The Prayer for the Queen
V. O Lord, save Elizabeth, our Queen.
R. And hear us on the day we call upon you.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come before you.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with your spirit.
Almighty God, we pray that your servant Elizabeth, our Queen,
who, by your providence, has received the governance of this realm,
may continue to grow in every virtue,
that, imbued with your heavenly grace,
she may be preserved from all that is harmful and evil
and, being blessed with your favour,
may, with her consort and the royal family, come at last into your presence,
through Christ who is the way, the truth and the life
and who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen
Approved by the Bishops' Conference
"Come into your presence" - a strange turn of phrase. Does it refer to what follows her advanced years, the end of the monarchy, or the movement of the royal family into Roman Catholicism? Why not a prayer to bless her continued constitutional service in the furtherance of peace, justice, faith and righteousness?
ReplyDeleteThe lurking ambivalence to the British Constitution and its embodiment in the consacrated person of the Sovereign, and a sort of unspoken and unfocussed republicanism, do the Catholic Church in Britain no favours.
The prayer for the Queen is sung in Latin every sunday at the 11am Solemn Mass at Farm Street.
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