23rd ANNUAL DIOCESAN REMEMBRANCE SERVICE
20 NOVEMBER 2008
MONASTERY OF SAINT ALPHONSUS
Prelude Irish Traditional
Reflection Prayer of St. Ambrose
Gathering Song Jesus Remember Me (Taizé)
All sing: Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom
Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom
Opening Prayer
All say: Compassionate Lord, someone we love has been taken from us, someone precious and irreplaceable,
And we know that there are no words that we can say at this moment to express what we are feeling, no words can alleviate our sorrow or take away our pain.
So we have come here tonight to express the grief, the pain, the angst, the emptiness, the loneliness, the fear, the uncertainty
that still at times threatens to overwhelm us.
We come bringing these feelings honestly before you and ask for strength in times of darkness. Hold on to us even when we
find it hard to hold on to you.
Be very near… even when we feel you to be very far away.
Support us in the weeks, months and yes even the years ahead.
Grant us the comfort you have promised, until the time finally comes when we can look back – not just with pain, but with thanksgiving. Not just with sorrow but with joy.
Song Stand Beside Me (John Columba McCann)
Reflection One Day At A Time (Reinhold Niebuhr)
Song of Mercy Kyrie (Lourdes Jubilee Mass 2008)
All sing: Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison
Reflection No snowflake falls in the wrong place
Reading Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
For everything there is a season
Song The Beatitudes (Byzantine adapted)
All sing: Amen, truly I say to you,
today you will be with me in paradise
Reflection Let Nothing Disturb You (St. Teresa of Avila)
Song In Death There Is No Sorrow (J.S. Bach)
Responsorial Psalm Eagles Wings (Michael Joncas)
All sing: And He will raise you up on eagles wings
bear you on the breath of dawn
Make you to shine like the sun
and hold you in the palm of his hand.
Address
Reflection St. Monica, Mother of St Augustine)
Invitation to Remember
Song Quietly, Peacefully (Adapted Dvorak – Lori True)
All sing: Quietly, peacefully let them rest in you
Quietly, peacefully bring them home to you
Reflection Serenity Prayer
Song Ag Críost an Síol (Seán Ó Riada)
Ag Críost and síol Christ’s is the seed,
Ag Críost an fómhar Christ’s is the harvest,
In iothlainn Dé to the barn of Christ
Go dtugtar sinn. may we be brought.
Ag Críost an mhuir Christ’s is the sea,
Ag Críost an t-iasc, Christ’s is the fish,
I Iionta De in the nets of Christ
Go gcastar sinn. may we be caught.
Ó fhás go haois, From the growth to age,
Ó aois go bás, from age to death,
Do dhá lámh, a Chríost, your two arms, Christ,
Anall tharainn. around about us.
Ó bhás go críoch, From death to the end,
Ní críoch ach athfhás, not end but re-growth,
I bParthas na nGrás in the heaven of graces
Go rabhaimid. may we be.
Reading Revelation 21:1, 3-5
Now I am making the whole of creation new
Song Soon and Very Soon (Spiritual)
Intercessions
All sing: Lord hear our prayer
Reflection Togetherness
Song You Raise Me Up (Brendan Graham)
Concluding Prayer
All say: May the Lord support us all the day long ‘til the shades lengthen and the evening comes and the busy world is hushed and the fever of life is done.
Then in his mercy may He grant us a safe lodging, a holy rest and peace at the last. Amen. (Cardinal Newman)
Blessing Jesus King of Angels (Fernando Ortega)
Song May The Road Rise To Meet You (Lori True)
All sing: May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be at your back,
May the sun shine always on your face.
May the rain fall softly on your fields, And until we meet again.
May we keep safe in the gentle, loving arms of God.