Clergy from the Archdiocese of Vancouver were prominent in an ecumenical Choral Evensong commemorating Queen Elizabeth II at Vancouver’s Anglican Christ Church Cathedral Sept. 25.
Archbishop J. Michael Miller, who was unable to attend due to the annual meeting of Canadian bishops in Ottawa, was represented by episcopal vicar Msgr. Gregory Smith. Also in the sanctuary were Holy Rosary Cathedral rector Father Stanley Galvon, vice-rector Father Pablo Santa Maria, and archdiocesan ecumenical officer Deacon Richard Chau.
The service was led by the Anglican bishop of New Westminster, Right Reverend John R. Stevens, assisted by the Dean, Very Reverend Christopher Pappas. Also present were numerous senior Anglican clergy including one of Bishop Steven’s predecessors, Bishop Michael Ingham.
Other Christian ecumenical participants included representatives of the Orthodox, United, Old Catholic, and Lutheran faiths. Interfaith messages and prayers were offered by representatives of the B.C. Muslim Association, Khalsa Diwan Society, the Baha’i faith, and the Unitarian church.
Due to the start of the celebration of Rosh Hashanah, representatives of the Jewish community could not attend, but a message was read from the Rabbinical Association of Vancouver.
The hour-long service began with greetings from Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart and featured an honour guard from Canadian military and Vancouver firefighters. It concluded with the stirring sound of pipes and drums from the Seaforth Highlanders. Music during the service included an anthem written for the 1947 marriage of then-Princess Elizabeth to Prince Phillip.
In the provincial capital a commemorative service took place Sept. 19, starting with a procession from the B.C. legislature’s Parliament Buildings. A Royal Canadian Navy band and a 100-member guard of honour led the procession, with Premier John Horgan and Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin taking part. The procession ended at the Anglican Christ Church Cathedral, where the memorial service was held, with Victoria Bishop Gary Gordon participating.
It struck me as I watched Queen Elizabeth’s funeral ceremony and solemnity and the pomp and pageantry that this is one reason people hate monarchy so much – because it is, where it still exists, inextricably intertwined with Christianity. That is why so many people feel that the Queen’s departure is the end of an era in more ways than one – because she lived as if she truly believed in the efficacy of the “hallowed anointing” she received at her coronation.
The Queen’s funeral called forth the spirit of a different age, and many people found themselves feeling a peculiar longing for it as they realized that the virtues they were happy to mock and despise were actually going to be missed. Capel Lofft put it well at The Critic in his essay “The Queen contra modernity”:
‘I don’t wish to comment on the character of Diana – no doubt in many ways she was a kindly woman with good motivations. But a sort of caricature of the worst elements that could be extracted from her life, or perhaps more accurately her public image – making a spectacle of oneself, ostentatious virtue-signalling, a lack of emotional self-control – has become the model for our culture for 25 years now. One reason why the death of the Queen is so painful and seems to herald such uncertain and disquieting times is because, in our heart of hearts, we’ve all become sick of it. We saw in the Queen one last outpost of the old values that most of us endorse but struggle to emulate because they are counter-cultural and unpopular and difficult to stick to. We embraced a Diana culture whilst deep down we knew that the Elizabeth morality we were leaving behind was superior.’
But goodbye to all that, I suppose. With the Queen gone, the monarchy is uniquely vulnerable to attacks from the post-modernists who wish to tear down one of the last bastions of history and tradition. I suspect that it will survive, but the war for the heart of the West has already been won by the Dianas and Harrys and Meghans of the world. Some, no doubt, will be secretly relieved that the Queen’s example can no longer condemn them by contrast. But for a moment today, the sordid reality show of endless personal pique and trading privacy and family secrets for cash was seen in the light cast by the sunset of the Elizabethan Age, and it looked as cheap and trashy as we all know it to be. We will miss the Queen more than we know.
Jonathon Van Maron is communications director for the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform. He lives in Ontario.
As an “Army brat” in the U.K., I admired the Queen immensely, while always feeling slightly left out due to my faith.
I happened to be in Coquitlam on Sept. 11 and was touched to walk into St. Clare of Assisi Church and see that the overhead had a delightful picture of the Queen, with a quote that Jesus was “an inspiration and an anchor” in her life.
She was a woman of faith and deserves our prayers – despite the irritation I may feel that the lovely old churches we used to see were Catholic once!
Jenny Shaw
Sechelt
