A Thanksgiving multi faith service with messages from Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of Oxfordshire; The High Sheriff of Oxfordshire; The High ...

Oxfordshire Multi-Faith Thanksgiving
              in Remembrance of
  HRH The Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh

A Thanksgiving multi faith service with messages
      from Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of
Oxfordshire; The High Sheriff of Oxfordshire; The
 High Sheriff's Chaplains; The Rt Revd Dr Steven
Croft, Bishop of Oxford; and Bede Gerrard, Reader
             in the Orthodox Church

Michael Payne
Under Sheriff of Oxfordshire

My name is Michael Payne and I am the Under Sheriff for Oxfordshire.

This is a sad and unprecedented time for our country. Sad because we have lost
someone who has been a fixture in our lives for longer than we can remember.
Unprecedented because this is the first time in 160 years that we have lost the Consort
to the Queen.

Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant, Tim Stevenson, and the High Sheriff, Imam Monawar
Hussain, wish to mark this moment with their own tributes to His Royal Highness.
The High Sheriff has asked his chaplains, and also invited the Bishop of Oxford and
Bede Gerrard, Reader in the Orthodox church, to briefly pay their own tributes to
someone who has stood steadfastly behind our Queen, and who has unstintingly
given his support – for 69 years – to all who live and contribute to our diverse and
talented land.

Tim Stevenson, OBE
Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Oxfordshire

The Death of HRH the Prince Philip has shocked us all. It has shocked us not because
it was a surprise - he narrowly missed his 100th birthday and had been ill. It shocked
us rather because we didn’t fully realise, or had forgotten, the depth and strength of
the contribution that he made to our Sovereign, to the Nation and to the
Commonwealth. The warmth, affection and grief we now feel as the full story of his
life is told we share in part with the sovereign and is the result of our waking up to
what both The Queen, and all of us, have lost. The admiration now being expressed
for what he achieved can only serve to strengthen our monarchy as the keystone of
our constitution.

Some lines from Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth:

“I don’t think victory over death is anything so superficial as a person fulfilling their
normal span of life. It can be twofold: a victory over death by the man who faces it for
himself without fear, and a victory by those who, loving him, know that death is but a
little thing compared with the fact that he lived and was the kind of person that he
was”.

Imam Monawar Hussain, MBE
The High Sheriff of Oxfordshire

I want to extend my deepest sympathies and condolences to Her Majesty The Queen
and the Royal family, on the passing away of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip,
Duke of Edinburgh.

Though every loss is felt deep by family and friends, Prince Philip’s loss has been felt
widely across our nation, the Commonwealth and the world at large. We give thanks
for his life, for his unstinting, selfless, public service; for his dedication, duty and
commitment to the common good and most of all for his love and dedication to Her
Majesty The Queen.

It was the ancient Greek historian, Thucydides, who remarked, “What you leave
behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives
of others.” Indeed, the full life that His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of
Edinburgh lived, transformed and touched the lives of millions in the United Kingdom
and across the world. May he rest in peace.

Dr al-Hafidh Kamel Ait Tahar
High Sheriff’s Muslim Chaplain

On behalf of the Muslim Community in Oxford, I would like to extend my sympathies
to Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal Family for the on the passing of His Royal
Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

The Duke of Edinburgh was a dedicated public servant and faithful companion of Her
Majesty and we, along with people across the country and indeed the world, will
keenly feel his loss.

He will be remembered through his charitable works, his vision and endeavours for a
Multi-Cultural Britain and last but not least his support for the many environment-
related projects.

Your loss is ours.

Then in Arabic.

Father Philip Ritchie
High Sheriff’s Anglican Chaplain

Our prayers are with Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal Family as we mourn the
death of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. We give thanks for Prince Philip’s long
and extraordinary life, his faithful service to Queen and country, his support especially
for young people, his humour, honesty and integrity and strong Christian faith and
especially his steadfast support to the Queen over the long years of their marriage.
Philip has been at the centre of our national life for so many decades offering a model
of strength and stability. He will be greatly missed. May he rest in peace and rise in
glory, and may God’s peace and love be with all who mourn his passing, and most
especially his immediate family.

Penny Faust
High Sheriff’s Jewish Chaplain

O God who heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds, grant consolation to
those who mourn, strengthen and support them in the time of their grief and
remember them for a long and good life. Fill their hearts with reverence and love for
You, that they may serve You with a whole heart. And let them have peace hereafter.

AMEN
I would now like to read the traditional Jewish prayer for a person who has died.
O God, full of compassion, Ayl Maaleh Rachamim, grant perfect rest under the shadow
of your wings to
Philip Mountbatten
who has gone to his eternal home. Merciful God grant him Your protection for ever
and let his soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life. God is his inheritance. May he
rest in peace and let us say
AMEN
O God, we are especially grateful for the life of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and
for all that he did for the Queen, for his family and for this country.
Eternal God, You are with us at all times; in joy and in sorrow, in light and in darkness,
in life and in death. Open our hearts that we may feel Your presence even at this time
of bereavement. Let the knowledge that You are near soothe our spirits and heal our
wounds.
Teach us to trust You and give us the faith to declare:
God gives and God takes away, Praised be the name of our God.
Adonai natan v'adonai laka, y he shaim adonai m'vorach

Bede Gerrard
Reader in the Orthodox Church

‘With your Saints give rest, O Lord, to the soul of your servant Philip in a place of
refreshment light and peace; where there is no sorrow, no sighing and no pain but life
everlasting.

Prince Philip is a man of faith, who for over seventy years was married to our Queen
and, ever since his life was joined to hers, he became her strong and steadfast stay. No
person, other than the Queen, has heard the National Anthem as often as he has; but,
unlike many he meant (with all his heart) the words that he heard. ‘God save the
Queen’; these the two most important themes in his very full life. God and the Queen
were what he lived by and lived for. Everything he did, from sport to public

engagements, was done to the best of his ability. ‘God is my help’ is the motto on his
coat of arms and this is how he lived and did what he swore to do in his oath at her
coronation. May he rest in peace, and rise in glory; and may his spouse and Queen
find comfort and peace in the thought that all pain and suffering hold him no longer.
As we go down to the grave we make this our funeral song ‘Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia’.

Dr Gian Gopal
High Sheriff’s Hindu Chaplain

The Hindu Community of Oxfordshire, in conjunction with the wider community in
the County and the Country, wishes to express its deepest condolences to Her Majesty
the Queen at the sad loss of her husband. After seventy-three years of togetherness
the loss is surely a cause of great sadness.
Members of the Hindu Community have expressed their great admiration for the
Duke, reflecting on a life well-spent; a life dedicated to serving his Family and
Country.
The Duke’s life of duty and service reflects the Hindu dharmic principles expounded
by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita.
Lord Krishna says

यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठस्ित्तदे वेिरो जनः । स यत्प्रमाणं कुरुिे लोकस्िदनव
                                                                   ु ितिे ॥

“Whatever actions a great person does, common people follow. The standard is set
accordingly and the world follows.”
His Royal Highness did indeed set high standards of service and generations to come
will see him as a role model. Thousands of Hindu youth here and in the
Commonwealth have gone through a transformational experience taking part in the
Duke of Edinburgh Award and are extremely proud of their involvement.
The Duke’s ability to reach out and engage with people from all backgrounds (ethnic
or social) will always be remembered. The world will miss him.
I end with a Mantra from the Hindu Scriptures

ॐ ईमौ-युनजमी िे वहनी असन
                       ु ीिाये वोरदवे | िाभयाम-यमसया सादनम सामी-तिषचवा गछिाि ||

Lord, we enjoin the vital entities that to help the departed soul find an existence in noble
company by virtue of its deeds.

Gurdip Singh Saini
High Sheriff’s Sikh Chaplain

The Sikh community were saddened to hear of the passing away of His Royal
Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on 9th April 2021. It is a great loss
to our country and the Commonwealth. He was a great person. He dedicated most of
his time for the country, for a long time which we won’t forget. We pray for Prince
Philips soul to rest in peace. His contribution to this country was great.

On behalf of the Sikh community I send Her Majesty The Queen our condolences and
prayers.

Dr Stephen Vickers
High Sheriff’s Baha’i Chaplain

We have lost, in the passing of Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, a man of many parts, who
has enriched our lives in many ways.

My parents’ generation may chiefly remember his naval career, others will focus on his
role as chief supporter and helpmate of Her Majesty the Queen. I will focus on three
areas which mean the most to me as a Baha’i: conservation, interfaith dialogue and
education.

He saw conservation as a religious duty, with faith communities best-placed to
mobilise their members in this effort. He played a formative role in the Assisi
Declaration of 1986, where he stated “A new and powerful alliance has been forged
between the forces of religion and the forces of conservation”. The Patron and most
loyal supporter of the International Tree Foundation, which I chair, is Prince Charles,
who inherited his love of nature from his father.

Born Orthodox and later an Anglican, he understood the unity in diversity of the
Christian Faith, and extended this principle into wider dialogue. The St. George’s
House, Windsor Conferences he established explored the harmony of religion and
science. That truth can be found in both, a strong Baha’i principle, was deeply held by
Philip. His willingness to acknowledge truth in all faiths has been an important
bulwark of our multicultural society.

Perhaps his most valuable contribution has been the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
Scheme. Over 7 million youngsters in 130 countries have transformed their lives for
the better, and built skills and purpose through what he called his “DIY growing-up
kit”.

No words of mine can hope to do him justice. In the words of Baha’u’llah, the
prophet-founder of my Faith: “That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth
himself to the service of the entire human race”.

Such a man was Prince Philip. After an exemplary life of service, his soul continues on
its spiritual journey.

The Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft
Bishop of Oxford

His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh was a unique person in so many different
ways. He offered an example across many different generations and across the world.

Prince Philip was a pioneer in the care of God’s creation and of the natural
environment. He invested continually in the next generation through the Duke of
Edinburgh’s award scheme and his charitable work. He demonstrated courage and
compassion in overcoming challenges and difficulties through the whole of his life.

Above all he dedicated his life to the support of Her Majesty the Queen and to the
institution of the monarchy, recognising the value to the whole nation and
Commonwealth of stability and service.

And now we pay tribute to His Royal Highness Prince Philip: we mourn his death
together as different faith communities; we entrust him to the mercy and protection of
God his maker and redeemer in the Christian hope of resurrection. We pray for his
family who mourn his death especially. May Philip rest in peace and rise in glory.