King Charles III attends Service of Reflection for Queen Elizabeth II
The eyes of the nation were on St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast, on September 13, as King Charles III and the Queen Consort attended a moving Service of Reflection for the Life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
The 800 invited guests came from all backgrounds and faiths, from different political beliefs and from every strand of society, to stand together and reflect in quiet dignity on the life of the late Queen during this national period of mourning.
Yet, despite the solemnity of the occasion, there was also a sense of celebration as the new King paid his first visit to Belfast – and indeed Northern Ireland – as monarch.
Across from the Cathedral, representatives of different charities and groups that had been honoured with the patronage of the Queen had waited in the September sunshine for several hours to get a glimpse of the King and Queen Consort. They were rewarded with smiles and handshakes from the Royal couple before they headed inside St Anne’s, and again when the service ended.
On–the–ground preparations for this historic service at Belfast Cathedral had been ongoing since the announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth on the previous Thursday evening. Brass had been polished, woodwork dusted, chairs positioned. The BBC had moved onsite, their equipment installed in such a way as to unobtrusively livestream the entire service.
As the Dean of Belfast is currently on medical leave, the honour of leading the service fell to the Bishop of Connor, the Rt Rev George Davison, with the sermon delivered by the Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Rev John McDowell. (Download an Order of Service).
The Royal couple were welcomed outside St Anne’s by the Lord Lieutenant for the County Borough of Belfast, Fionnuala Jay–O’Boyle, who presented dignitaries including the Lord Mayor of Belfast, the Sheriff of Belfast, the Chief Executive of Belfast City Council, and the Bishop of Connor.
Honoured guests already inside included British Prime Minister Liz Truss; Irish President Michael D Higgins; Taoiseach Micheal Martin; local politicians and leaders in public life.
As they entered the Cathedral, Bishop George introduced the King and Queen Consort to faith and community leaders from across Northern Ireland, including Bishop David.
A trumpet fanfare heralded the start of the Service of Reflection and as His Majesty the King and the Queen Consort were escorted to the Royal seats, the Priory Singers, who formed the choir at this special service, sang the Introit Confortare by Sir George Dyson.
Greeting guests, Bishop George said they had gathered to commemorate in word and prayer Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and to give thanks for all she had been as Queen and, as such, Head of State for the people of Northern Ireland.
“Within this act of worship, we shall pray for all whose lives have been touched by her Majesty, whether as part of her family circle or more distantly within the wide horizon of her concern, we mark with gratitude the dedication to duty that has exemplified her reign and give thanks for her presence, under God, as a pattern of all that is good and true in human life,” the Bishop said.
The first reading, from Joshua 4, was by Eoin Millar, Northern Ireland Duke of Edinburgh Youth Ambassador, and the second from Philippians 4, by Alex Maskey, Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
The choir sang the Psalm O Sing Unto the Lord a New Song, which King Charles later described as ‘sublime’ when being escorted out of the Cathedral by Bishop George. The choir also sang the Anthem They Are All Gone Into The World of Light! as part of an Act of Commemoration which included the lighting of a candle followed by a silence. The anthem was composed by the late Sir John Tavener, a personal friend of the King.
Archbishop John McDowell began his sermon by speaking of the profound impact news of the death of the Queen had had. “For many of us in the United Kingdom, there were two people whose deaths we could never imagine. Our own and the Queen’s,” he said. “I think that is one of the reasons why the death of Queen Elizabeth was literally felt so keenly by so many people when the news broke on Thursday afternoon.”
The Archbishop focused on the word reconciliation, saying that of the many words used about the Queen and her long reign, it was the one most associated with Queen Elizabeth and Ireland, north and south.
Reconciliation, he said, requires the greatest of all religious virtues, love. “And who can doubt that the Holy Spirit of the God of Peace was present in the mind and in the heart of the late Queen, when she spoke her judicious and generous words, and walked the hard road of reconciliation, in this Province, and island,” the Archbishop said.
Concluding his sermon with words spoken by Mr Valiant for Truth in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, some of which the Queen herself used in her first Christmas televised broadcast in 1957, Archbishop McDowell said: “At her baptism Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was signed on her forehead with the sign of sacrifice; the Cross. And for 96 years in a life which was a prodigy of steady endeavour she offered herself, her soul and body, as a living sacrifice to the God who loves her with an everlasting love.”
Download the Archbishop’s full sermon HERE.
Prayers were led by The Most Rev Eamon Martin, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh; The Rt Rev Andrew Foster, Bishop of Derry and Raphoe and President of the Irish Council of Churches; The Rt Rev John Kirkpatrick, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church; and The Rev David Nixon, President of the Methodist Church.
The final hymn O Christ the Same, was sung to the tune of the Londonderry Air.
The Church Leaders contributed to the Celtic Blessing which closed the service, following the singing of the National Anthem. For many of those present, it was the first time the repeated line in the anthem would be ‘God Save the King.’
The organist was Jack Wilson; console assistant was Dr Paul Berry; and the choir was conducted and directed by Philip Bolton MBE.
With thanks to Karen BushbyPhotocredit for exterior shot: Press Eye