The Gales of November: A Reflection and Prayer on the 50th Anniversary of the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Fifty years ago today, the bell tolled twenty-nine times in Detroit's Maritime Sailors' Cathedral, once for each man lost aboard the Edmund Fitzgerald when the gales of November came early upon Lake Superior.

We remember them today, and all whose lives have been claimed by the Great Lakes, the mariners who trusted their craft to the deep, and those who still labor on those inland seas.

Gordon Lightfoot's ballad still rings with both tragedy and tenderness.

"Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?"

It is a haunting question, one that echoes across time and water. But as people of faith, we dare to answer: the love of God goes into the storm with us. It is not stilled by the wind nor drowned in the depths. The same Lord who said, "Peace, be still," to the raging sea, keeps watch over every vessel, every crew, and every family who waits ashore.

When the "big lake they call Gitche Gumee" reminds us of our frailty, we remember that the Creator set its bounds and holds its depths. When the "gales of November" rise, we are called to remember both the peril and the purpose of those who sail, men and women whose work sustains the life of our region and our nation.

As the church bell once rang twenty-nine times, so today the prayers of the faithful rise again, for courage in danger, for comfort in loss, for mercy that never fails.

A Prayer for the Mariners of the Great Lakes

O Lord Jesus Christ,

who stilled the raging of the sea and saved Your disciples from the storm, receive into Your mercy all who have perished upon the waters, especially the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald and all who have lost their lives on the Great Lakes.

Be near, we pray, to all who work upon those mighty waters today: guard them in every peril, strengthen them in every trial, and grant them fair winds and safe harbors.

When the gales of November rise and the waters roar, teach us to trust in Your providence and to remember that beneath the tempest and beyond the horizon, Your steadfast love endures forever.

Through the same Christ our Lord, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost lives and reigns, one God, world without end.

Amen.

Per Crucem, Ad Lucem, In Fide

Rev. Canon Liam M. Helms

Chancellor and Canon to the Ordinary

The Anglican Diocese of Saint George