Let God Arise
We have witnessed the deaths of our parents; we have seen our children grow up, marry, and produce children of their own. Yet despite this long time and the passing of generations we have never witnessed throughout our lifetime a coronation of a monarch of England and the Commonwealth. The explanation, of course, is straightforward enough: Queen Elizabeth has been the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch.
When her heir eventually assumes the throne he will be invested via the historical Coronation Ceremony. British historian, Nick Spencer provides a description of the coronation ceremony which we have never observed nor witnessed in our lifetime. (The description is of Elizabeth's Coronation Ceremony. One presumes that the next monarch will be a male--either Prince Charles or Prince William.)
The coronation has its origins in a service first used in 973. Although modified greatly since then, it retains the same basic structure, being located in a Christian church, presided by a Christian minister and based on the service of the Eucharist.
According to the most recent precedent . . . the service which, is held in Westminster Abbey, begins with the choir singing an anthem based on Psalm 122. Once seated, the monarch promises, among other things, to 'maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel' and to uphold the cause of law, justice, and mercy. She is presented with a copy of the Bible ('the most valuable thing that this world affords) by the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, who says to her, 'Here is Wisdom; this is Royal Law; these are the lively Oracles of God.'
