STM Remembrance Day Liturgy

The first Remembrance Day was 100 years ago, the first anniversary of end of World War 1. In the week prior, King George V issued a proclamation to all Commonwealth countries:

To all my people,

… it is my desire and hope that at the hour when the Armistice came into force, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, there may be for the brief space of two minutes a complete suspension of all our normal activities.

     During that time, except in the rare cases where this may be impracticable, all work, all sound, and all locomotion should cease, so that, in perfect stillness, the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead…. I believe that we shall all gladly interrupt our business and pleasure, whatever it may be, and unite in this simple service of silence and remembrance.

On 11^th November, 1919 King George hosted an event in the grounds of Buckingham Palace which included the two-minute silence and reading a poem, “For the Fallen” written by Laurence Binyon to honour those who died.

It is reported that all around the British Commonwealth, people stopped and stood in silence for two minutes. It was acknowledgement of immense communal respect and grief.

There are two sources to whom the idea of the Minute of Silence is credited. Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, a South African businessman and politician advocated:

It is due to the women, who have lost and suffered and borne so much, with whom the thought is ever present.

It is due to the children that they know to whom they owe their dear fought freedom.

It is due to the men, and from them, as men.

But far and away, above all else, it is due to those who gave their all, sought no recompense, and with whom we can never re-pay - our Glorious and Immortal Dead.

Australian journalist Edward George Honey published a letter in a London newspaper. An extract of it:

Five silent minutes of national remembrance. A very sacred intercession… communion with the Glorious Dead who won us peace, and from the communion new strength, hope and faith in the morrow.

Since World War 1, many more Australians have fought and died in wars and peace-keeping operations and Remembrance Day has come to embrace sacrifice and service from past and recent times.

May the sentiments and the intention of the Minute of Silence never become outdated.

You are invited to the St Thomas More's Remembrance Day Liturgy on Monday, 11 November 2019 (Week 5) commencing at 9am in Holy Faith Hall.

Remembrance Day Poster

The Department of Veterans' Affairs produces a Remembrance Day poster every year commemorating a particular theme or anniversary from our wartime history. This year the poster is ‘The Ode of Remembrance’. It can be viewed at https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/resources/remembrance-day-poster-2019 . Click button ‘Wartime Snapshot #26’.

Tyler Turtle

The Tyler Turtle Program is being offered to Kinder and Year 1 children of Defence Families at St Thomas More’s Primary School in week 4 of this term.

The Tyler Turtle Program is one 90-minute session designed by the Defence Community Organisation and aims to help younger Defence kids to understand their feelings and develop strategies to manage and cope with the challenges that can arise from Defence life, for example, associated with parental absence or relocation.

The program will be facilitated by the Defence School Mentor in the School Library. Please return the permission slip if you want your child to participate in the Tyler Turtle Program.

Feel welcome to visit or contact me on 6249 8869 or send an email to sonja.mingay@cg.catholic.edu.au .

Sonja Mingay DSM
Work hours: Mon-Wed 9am-3pm, Thu 9-11am