Those worshipping in St. Paul’s today will see that the hymns have tunes named after the four nations that constitute the United Kingdom – Crimmond from Scotland, Londonderry for Northern Ireland, Cwm Rhondda and Blanwaern from the great hymn singing country of Wales, and to represent England a hymn tune known as Westminster Abbey.
Tens of millions of eyes worldwide would have become familiar with Westminster Abbey as the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla (as she now is) unfolded. It may now be the best known church in the world, ranking alongside St. Peter’s basilica in Rome.
The Abbey has so many extraordinary features – the Shrine of St. Edward the Confessor; the burial place of so many kings and queens; the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior; Poets’ Corner where some of the greatest literary giants are remembered.
The Abbey is also home to a staggering array of other memorials to well -known people, celebrities in their own day. I would like to take you to just one such memorial in particular; that of the great 17th Century musician, Henry Purcell. Dido and Aeneas, The Fairy Queen, Come ye sons of art, Hail! Bright Cecilia, the Funeral Sentences and literally dozens and dozens more compositions. He was a 17th Century superstar and he would have had his own fan club as celebrities do today, just not on the same social media.
His memorial stone in the Abbey makes interesting reading, and perhaps points us to something that will enlighten us on the weekend of a King’s coronation. This is how the memorial reads:
Here lyes HENRY PURCELL, Esqr. who left this life and is gone to that blessed place where only his harmony can be exceeded.
These words celebrate a musician at the very top of his game – one might think that no music could be more sublime – yet he has passed to a place where even his music is exceeded – in tune with heaven, and the chorus of the angels and Archangels and all the heavenly host as they glorify the majesty of God.
These memorial sentiments direct us to a right balance in the aftermath of yesterday’s national (UK) celebration of monarchy, with its elaborate religious ceremony.
St. Paul’s Athens congregation is a diverse congregation and we have members who would have been glued to the TV screen yesterday, through to those for whom, understandably, there might not even be muted interest. Such is life’s rich complexity.
Wherever we are on that spectrum I would like to suggest at least two things that we might learn from yesterday’s Coronation ceremony, things that we would be wise to heed and understand.
The first point is this. Purcell’s memorial words assist us with this, and I will put it plainly. King Charles III’s majesty is exceeded by that of our heavenly King, the King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s. However, we need to be a little more analytical.
One of the most solemn moments in the Coronation ceremony is that of the Anointing with the Oil of Chrism. This is a moment so solemn that it is done out of public view a moment when an earthly King is anointed in a sacramental act – in reality not so much a hidden secret, but rather a mystery; a mystery that is announcing something profound about the alchemy of humanity sharing in the glory of God. In His anointing there is an anointing of God’s people.
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