Prayers for Remembrance Day and St Laurence's O'Toole Feast Day

Heavenly Father

On this day of remembrance, November 11th, we pause to honour those who have bravely served and sacrificed for our freedom. We thank You for their courage and dedication.

We ask that You comfort the families and friends who mourn their loss. May they find solace in Your love and peace in Your presence.

Grant us the wisdom to work towards peace and understanding, and inspire us to be instruments of Your love in our world. 

Help us to remember not only those who fought but also the importance of striving for a future free from conflict.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

FEAST DAY OF ST LAURENCE NOVEMBER 14th

St Laurence O’Toole's Irish name is Lorcán Ó Tuathail. 

He was born in Castledermot in the County of Kildare, Ireland, in 1128.

St Laurence is the patron of Dublin and its diocese.

He led an exceptional and extraordinary life: Abbot of Glendalough at 25, first Irish Archbishop of Dublin in his early 30s, respected and trusted by the Irish, the Vikings and the Normans alike, a skilled mediator and peacemaker, revered by the community of Eu in Normandy, France where he died on the 14th of November 1180 and was made a saint in 1225.

Laurence lived at a time of great social and demographic change. He is portrayed as finding the capacity to be open to encounter with the new and different. He created in his diocese a tent wide enough to accommodate different traditions, insights and priorities. 

He became renowned as a builder of churches, a man of prayer and a worker of miracles but perhaps his greatest achievement was the way in which he cared for the poor and homeless people and orphaned children, sheltering many of them in his house.

Prayer

Holy Spirit, give us the strength to be the face and the hands of Jesus, to reach out and care for the poor, to be peacemakers and to find ways to negotiate the changes needed in our church and diocese just as St Laurence O’Toole did. Amen