June 29 - Royal, Monastic Joy!

          There was so much more . . . from the full ecclesiastical service to the Coronation Chicken, a curried specialty by Constance Spry that was printed in ladies’ magazines world-wide, to the unparalleled fireworks display that went on and on that night as Elizabeth and Philip returned to the palace balcony.  At 10:30 they made their final appearance and Coronation Day was ended.  The partying in the streets went on, but Elizabeth had to get some sleep; she had to be at work in the morning.

          So now, we too, having taken this exhilarating trip through the wonders and privileges of our own royal lives, must take our places inside a more enduring Kingdom.  Our King has made us fit to serve and celebrate the Heir to all the glories of heaven.  We must get to work!  We will be taking a look at the “work” of this Kingdom, examining the “work” of another monastic figure, a savior before the coming of the Savior.

We will ever remember that our first responsibility is to “believe in the One Whom (the Father) has sent.”  This will always be our first work.  (John 6:28, 29)

          So we open the lid to our own “red boxes” . . . the blood-colored ones . . . with our own ciphers on the lid; what does yours say?  We will today read this first correspondence of our newly crowned and anointed lives . . .

God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered; and those who hate him shall flee before him! As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away; as wax melts before fire, so the wicked shall perish before God!  But the righteous shall be glad; they shall exult before God; they shall be jubilant with joy! (Ps 68:1-3)

On the Balcony at Buckingham Palace

Rotherham Web

June 28 - Almost Home

          The Queen took up her crown again, and she was the only Monarch in modern times to wear it during the entire service following the Communion.  All those rare and precious gems made it very, very heavy.

          She returned to her Throne, and the Archbishop spoke the words of blessing and dismissal.  Just like the end of any church service!  The “Gloria” was sung, and the “Te Deum,” and then the trumpet fanfare began afresh . . . trumpets, organ, choir and orchestra . . .

          “O Lord, save thy people, and bless thine inheritance!

          Govern them: and lift them up forever!”

          Now the swords began to move beside her, born again by her ministers, and the Archbishop led the way, and Elizabeth rose and passed out of the Theater and into the sanctuary of St. Edward’s Chapel.  There, at last, she exchanged his crown for the lighter, but no less brilliant and imposing Imperial Crown.  She was divested of all her ceremonial robes and was adorned for the first time with the luxuriant Robe of Purple Velvet, embroidered richly in gold with her own “EIIR” insignia and all the beautiful and symbolic needlework that had taken so many months to complete.  She alone would ever wear it.

          In her right hand she bore the Sceptre with the Cross, and in her left, the Orb.    Her Coronation gown was visible again, and as she traversed the length of the Abbey, surrounded by columns of honor, she sparkled like a thousand stars, even to the diamonds at her ears.  Even on the black and white film, not yet governed by every degree of precise film-making, glittered and danced with the play of light.  

Glancing for one moment at the Throne where she had so lately sat, she began her long trip home.  

Oh Lord God, that we your people would step into and ever travel the road toward our own home, and in the brilliance of Your Majesty.  Blessed be the name of our God and King forever and ever more.

In Procession to the West Door

Rotherham Web

June 27 – Come Ye Before Him and Rejoice!

          Now, and for the first time during a Coronation service, as the organ lifted up the melody to the “Old Hundredth” . . . Psalm 100 . . . the voices of all those in attendance began to sing, “All people that on earth do dwell . . .”

All people that on earth do dwell,

Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.

Him serve with fear, His praise forth tell;

Come ye before Him and rejoice!

          Rejoice they did, as Elizabeth made her way with the Bishops to the Altar.  She relinquished the Sceptres and her new Crown, and presented an ancient oblation of one altar cloth and a wedge of gold.

          The new Duke of Edinburgh joined her.  The only reference made to him during the ceremony occurred as the Archbishop prayed for him, especially blessing the dignity and honor of his service in the Name of the One to whom belong all power and dignity.  Elizabeth and Philip were taking communion together at the altar of her crowning.

As they knelt in prayer, the atmosphere changed once more in the Abbey.  The cameras were turned off during their sacrament.  The glory and splendor of the Coronation bowed deeply before the glory and splendor of this Communion, and Philip and Elizabeth were alone with God.   

A Crowning Communion

by Rotherham Web

June 25 - Of Crowns and Crosses

          Brian Barker has captured a moment in time for us in his splendid book.  When the Queen Was Crowned:

          “As Baron Mowbray came slowly backward from the Homage, silence fell briefly on the Abbey.  The ceremony of the Coronation was over.  The Queen had been crowned as Alfred was crowned, anointed as Edgar had been anointed, had been sworn as the Lion Hearted had once been sworn, and had received the Homage in the words and form in which the Lords of the Council had knelt to do their Homage to the first Queen Elizabeth.  I think that all of us there who looked towards the young Queen Elizabeth, crowned and golden, felt that something very important, very old and sacred, had been consummated in that place.”

          In vain would we in Cor Unum spend these many days investigating an ancient ceremony, an Anglo-Saxon monarchical rite, if it were to make us wish we could grow up to be princesses . . . or kings and queens on the earth. 

          Yet there was a day, a time, when something more ancient, something eternally sacred, something of consummation far more holy and secure, happened to us.

          A few more days, beloved . . . for a few more days, let us gaze upon that day and time when we were crowned with the Crown of Righteousness which Jesus Christ fashioned on the cross of our shame.

Elizabeth in Garter Robes

Pietro Annigoni

June 21 - Loyalty

          After Philip had paid his homage to his new Queen, Elizabeth’s uncles came.  The Dukes of Gloucester and Kent, her father’s brothers, came and presented themselves before her.  This . . . is not easily understood.

          Then the Duke of Norfolk, and with each successive degree of lordship, the dukes that shared that degree repeated the words of oath and loyalty that were spoken at Elizabeth’s feet, until all that was royal in the land had vowed to defend and serve this young Monarch.  The very next in succession, however, the young Prince Charles in his immaculate white coronation suit, had grown fidgety and had been quietly removed.

          What would it be like to know that one was . . . shall we say, 17^th in line for the same throne upon which Elizabeth sat?  Or 34^th?  Or third?  All the peers of the realm have their order of descent.

          Aren’t we glad, here in Cor Unum, that we are, each and all of us, only once removed, and in Him . . . we are not removed at all.  We are seated at the right hand of God, enthroned in heavenly places in Christ Jesus our Lord.

          Recognition, Anointing, Investiture, Proclamation, Crowning . . . we are not removed at all.  The more momentous matter might be . . . did we wake up this morning to reign and rule with our Lord Jesus Christ?  Will we, today, be about our Father’s business just as He was, saying what He heard the Father say, doing what He saw the Father do.

          To this day, Elizabeth is known to say, “This is what my father would have done,” and when she makes that observation, she is constant in her decisions, and at peace. 

In the Throne Room - With the Family!

Rotherham Web

June 20 - Making One Another Great

          A right understanding is one of the greatest faculties any of us can ever obtain.  Paul prays for the Ephesians that they might be given a “spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of (Jesus,)” and that their eyes may be opened to know what are “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe.”

          Elizabeth and Philip would need that kind of wisdom and understanding. 

          She sat upon a throne, high and lifted up, and all the regalia of State and Majesty had come to her, and from the altar of God.  The Archbishop himself had bowed before her.  The ancient crown of St. Edward was upon her head and robes of splendor adorned her.

          Philip had to remove his coronet and leave it with Master Duncan Davidson on the scarlet cushion before mounting the dais to kneel before his wife.  He had scarcely seen her face since entering the Theater, but she had for him a very small, soft smile.  He who had held her hands through the ordeal of her father’s death, now placed his in hers and swore to be her “liege man of life and limb, and of earthly worship; and faith and truth I will bear unto you, to live and die, against all manner of folks.  So help me God.”

          He stood and leant forward to touch her crown . . . and kiss her cheek . . . before walking backward down the steps to regain his own coronet.  One wonders what Philip might be able to teach us in Cor Unum about the ministry of making sure each marriage partner fulfills the ministry God has given.  He, who would almost certainly have been the King of Greece had that monarchy survived, has certainly helped make sure Elizabeth fulfilled hers.

 

"The End of the Day"

Rotherham Web

June 14 – Master Duncan Davidson

          A boy, clad in white and red livery approached the throne.  He was carrying a cushioned stool.

          He made is obeisance to the Queen and climbed up the stairs before her, where he placed the stool at her feet.  Then, with practiced precision, he stepped backwards down the stairs and took up another cushion in his arms and stood at royal attention.  Master Duncan Davidson had done his part to perfection.

          But . . . it wasn’t over. 

          The Queen handed the two scepters to the lords who had born them in procession, and she removed the glove.  Her hands must now be free to hold the hands of others.

          Even after ten centuries of repetition, the words of homage did not sound dry and crusty in that setting.  Archbishop Fisher came up the stairs and knelt before Elizabeth who had so recently knelt before him, and now he spoke not blessing but devotion:

          “I, Geoffrey, Archbishop of Canterbury, will be faithful and true, and faith and truth will bear unto you, Our Sovereign Lady, Queen of this Realm and Defender of the Faith, and unto your heirs and successors according to law.  So help me God.”

          All the bishops, kneeling in their places, repeated the words with him.  State bowing before God, and God’s ministers pledging their devotion to the Realm.  Not a bad system, when we think about it.

Phillip's Obeisance, His Honor to Protect and Defend