laudable Practice

O Lord, save the King ... Endue him plenteously with heavenly gifts ... We beseech thee also to save and defend all Christian Kings, Princes, and Governors; and especially Charles our King ; that under him we may be godly and quietly governed ... It was, over centuries, a characteristic of Anglican liturgy. We regularly - daily at Morning and Evening Prayer, and weekly in the Prayer for the Church Militant - prayed for the King. It was understood to be so integral to the Book of Common Prayer that, at the foundation of the American republic, the prayers for the monarch were transferred to the President : O Lord, our heavenly Father, the high and mighty Ruler of the universe, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers upon earth; Most heartily we beseech thee, with thy favour to behold and bless thy servant The President of the United States, and all others in authority; and so replenish them with the grace of thy Holy Spirit, that they may always incline to thy will, and walk in ...

This day being appointed a Fast on our Majesty’s arms against the rebel Americans, I went to Church this morning and read the Prayers appointed for the same. I had as full a congregation present as I have in an afternoon on a Sunday, very few that did not come. Parson Woodforde's diary entry for 13th December 1776 captures something of a feature of Anglican experience over the centuries: civic and national observances often attract a good congregation. Woodforde's words came to mind when recently reading a US Episcopalian critique of such civic and national observances, lamenting the large congregations that services on Independence Day and Thanksgiving Day - what TEC BCP 1979 calls 'National Days' - often attract. This, we are told, represents an enthusiasm for such observances over Christian festivals, contradicting the Christian allegiance to our heavenly homeland, not earthly nations. Against such a view, I think about the parishioners of good Parson Woodforde, gat...

In the course an 1840 sermon entitled ' Prayer and Thanksgiving for Civil Rulers ', preached in the parish church of Iffley, Oxford, on the day appointed to give thanks for the preservation of the life of Queen Victoria after an assassination attempt, Old High divine William Jacobson (received orders in 1830, appointed Regius Professor of Divinity, Oxford in 1848, appointed Bishop of Chester in 1865), expounded "the great Christian duty of praying and giving thanks for rulers and governors": For, remember, however much the form of government may be permitted to vary in different countries, whatever be the alterations in the working and administration of government which may be thought (and thought at times with the best reason) necessary and desirable in the same country, as one generation comes into the place of another, the duty remains as binding as ever, Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. This scriptural understanding, declared Jacobson, was particula...

In the week of 4th July last year, laudable Practice considered how English, Irish, and Loyalist Anglicans responded to the 'American War' , perceiving it as an unjust rebellion against the liberal constitutional order secured by the Revolution of 1688. This year, in the week leading up to 4th July, we turn to those colonial Anglicans who sided with the Patriots. Their understanding of the Revolutionary War was encapsulated in a resolution of the Maryland Provincial Convention on 25th May 1776 : Whereas his Britannic majesty King George has prosecuted, and still prosecutes, a cruel and unjust war against the British Colonies in America, and has acceded to acts of parliament, declaring the people of the said colonies in actual rebellion: and whereas the good people of this province have taken up arms to defend their rights and liberties, and to repel the hostilities carrying on against them ... As the resolution continued, it demonstrated how it had a particular relevance for A...

It has been a night of astonishing scenes at Westminster with reports or jostling, manhandling, bullying and shouting outside the parliamentary lobbies in a supposed vote of confidence in the government. The Deputy Chief Whip was reported to have left the scene saying, “I’m absolutely effing furious, I just don’t effing care anymore,” before he resigned, along with the Chief Whip.  But, we’ve just been told they have now officially un-resigned. The Home Secretary has, however, definitely gone. In short, it is total, absolute, abject chaos. That was how the UK's ITV News introduced the events of last Wednesday.  And that was before the resignation of the Prime Minister, after a mere 44 days in office.   If ever there was a time for the churches of the United Kingdom to be praying for Parliament, it is now.  In the Church of Ireland's BCP 2004, however, the contemporary form of Morning and Evening Prayer has no prayer for Parliament.  Nor is such a pray...

A reflection on praying with the Book of Common Prayer during the time of national mourning and the King's accession. O Lord, save the King. For the last time in my life, I prayed the petition 'O Lord, save the Queen' at Evensong on 8th September. Before Mattins on 9th September, following the example of Anglican clergy in these Islands over centuries at the beginning of a new reign, I carefully wrote into this petition 'the King', and changed the name of the Sovereign in the state prayers.   I was very aware that any Anglican and Episcopalian in the United Kingdom, and praying the daily offices according to the Book of Common Prayer, was doing the same thing.  The new reign was beginning with our prayer for the King across "all the whole realm", a prayer that would be offered each day, morning and evening.   O Lord, save the King. The word has multiple meanings.  Save the King in this time of grief, upholding and sustaining him.  Save the King amidst...

From an article by Canadian political theorist Ben Woodfinden : The Crown is a valuable symbol and it's an institution that demands a lot from its representatives. But the virtues the Crown demands of its representatives aren't just ones that are good for the health and legitimacy of the Crown itself, they are virtues that benefit society as a whole. The stoicism and dignity with which the Queen carries out her duties is precisely what has made her so widely respected and admired. Perhaps one reason she is so admired is that the Queen feels like an increasingly rare figure.  We live in an age when authenticity, self-expression, and emotivism are celebrated often at the expense of any other virtue. The idea that we would allow ourselves to be moulded by an institution that might constrain this is alien to many of us. Yet for our institutions, and society to flourish, we all at times need to practice these older habits and virtues. The Crown is no exception.  This account provid...