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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.聽
[It鈥檚 ten past eight. Time now for Sunday Worship for Remembrance which was recorded last week in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The preacher was the Bishop to the Armed Forces, the Rt Revd Nigel Stock, and the service is introduced by the Revd Alyson Lamb, Chaplain of St Michael鈥檚 Church in Paris]

REVD ALYSON LAMB
Good morning from the steps of Notre Dame Cathedral, overlooking the River Seine. Gathered here for a Royal British Legion Service of Remembrance are British and commonwealth veterans living in Paris, and from throughout France. This coming week we mark the centenary of the end of the Battle of the Somme 鈥� described as the bloodiest battle in British military history, and a poignant time as well for thousands of French families whose forebears also fought and died. Today gives us an opportunity to remember with thanksgiving the many of different nationalities from across the Commonwealth and beyond whose sacrifices ultimately safeguarded our freedoms. It does, of course, remain a deep and painful reality that sacrifices are still being made by British servicemen and women across our world today.

This is also a particularly poignant week to be here in Paris as we remember the terrorist attacks here exactly one year ago. 130 were killed and many injured at the Bataclan concert hall and elsewhere. Later we will hear from Louisa Burnett-Hall, a British citizen living in Paris, who鈥檚 family was directly affected by the tragedy. We are in a world where horrifying violence - in Syria, Iraq, Brussels, Paris and elsewhere 鈥� is so widespread and so frequent that one almost loses track of which dreadful incident has happened where. So today 鈥� as we think particularly of the millions of British and Commonwealth casualties in two World Wars and in other conflicts, we also remember all those from across the world affected by war and conflict, now and in the past.

Our service, begins as we join the veterans, choir and congregation gathered inside聽 Notre Dame Cathedral for the hymn 'O God our help in ages past'.

HYMN: O God our help in ages past

ALYSON: OPENING PRAYER
We meet today to remember those who gave their lives for our liberty
To give thanks for their courage, their sacrifice and their example.
We meet in the presence of God to pledge ourselves anew to his service
And to work and pray for reconciliation that all people may come to live in freedom, justice and peace. Amen.

ALYSON
We now hear two poems written and read by Elysa and Juliette, prizewinners in the Royal British legion鈥檚 competition on the theme 鈥楻emembrance鈥� among English-speaking schools around Paris.

POEMS

HYMN: Be still my soul

ALYSON
I鈥檓 standing in the Place de la Republique in the heart of Paris. One year ago the world was numb with shock at the bloodshed in this city where 130 people were killed and many hundreds were injured in multiple terrorist attacks. It was the largest number of people to lose their life on French soil in an act of aggression since the end of the second world war. In the days following this square was the focal point for the grief and solidarity of the Parisian people. On the evening of Friday 13th November Justine du Pont was out in Paris. She along with five of her friends was killed during dinner at the Belle Equippe Caf茅. Her father Albert and his partner Louisa talk about their experiences.

ALBERT AND LOUISA
So we knew where she was having dinner that night. We weren鈥檛 getting replies so we then left messages with police err called hospitals It was for a birthday of a friend of my daughter Justine in this cafe鈥�La Belle Equipe - and nineteen dead 鈥� and six friends who were killed outright and at least one had gone indoors for some reason and was spared. She loved life 鈥� much life 鈥� and she still you know illuminate鈥�the hope comes from her. We are still shocked. It comes between anger 鈥� it鈥檚 sadness also 鈥� it鈥檚 a mix of a lot of sentiment. What helped us much was love shared and solidarity on our whole families and friends also which was incredible.

MUSIC: Ave Maria 鈥� Victoria (Maitrise de Notre Dame)

ALYSON
In a few moments, our preacher is the Rt Revd Nigel Stock, Bishop to Her Majesty鈥檚 Forces. But first we hear verses from the Gospel according to St Matthew, Chapter 5, read by Her Majesty鈥檚 Ambassador, the Rt. Hon Lord Llewellyn.

READING
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying:
鈥淏lessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽聽
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.鈥�
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RT REVD NIGEL STOCK
鈥淏lessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God鈥�

A letter from a father to his daughter:
鈥淥ur visit to the聽 Devonshire Cemetery was all we could wish: we had little difficulty finding it: and spent four hours there鈥�. The grave plots are in two rows; about 8 or 9 lie in each plot: and a wooden cross in the centre has their name punched on tin tape 鈥� our Boy lies with one fellow Officer; 鈥�. And eight private soldiers. We planted our rose bushes and hung on the cross a tiny crucifix of mine鈥︹��.he lies with his own comrades around him, in this tiny close, on top of a hill 鈥渓ooking out鈥� over miles of open land; 鈥渨here great winds blow!鈥� and in the very heart of the land for whose deliverance they all contended to death.鈥�

You will know of course, that this year the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme was commemorated where the numbers of casualties are almost beyond comprehension. The means of destruction in the early twentieth century had outstripped the means of communication. The evolution of battlefield tactics were painfully slow, and a whole generation of young people paid the price. In trying to imagine the scale, we might make the mistake of thinking that people somehow became inured to the pain because so many suffered.聽 But the pain of individual families then was as intense and searing as families feel today who lose their loved ones to war and violence.

When I was Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich as I sat in the Bishop鈥檚 Chair in the Cathedral, I was always aware that the first bishop of the diocese, which was only created in 1914, was buried literally at my feet.聽 Quite late on in my time, I discovered that he was the father of one of the War Poets. Not perhaps the most prominent of them, nevertheless Noel Hodgson does have poems that are often quoted, and indeed one was read by Prince Harry at Thiepval at the vigil before the commemoration.聽

It was Bishop Hodgson whose letter I quoted at the beginning of this address on a visit to his son鈥檚 grave in its raw state not long after the armistice. The whole story of the life and death of a talented brave yet sensitive individual is beautifully told in the book 鈥淏efore Action鈥� by Catherine Zeepvat.聽 Hodgson had already seen a lot of battle, and indeed had won a Military Cross in 1915. In late June 1916 Noel Hodgson wrote the poem 鈥淏efore Action鈥�, the one read by Prince Harry, the last verse is this:

I, that on my familiar hill,
Saw with uncomprehending eyes
A hundred of the sunsets spill
Their fresh and sanguine sacrifice,
Ere the sun swings his noonday sword
Must say good-bye to all of this;-
By all delights that I shall miss
Help me to die, O Lord

The poem was published at the end of June 1916 and on 1st July on the opening day of the Somme offensive Noel Hodgson was killed. Hodgson had retained his Christian faith in the face of all the horror that he witnessed, and his growing resignation to the inevitability of his own death. This was one death amongst millions as nation states and empires exploded into violence.

It is of course a year on since the violence that was visited upon this City.聽 It was sudden, unexpected and inflicted upon the unarmed. Not on the huge scale of all-out war, but that is scarcely the point.聽 The pain and bereavement inflicted at random is just as bitter to bear.聽 A violence inflicted against non-combatants for ideological reasons.

鈥淏lessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God鈥�

Jesus in the beautiful passage of St Matthew鈥檚 Gospel that we call the beatitudes speaks of a world where blessing is not found in power and strength. It is not even a world where blessing is found by perfection. It is found in the search for righteousness, in the willingness to be reviled in that search, and for that which makes for peace. In a world where random violence can be visited on cities, it can seem hopelessly na茂ve to extol the virtues of peace.聽 Yet Jesus never said that peace was found easily. At one point he said that his way of approaching it would be divisive.聽 It was not gentle either, but involved his own painful death on a cross, where the unjust, violent tendencies of sinful humanity appeared to be given full reign.聽 Yet it was in that sacrifice, that the redeeming love of God came to be known in the Resurrection.

Peace is not just a matter of non-violence and the absence of war. It is about the painful work of reconciliation that allows bitter enemies to see the humanity in the other. The more we sink into violence, the more the bitter cycle of revenge and retaliation takes hold. Jesus on the cross broke that cycle of hatred between humanity, and the separation of sinful humanity from God. If we are to have peace, then the followers of Christ must never be so cynical as to believe that it is unattainable. It certainly must be the case that we have the courage to go on praying for the redemption and peace of this world.

If we are to make these acts of Remembrance more than just a melancholy reflection on human folly, and how undeserving the squalor of war is of the bravery and sacrifice so often displayed, then we must make them the platform where we resolve to be more determined to follow the hard path of Jesus鈥� reconciling love. When Jesus at the last supper said 鈥楧o this in remembrance of me鈥� it was more than just a sense of passing on a precious memory, it is about living out the self-sacrificial love that breaks the cycle of hatred and sin. If I have a particular reason for focussing both the despair and courage involved in war in the person of Noel Hodgson, it is because I went to the same school that he did. The chapel there was a memorial to the boys who died in the First War. I knew of his poems celebrating the natural beauty of the world, comradeship, and nostalgia long before I followed d his father to the See of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich 鈥� indeed I had been there some time before I made the connection.

He retained his hope in the redeeming power of God, and Christ鈥檚 body the Church should do the same.

鈥淏lessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God鈥�

MUSIC: Agnus Dei 鈥� Hassler (Maitrise de Notre-Dame)
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听
PRAYERS (Revd Olaf Eriksson, Chaplain of Holy Trinity Church Maisons-Laffitte)
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LORD鈥橲 PRAYER (In English and French)

CHOIR: Ave Maris Stella

ACT OF REMEMBRANCE听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽聽
鈥淭hey 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.鈥�
ALL: We will remember them.

SILENCE

ALL: Ever-living God, we remember those whom you have gathered from the storm of war into the peace of your presence: may that same peace calm our fears; bring justice to all peoples; and establish harmony among the nations, through Jesus Christ our Lord.聽 Amen.

BLESSING (ALYSON)
Let the peace of God fill your hearts
And the blessing of God almighty,
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Be with you, and with all who you love and pray for, now and always. Amen.

HYMN
For the healing of the nations

ORGAN VOLUNTARY
Pomp and Circumstance March No. 4 in G