A weekly devotional blog by the Reverend Susan Montague Koyle. Drawing on liturgical notes and the commemorations of the saints, Rev. Susan offers teaching and inspiration for Anglicans across Algoma and beyond.
A Liturgical Note for You
Marking Remembrance Day
With Remembrance Day approaching, it’s important to know what we should (and shouldn’t) do in our churches on the Sunday before (November 9).
Remembrance Day is a very important and solemn occasion that we should, indeed, mark with ceremony. You can check with your closest Legion Branch to find out the details of local ceremonies taking place on November 11 (I’ve noted the one for the Soo above).
You will notice, however, that “Remembrance Day” is not a Christian calendar observance. If you check the November calendar on page 32 of the Book of Alternative Services (or page xii of the Book of Common Prayer), it’s not listed there.
How Should Churches Mark Remembrance?
Congregations may choose to hold a Remembrance Day service on November 11 and then process (or drive) to a war memorial, cenotaph, or graveyard for prayers of remembrance.
But what about Sunday, November 9?
It is appropriate to have a Holy Eucharist or Morning Prayer service that names, in the Prayers of the People, parishioners who have died over the past year and those who have died in wars.
This worship service could also include an Act of Remembrance.
Immediately before the Sending of the Church is an appropriate time to name parishioners who have died in war and those who served. Prayers for the faithful departed can be offered, along with prayers for peace and an end to violence.
The propers for All Souls’ Day may be used for a Remembrance Sunday worship service.
What It Is — and Isn’t
Please note: this Sunday worship service is not a Remembrance Day service.
It is not meant to replace the cenotaph or Legion Branch service that takes place on November 11.
The Sunday worship is the commemoration of the departed within the context of the usual Sunday Feast of our Lord.
Something to live by:
“If it’s not in the book (BAS or BCP), then it’s not in your liturgy.”
And another good reminder:
“Common practice doesn’t mean correct practice.”
Attached below are several Remembrance Sunday resources approved for use in the Diocese of Algoma, which may be used without additional permission from Archbishop Anne.
For Your Devotions
Monday, November 3 (transferred from Sunday) – Commemoration of All Faithful Departed
This day is distinct from All Saints’ Day and is not a Principal Feast. It is the day we pray for our departed loved ones.
The practice arose from the belief that prayer could hasten the journey of souls through purgatory into heaven — a point of theological debate throughout Christian history.
“Whether or not one should pray for the dead is one of the great arguments which divide Christians… Yet prayer for a loved one is, for the believer, a way of erasing any distance, even death.”
More: Franciscan Media – Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed
Monday, November 3 – Richard Hooker, Priest and Teacher of the Faith (d.1600)
Hooker’s theology shaped much of what we know as Anglicanism. He argued for a generous understanding of Scripture and Church authority:
“It is no more disgrace for Scripture to have left a number of things free to be ordered at the discretion of the Church, than for nature to have left it unto the wit of people to devise their own attire.”
More: Britannica – Richard Hooker
Tuesday, November 4 – Saints of the Old Testament
Our faith began not in Bethlehem but long before — with Abraham and Sarah. The Roman Martyrology lists many Old Testament figures as “saints,” including Moses, Elijah, and David.
Though their lives were imperfect, each sought to live according to God’s will.
More: For All the Saints – p.334
Friday, November 7 – Willibrord, Archbishop of Utrecht and Missionary (d.738)
Born in England, Willibrord studied in France and Ireland before beginning missionary work in Frisia in 690. Despite wars that forced him to leave the region several times, he persevered.
He died a natural death—unlike his successor, St. Boniface, who was martyred in 754.
More: Justus – Biography of Willibrord
In Christ,
Rev. Susan Montague Koyle