Memorial Service
Michael Collins Persse MVO OAM
10 November 1931 – 25 June 2018
Chapel of All Saints Geelong Grammar School, Corio
Monday 27 August 2018 1
Memorial Service
Michael Dudley de Burgh Collins Persse MVO OAM MA (Oxon)
Michael with his mother Janette Persse Sydney, February 1933
Cover: Pencil study for an oil painting of Michael Collins Persse, by Dennis Ramsay. 1991
Outside: Brooke Pithie (Yr10 He) - Bagpipes The bell is rung for the start of the Service
CHOIR For the Beauty of the Earth Text: F.S. Pierpoint (1835-1917) Music: J. Rutter (b 1945)
Please stand
PROCESSIONAL The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba G. F. Handel (1681-1759) from Solomon
THE GATHERING Please be seated Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
WELCOME Rev. Gordon Lingard We meet in the name of Jesus Christ, who died and was raised to the glory of God the Father. Grace and mercy be with you. And also with you.
MESSAGE Her Excellency the Honourable Linda Dessau AC, Governor of Victoria, with a message from HRH The Prince of Wales.
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OPENING PRAYER Father in heaven, we praise your name for all who have finished this life loving and trusting you, for the example of their lives, the life and grace you gave them and the peace in which they rest. We praise you today for your servant and friend Michael and for all that you did through him Meet us in our sadness and fill our hearts with praise and thanksgiving, for the sake of our risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
HYMN Please stand O God our help in ages past 1.
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O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home. Within the shadow of thy throne, still may we dwell secure. sufficient is thine arm alone, and our defence is sure. Before the hills in order stood, or earth received her frame, from everlasting thou art God, to endless years the same. O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, be thou our guide while life shall last, and our eternal home.
Text: Isaac Watts, 1674-1748. Music: William Croft, 1677-1727
Please be seated
READING Ecclesiasticus 44:1-15 Read by Jonathan Persse This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
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MUSICAL REFLECTION Selected by HRH The Prince of Wales Adagio in G Minor Archie Bate - Cello John Shawcross - Piano Attributed to T. Albinoni (1671-1751)
EULOGIES Rebecca Cody, Principal Tim Young (FB’73)
HYMN Please stand Thine be the Glory 1.
Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son; endless is the victory, thou o’er death hast won; angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away, kept the folded grave clothes where thy body lay.
Refrain: Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son, endless is the vict’ry, thou o’er death hast won. 2.
Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb; lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom; let the Church with gladness, hymns of triumph sing; for her Lord now liveth, death hath lost its sting.
Refrain: Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son, Endless is the vict’ry, thou o’er death hast won. 3.
No more we doubt thee, glorious Prince of life; life is naught without thee; aid us in our strife; make us more than conquerors, through thy deathless love: bring us safe through Jordan to thy home above.
Refrain: Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son, endless is the vict’ry, thou o’er death hast won. Music: G.F. Handel (1685-1759) Words: E.L. Budry (1854-1934) translated by R.B. Hoyle (1875-1937)
Please be seated 5
READING 1 Corinthians 13 Read by Nina Morrison (Yr12 A), School Captain Definition of a gentleman Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890) from The Idea of a University Read by Lachlan Dodds (Yr12 M), School Captain
EULOGIES Charles Bright (P’62) Peter Gray (P’85)
CHOIR Ave verum Corpus W. A. Mozart (1756-1791)
THE TIMBERTOP HYMN Please stand Father hear the prayer we offer 1.
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Father, hear the prayer we offer: not for ease that prayer shall be, but for strength that we may ever live our lives courageously. Not for ever in green pastures do we ask our way to be; but the steep and rugged pathway may we tread rejoicingly. Not for ever by still waters would we idly rest and stay; but would smite the living fountains from the rocks along our way. Be our strength in hours of weakness, in our wanderings be our guide; through endeavour, failure, danger, Father, be thou at our side.
Words: Love Maria (Whitcomb) Willis, 1859; alt. Samuel Longfellow, 1864 Music: St. Silvester, John B. Dykes, 1862
Please remain standing
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THE GOSPEL
Read by Rosie Barber (Yr8 Cn) A reading from the Gospel of John Chapter 6, beginning at verse 35 Glory to you, O Lord. After the reading This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ. Please be seated
THE SERMON Rev. Gordon Lingard Father in heaven, we give you thanks for Michael. We praise you as we recollect his life and cherish his memory. We bless you that in bearing your image he has brought light to our lives; for we have seen in his friendship reflections of your compassion, in his integrity demonstrations of your goodness, in his faithfulness glimpses of your eternal love. Grant to each of us the grace to follow his good example so that we with him may come to your everlasting kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
EULOGY Kate Baillieu
MUSICAL REFLECTION Dust Country Archie Bate - Cello Archie Bate (b. 1998)
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AFFIRMATION OF FAITH Father Howard Parkinson Please stand Let us declare our faith in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ: Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; he was buried; he was raised to life on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures; afterwards he appeared to his followers, and to all the apostles: this we have received, and this we believe. Amen.
THE CONFESSION Father eternal, giver of light and grace, we have sinned against you and against our neighbour, in what we have thought, in what we have said and done, through ignorance, through weakness, through our own deliberate fault. We have wounded your love, and marred your image in us. We are sorry and repent of all our sins. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who died for us, forgive us all that is past; and lead us out from darkness to walk as children of light. Amen.
THE ABSOLUTION Almighty God who has promised forgiveness to all to turn to him in faith: pardon you and set you free from all your sins, strengthen you in all goodness and keep you in eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION Father Howard Parkinson Please be seated In peace let us pray to the Lord, using the response: Lord, graciously hear us. We thank you for Michael who in baptism was given the pledge of eternal life, and now through faith rejoices with the saints in glory. Lord, hear us. Lord, graciously hear us. We thank you for our brother who shared the bread of life, a foretaste of the eternal banquet of heaven. Lord, hear us. Lord, graciously hear us. We thank you for our deceased relatives and friends, who have helped us in the faith and now find rest from their labours. Lord, hear us. Lord, graciously hear us. We thank you that the family and friends of our brother Michael may be consoled in their grief by the Lord, who wept at the death of his friend Lazarus. Lord, hear us. Lord, graciously hear us. We pray for all of us assembled here to worship in faith, that we may be gathered together again in God’s kingdom. Lord, hear us. Lord, graciously hear us.
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THE LORD’S PRAYER As our Saviour taught us, so we pray 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. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
THE SCHOOL PRAYER Creator of Heaven and earth Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Send upon us Your Holy Spirit That we may learn to be wise By loving You and our neighbour In this school of the Lord’s service.
HYMN Please stand Jerusalem 1.
And did those feet in ancient time, Walk upon England’s mountains green? And was the holy Lamb of God On England’s pleasant pastures seen? And did the countenance divine, Shine forth upon our clouded hills? And was Jerusalem builded here Among these dark satanic mills?
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Bring me my bow of burning gold! Bring me my arrows of desire! Bring me my spear! Oh clouds unfold! Bring me my chariot of fire! I will not cease from mental fight, Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand till we have built Jerusalem in England’s green and pleasant land
Words: William Blake (1757-1827) Music: Sir Hubert Parry (1848-1918)
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THE BLESSING Bishop Philip Huggins Amen.
THE DISMISSAL Go in peace to love and serve the Lord In the name of Christ Amen.
CHOIR The Lord Bless You and Keep You John Rutter (b. 1945)
Toccata from Symphony for Organ No.5 in F minor, Opus 42, No.1 Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937)
Copyright © 1995, The Anglican Church of Australia Trust Corporation. From the text of A Prayer Book for Australia, published under the imprint of Broughton Books. Reproduced with permission. Hymns copyright © 1999, The Australian Hymn Book Company Pty Ltd. Jerusalem from The New English Hymnal
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Thoughts at sunset upon the last day of term at Corio There steals on me a sense of perfect joy In contemplation of these red-girt walls, Recalling to the man mature the boy That once he was. These now deserted halls Throng thick with ghosts. The recent immanence Of all the teeming urgency of youth Is here transmuted to a stilling sense Of harmonies profound ‘twixt life and truth And haunting echoes of our shepherd’s role. These clustering walls are darkened now, held fast By groves of wind-swept pine; the brimming bowl Of this, man’s proud devising, is at last Complete: and we now drink its wine of soul As men who keep the vigil and the fast.
Written in December 1955 after Michael’s first seven weeks on staff at Geelong Grammar School
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