A CORONATION PRAYER

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 416, 24 April 1937, Page 2

A CORONATION PRAYER

Thanksgiving for all the King’s ’gifts and graces’’ is expressed in the prayer prepared by the Bishop of Norwich (Dr. Bertram Pollock), with the approval of the Archbishop of Canterbury, for use throughout the Empire and at the Queen’s Hall Coronation Day of Intercession on May 11. It may also be used in churches and in other ways throughout Coronation week. Passages from the prayer include the following:

We address ourselves to the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ at home and abroad, far and near, of every race, in every land, of every language, undsr every‘sky, who are pleased and proud on this happy and blessed day to acknowledge the Sovereignty of George VI., our King Emperor. A worthy and godly estimate of the Coronation involves four loyalties; first our loyalty to God, for the Coronation service lays all at His feet. Our second loyalty is to his Majesty the King, to whom we pledge our allegiance and for whose Person and Throne we have come to pray. Our third loyalty is to our country and Empire, which call for our service as citizens of our own land and of the King’s Dominions beyond the seas. Our fourth loyalty is to ourselves, our best selves as children of God, and to our own high calling; “as man yas received Him to them gave He power to become the sons of God.” We praise Thee for the • King whom thou hast given to us to sit upon the Throne of Thy faithful servant, his father, and through Thy favour to carry forward at home and abroad the works and ways of him whose name he bears; in humble gratitude we acknowledge before Thee the Spirit in which he accept-

ed the heavy task that Thou hast entrusted to him, for his courage, calmness and industry which steadied the nation in time of shock and strain. We thank Thee for the peace and joy of his home, for the simplicity of his way of life, his ease and friendly happiness, his comradeship with the young; and above all, we thank Thee, O Lord, for his upholding of our Christian inheritance, his habit of worship, his love of duty, his devotion to the example of Him Who came not to ,be ministered unto but to minister; for all these gifts and graces granted by Thee to our Sovereign Lord, we thank Thee, O God, the Giver of all good things, through Jesus Christ our Lord. The King represents the one supreme centre of unity. His Majesty is the Head of the growing family. Every member of that family is summoned to take up his own responsibility for the good of the family and for the glory of God. The claims of Caesar and the claims of God are not conflicting: Our loyalty is pledged to a Christian Prince and Ruler. In rendering to him the things which are his, we are accomplishing a part of our duty of rendering to God the things which are God’s. “By Me kings reign, and princes decree justice.”