VE DAY 75: Orange Order calls for barbeques and hosts thanksgiving service as church leaders recall words of Winston Churchill

The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland is inviting the wider Orange family to join together online to watch its thanksgiving service.
By Adam Kula
Published 8th May 2020, 10:29 BST
Updated 8th May 2020, 10:49 BST
The Orange StandardThe Orange Standard
The Orange Standard

This is to take place at 3pm on Sunday, and will be streamed online.

The institution said it will be “a service of thanksgiving, broadcast live on Facebook and YouTube, conducted by our grand chaplains”.

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It also suggests followers stage a ‘plan at-home VE Party’ tomorrow, with afternoon tea or a barbeque.

And as far as today’s events go, the following web address contains links to view many of the national commemorations online: www.orangeheritage.co.uk/ve75programme

FOR EVENTS IN YOUR LOCAL AREA, SEE HERE: VE DAY 75: What is happening and when? Northern Ireland remembers the victory over Nazism three-quarters of a century ago

Meanwhile yesterday, the combined leaderships of the three main Protestant churches and the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland issued a joint statement ahead of today’s anniversary.

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It said: “At 3pm on VE Day, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill, in a national radio broadcast formally announced the news that the war had ended in Europe, but his speech also included this warning:

‘We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing; but let us not forget for a moment the toil and efforts that lie ahead.’

“We must not forget that VE Day was not a day of rejoicing for everyone. For those who lost loved ones in the conflict it had more sombre undertones as they mourned the death of their nearest and dearest.”

They went on to say that “peace is still a costly, precious and fragile commodity – a reality that perhaps we in this place know better than many others”.

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They noted the message of UN Secretary-General António Guterres to warring parties across the world to lay down their weapons, “in support of the bigger battle against Covid-19: the common enemy that is now threatening all of humankind”.

READ FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF THE HISTORIC VE DAY CELEBRATIONS IN BELFAST, WHERE PROTESTANT AND CATHOLIC REJOICED ALIKE:

VE Day: Belfast erupted in joy with burning bonfires, band parades and frisky sailors

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