Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day (Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day)

For the Victims of Genocide

Almighty God, gracious Father: we remember before thee this day all those who have perished in genocides, especially those who died in the Tamil Genocide. Vouchsafe, we beseech thee, to sear into our memories the story of their peril, lest we forget their anguish and tribulations. Embolden us with thy Holy Ghost to confront those who would repeat such acts, whether brazenly or cunningly; open our mouths to speak for those in peril, lest they perish unheralded as did their predecessors; grant us to stand with the persecuted, and to protect them from their oppressors, that all thy people may dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ’s sake, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

May 18 is the date on which the Sri Lankan civil war ended in 2009. The commemoration is named after Mullivaikkal, a village on the north-east coast of Sri Lanka, which was the scene of the final battle of the civil war.