QUEEN ALEXANDRA

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 343, 19 March 1910, Page 9

QUEEN ALEXANDRA

AS A CHURCHWOMAN

(By Sarah A. Tooley, in Home Words.)

Queen Alexandra was brought up most religiously in the simple laith of the Danish Church, as both the late , King and Queen of Denmark were devout adherents of their National Church. At the age of sixteen she was confirmed along with her brother Fred- I crick, the present King of Denmark, in the Chapel Royal at Copenhagen, 18th October, ISCO. A year later the betrothal of the young Princess Alexandra to the then Prince of Wales changed the entire tenor of her life, and though she had been already brought up in the Danish faith, it was deemed advisable by her parents that she should now be instructed in the tenets of the, English Church, and she was placed under the religious' guidance of the late Rev. M. S. Ellis, chaplain to the British Legation in Copenhagen. She showed an eager desire to become conversant with the religion of the country which was to , be her own by adoption. ) Queen Alexandra, I believe, regards the late Dean Stanley as peculiarly her spiritual father. It will be remembered that Dr. Stanley was the Song's travelling tutor during his tour in the Holy Land, and he became a great favorite "with his royal pupil's young bride. He was a 'guest at Sandringham during Easter, 1863, immediately after her marriage, and preached the first sermon to which Queen Alexandra listened in the village church now endeared to her , by a thousand sacred memories. Dr. Stanley - administered the first communion to the bridal pair, and in his ■diary gives this most interesting glimpse of the fair communicant's desire for instruction and guidance. "On Easter Eve," he wrote, "the Princess came to me in a corner of the drawingxoom (at Sandringham) with her Prayer-Book, and "I went through the Communion Service with'her, explaining the peculiarities and the likenesses and differences to and from the Danish service. She was most simple and fascinating. ... I was at Sandringham for three days. I read the whole service, preached, and then gave the first English Sacrament to this angel in the palace." From that memorable Easter Sunday forward the Queen has shown herself a terests, though wide and national, have always been centred in the Church life of Norfolk, where the king Is the patron of many livings. The churches of Sandringham, West Newton, and .Babingley have enjoyed her special sympathy. The <lergy of the diocese have always found a helpful friend in the Queen, particularly in connection with their philanthropic efforts, and they are always welcome guests at her table. Scarcely a Sunday passes when their Majesties are in Norfolk without one or another of the local clergy being present amongst their dinner guests. Nearly all the leading divines' of the Church during the past forty years and more have | preached and stayed at Sandringham. The Queen has a deep love for simplicity in -worship, and though changes I have taken place in Sandringham Church since the days when she came there as a bride, and the choir was of ] a most primitive description, it still retains the essential features of a simple homely service at which the family from the Hall and their friends and neighbors mingle for worship. The worst weather does not keep the royal family from church. As soon as her children could reasonably be expected to sit still, the Queen brought them with her, and it was a charming sight to see her in the chancel pew surrounded by her merry-looking boys and girls. The Queen was a very active helper in Church matters to the Rev. W. L. Onslow, so many years the beloved rector of Sandringham,' and she Telied greatly on him for the religious training of her children. He instructed them in the Scriptures and catechism, and was' a source of great spiritual help and comfort to the Queen during their early years. Sometimes one or another of the young princes and princesses was allowed to choose a hymn for the Sunday morning service as a reward for attention to their Scripture lessons. It was a great joy to the Queen when one after another of her children was' confirmed, and in the year of her silver wedding, 1888, she took the Communion with all of them at her side. On that occasion she gave her elder son a little devotional book, and wrote in it—"Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling." And also—

"'Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, 0 Lamb of God, I come."

Some four years later, when that idolis'ed son lay dead, the bereaved mother, as she turned from placing flowers on his breast, to the table at I Ms bedside; saw the little book in which I those words of simple faith had been! written, and it comforted her to fee} that he did cling to the Cross. Our beloved Queen has had much sorrow mingled with the joys of life, and in more than one great crisis she has poured out her soul to God in the little church at Sandringham. It was there that she knelt in humble gratitude when the King had passed the turning-point of his almost fatal illness in 1871; there she wept over the grave of her youngest born, the infant Prince John; and there she strove to utter the words "Thy will be done" when her eldest son was taken. "Skilled gardeners tell us," wrote the late Canon Fleming on one occasion, "that the most mellow fruit is not that which has been ripened in the full blaze of the sun, but that which lies under the shade of leaves which shield it from the burning heat. So it has been with oar Queen. Alexandra. God brought her to us in all the sunshine of youth, but the riper side of her character was matured in the shade, under the leaves of sorrow. This is the purpose of God. This is the way in which He proves that He loves us. He brings His children into trials that they may minister to others." It has' always been a great pleasure to the Queen to help forward the work of the Church, but it would be impossible to enumerate the many occasions on which she has taken a part in public ceremonials. During the past year or two she took a special interest in the inauguration of Southwark Cathedral and of Liverpool Cathedral, and was present with the King on each occasion.

For many years the Queen was most desirous of seeing an English church erected in Copenhagen, as the only service for British residents was at the Legation, and on l'Jth September, 1885, she laid the foundation-stone of the beautiful little church which is so picturesquely situated on the banks of the Sound. It is the first English church ever erected in Denmark, and is entirely due to the Queen's influence. It was by her wish named St. Alban's, to commemorate England's first martyr, a saint also much venerated in Denmark. Canuto brought relics of St. Alban from Britain, and deposited them in a special shrine at Odens'e. The stone-laying was an historic event. The Queen was accompanied by the King and all her children, togethel with the late King and Queen of Denmark, their present Danish Majesties, the late Emperor of Russia and the Empreßs Marie, and many other royal and distinguished persons. A guard of honor was formed by the bluejackets of the Osborne. The fair hands which laid the mortar on the foundation-stone of St. Alban's were hostages that old enmities were buried in the adjacent waters over which the blue-eyed Vikings with the yellow hair had sailed long ago to invade Albion. Christianity had triumphed over Paganism. Two years) later the King and Queen were present at the consecration of the church by Bishop Wilkinson.

The Rev. Mortimer Kennedy has long been chaplain of the church, and is privileged to communicate with Queen Alexandra regarding its welfare. She invariably attends the morning service when in Copenhagen or at her new villa on the Sound.

While the Queen has been instrumental in extending the influence of the English Church in her native land, she has taken a natural interest in the religious work of her compatriots in her adopted country, particularly in connection with the Danish sailors' church at Poplar, "which is built to represent a village church in Denmark. The Queen presented the ■pastor with a Bible and liturgies, and wrote appropriate Scripture passages on the flyleaves in her native tongue.