Watch our Holocaust Memorial Day service on Youtube.
Welcome and explanation
Welcome to our virtual service for Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD). HMD is a day of remembrance for all lives lost to genocide throughout history, as well as a time to honour the legacy of survivors by taking action in our own society against the ideologies that promote violence and discrimination. After this service, we hope you will take up this call to action yourself.
Opening prayer
Leader: God of all, we are gathered here in the spirit of loss, of grief, and of injustice. We are gathered to remember the sins of the past and to reflect on the horrors of the Holocaust. We are gathered to recognise the sins of the present and the ways in which we look away. We bring all of our failings and the failings of the past to you, gracious God. Do not cast us from your presence or take away your Holy Spirit but let us be renewed in the all-consuming fires of your love. May we be sustained, now and forever.
All: AMEN.
Profile: Saint Maximilian Kolbe
Prayers for the prevention of future genocide
The responses are:
God make your presence known
ALL: And fill us with your love.
God of all compassion, we bring to mind the countless victims of the Holocaust. We call to mind all those who were brutalised, dehumanised, tortured and killed. Their names are too many to mention but You know them all. Their suffering is too much for us to bear and yet You feel it all. Loving God, let the horrors of the past be a reminder to us of what we have to lose. May they be a reminder to us of our ability to cause unimaginable pain; may we never forget.
God make your presence known
ALL: And fill us with your love.
God of all justice, we pray for all victims of violence around the world. We pray for those places full of suffering, whether that be as a result of violence, famine or greed. We pray for the people of Ukraine, for the people of Palestine, for Afghanistan, for Sudan, and for all places known to You. We pray for a world where the blights of humanity no longer exist and where peace is made known to all.
God make your presence known
ALL: And fill us with your love.
God of all suffering, we pray for those victims of genocide today. We are here to acknowledge the ways in which we look away from those suffering around us, in particular for victims of modern slavery, human trafficking, and abuse towards refugees. These are the victims of our time; guide us to walk towards their pain instead of away from it. Let us walk towards those suffering, as Christ did. May we be walking icons of Your love and make justice a reality.
God make your presence known
ALL: And fill us with your love.
God of all healing, we pray for a better world. Let us be beacons of Your word and help those in need. Seek out those who are suffering, tend to the sick and dying, listen to the cries of the oppressed. Only through listening to their pain shall we be beacons of light in the world. May we learn to see Christ’s face in the face of the suffering. Only through learning of the darkness of the world may we know where light is needed.
God make your presence known
ALL: And fill us with your love.
Reading—Bonhoeffer ‘Contempt for Humanity’ from Letters and Papers from Prison
‘There is a very real danger of our drifting into an attitude of contempt for humanity...The man who despises others can never hope to do anything with them. The faults we despise in others are always, to some extent at least, our own too. How often have we expected from others more than we are prepared to do ourselves! Why have we until now held such lofty views of human nature? Why have we not recognised its frailty and liability to temptation? We must form our estimate of men less from their achievements and failures and more from their sufferings. The only profitable relationship to others... is one of love, that is the will to hold fellowship with them. Even God did not despise humanity but became Man for man’s sake.’
Moment of silence
Closing Prayers
“El Male Rachamim”
O God, Who art full of compassion, who dwellest on high, grant perfect rest in Thy Divine Presence to all the souls of our holy and pure brethren who blood was spilt by the murderers in Auschwitz, Belzec, Bergen Belsen, Dachau, Majdanek, Sobibor, Treblinka and other extermination camps in Europe; who were killed, strangled, burned and buried alive for the sanctification of Thy name. For whose souls we now pray. May their resting place be in the Garden of Eden, may the Master of Mercy shelter them in the shadow of His wings for eternity; and may He bind their souls in the bond of life. HASHEM is their heritage, and may they repose in peace in their resting places.
All: AMEN.
As we leave this place, let us hold onto the words of Bonhoeffer. “God did not despise humanity, but became Man for man’s sake.” Christ’s presence among us made Your healing love tangible. As we comes to terms with the horror of the past, let it be a reminder of how far we can fall. May we learn from the lessons of the past; may we walk more graciously; may we walk in the power of your spirit, now and forever
All: AMEN.