\u201cQueen Elizabeth was one of those people in this mortal life who always thought ahead,\u201d said David Lyle Jeffrey, distinguished senior fellow at the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University. When preparing these rites, the queen was \u201cclearly looking for prayers, Scriptures and hymns that made connections she wanted to make for her family, her people and the world. … I think she succeeded brilliantly.\u201d<\/p>\n
An Anglican from Canada, Jeffrey said the events closing the queen\u2019s historic 70-year reign were an appropriate time to explore the \u201cessence of her admirable Christian character.\u201d Thus, the retired literature professor wrote a poem after her death \u2014 \u201cRegina Exemplaris (An exemplary queen)\u201d \u2014 saluting her steady, consistent faith. It ended with these lines:<\/p>\n
\nShe who longest wore the heavy crown<\/p>\n
Knew but to kneel before the unseen throne<\/p>\n
And plead her people\u2019s cause as for her own,<\/p>\n
And there to praise the Lord of All, bowed down,<\/p>\n
More conscious of his glory than her high acclaim,<\/p>\n
Exemplar thus in worship, in praise more worthy of the Name.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
After the \u201cKontakion of the Departed,\u201d Bishop David Conner, the dean of St. George\u2019s Chapel, noted the importance of this sanctuary to Queen Elizabeth. She had worshipped in the Windsor Castle chapel as a girl, sometimes singing in the choir and taking piano lessons with organist Sir William Henry Harris. The queen included some of his music in the committal service.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are bound to call to mind,\u201d said Conner, \u201csomeone whose uncomplicated, yet profound Christian faith bore so much fruit … in a life of unstinting service to the nation, the Commonwealth and the wider world, but also, and especially to be remembered in this place, in kindness, concern and reassuring care for her family, friends and neighbors.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n(OPINION\/@tweetmattingly<\/a>) The queen\u2019s final, intimate Windsor Castle service began where her husband\u2019s had ended \u2014 with the \u201cKontakion of the Departed,\u201d a tie to Prince Philip\u2019s Orthodox roots \u2014 as if one rite was flowing into another.https:\/\/t.co\/5znuc4uyX6<\/a> #QueenElizabeth<\/a><\/p>\n
— Religion Unplugged (@ReligionMag) September 22, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n