Requiescant in Pacem Aeternam, Brave Friends

• November 11, 2014

In 1915, Canadian Physician Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae buried his friend and fellow soldier on the battlefields of Flanders. World War 1 feels like ancient history, but the haunting words of the last stanza are as real today as they must have been during those dark hours.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

On this day of Remembrance, those of us who intend for and celebrate BodyWHealth understand the price paid by those who did not return, those who returned in pain, and those who put their bodies at risk every day to guard our freedom. I cherish freedom more than my BodyWHealth.

Please pause in your busy life for 5 mins and push the play button below to listen to the Russian Kontakion for the departed sung by the St Paul’s Cathedral Choir in honor of brave men and women all around the world.