A service of thanksgiving to celebrate the life of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh 1921 2021 - The Oculus, Aylesbury ...

A service of thanksgiving to celebrate the life of
His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
                      1921 - 2021

                The Oculus, Aylesbury
                 10am, 16 April 2021

Order of Service

Host welcome

Welcome

We have gathered today to remember before God His Royal
Highness Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Blessed be God, lover of souls.
Hear us as we remember with love your servant Philip.
We give thanks for his long and remarkable life, above all for his
faithful and diligent service To this nation, the Royal family and our
Queen.
We bless you for his lively mind, originality of thinking, Courage
and freedom of spirit.
We rejoice to remember his humour,
His Honesty and integrity,
And his Christian faith.
We pray that for your servant Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Death
may be the gate to life and unending fellowship with you; Where
with your saints you live and reign, In one perfect unity of love,
Now and for ever.
Amen

Hymn
The Lord’s my Shepherd

Reading
Ecclesiastes 3. 1-8

1
 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose
under the heaven: 2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to
plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3A time to kill,
and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4
 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time
to dance; 5A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones
together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6
  A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to
cast away; 7A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep
silence, and a time to speak; 8A time to love, and a time to hate; a
time of war, and a time of peace.

Recitation from the opening chapter of the Holy Qur’an

In the name of God, The infinitely Compassionate, The infinitely
Merciful.
Praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds.
The Compassionate, the Merciful. Master of the Day of Reckoning.
You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.
Guide us on the straight path,
The path of those who have received your grace;
And not the path of those who earned your anger, nor of those
went astray.

Anthem
Sunset and Evening Star; Parry

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;
For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.

Words: Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1889)
Music: C. H. H. Parry (1903)

Tribute

Intercessions

Hear, O Lord, the prayers of your people, as we remember before
you His Royal Highness Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: and grant
that we who confess your name on earth may with him be made
perfect in the kingdom of your glory; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.

Almighty God, Father of all mercies and giver of all comfort: deal
graciously, we pray, with all who mourn, the members of the Royal
Family, this Nation and all the Nations of the Commonwealth, that
casting all our care on you, we may know the consolation of your
love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O Lord God, when thou givest to thy servants to endeavour any
great matter, grant us to know that it is not the beginning but
the continuing of the same, until it be thoroughly finished, which
yieldeth the true glory; through him who, for the finishing of thy
work, laid down his life for us, even our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
(based on the prayer of Sir Francis Drake (c. 1540–1596) )

Bring us, O Lord God, at our last awakening into the house and
gate of heaven, to enter into that gate and dwell in that house,
where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal
light; no noise nor silence, but one equal music; no fears nor
hopes, but one equal possession; no ends nor beginnings, but
one equal eternity; in the habitations of thy glory and dominion,
world without end. Amen.
(after John Donne (1571–1631) )

Gracious and holy Father,
give us wisdom to perceive you,
diligence to seek you,
patience to wait for you,
eyes to behold you,
a heart to meditate on you,
and a life to proclaim you;
through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
(St Benedict (c. 480–543) )

The Lord’s Prayer

Commendation

Into your hands, O Father and Lord, we commend your servant,
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Enlighten him with your holy grace and
suffer him never to be separated from you, O Lord in Trinity,
God everlasting.
(After St Edmund of Abingdon (1170–1240) )

God of majesty,
give rest to your servant Philip
who, having served his Queen and Country,
has passed from this life,
full of years yet strong in spirit.
As we give thanks for his life,
as Prince and husband,
as Consort and family man,
we pray that all that he has done
may continue to bear fruit
in the lives of individuals
and the life of this nation,
to your honour and glory,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(The Association of English Cathedrals)

Hymn
Guide me, O Thou great Redeemer

Blessing

May God in his infinite love and mercy bring the whole Church,
living and departed, to a joyful resurrection and the fulfilment of
his eternal kingdom, and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you
always. Amen.

Our Lord forgive our living and our dead, those who are with us
and those who are absent, our young and our old, our men and
our women. Our Lord, whomever you give life from among us give
life on submission, and whomever you take from us, take on Faith.

The National Anthem
God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen.
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us
God save the Queen.