Diocesan News05 May 25

Prayers from the Belfast Cathedral VE Day 80 Service

Prayers from the Belfast Cathedral service on Sunday afternoon (4th May 2025) to mark 80 years from Victory in Europe.

A Prayer for Peace from Christian Aid

God of resurrection
We turn from the cross of death towards the tree of life
And dare to imagine another possible world,
Where violent conflict becomes peaceful reconciliation,
Where hunger and thirst are filled and quenched,
Where barriers of exclusion become bridges of opportunity,
Where pain and tears are healed and tenderly wiped away,
Where world weary hearts are strengthened and re–energised,
Where the leaves of the tree of life heal all the nations.
In this time of inequality and division, may we be united by hope,
anticipating the flourishing of creation
and fullness of life for everyone
To the glory and praise of your Almighty name.
Amen.

Intercessions

O God of truth and justice, we hold before you those men and women who have died in active service, particularly in the Second World War, whose sacrifice brought Victory in Europe.

As we honour their courage and cherish their memory, may we put our faith in your future: for you are the source of life and hope, now and for ever. Amen.

O God whose longing is for peace and not for war, for hope and not for despair; today we hold before you, all who endured the years of war in this land: the fear of the Blitz, the shortages of food, the toil and drudgery of the war effort, the long hours, sleepless nights and constant fear for loved ones fighting an enemy far away. O Lord our God, we remember before you the ones who lived through those years, who were born in those years, and whose lives were lost in those years. May the peace they won for us across these eighty years since VE Day, be their reward and our enduring cause, for the sake and for the peace of Christ our Lord. Amen.

O Lord God of Hosts, stretch forth, we pray, your almighty arm to strengthen and protect our service men and women.

Support them in times of conflict, and in their rest and training keep them safe from all evil: endue them with courage and loyalty; and grant that in all things they may serve without reproach; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

O God, who would enfold both heaven and earth in a single peace; that the design of your great love lighten upon the waste of our wraths and sorrows and give peace among the nations, peace between peoples, peace in our time and peace in our hearts, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Almighty God, fountain of all goodness, bless King Charles III and Queen Camilla, and all who hold authority under them; that they may order all things in wisdom and equity, righteousness and peace, to the honour of your name, and the good of your Church and people, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A prayer of profound forgiveness found at the liberation of a concentration camp:

Peace to all men of evil will. Let vengeance cease, and punishment and retribution. The crimes have gone beyond measure, our minds can no longer take them in. There are too many martyrs…. Lord, do not weigh their sufferings on your scales of justice, and let them not be written in their act of accusation and demand redress. Pay them otherwise.

Credit the torturers, the informers and traitors with their courage and strength of spirit, their dignity and endurance, their smile, their love, their broken hearts which did not give in even in the face of death….. Take all this into account O Lord, for the remission of the sins of their enemies, as the price of the triumph of justice. Take good and not evil into account. And let us remain in our enemies’ thoughts, not as their victims, nor as a nightmare, but as those who helped them overcome their crimes. This is all we ask for

them…. Amen.

Concluding with the Prayer of St Ignatius

Teach us, good Lord, to serve thee as thou deservest,
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward;
except that of knowing that we do thy will. Amen.