Day Thirty-Two - Royal Rejoicing

         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 along,

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 there.  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.  

Then 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, crowned and with her Scepters, 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 beautiful “Te Deum,” and then the trumpet fanfare began afresh … trumpets, organ, choir and orchestra … all rejoicing!

         Now the swords began to move beside her, and born again by her ministers, with the Archbishop leading 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 would never wear St. Edward’s Crown again, but no need!  She was Queen, she is Queen, she is crowned, she is Majesty.  She was divested of all her ceremonial robes and was adorned for the first time with the luxuriant, six-foot 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.  Before it was completed, everyone at Ede and Ravenscroft, down to the charwomen, had put in a single stitch, a thread overlaid with gold.

         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 on the black and white film, not yet governed by every degree of precise high definition, her gown and jewels and crown glittered and danced with the play of light. 

As she reached her carriage a shout arose as if it would crack the mortar between the Abbey’s ancient stones . . .

A new Elizabethan era had begun, and the rejoicing was tumultuous, deafening, along the route back to the Palace.  It was raining again, but her happy subjects would not be denied.

         How riotous was the joy in heaven as we were received into the Kingdom of God, to reign and rule with His Majesty, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus of Nazareth, Only Begotten of God Almighty?  Angels, mighty and splendid, rejoiced for us and for the joy of their Sovereign, who wanted us unto death by crucifixion.

         Our time together has come to an end.         There was so much more . . . from the Coronation Chicken, a curried specialty by Constance Spry, the recipe for which hit women’s magazines all over the world.  There was the admonition that had gone out to all royal and government servants, that they would “abstain” for forty-eight hours before the event, and not from alcohol alone!  We smile, but it lets us know, this was for them all a most holy day.  And there was Winstone Churchill, her Prime Minister, lingering awhile as others found their places for the recessional, looking about him, taking it in, alive in the history of his nation.

         The Regalia was ready to be packed with great care, under guard, and returned to the Tower of London.  St. Edward’s Crown would remain there until her funeral, when it will adorn her casket.  Then, after months of planning and preparation, the next royal head will wear it on just such a day. 

As Elizabeth had been given a few moments in St. Edward’s chapel before her recessional and return to Buckingham Palace, we have just a few last moments together.  The celebration was just getting underway in London, and it would go on until late into the night, with fireworks and a last appearance on the balcony to mark the close of this magnificent event.  Her Majesty would awaken the next morning, the Monarch of her realms, under oath, anointed, and empowered to serve and defend her peoples as long as she lived – in short, to be their Queen.

         We may awaken tomorrow to live a royal life, if our understanding is true!  In fact, if our understanding is true, we must.  While she will never again wear St. Edward’s crown, we may take our diadems, the kindness and compassion of the Lord, from our bedside and put them on, never leaving our chamber without them!  There will be splendors seen by those with eyes to see, deeds of mercy and costly sacrificial gifts of loving kindness and compassion and faith.  She will never again wear the Colobium Sidonis or the Supertunica or the Imperial Mantle, but we will be filled with joy, abiding in hope, clothed in the beauty of holiness.  Majesty will be seen in us, and others will know it is a majesty bequeathed, not usurped, humble and grateful, not haughty or selfish or rude.  All this in tedium, in trial, in difficulty, in small victories and large challenges, just as the Queen has known, but all the while, we will bear a glory, for as it is written,

 “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.  (Daniel 12:3) and Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.”   (Psalm 34:5)

Day Thirty-One - 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.  

         Elizabeth's beloved husband came next.  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 about the importance of making sure each marriage partner fulfills the ministry God has given.  He, who was in line for the throne of Greece had that monarchy survived, has certainly helped make sure Elizabeth fulfilled hers.

         After Philip had paid 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.  The throne had not come to them; they came to bow before law, tradition, and sovereignty.

         Then the Duke of Norfolk, and with each successive degree of lordship, the dukes came and repeated the words of oath and loyalty that were spoken at Elizabeth’s feet, until all that was noble 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 from the royal balcony.

         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.

We are, each and all of us, only once removed, and in the Lord our Savior, we are not removed at all.  We are seated at the right hand of God, enthroned in heavenly places in Christ Jesus our Lord, and He has come to take His seat on the throne of our hearts.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-3, NIV)

         The momentous matter is before us . . . 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, paying unfailing homage to the finished work of Jesus Christ.

         Elizabeth was known to say, “This is what my father would have done,” especially in the early days, and that was wisdom, for he was wise, and it kept her at peace while she found her footing. 

         Jesus is our footing, and the pathway for our feet.   

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.”

         There was a day, a time, when something more ancient, something eternally sacred, something of consummation far more holy and secure, happened to us.  Let us this day and from this day, ascend to that throne where we have been made welcome.  Let us regain our crowns at the Lord’s feet and, in the paths we walk on earth, walk no more as mere men.  (1 Corinthians 3:3)  Amen.

Wedding photo,

Prince Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh

public domain

Day Thirty – “Be Strong and of Good Courage”

         The bells in the north-west Abbey tower are pealing wildly, and ‘by signal given’ the mighty guns at the Tower begin to fire.  The millions of souls on the streets are cheering “God Save the Queen!  God Save the Queen.”  Archbishop Fisher lifts the ancient crown very high; it seems suspended in air for a moment, and then . . . it rests where it belongs, on the head of the Sovereign of the Realm, the fortieth from William the Conqueror, but at least the 63^rd from the very first rulers of the British Isles.

When the tumult in the Abbey finally began to recede, the Archbishop spoke these words that had been spoken over those who had sat where she was sitting since 973 . . .       

 

“God crown you with a crown of glory and righteousness, that having a right faith and manifold fruit of good works, you may obtain the crown of an everlasting kingdom by the gift of Him whose kingdom endureth forever.”

From the first entries in this little volume, we have been moving toward this day.  We spoke of traveling through life, crowned with lovingkindness and compassion, as Elizabeth wore the George IV diadem to her Coronation.  St. Edward’s crown, magnificent upon her royal head, is to us that other crown, the one which we are yet to wear.

Might not there have been a faithful little housewife, a humble coal miner or gardener or cobbler or bank treasurer who knew, as the moment came at last, that their moment would come some day, when they would have crowns of righteousness to lay at the feet of Jesus?  Without doubt, such thoughts must have filled the hearts of many, those who knew their Bibles, who knew that a royal heritage was not Elizabeth’s alone.

         As the cheering went on in the streets, one jubilant crescendo after another, the choir inside the Abbey took up a ten century-old anthem, the “Confortaré” of King Edgar’s day of enthronement.

         “Be strong and of good courage,” they sang.  “Keep the commandments of the Lord and walk in His ways.”

         If ever she had been her own woman before, that life had come to an end for Elizabeth, but she willingly gave herself to the Recognition and the Anointing and the Investiture and the Crowning . . . not at all far removed our lives, rightly lived, for we are “bought with a price, and we are not our own. (1 Corinthians 6:19 and 20)

         Now the Archbishop, in his full ecclesiastical splendor, pronounced the Benediction over Elizabeth and the Peoples of the Commonwealth during this reign. 

         An honor guard of peers of every degree was forming up the steps to the throne. 

At earliest coronations, and according to the Liber Regalis, the Sovereign was to be enthroned at some height, where he would be visible to the people, and he was lifted, literally carried, to the throne.

Elizabeth rose from St. Edward’s chair, facing the congregation for the first time since the Recognition.  She looked so small and so strong and so delicate and so determined.  She mounted the five steps, and by simply reaching out to touch her as she turned (and to help her with the yards in length and pounds of weight of her robes,) they “set her” upon her throne. 

“Stand firm and hold fast from henceforth the seat and state of royal and imperial dignity . . .” said the Archbishop.

“ ‘Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong . . .’, and ‘Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free . . .’, said the emissary of the Bishop and Guardian of our souls.

“Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and my crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.’”  (1 Cor. 16:13, Galatians 5:1, Philippians 4:1) 

Day after day we have seen that we have a rightful place . . . a necessary place . . . in the Kingdom of God, and thus in history.  This is what Elizabeth saw and believed on behalf of her nation, and although our history is lived out on a very small stage, it is still recorded in heavenly annals.

We are lifted up to take our place at the right hand of God. (Colossians 3:1, 2)  Should we fail to do so, families and churches and governments, and nations which are comprised of these, will fail.  Our reign will be lost and the Kingdom of God will not prosper in our sovereign care, for caring is sovereign, as Elizabeth knows so well.  These thirty-two days together are about the majesty of caring enough to make sure we live according to the royal law of love.  This will require diligence, effort, perseverance, planning, the willingness to be misunderstood, and sacrifice.

The Queen went out from Westminster Abbey to return to work the next morning, a grueling schedule, an unbending regime, a heavy burden of responsibility.  All the Regalia and all the Vestments were returned at close of day to the Tower of London, and the Queen returned to her desk, her “boxes,” delivered twice daily, every day, of official correspondence,  her meetings and briefings and public appearances.

We have seen Her Majesty, seated in splendor upon her Throne, but when the new day dawned, she was, as before, one of the hardest-working women on earth, now consecrated to every effort, every difficulty and decision, and yes, every sacrifice.  She has made a point of making others feel that their work and service matters supremely.  Her life tells us: if we will do what we have been given to do with all our hearts, persevering in all trial and all affliction, if we will continue in peace and goodwill, trusting in God and doing what is right, we will not fail of the majesty of our calling. 

She has not failed.  She has triumphed, and so shall we, for Christ is our life, and His love never fails.  We are crowned and robed with it, vested with faith and hope, possessing the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and wearing the Lord’s signet … “I am my Beloved’s, and He is mine”  (Ephesians 6:17 and Song of Solomon 6:3)

This remains … we may take the seat of sovereign care, where we will bear the burdens of others and so fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2,) casting our own care upon Him Who cares for us (1Peter 5:6, 7.)  This is majesty . . . this is the wearing of the royal robes and the possession of the almighty scepter. (Psalm 125:3)  This is the day-to-day measure of a life that will one day be crowned on high.  (Revelation 2:10)

Tomorrow and the next day, we will see the last and vital parts of this ceremony.  Today, we are crowned in beauty, robed in splendor . . . even if all that others see is that we took time with them, that we maintained a happy hope, and that we found our joy in the life we live in our Savior, the Humble King of Kings and Lord of All.

portrait by,

Sir Terence Cuneo, 1953

Day Twenty-NIne - Privileged Sight

“The still figure in strange golden vestments seemed to have receded into a time far remote from our own.  She was like an image in a hieratic ikon, a page from an old richly illustrated manuscript . . .”  These are the words of Brian Barker, O.B.E., who stood among the very few alive on the earth who were able to see Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, as she sat, resplendent, in King Edward’s chair. 

There were eight thousand royal and other invited guests in attendance, ringed about on the streets of London by three million more, but Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was alone before God and His representatives, receiving beautiful and priceless relics of coronation antiquity.  In fact, she was accepting something much, much more beautiful and without price.

         Elizabeth was accepting responsibility before God.

Hers was to care for a nation, the answer to a calling that some say has become merely emblematic, yet her calling makes England . . . England!  Those who line the street to meet her when she steps out of her limousine will bow or curtsey to her, some wearing business suits and some in blue jeans.  When she smiles at them, they beam a happy, privileged response.  They did then; they do still.  She is a beautiful woman, particularly beautiful in her devotion to duty, because her people are her duty.

         Brian Barker wrote . . . “The silence in the Abbey was intense.  The Queen was sitting stiffly upright in the old high-backed chair, a figure of shining gold with the jeweled Sceptres in her hands.  At that moment we saw her as no one would ever see her again in her lifetime.  She was remote from any familiar conception of royalty  . . .”

Precisely.  This was a moment in time that transcended earthly majesty, though it was replete with it.  Elizabeth was clothed in an actuality of consecration to God and duty toward man that none of us will ever experience, sartorially or ceremonially, but she was not gowned or vested with more salvation, more unction, greater anointing or responsibility than is ours for the calling with which we have been called.  We are vested with the promises of God, clothed in Jesus Christ and robed in righteousness. 

As was true of Elizabeth in that moment, our splendor may not be seen by all, and seldom is our consecration put on view, but it is as real as was Her Majesty’s, and it is eternal. 

In our Lord’s Majesty, and in His humility, we bear the glory of royal and eternal love and sacrifice. 

*****

The Peers of the Realm, those with royal connections by birth and bequeathment, had brought their coronets to the Abbey, but they were not wearing them.  They had come in their scarlet robes, with rows of ermine (or rabbit if necessary) depicting their rank, but their coronets had been left in the care of their pursuivants.

         These youngsters now entered the Theater, bearing the noble headgear.  Their colorful uniforms were a medieval splash in the gold and scarlet arena.  With a bow, they presented to the titled owners the symbols of their royal dignity and their subservience to The Crown.

         The Archbishop was at the Altar.  He lifted St. Edward’s Crown high, and it responded with a flash of diamonds and rubies and emeralds . . . gemstones so large that it would take all the carats at a large jewelry store and more to equal their weight . . . and, setting it back upon the Altar, he blessed it.

         “Bless we beseech thee this Crown, and so sanctify thy servant Elizabeth upon whose head this day thou dost place if for a sign of royal majesty, that she may be fitted by thine abundant grace with all princely virtues.”

         The Archbishop came down from the Altar, and the Ministers of the Church came with him.  The Dean of Westminster was bearing the Crown on a scarlet cushion, two tiny gold stars indicating the front to guard against the backward placement that had occurred at Her Majesty’s father’s Coronation.  All those given on earth to represent heaven’s glories now approached where the young woman sat, seventeen months Queen, now to be crowned and enthroned.

They stood before St. Edward’s chair where Elizabeth sat motionless.  The Archbishop lifted the Crown again, very high, the sleeves of his robes falling back; no one breathed.  Then it was done.  The Crown descended and rested on Her Majesty’s head.  A wave of motion swept over the sections of the peerage as they placed their own coronets upon their heads, noble because she is royal.  The cry rang out, “God Save the Queen!  God Save the Queen!  God Save the Queen!”

We pray that Elizabeth may, in the purity of heart and purpose that God gives, that He had in mind when He saw her, sitting alone and unobserved, obtain His secure blessings for the throne and nation of England and its Commonwealth partner nations.  As God saw her heart on that day, as He sees her even now, and as He sees all those whose hope is in Him, may He openly reward us with a revival in our hearts and in our leadership, in our homes and in our governments in this hour. 

No potentate on earth is clothed in more splendor or vested with greater privilege than we, and none hold more power and authority than do those who obey the voice of God and walk with Him, in the fellowship of His Spirit.

Amen.

photo - Rotherham Web

Day Twenty-Eight - Two Scepters, One Glove, Mercy Triumphant

         In a moment, Queen Elizabeth will be holding both the Royal Sceptre and the Rod of Mercy and Equity in her grasp.  She will be fixed and transfixed by the power she holds in her hands, the power to bless and protect.  Others are brilliantly clothed, others wear robes and mantles and sparkling jewels, and in the moment when St. Edward’s crown in placed upon Her Majesty’s head, the peers may don their coronets, but only the Queen will sit enthroned with double-fisted authority.

         Today, all that authority is vested by the people and worked out in Parliament.  Yet, by the people's choice, warrants and medals are issued in her name.  Warriors fight and postal workers deliver the mail in her name.  They choose to honor and respect Her Majesty’s majesty.  Very little of what she does, very little, comes of her own volition, but everything she does issues from theirs.  She has much less power than an American President, though he may wish he had nearly as much influence.

         Before the Rod and Sceptre are delivered from the Altar, as has been done from antiquity, she receives a Glove.  Lord Woolton, one of the newest peers at that time, came and knelt before Elizabeth and presented to her a glove for her right hand, the symbol of the abolished Danegeld.  This glove reminds her, even in such a glorious moment, superlative beyond measure, to have a gentle hand in taxation.  In this ceremony within the Ceremony, barons of old had kept their place in the Coronation in perpetuity, reminding the Monarch that without their supervision, their management of lands and lakes and laborers, there would be no England over which to rule.

         No British monarch can set or establish taxation in this day, but once again, at the Coronation, Majesty represents fealty to the people.  Elizabeth and her family have further taken only very paltry cost-of-living style honorariums from the government, considering the expenses of their travel, entertainment, staff, and such matters, and the Windsors have themselves submitted to taxation.

         Sometimes, in the places where we reign, be it over pre-school children or five-star financial conglomerates, sometimes what we DO NOT ASK of others will tell our tale.   

     

         The Royal Scepter, the Scepter With the Cross, was presented to Elizabeth simultaneously with the Scepter of Mercy.  The first is ornamented with the Cullinan Diamond, Cullinan I, the Great Star of Africa, the second largest diamond in the world.  It was a potent illustration that she was given to reign in the steadfastness of “Kingly power and justice.”  The Rod with the Dove, bespoke the powerful injunction that justice was to be so executed that she would never forget equity and mercy.  “Be so merciful that you be not too remiss; so execute justice that you forget not mercy  Punish the wicked protect and cherish the just, and lead your people in the way wherein they should go.” 

         Elizabeth was still seated in King Edward’s Chair, facing the altar, not the audience.  Not yet enthroned, she was in her rightful, royal place in the high-backed chair where centuries of Monarchs, her relatives of old and of late, had been seated.  At that point in the ceremony, even her husband, Duke of Edinburgh, could not see her face. 

The Swords and the Sceptres, the Orb and Armills, the Spurs and the Ring and the Glove had come to her one by one from the Altar of God.  Her head was still bare; she was wearing emblazoned gold on top of silk on top of linen over beaded and embroidered splendor, but very few saw the calm, resolute, certain, ready, God-fearing humility that those nearest her believed to have been apparent.

Strength and resolve adorned her more majestically than her robes and regalia. She would fulfill her destiny by the grace and in the reverential fear of the Lord.  Clothed in majesty, seated in glorious purpose, having every right to be where she had been chosen to be, she was no usurper. 

All that took place that day, and the essential purpose of this volume, was the extremely evocative representation on earth of heavenly majesty, and that majesty ever and always under God and under Him alone.  Hear these words, then, today, and tomorrow we will see her crowned . . . we are

“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ; grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again into a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  (1 Peter 1:2-5)

We, at the right hand of God in Christ Jesus, are not usurpers, either.



Scepter With the Cross, Wikipedia