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"Father forgive" - Peace Liturgy from Coventry

Live radio transmission on NDR Info, WDR 5 and rbb

October 09, 2009

The Cross of Nails, Coventry

"Good morning, dear listeners." This Sunday, when radio pastor Jan von Lingen begins his radio worship service, he will be speaking from a special place: the Evangelical "on the air" worship program on October 18 at 10 AM will air a peace liturgy from Coventry Cathedral that will be retransmitted live on NDR Info, WDR 5 and even rbb[1].

The new cathedral stands directly adjacent to the runs of the Gothic structure destroyed by the Germans in the Second World War.  On the night of 13 to 14 November 1940, German airplanes dropped bombs on the city of Coventry. Around 600 people died. The medieval cathedral was heavily hit and burst into flames. Afterwards, three large nails from the roof truss of the old cathedral were found in the rubble. They were put together to form a cross for the congregation while the war was still on and became known as Coventry's Cross of Nails. Below this simple altar cross made of large nails, the congregation gathers and prays for peace.  In the midst of the war, the then cathedral provost had the words "Father forgive" carved into the chancel wall.

Over the years, the ruins of the former cathedral became a memorial.  For nearly 50 years a small group gathers every Friday to recite the Litany of Reconciliation.  Since World War II, copies of the Cross of Nails as well as the Litany of Reconciliation entitled "Father forgive" have become bridges between peoples.  In around 160 congregations throughout the world, there are crosses of nails and exhortations for peace. Coventry has forged many twinships with sister cities that endured great suffering during the war, one of which is Dresden.

Now, 70 years after the war broke out, the pastor of the German Congregation Abroad, Peter Büttner and Canon Adrian Dafern, of Conventry Cathedral will preach in the predominantly German-language radio worship service on 18 October. Harold Nash will also tell his story; he lives in England and is now well over 80. At the time he was in his early twenties. Harold Nash was the navigator on a British bomber. He had just unleashed his deadly cargo over Hannover. On 27 September 1943, his plane was on its way back to England. Suddenly, shots were fired. Harold Nash was sitting in the rear of the aircraft.  His 13th mission. One last look at the pilot and he jumped with his parachute from the plummeting plane into the unknown. He landed near Celle, struggled through four long nights and finally was taken prisoner near Bielefeld. He was then taken by train to Frankfurt. Together with his guard he sat in a compartment with three women dressed in mourning. His clothes were ragged, he was unwashed. By his uniform one could clearly see he was a member of the British air force.  The women whisper. He is afraid. They were traveling through an area that apparently had been bombed the previous night by his British colleagues.  Suddenly, one of the women reached into her bag and pulled out a piece of bread and offered it to him, much to his astonishment. "They suddenly saw in me the son of a mother, and that changed my life," Nash says today. He then spent two years in a prisoner of war camp in Lithuania.  After the war he became an interpreter and teacher of French and German.

Some time later in his church he heard the words of Christ: "If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also" (Lk 6:22). He remembered the faces of the women; he became a pacifist, that is, an opponent of war. "So that we never forget," is his motto. "We couldn't forget the atrocities committed by Germans in the concentration camps. We had to attack Germany," Harold Nash says. "But, the way it was done was a crime.  I don't know how many people I killed with my bombs. I only know that not one single death solved one single problem." And the former soldier and fervent Christian added, "I cannot forget what I did.  Only God can forgive me."

For the musical portion of the service the Cathedral Chamber Choir will sing English liturgical pieces and hymns, accompanied by organist Alistair Reid.

[1]  North German Broadcasting, West German Broadcasting, and Radio Berlin Brandenburg, respctively.




 


 

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