A Service of Commemoration for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II – Saturday 17th September 2022

Introit sung by the Athens Singers  Thou knowest Lord the secrets of our heart

(Purcell)

Opening Sentences 

‘I am the resurrection and the life,’ says the Lord. ‘Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.’  John 11, 25-26

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  Matthew 5, 4

Welcome (Father Leonard)

1 O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast,
and our eternal home:

2 Under the shadow of your throne
your saints have dwelt secure;
sufficient is your arm alone,
and our defense is sure.

3 Before the hills in order stood,
or earth received its frame,
from everlasting you are God,
to endless years the same.

4 A thousand ages in your sight
are like an evening gone,
short as the watch that ends the night
before the rising sun.

5 Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
soon bears us all away;
we fly forgotten, as a dream
dies at the op’ning day.

6 O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
still be our guard while troubles last,
and our eternal home!

Collect:

Gracious God, we give thanks

for the life of your servant Queen Elizabeth,

for her faith and her dedication to duty.

Bless our nation as we mourn her death

and may her example continue to inspire us;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

OT Reading         Ecclesiastes 3, 1-8 (Reader:  Susan Geary, Deputy Head of Mission, British Embassy)

For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build up; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to throw away; a time to tear and a time to sew; a time to keep silent and a time to speak; a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.

Reader: This is the word of the Lord               All:  Thanks be to God    

 

Hymn

1 Lord, for the years your love has kept and guided,
urged and inspired us, cheered us on our way,
sought us and saved us, pardoned and provided:
Lord of the years, we bring our thanks today.
2 Lord, for that word, the word of life which fires us,
speaks to our hearts and sets our souls ablaze,
teaches and trains, rebukes us and inspires us:
Lord of the word, receive Your people’s praise.

3 Lord, for our land in this our generation,
spirits oppressed by pleasure, wealth and care:
for young and old, for commonwealth and nation,
Lord of our land, be pleased to hear our prayer.

4 Lord, for our world when we disown and doubt him,
loveless in strength, and comfortless in pain,
hungry and helpless, lost indeed without him:
Lord of the world, we pray that Christ may reign.

5 Lord for ourselves; in living power remake us –
self on the cross and Christ upon the throne,
past put behind us, for the future take us:
Lord of our lives, to live for Christ alone.

NT Reading  Revelation 7, 9-17  (Reader: Sub Lieutenant Siani Bettles, Defence Section, British Embassy)

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb!” And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat, for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Reader: This is the word of the Lord                All:  Thanks be to God

 

Address  His Excellency Matthew Lodge, British Ambassador

 

Anthem  Let justice and judgement be the preparation of thy seat  (Handel)

Prayers    Led by the Revd. Deacon Christine Saccali

A prayer of thanksgiving

Eternal God, our heavenly Father, we bless your holy name for all that you have given us in and through the life of your servant Queen Elizabeth.

We give you thanks: for her love of family and her gift of friendship;
for her devotion to this nation and the nations of the Commonwealth;

for her grace, dignity and courtesy; and for her generosity and love of life.
We praise you for: the courage that she showed in testing times; the depth and of her Christian faith; and the witness she bore to it in word and deed. Accept our thanks and praise, we pray, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

A prayer of commendation

God our creator and redeemer,
by your power Christ conquered death
and returned to you in glory.
Confident of his victory
and claiming his promises,
we entrust your servant Elizabeth into your keeping
in the name of Jesus our Lord,
who, though he died, is now alive
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever.  Amen.

 

A prayer for the new King

Lord God, you provide for your people by your power,
and rule over them in love:
Grant to your servant our King Charles III
the Spirit of wisdom and discernment,
that being devoted to you with his whole heart,
he may so wisely govern, that in his time we may live in safety and in peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

The Lord’s Prayer

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. Amen.

 

Hymn  

1 Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;
to his feet your tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
evermore his praises sing.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Praise the everlasting King!

2 Praise him for his grace and favor
to his people in distress.
Praise him, still the same as ever,
slow to chide, and swift to bless.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Glorious in his faithfulness!

3 Father-like he tends and spares us;
well our feeble frame he knows.
In his hand he gently bears us,
rescues us from all our foes.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Widely yet his mercy flows!

4 Angels, help us to adore him;
you behold him face to face.
Sun and moon, bow down before him,
dwellers all in time and space.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Praise with us the God of grace!

 

Blessing

God grant to the living, grace; to the departed, rest; to the Church, the King, the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth, and all mankind, peace and concord; and to us and all his servants, life everlasting; and the blessing…

National Anthem

God save our gracious King!
Long live our noble King!
God save the King!
Send him victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the King.

 

Acclamation: Long live the King!