Praying for The Queen

I was pleased to see the following announcement from the Bishops of England and Wales:

The Bishops’ Conference requests that on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Sunday 3 June 2012, each parish will celebrate a Mass with prayers to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. During this Mass, the first reading is replaced by 1 Kings 3:11–14 and the Prayer for the Queen, which has been approved by the Bishops, is used after the Post Communion Prayer and before the Final Blessing.

Prayer for the Queen

V. O Lord, save Elizabeth, our Queen.

R. And hear us on the day we call upon you.

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.

R. And let my cry come before you.

V. The Lord be with you.

R. And with your spirit.

Almighty God, we pray,

that your servant Elizabeth, our Queen,

who, by your providence has received the governance of this realm,

may continue to grow in every virtue,

that, imbued with your heavenly grace,

she may be preserved from all that is harmful and evil

and, being blessed with your favour

may, with her consort and the royal family,

come at last into your presence,

through Christ who is the way, the truth and the life

and who lives and reigns with you

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God,

for ever and ever.

Amen

Image: LMS Chairman blog

As the LMS Chairman has pointed out the Domine salvum /salvam fac* has been prayed for the monarch since at least 1815. It was dropped in 1964, the Bishops requesting that prayers for ther Sovereign be included in the Bidding prayers instead - though one suspects that, as in the Church of England, this is more observed in the breach than in the observance.

Under the Use of Sarum the King's name was entered in the Canon after that of the Pope and Bishop ( given there was a silent recitation of the Canon that could have avoided problems in the Wars of the Roses) and the King's name was prominent in the Canon as translated in the 1549 Prayer Book, but it disappeared in 1552 and subsequent reissues. On the continent the use of the monarch's name in the canon also survived in use. This is surely a point where the Ordinarite can set a good example or maintain the Book of Common Prayer state prayers.

Reviving the Domine salvam fac for the Jubilee is fine, but why should not parishes say it as a devotion every Sunday? Why indeed should not the laity recite it as a private devotion? I do - and have done for a while.

* Salvum for a King, salvam for a Queen

The Queen of Australia

The Queen has arrived in Australia on her latest visit to her realm.

The Queen is welcomed in Canberra

This is her first visit since 2006, but some years ago the pundits who were predicting an Australian republic, would have dismissed either visit by the reigning Queen of Australia to the country as implausible. So much for pundits. Statistics suggest that support for a republic is ebbing, with a recent Roy Morgan survey showing support for abolishing the Australian monarchy at its lowest level for two decades.

According to the poll, only 34% of Australians now support establishing a republic - the lowest level since 1991 - while 55 % want to keep the monarchy. The clear defeat of the republican cause in the 1999 referendum was striking.

The constitional basis and position of the Australian monarchy is set out here. What is needed is for that position to be consolidated. I think that in past decades the relative coolness of some Australian goverrnments has reduced the number of royal visits - presumably hoping to reduce interest thereby. No doubt a visit by The Queen and Prince Philip, and likely to be followed by one by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will help renew the sense of identity between monarchy and people.

One symbol of that is the Queen's Royal Standard of Australia, adopted in 1964, although as with others used in Commonwealth realms I wonder why The Queen does not simply fly her undifferentiated arms as Queen, as she does in the United Kingdom, and as, I assume, in the case of the various armorial standards of her realms borne at the Coronation.

The Queen's Royal Standard in Australia

Image: Wikipedia

The Irish Presidency

The contest for the Presidency of the Irish Republic appears to be hotting up. The election itself is due on October 27th.

Now as an ardent Monarchist this might at first sight be of little concern to me, save for a sadness that such a post exists at all. I was, however, once assured by an Irish historian that a friend of his had conclusively demonstrated that the 1936 legislation to enact the abdication of King Edward VIII in Ireland had been incorrectly framed, so that he remained King of Ireland until his death in 1972, when the Crown of Ireland automatically descended to his neice, H. M. The Queen....

Meanwhile, and this is the point of this post, my friend Dr Ray Burke, an Orielensis whose doctorate was on Matthew Arnold and the Celt - and whose family from Mayo are from the republican tradition, wrote letter to the Irish Times in the wake of Her Majesty's visit to Dublin. The newspaper did not publish it, but in their default, and at his request, I will:


Queen Elizabeth for President of Ireland, anyone?
To: lettersed@irishtimes.com
Date: Thursday, May 26, 2011, 1:11 PM

Dear Sir,

I've just had the most brilliamt idea. Why should n't the Oireachtas get together and nominate The Queen as President. I'm sure the other candidates would defer to this idea, which would (if she accepted) at a stroke achieve a United Ireland and the goal of the original Sinn Fein, a Dual monarchy.

We wouldnt have to give up our sovereignty and she would n't have to come over to us that often. We could even have a Viceroy in ARAS an Unachtarain, there are enough sub Queens and drama Queens of all genders running around who would accept that office. She also speaks Irish with a better blas than most of our native politicians,.

I'm serious. It would be a symbolic gesture which would be appreciated by all Unionists , southern and Northern. It would n't undermine our Republic since she would be an elective Head of State. We would n't even have to rejoin the Commonwealth, which would be tedious and messy.It would allow us to move a step towards Unionism in achieving a United Ireland, instead of trying to bomb and ethnically cleanse our way, or simply allowing demographics to do our work for us. We talk about Unionism in the North recognising the symbols of Irish nationalism, but what about the reverse?

God Save the Queen, a hUachrtarain na hEireann.


Yours sincerely,

Raymond Burke

All interested email raymondburke@yahoo.com

The arms of the Kingdom of Ireland
as used from the early seventeenth century

Image: Wikipedia

Accession Day

HM The Queen

Portrait in Oriel Hall by Jeff Stultiens 2003

Image: Royal Society of Portrait Painters

Today is the 59th anniversary of the accession of Her Majesty the Queen.

In recent years she has overtaken nearly all of her long-reigning predecessors - Queen Elizabeth I (44.5 years), King Edward III (50.5 years), King Henry III (56 years), King James VI (58 years, and this summer will overtake King George III (59.25). So we are now in 60 Elizabeth II, and next year she will join Queen Victoria (63.5 years) in celebrating a Diamond Jubilee. Of course if you are a Jacobite you may well not recognise her, and cite the longevity of King James III and VIII (65 years).

In addition she has been since December 2007 our longest lived monarch.

I have used this portrait as it celebrates Her Majesty's connection with Oriel. As Sovereign she is Visitor of the College, founded by King Edward II in 1326. It was from Oriel that, as Princess Elizabeth, she went to the Sheldonian Theatre to receive the degree of D.C.L. , and I am given to understand she has been known to refer to Oriel as "my college." The portrait was commissioned by the Provost and Fellows to mark her Golden Jubilee. The choice of asking her to sit wearing the Garter robes was a conscious one by Oriel to stress the fourteenth century origins of both the college and the Order.

The Queen has been a remarkable figure of stability and continuity over almost six decades of change and uncertainty, and exercised her role as Sovereign with skill and sureness of touch.

Long May She Reign!

Happy birthday Ma'am

Today is the birthday of The Queen, and an opportunity to publicly express good wishes as well as loyalty to her. Given the exacting schedule she maintains, and however much practical help and personal care is inherent in the office and system, it is still surprising to think that for several years now The Queen has been the longest lived of our Monarchs.

Monarchy as a system seemingly fuses the office and the person, even if in theory and practice they have at times at least to be distinguished - a reason why everyone interested in history or politics, let alone constitutional matters should read Kantorowicz's The King's Two Bodies.

The Queen's blending of the personalities, her own and that of her Sovereignty, has been seamless, and a central factor in the stability she has brought to the life of this and her other realms over almost six decades.

Long may she reign!