From Fr Richard
February 2012
Long may she reign over us!
Dear friends,
The first time I remember hearing our national anthem was as a six year old at an award ceremony held in our local village hall. I was there to receive a book for ‘good and steady progress,’ and at the end of the prize giving everyone had to stand for God Save the Queen. On hearing the words, ‘long to reign over us,’ I had a picture of rain drops coming down, and wondered how the Queen could send rain over us!
This year we will be hearing a lot of our national anthem, not only because of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, but because of the many gold medals which will be won for our country at the London Olympics!
This February starts the special celebrations for the Queen’s Reign, which began on the 6th February 1952, when she came to the throne on the death of her father, King George the Sixth.
Her Coronation, on the 2nd June 1953, was a sort of ‘contract’ in which she pledged herself to God and to the nation. As the St Edward’s Crown was reverently put on her head, the congregation cried out “God Save the Queen.” By the way, the weather on the day was atrocious with rain pouring down, but it didn’t dampen the occasion.
When she was blessed by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, he prayed that the Lord would give her “faithful parliaments . . . wise counsellors . . . leaders of integrity . . . devout clergy, and honest, peaceable and dutiful citizens.” So as the Queen began to reign, we, her people, were also called into a ‘contract’ with her.
So as we give thanks for the Queen’s time on the throne, let us also use this time to celebrate all that is good in the life of our country, and for the example of those who have been faithful in carrying out their duty to God and to the Queen, these past sixty years. Long may she reign, come rain or shine!
God bless.
Father Richard