenhower (Read by Kitty Price)

听Almighty God, we give thanks for all those, from many听nations, who set forth upon a mighty endeavour, to preserve our Nations, our religion, and our civilisation and to set suffering humanity free. We thank you for your blessings, for the road was hard and the enemy was strong. We remember those individuals who were drawn from the ways of peace who fought not for the lust of conquest but to end conquest and gain liberty, justice, tolerance and good will among all God鈥檚 people. And finally, we give you thanks that, by your grace, they did not give up until victory was won.
All听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Amen.
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听听听听听听 听We pray for those sailors and marines, soldiers and airmen who did not return, and who were received by you into your everlasting kingdom. We pray for any at this time who have died in action on foreign shores and for those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Be with all who mourn the loss of loved ones, surround them with your protection, strength and love.
All听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Amen.
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Give your help and courage Lord, to all who lead nations and those who shoulder responsibility in the Armed Forces. Strengthen us in our daily tasks that we may redouble our efforts to fight for the causes of justice, freedom, tolerance and good will.听 Be with any today who stand into danger or are found in harms way, and give your courage and purpose to any who are frightened.

All听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Amen.

Please remain standing

THE ACT OF REMEMBRANCE

The choir sings
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Pie Jesu from The Requiem by Lloyd-Webber
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Pie Jesu. Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi. Miserere nobis
Soloists: Harry Davis-Marks and Rachel Barratt

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Dean听Let us remember before God, and commend to his 听听sure keeping:
Those who have died for their country in war;
Those whom we knew, and whose memory we treasure;
And all who have lived and died in the service of humanity.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
All听听We will remember them.

10 second silence

Dean 听In cooperation with God's Holy Spirit we dedicate ourselves to build a better world - worthy of those who gave so much.

All sing听Come down, O Love divine,
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听听听听Bernadino da Siena听 (d. 1434)
听听听听听听Tune:听 DOWN AMPNEY

THE BLESSING

Bishop听Faithful God,
听听Who fulfilled the promises of Easter
听听By sending us your Holy Spirit
听听And opening to every race and nation
听听The way of life eternal:
听听Open our lips by your Spirit
听听That every tongue may tell of your glory
听听And the blessing of God Almighty,
听听Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you all
听听And remain with you always.
All听Amen.

Organ: 听Variations sur le Veni Creator 听Bedard听