The funeral took place on 27 March 2014 at St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster, after a laying in rest overnight at the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft in the Palace of Westminster, an honour previously only extended to Margaret Thatcher.
Music Before the Service
- Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ BWV 639 ~ Johann Sebastian Bach
- Schafe konnen sicher weiden, from Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd BWV 208 ~Johann Sebastian Bach
ORDER OF SERVICE
The Choir sings THE SENTENCES
I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. (St John 11: 25-26)
I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another. (Job 19: 25-27)
We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the Name of the Lord. (William Croft (1678-1727) 1 St Timothy 6: 7; Job 1: 21)
Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts; shut not thy merciful ears unto our prayer; but spare us, Lord most holy, O God most mighty, O holy and most merciful Saviour, thou most worthy Judge eternal, suffer us not, at our last hour, for any pains of death, to fall from thee. Amen (Henry Purcell; The Book of Common Prayer 1549)
The Dean says THE INTRODUCTION
We have come here today to remember before God our brother Tony; to give thanks for his life; to commend him to God our merciful redeemer and judge; to commit his body to be cremated, and to comfort one another in our grief.
Almighty God, you judge us with infinite mercy and justice and love everything you have made. In your mercy turn the darkness of death into the dawn of new life, and the sorrow of parting into the joy of heaven; through our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
THE HYMN : Jerusalem 488 NEH William Blake, Hubert Parry (1848-1918)
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 those dark satanic mills?
Bring me my bow of burning gold
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O 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.
THE COLLECT
Merciful Father, hear our prayers and comfort us; renew our trust in your Son, whom you raised from the dead; strengthen our faith that all who have died in the love of Christ will share in his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Right Honourable John Bercow MP, Speaker of the House of Commons, read 1 CORINTHIANS 13
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
The Choir sings JESU, JOY OF MAN’S DESIRING Johann Sebastian Bach Robert Bridges (1844-1930) from Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben BWV 147
Jesu, joy of man’s desiring,
holy wisdom, love most bright
drawn by thee, our souls aspiring
soar to uncreated light.
Word of God, our flesh that fashioned,
with the fire of life impassioned
striving still to truth unknown, soaring, dying round thy throne.
THE ADDRESS by The Dean
THE HYMN He Who Would Valiant Be Monk’s Gate 372 NEH John Bunyan (1628-88), adapted from a traditional English melody, by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
He who would valiant be,
‘gainst all disaster,
let him in constancy
follow the master.
There’s no discouragement
shall make him once relent
his first avowed intent
to be a pilgrim.
Whoso beset him round
with dismal stories,
do but themselves confound,
his strength the more is.
No foes shall stay his might,
though he with giants fight,
he will make good his right
to be a pilgrim.
Since, Lord, thou dost defend
us with thy spirit;
we know we at the end
shall life inherit.
Then, fancies, flee away!
I’ll fear not what men say,
I’ll labour night and day
to be a pilgrim.
The Right Honourable Ed Miliband MP, Leader of the Opposition, read from THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS John Bunyan
After this it was noised abroad that Mr Valiant-for-truth was taken with a Summons by the same Post as the other, and had this for a Token that the Summons was true, That his Pitcher was broken at the Fountain. When he understood it, he called for his Friends, and told them of it. Then said he, I am going to my Fathers, and tho’ with great difficulty I am got hither, yet now I do not repent me of all the Trouble I have been at to arrive where I am. My Sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my Pilgrimage, and my Courage and Skill to him that can get it. My Marks and Scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me that I have fought his Battles who now will be my Rewarder. When the day that he must go hence was come, many accompanied him to the Riverside, into which as he went he said, Death, where is thy Sting? And as he went down deeper he said, Grave, where is thy Victory? So he passed over, and all the Trumpets sounded for him on the other side.
MADRIGAL Performed by Stephen Benn
THE TRIBUTE by David, Stephen, Hilary, Melissa, and Joshua Benn
The Reverend Dr James Hawkey, Minor Canon and Precentor of Westminster, lead THE PRAYERS
The Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin, Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, said:
God of love, Lord of hope, you have created us to care for one another and to search for wisdom: we give you thanks for Tony’s passion for justice, for his integrity and tenacity in refusing to compromise in striving for what he believed to be right.
PRAYERS
The choir sang THE ANTHEM William Harris. John Donne
Bring us, O Lord God, at our last awakening into the house and gate of heaven, to enter into that gate and dwell in that house, where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling but one equal light, no noise nor silence but one equal music, no fears nor hopes but one equal possession, no ends nor beginnings but one equal eternity, in the habitation of thy glory and dominion, world without end. Amen.
The Dean gives THE COMMENDATION
Let us commend Tony to the mercy of God, our maker and redeemer.
God our creator and redeemer, by your power Christ conquered death and entered into glory. Confident of his victory and claiming his promises, we entrust Tony to your mercy in the name of Jesus our Lord, who died and is alive and reigns with you, now and for ever. Amen.
The choir sings IN PARADISUM Gabriel Faure (1845-1924) from Requiem in D minor Op 48
In paradisum deducant angeli: in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem. Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere aeternam habeas requiem.
May the angels lead thee into paradise; at thy coming may the martyrs receive thee and lead thee into the holy city Jerusalem. May the choir of angels receive thee, and with Lazarus who once was poor mayest thou have eternal rest.
Music after the service:
The Red Flag O Tannenbaum, traditional German melody
The people’s flag is deepest red,
It shrouded oft our martyred dead,
And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold,
Their hearts’ blood dyed its ev’ry fold.
Then raise the scarlet standard high.
Within its shade we’ll live and die,
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer,
We’ll keep the red flag flying here.
Funeral Service details from Bristol Post
Pictures and more details from BBC News