On April 10th in Boston, Massachusetts, the Bishop Emeritus of Savannah, Bishop Boland, blessed wreaths and rose petals which will be taken tomorrow by the US Coast Guard to the site where over 1,500 people perished on a cold night one hundred years ago when the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg and sunk.
Below is Bishop Boland’s beautiful prayer and tribute to all those who perished on that fateful night.
As her name proclaimed she was Titanic, the greatest marvel of marine engineering in a new century suffused in optimism and the proud standard bearer of an island seagoing nation whose command of the oceans had created a worldwide empire.
(Some said she was unsinkable and there were those who saw in this massive creation of human progress a subtle challenge to our belief in an unseen God).
She was long and sleek, crowned with four towering funnels, designed to slice through ocean waves, drawing peoples and continents together while shrinking the sea lanes of the world.
On her maiden voyage she finally sailed from Queenstown in Southern Ireland after previously embarking passengers in Southampton and Cherbourg.
On April 14, 1912 the vessel steamed confidently into the Atlantic with 2,228 passengers and crew on board. No one could have dreamed what lay ahead. They sailed into the night. The Titanic struck an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. Over 1,500 never beheld another dawn as they drowned in the freezing waters of the North Atlantic. Some hundreds survived, their souls seered forever with memories of a mighty ship impaled by an ever mightier iceberg, the loss of loved ones, the bitter cold, the herculean efforts of the rescuers and the light of morning which slowly illuminated a sea of floating debris, the relics of the White Star sea going palace which was gone forever.
One hundred years have passed and the century has not dimmed the memories of those final hours of pain and loss and tragedy. Today we remember them in prayer and commend them to the compassion of a merciful Lord who stilled the winds and calmed the waves of the Sea of Galilee.
We ask the God who created the heavens and the earth to bless these wreaths which will float above the final resting place of the sunken Titanic. It prompts us to lovingly recall the White Star Management, the designers, the builders and the crew of this majestic vessel. We are especially mindful of the passengers and crew who sailed into eternity.
The Titanic never reached New York, the final destination of its maiden voyage. It is said that on its doomed deck the Titanic’s orchestra acknowledged the plight of the passengers as they played, “Nearer My God to Thee”. Factually true or just another legend of a tragic event, an event which has inspired many legends, it can become for all of us an abiding wish that God may remain close to us and we may remain close to Him as we voyage through life seeking a safe harbor and a welcoming shore. AMEN
Below: Pictures of Belfast Harbor, Ireland, where the Titanic was constructed. Today there is a museum at this site memorializing the Titanic’s construction site.
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