1. Prayers for the week 21-25 January 2018 Holocaust Memorial week
Sunday 27 January is National Holocaust Memorial day. In our assemblies and our prayers this week we remember this dark event that took place during the Second World War ( ).
This year’s theme is: “Torn from home” We reflect on how the enforced loss of a safe place to call ‘home’ is part of the trauma faced by anyone experiencing persecution and genocide. ‘Home’ usually means a place of safety, comfort and security.
HMD 2019 will include marking the 25th anniversary of the Genocide in Rwanda, which began in April 1994 and the 40th anniversary of the end of the Genocide in Cambodia, which ended in 1979.
It is important to remember the Holocaust, not just for the awfulness that happens now, but for what is still happening in the world. We only have to look at the many countries where there is war and the many refugees fleeing their countries.

2. Monday 21 January Dear God,
Born: 12 June 1929 in Frankfurt, Germany
Died: 12 March 1945 in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp aged 15
Her Diary of a Young Girl was published in 1950
Dear God,
We give thanks for the life and example of Anne Frank. Let us be inspired by her resilience and optimism. May we always look for ways to improve the lives of those around us. When we are presented with the opportunity to change something for the better, let us grasp it! In the end may we leave the world a better place than we found it.
Amen.

3. Monday 21 January One day in a concentration camp two men and a boy
were sentenced to execution
by hanging.
The men died quickly,
the boy, lighter, took longer.
The prisoners were made to watch.
A voice cried out,
“Where is God?”
Then there was silence.
Did God die
in the concentration camps?
Is it possible to pray
after such horror?
We pray now,
because some prayed
in the camps.
In the deepest darkness.
We cry out,
“Where was humanity?”
We commit ourselves
to remember
that 6 million Jews
and others the Nazi regime
labelled expendable.
Were gassed to death
With cyanide,
Their death bodies burned in furnaces,
Their ashes carried on the wind.
We are not innocent:
For many centuries
Christians were hostile to Jewish people,
Persecuted them
For the death of Jesus.
The Holocaust took place
Within living memory,
In one of the most educated
And Christian countries in history.
We beg forgiveness
For the crimes against the Jewish people,
Against humanity,
And pray for the grace to be vigilant,
To stand up
Against anti-Semitism
and racism
in any shape or form
we may encounter it
in our world today.

4. Tuesday 22 January
Edith Stein (12 October 1891 – 9 August 1942) is also known as St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She was a German Jewish philosopher and academic who converted to Roman Catholicism and became a Carmelite nun. She was murdered in the gas chambers at Auschwitz in She is canonized as a martyr and saint of the Catholic Church.
Loving God,
We thank you for the life and example of Edith Stein. Let us, like her, ensure that we care for all of creation. Help us to avoid waste and excess in our daily lives and to appreciate the wonders of the natural world. As individuals and as a school community, help us to support and develop environmental projects that will leave a lasting legacy for the benefit of our earth. Amen.

5. Tuesday 22 January Prayer for Victims of Rwanda
God who is full of mercy, we cry out to you as
we remember the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, one million men, women and children, young and old, strong and weak, because of their tribe.
O Lord! To whom we cried in horror in 1945 when the full devastation of the Nazi terror became finally clear, to whom we pledged ourselves in the words “Never Again”.
Help us in our frail humanity to realise that we all have the potential to choose to do wrong or to act justly. Help us to be worthy of your gift of free will, choosing peace and harmony over prejudice and hate. May the resting places of all victims of Genocide be a constant reminder of our human duty to love our fellow. We pray for all those who have died and ask You to comfort and heal all who suffer in the aftermath of genocide. Amen.

6. Wednesday 23 January
Born in 1906, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor, theologian, writer and anti-Nazi protestor. He was executed by the Nazis at Flossenburg concentration camp in 1945, just one month before the end of the war.
Loving God, Help us to follow the brave example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He understood that evil would thrive if good men did nothing. Give us the courage we need to break the silence and to speak out against any form of injustice or prejudice. May the weak and the oppressed always find in us a companion to support and encourage them in their hour of need. Amen.

7. Wednesday 23 January Dear God,
We remember before you all those who bear the inner and outer scars of the Holocaust and of acts of genocide.
Let them not be overwhelmed by the horrors they’ve experienced. Be close to them.
Help them to see that you suffer with those who suffer.
Restrain those who are filled with hatred and use violence to pursue their ends. Change their hearts.
May remembrance make us alert to the reality of evil. Help us to recognise our own capacity for evil and allow your Spirit to purge it from our beings. Help us also to stand up against evil and oppression.
Enable us to defend those who are not strong enough to defend themselves.
Deepen our respect for everything you have made. Amen.

8. Thursday 24 January Dear God,
Maximilian Kolbe (8 January 1894 – 14 August 1941) was a Polish Franciscan Friar who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the German death camp of Auschwitz during World War II. He was active in promoting the veneration of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. Kolbe was canonized as a saint of the church in 1982 by Pope John Paul II
Dear God,
May we always seek out what is true and good and beautiful in this life. Inspired by Maximillian Kolbe, let us turn away from lies, deceit and concealment and seek to walk always in the light of truth.
We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.

9. Thursday 24 January
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Viktor Frankl was an Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor.
Frankl witnessed something miraculous in Auschwitz. Despite awful living conditions, his fellow prisoners found meaning in their lives, little reasons every day to persevere. Their faith, belief and hope survived no matter how badly they were treated.

10. Friday 25 January Loving God
May we be armed with the sword of justice and the shield of truth but always wear a kind and gentle spirit. To be kind is not to patronise, to be gentle is not to be weak. May these virtues live and breathe within us, helping us to shine a light for all to see. Anne used the power of words to make a difference. Let our own words, spoken or written, change the world.
Amen.

11. Friday 25 January
Examen Be silent and place yourself in God’s loving presence. Think about the good things that have happened this week and give thanks.​ Who have you left a good memory with this week? Look back over your week. Where have you felt joy and what has been difficult and challenged you? In the quiet of your heart, tell God about your experiences.​ Give thanks for who you are. As you look ahead, with what spirit will you enter next week? Ask God to help you.

12. Afternoon Prayer and Reflection
Lord
Thank you for the morning, for watching over me and walking with me. May I find joy and understanding this afternoon, in all I do. Grant me the zest and the strength I need to work for you until nightfall. Amen
Let us pause for a few moments in silence and remember those family members and friends who need our prayers and support today…………
Let us say together the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen
May the Lord bless us and keep us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen