National Day of Remembrance - Rā o Ngā Hōia - ANZAC Day

April 25 commemorates New Zealanders killed in war and honours returned and serving servicemen and women.

Our National Day of Remembrance - Rā o Ngā Hōia - ANZAC day now promotes a sense of unity. People whose politics, beliefs and aspirations are widely different can share a genuine sorrow at the loss of so many lives in war, and a real respect for those who have endured conflict on behalf of the country we live in.

Kia inoi tātou - Let us pray

Remember, O Lord, all those the brave and the true, who have died the death of honour and are departed in the hope of the resurrection to eternal life. In that place of light from which sorrow and mourning are banished, give them rest, O Lord, thou lover of humanity. Amen

From: Prayers for Anzac day services

Recitation of 'The Ode'

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.

Lest we forget!

E kore rātou e kaumātuatia

Pēnei i a tātou kua mahue nei

E kore hoki rātou e ngoikore

Ahakoa pehea i ngā āhuatanga o te wā

I te hekenga atu o te rā

Tae noa ki te arangamai i te ata

Ka maumahara tonu tātou ki a rātou

Ka maumahara tonu tātou ki a rātou

The Ode comes from ‘For the Fallen’, a poem by the English poet and writer Laurence Binon and was published in London in The Winnowing Fan: Poems of the Great War in 1914. This verse, which became the Ode for the Returned and Services League, has been used in association with commemoration services in this country since 1921.

You can download a poster of the Ode for the Fallen HERE

The National Anthem

Sing two verses - first in Māori and then in English. Words and Sign language are included in the following video to sing our own anthem in honour of those who defend our free land. HERE

Resources

ANZAC Day resources from the RSA HERE

Anzac Centenary Memorial, Halswell Rd, Christchurch