Order of service – St. Saviour’s Anglican Church in Riga

Remembrance Sunday

9 November 2025 at 11:00 am

St Saviour’s Anglican Church, Rīga

Remembering

The ministers enter in silence

They 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.

We will remember them.

The beginning of the two-minute silence is signalled by the playing of the Last Post. Silence is kept.

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. Amen.

The Greeting

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.Amen.

The Lord be with you

and also with you.

Words of welcome or introduction may be said.

Act of Recollection

We gather this morning to recall the armistice that marked the beginning of the end of the First World War a century ago today. We look back in sorrow for all those who suffered injury and loss; we recall those who are suffering in conflicts in our world today, and we look forward to that day when the kingdoms of this world will be ordered by God’s peaceable reign.

When we fail to learn from the past :

Lord, have mercy.

When we let national and personal interests blind us to the suffering of the world:

Christ, have mercy.

When we forget the cost of the freedom we enjoy:

Lord, have mercy.

May almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you your sins, and bring you to everlasting life. Amen.

Poppy Wreaths are laid by HE Kathy Leach, British Ambassador to Latvia and Sqn Ldr Steve Priestnall RAF, Defence Attaché.

The Collect

Lord of the nations, Saviour and judge of all:

remove from human hearts all bitterness and hate,

grant to those who have died in war your mercy and forgiveness

and bring us all to the peace of your eternal Kingdom;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who suffered and died,

and now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, world without end. All Amen.

The Liturgy of the Word

Readings

The first reading is from the Book of Lamentations 3.17–26.31–33

Read by HE Kathy Leach, British Ambassador to Latvia

My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is;

so I say, ‘Gone is my glory,
and all that I had hoped for from the Lord.’

The thought of my affliction and my homelessness
is wormwood and gall!

My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me.

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’

The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him.

It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.

For the Lord will not reject for ever.

Although he causes grief, he will have compassion

according to the abundance of his steadfast love;

for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Psalm 3

1 Lord, how many are my adversaries; ♦

many are they who rise up against me.

2 Many are they who say to my soul, ♦

‘There is no help for you in your God.’

3 But you, Lord, are a shield about me; ♦

you are my glory, and the lifter up of my head.

4 When I cry aloud to the Lord, ♦

he will answer me from his holy hill;

5 I lie down and sleep and rise again, ♦

because the Lord sustains me.

6 I will not be afraid of hordes of the peoples ♦

that have set themselves against me all around.

7 Rise up, O Lord, and deliver me, O my God, ♦

for you strike all my enemies on the cheek

and break the teeth of the wicked.

8 Salvation belongs to the Lord: ♦

may your blessing be upon your people.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son, * And to the Holy Spirit,

As it was in he beginning, is now * and ever shall be. Amen.

The Second Reading is from the Book of Revelation 21.1–7

read by Sqn Ldr Steve Priestnall RAF, Defence Attaché

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’

And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel Reading

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke 24.1–9

Glory to you, O Lord.

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’ Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

HYMN: 581

Lord of lords and King eternal,
down the years in wondrous ways
you have blessed our land and guided,

leading us through darkest days.
For your rich and faithful mercies,

Lord, accept our thankful praise.

Speak to us and every nation,
bid our jarring discords cease;
to the starving and the homeless

bid us bring a full release;
and on all this earth’s sore turmoil

breathe the healing of your peace.

Love that binds us all together
be upon the Church outpoured;
shame our pride and quell our factions,

smite them with your Spirit’s sword;

till the world, our love beholding,

claims your power and calls you Lord.

Brace the wills of all your people

who in every land and race
know the secrets of your kingdom,

share the treasures of your grace;

till the summons of your Spirit

wakes new life in every place.

Saviour, by your mighty Passion

once you turned sheer loss to gain,

wrestling in your risen glory

victory from your cross and pain;

now O Saviour, dead and risen,

in us triumph, live and reign.

Sermon

Affirmation Of Faith

Do you believe and trust in God the Father,

source of all being and life, the one for whom we exist?

We believe and trust in him.

Do you believe and trust in God the Son,

who took our human nature, died for us and rose again?

We believe and trust in him.

Do you believe and trust in God the Holy Spirit,

who gives life to the people of God and makes Christ known in the world?

We believe and trust in him.

This is the faith of the Church.

This is our faith.

We believe and trust in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

PRAYING TOGETHER

In Flanders Fields (John McCrae) – Read by Col Edward Fraser, British Army

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Let us pray for all who suffer as a result of conflict,

and ask that God may give us peace:

For the service men and women

who have died in the violence of war,

each one remembered by and known to God;