Antonia Moffat, November 10, 2025 – EWTN Great Britain
During this month of Remembrance, the faithful are invited to pray the Sorrowful Mysteries for the fallen, the wounded and their families.
These Rosary meditations were originally prepared for the visitation of the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham to St Michael and St George Military Cathedral in Aldershot (the Roman Catholic cathedral of the Bishopric of the Forces) during the Dowry Tour of 2018–2020.
They were composed in remembrance not only of those who gave their lives in war, but also of those who continue to bear physical and psychological wounds.
When first prayed publicly in the military cathedral, the reflections prompted deep silence, prayer, and tears among those present. One military chaplain later remarked, “It was as if one of our own had penned it.” These words spoke to how deeply the meditations resonated within the military community.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them (For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon).
Opening Prayer
At the beginning of this Rosary we remember all those service men and women who at this very moment are serving on operations around the world. Lord, we ask you to protect them from all danger to body, mind and soul: to give them a loyal, courageous and disciplined spirit; to in-still in them the love of justice and liberty, and to grant that they be called to serve only for the establishment of peace throughout the world. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
As we contemplate the Agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, we bring to the Lord all those who have died in conflicts and wars down the centuries. Jesus was in agony, as he contemplated death, so we remember our brave service men and women who also faced death, and paid the ultimate sacrifice in defence of freedom. They gave their Today, for our Tomorrow. May they rest in peace.
Short chorus: May the Choirs of Angels come to greet you, may they speed you to paradise. May the Lord enfold you in His Mercy. May you find Eternal Life.
The Scourging of Jesus at the Pillar
As we contemplate the scourging and torture of Jesus at the Pillar, we bring to the Lord, all those who have faced the tyranny of torture, vile hatred, mental anguish, indescribable pain, and imprisonment in conflicts, and wars down the centuries. Jesus we pray for those, who even now, suffer daily, the agony of post-traumatic stress disorder, and the dark thoughts of suicide, which often follow, in the wake of terrible warfare. Lord, we pray for healing in mind and spirit of all those afflicted.
Short chorus: Jesus Remember me when you come into your Kingdom, Jesus Remember Me when you come into your Kingdom.
The Crowning with Thorns
We contemplate the Agony of Jesus as he was mockingly crowned with thorns, and bring to the Lord all those in positions of power and authority. Leadership positions often entail a professional loneliness, burden of responsibility, and decision making, which at times can be difficult to bear.
In this moment we pray for the Officer ranks in our Army, Navy and Air Force, for our Governmental leaders in Parliament, the Foreign Office, and in the Ministry of Defence. Jesus we pray for the grace of Godly wisdom and discernment upon all their decisions and deliberations, which often affect the lives of millions, and most particularly the lives of service men and women. Lord, grant our leaders ever more courageous, and fearless leadership qualities, capable of inspiring definitive and positive action in the cause of defence and peace on behalf of the Realm.
Short chorus: Jesus Remember me when you come into your Kingdom, Jesus Remember Me when you come into your Kingdom.
The Carrying of the Cross
As we contemplate Jesus on the way of Calvary being mocked, humiliated, tortured and beaten, we bring to the Lord all those service men and women who have sustained life changing injuries and wounds on Operational Service. Life changing injuries have a dramatic impact at the level of the soul and spirit as well as upon the mind and body of each individual and their immediate families. Jesus we pray for them in this moment and for their families, for they in a different way have given their Today for our Tomorrow. Jesus hold them in your Sacred Heart as we remember and pray for them.
Short chorus: Jesus Remember me when you come into your Kingdom, Jesus Remember Me when you come into your Kingdom.
The Crucifixion and Death of Our Lord
We contemplate the Jesus at the culmination of his Crucifixion when he cried out: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” And we remember the Fallen of all wars, and all those who currently grieve loved ones. We remember each service man and woman wherever they are buried – whether here at Home or in a foreign land. Jesus such catastrophic loss of life, our sorrow is beyond words.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them
Short chorus: May the choirs of Angels come to greet you, may they speed you to paradise. May the Lord enfold you in His Mercy. May you find Eternal Life.
Following the ending prayers invite people to stand in silence for a poignant moment of Remembrance, as the poem for the Fallen is solemnly read.
For the Fallen
Poem by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), published in The Times newspaper on September 21, 1914.
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England’s foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.
Inspiration behind the poem
Laurence Binyon composed his best known poem while sitting on the cliff-top looking out to sea amidst the dramatic scenery of the north Cornish coastline. A plaque marks the location at Pentire Point, north of Polzeath. There is also a small plaque on the East Cliff north of Portreath, further south, which also claims to be the place.
The poem was written in mid September 1914, a few weeks after the outbreak of the First World War. During these weeks the British Expeditionary Force had suffered casualties following its first encounter with the Imperial German Army at the Battle of Mons on August 23, its rearguard action during the retreat from Mons in late August, and the Battle of Le Cateau on August 26, and its participation with the French Army in holding up the Imperial German Army at the First Battle of the Marne between 5 and 9 September 1914.
Laurence said in 1939 that the four lines of the fourth stanza came to him first. These words of the fourth stanza have become especially familiar and famous, having been adopted by the Royal British Legion as an exhortation for ceremonies of Remembrance to commemorate fallen Servicemen and women. Laurence Binyon was too old to enlist in the military forces but he went to work for the Red Cross as a medical orderly in 1916. He lost several close friends and his brother-in-law in the war.
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