The Queen attends Thanksgiving Service at St Macartin’s Cathedral
HM Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, has attended a Service of Thanksgiving in St Macartin’s Church of Ireland Cathedral in Enniskillen to mark The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were greeted by The Very Revd Kenneth Hall, Dean of Clogher, and went on to meet The Most Revd Alan Harper, OBE, Archbishop of Armagh andPrimate of All Ireland; The Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson, Archbishop of Dublin and The Right Revd John McDowell, Bishop of Clogher.
The Thanksgiving Service, coordinated by the Lord Chamberlain’s office and attended by a congregation of around 750, was conducted by The Very Revd Kenneth Hall. The Lesson (Matthew 7:1–5,12,24–27) was read by The Rt Hon Peter Robinson MLA, First Minister of Northern Ireland. The Prayers of Intercession were led by the Revd Ken Lindsay, President of the Methodist Church in Ireland; His Eminence Cardinal Sean Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland and the Right Revd Dr Roy Patton, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
The Sermon– text provided below – was delivered by The Most Revd Alan Harper, Archbishop of Armagh, who later also went on to pronounce the Blessing. In his sermon, the Archbishop said: ‘“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them,” Jesus said, “will be like the wise man who built his house upon the rock” – the rock of the Words and the Wisdom of the Son of God. Your Majesty, it is upon that rock that you have builtyour life and answered every call of duty.’
The Rt Revd John McDowell, Bishop of Clogher, led the Diamond Jubilee Prayer, a prayer written at the Queen’s direction by the Chapter of St Paul’s Cathedral for Her Majesty’s Jubilee.
Download a transcript of the Archbishop’s address here
Photo BBC News