good morning and welcome to canterbury cathedral to the dinery garden on this morning of sunday the 6th of february huge issues across the world huge decisions for leadership to make but i wanted first just to reflect on the fact that the world's attention was for a while turned to the life of a single child in morocco trapped in a well 32 meters deep and that distance separated from him him from his parents as people desperately tried to help by digging down and facing all those difficulties working all the hours of day and night and now the tragedy of little ryan's death is really heartbreaking and it just puts into context all the massive areas that we pray about with our ability to focus also on one human life with regret uh and uh surround his parents and those who are grieving with our love this morning same time this of course is an historic day it's the anniversary the 70th anniversary of the accession to the throne of our queen elizabeth ii and perhaps it's sought by some it's rather wet i'm going to put an umbrella um to be a day of national and uh triumphal thanksgiving in fact that's not how the queen herself is giving a signal for us to remember this day we will reflect back in our reflection later on the events of this day in 1952 but at the same time we are taking the cue from her majesty who is spending the day in quiet reflection with many memories it's the first time she will have had this day in norfolk and we've no public information about where she is it's thought that she's at wood farm where uh prince philip made his his base really in years of retirement with the light for his painting and the sea quite near but at the same time we know that she is in sandringham on the estate there because uh we saw the pictures of the lovely reception which was given yesterday and we can think about that when we start to reflect on this day but she has given the cue that this is a sunday it's uh of course be the first year without prince philip with her and the shared memories of that day in 1952 when he was the new he was the the person who broke the news to her that she was now queen but today of course he is one of those she will be reflecting on and remembering and those are so many private memories as well as public memories of so many events we can't even go there but she's she's given the sign that this will be a day of reflection and for us of thanksgiving for such a long and historic reign of 70 years the beginning of a platinum jubilee when many grand things and celebratory things will happen but for today this is a sunday of reflection and thanksgiving and of our own memories of those years as far back as they go and so we're going to say our prayers and then have our salmon reading and think about that a little bit and then we'll reflect on what this day means with some thoughts about her majesty queen elizabeth ii as well oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise may christ the day star dawn in our hearts and triumph over the shades of night blessed are you sovereign god creator of all to you be glory and praise forever you founded the earth in the beginning and the heavens are the work of your hands in the fullness of time you made us in your image and in these last days you have spoken to us in your son jesus christ the word made flesh as we rejoice in the gift of your presence among us let the light of your love always shine in our hearts your spirit ever renew our lives and your praises ever be on our lips blessed be god father son and holy spirit blessed be god forever the night has passed and the day lies open before us let us pray with one heart and mind does we rejoice in the gift of this new day so may the light of your presence o god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen the night has passed and i think for a while the rain has passed so we can i think dispense with this and maybe we shall need it again it's a sort of day when rain is spitting in the air not too cold but gray now um at this time i'm going to use a special psalm for this accession day and it's psalm 138 i will give thanks to you o lord with my whole heart before the gods will i sing praise to you i will bow down towards your holy temple and praise your name because of your love and faithfulness for you have glorified your name and your word above all things in the day that i called to you you answered me you put new strength in my soul all the kings of the earth shall praise you o lord for they have heard the words of your mouth they shall sing of the ways of the lord that great is the glory of the lord though the lord be high he watches over the lowly as for the proud he regards them from afar though i walk in the midst of trouble you will preserve me you will stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies your right hand will save me the lord shall make good his purpose for me your lovingkindness o lord endures forever forsake not the work of your hands i think i'm being a bit optimistic with the umbrella i see that from the rain on my pages so i will put it up again just to give us a a less damp time and uh i'm crucifying this umbrella but it's actually making it um dry for me let's get this right that will do for now so a special lesson also not in one samuel but in mark's gospel and uh it's actually a lesson that i remember being read at the golden jubilee celebrations of the queen's reign it's taken from mark chapter 10 and we're starting at verse 35 and i'm going to the end of the chapter and james and john the sons of zebedee came up to jesus and said to him teacher we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you and he said to them what do you want me to do for you and they said to him grant us to sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your glory jesus said to them you do not know what you are asking are you able to drink the cup that i drink or to be baptized with the baptism with which i am baptized and they said to him we are able and jesus said to them the cup that i drink you will drink and with the baptism with which i am baptized you will be baptized but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant but it is for those for whom it has been prepared and when the ten heard it they began to be indignant at james and john and jesus called them to him and said to them you know that those who are considered rulers of the gentiles lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority over them but it shall not be so among you but whoever would be great among you must be your servant and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all for even the son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many and they came to jericho and as he was leaving jericho with his disciples and a great crowd bartimaeus a blind beggar the son of timaeus was sitting by the roadside and when he heard that it was jesus of nazareth he began to cry out and say jesus son of david have mercy on me. and many rebuked him telling him to be silent but he cried out all the more son of david have mercy on me and jesus stopped and said call him and they called the blind man saying to him take heart get up he is calling you and throwing off his cloak bartimaeus sprang up and came to jesus and jesus said to him what do you want me to do for you and the blind man said to him rabbi let me recover my sight and jesus said to him go your way your faith has made you well and immediately he recovered his sight and followed jesus on the way the lesson which was read at the jubilee ended for even the son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many and it was read because of course it shows the duty of service in leadership came not to be ministered unto the old version used to say but to minister and one remembers that the queen's senior cabinets officers are called ministers ministers of state with a prime minister and all of those are traditions of service her majesty wanted that red it had time of jubilee the mistake of the disciples james and john was to think that they could sit on the right and left hand of jesus when he came in his glory when he achieved his glory and jesus is saying that you don't know what you're asking it's not the first time the disciples have got it wrong he's tried desperately to tell them what it means to be the anointed one and the lesson of jesus to them is i am among you as one who serves and that must be the way you are and she actually says the kings of the gentiles like to show their authority and their greatness and to make their power felt and no doubt their eyes and thoughts would go to great caesar in rome or even to their own herod uh and um he hello robin hi um he uh he of course was not the best example of good kingship and leadership and certainly not of serving his people but all the time jesus is teaching the disciples in this way and our queen wanted that read at the jubilee well i went on because of course you notice that at the gate of uh jericho and they're on their way to jerusalem and we know what's going to happen in jerusalem and we ourselves are sort of beginning to set our thoughts on the lenten journey and going towards jerusalem um at the gate of jericho sits bartimaeus who physically is blind yet he is the one who is shouting son of david have mercy on me and we're back with that royal line of david and the anointed one who is from the royal line of david showing what true leadership should be son of david have mercy on me and he's confident that jesus will stop well of course he does and turns aside and says call him and the people around him amazed say take heart he's calling you and bartimaeus springs up jesus says say what do you want me to do for you and bartimaeus said uh lord i'd like my sight and um rabbi let me recover my sight is the word given in this translation and jesus said to him go your way your faith has made you well and immediately bartimaeus recovered his sight and followed jesus on the way there's that word again early christians known as followers of the way who was the blind who was the blind man was it martinez or were james and john and the other disciples at that time being blind as to the vocation of the anointed one and at this point bartimaeus receives his physical sight but already there's something deep within him which has registered that here is the one who is the son of david the anointed one who's come and he follows on the way perhaps it reminds us also of those wives at the epiphany time who are often seen as three kings who kneel before the manger and by that experience go home another way but all those things on this day become important so let's think about this day february the 6th in 1952 my memory goes back long enough to remember that day very clearly and i do so because of the reaction of my parents to it i was four nearly five at that time but had not yet started school so i was at home with my mother and it was my father remember no television in those days for us my father coming in and saying have you heard the news and my mother quite naturally said because his face looks so solemn not war declared now that shows the the thing that they had been through in the last 15 years or so shall we say of their lives because they had lived through the second world war with all its dangers a bombs falling very near to the house of blitzkrieg uh and uh all of that which was happening of nights spent spent in shelters in the garden my mother with a my baby sister at that time before i was born and they had been through those war years of danger and fear and violence and conflagration across the whole world and doubts about how the future would proceed particularly in 1940 41 when everything seemed so collapsing in europe and nazism was was finding its way across and here in kent only 21 miles across the channel well they'd lived through that they'd also lived through the severe deprivations of rationing and the life of a country which had been crippled by everything it had had to spend in order to win a battle that needed to be won but now was going to have to make up all of that and so my my mother's reaction was a natural one and father said when she said not war declared no the king is dead and i remember her bursting into tears for george vi our present queen father who died on this day in 1952 suddenly he he'd looked so very ill when he said goodbye to his daughter and you can see that in the the photographs of him waving her and prince philip goodbye as they went on his behalf on a long projected tour of the the nations of the world of which he was king but too ill to travel and uh they had said goodbye then 31st of january now it was the 6th of february and prince philip and the princess elizabeth as she then was were in kenya and had spent the night on a a welcome day's rest after all that travel and the beginnings of the celebrations of their being there they'd spent the night in treetops which was a place where they could observe the wildlife around them and take photographs and as they got up the next morning early they continued to take photographs quite unaware put yourself back there communication to a place like that was immensely difficult and the news was slow getting through slow enough for them to have had the beginnings of their day the queen was already queen but didn't know it and uh there is that statement which gives the the flavor of how getting that news in the treetop it was written by someone in the visitors book at the hotel treetops and he wrote a man called jim corbett in that visitors log for the first time in the history of the world a young girl climbed into a tree one day a princess and after having what she described as her most thrilling experience she climbed down from the tree next day a queen and that gives the flavor of it happening there it didn't it it went on as you will well know many of you um that went on they drove back to sagana lodge which was 20 miles away and it was there that prince philip's age commander parker went up to him and having taken him aside from the princess who was now the queen um and said uh i told him what had happened and commander parker said he looked as if you dropped half the world on him well there was a quite a reality in that for certainly for uh princess elizabeth who was now queen elizabeth and for him who was going to be by her side for all those years until his death last year and he was the one then who had to break the news to the queen on that day and commander parker described how he took the queen over onto the lawns uh far away from um earshot and they talked and walked there in sagana lodge and it was quite clear of course that the new queen now had to come home her private secretary martin chartress arrived and he said she was sitting erect fully accepting her destiny i asked her what name she would take she replied my own of course that sounds so like her to all of us the natural assuming of her father's heritage far too early he was only 56 but had been suffering gravely though no one had expected this the nation was in deep mourning and all theaters all sporting activities closed all flags flew at half-mast this was a day of mourning of huge thanksgiving filling their hearts for the vocational tasks that king george vi and his queen who became so beloved by us all as queen elizabeth the queen mother had achieved after their sudden assumption of that role at the abdication of edward viii his elder brother in 1936. it was a role and you know all these things um given to one who was shy and stammering and uh with a wife who actually was really wonderful at doing things in an ordinary way and noticing on the outskirts of any crowd those who most needed a word of cheer and comfort uh and the the the kind of humor that that she was was so good at but the king certainly was her concern because she knew so well what this burden would mean until then he and queen elizabeth the queen mother as she became known but she was his queen um had lived a life where they weren't expecting this role at all and certainly the two princesses elizabeth and margaret rose weren't expecting this because their uncle edward was the one who was going to be king and was the king and so for them life would have been different and then suddenly in 1936 all that changed and their father had to assume with the loving and constant support of their mother this and the four of them who were a very very closely knit family us for the king used to say then had to go forward that was december 36 and after that of course the war years and the war clouds began to creep up very fast 38 was the year of munich where the nation feared and air raid shelters were already being dug and so seeing the nation through that and resisting the sense of we must take you away somewhere where you'll be safe uh and uh the the queen um uh the the the who became the queen mother um the queen knowing that that wasn't king george's way they stayed at windsor but at the same time they were at buckian palace from time to time and when bucky and palace was bombed then the queen's mother as she became answer was at the time well now we can look our friends in the east east end of london in the eye because they were being bombed and we've been bombed and here we are but no one knew what the outcome would be now all of that and everything that happened afterwards in years of reconstruction uh took its toll but that was why my mother and father were so utterly devastated to hear the news that king george had died they had grown used to his christmas messages on the radio and the constant face uh which he had his his intensely firm christian faith quietly kept but constantly with him as a light and a guide and those christmas messages which have been kept on by our own queen in the same way and she is not in any way frightened to declare her faith in in that way so that this day is really a day of really um sad reflection but a reflection of thanksgivings of so many ways it's not something we can in any way intrude upon but it actually calls us to the same kind of reflection and thanksgiving on this sunday morning here in england we've received already messages from across the world even from friends in india remembering uh and also giving thanks for the role that queen elizabeth ii has played in embracing at that time a worldwide what was called empire but but a worldwide collection of nations over which she would be queen and her steady support of the transformation of that into a worldwide commonwealth of nations and her rejoicing constantly in the diversity of all of that and the way in which nations develop and cultures develop and that solid progression has seen her hand steadily opening that but always when she speaks and especially on christmas day the commonwealth is so dear to her heart i was looking this morning about at the number of prime ministers that and i asked the question on um the the um search engine how many prime ministers has the queen had and the answer came back 170 and in fact i'd meant actually at the time how many prime ministers here has the queen had and the answer of that of course is 14 but 170 is right for there were 170 people who were at some stage or another in her reign in different countries prime minister for her and she would have stressed that second word minister which we saw in the lesson that she caused to have read to us on her golden jubilee i'm amongst you as one who ministers that was jesus's words amongst the kings of the gentiles they may stamp their authority hard that's not to be say with you among you the greatest among you is the one who serves for even the son of man came not to be ministered to but to minister not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many it was the next afternoon the 7th of february that the young queen flew into what was then london airport now it's heathrow and um in the afternoon of that day descended the steps from the aircraft in deep mourning there below was her prime minister winston churchill and the leader of the opposition clement atlee who both had served in the wartime coalition that had seen the country through and who had known her father well mr chatral had won an election from kem and tatli the year before and was now the prime minister and was there for three years after that to guide the queen in certain ways um but at the same time she was not to be guided too far by any of her prime ministers and it's quite clear that quite gently and at her pace the direction forward was given and let's come back to the fact of those 54 nations of the the worldwide commonwealth which is there for the welfare of them all and she has delighted in the knowledge that she had and the friendship she had with so many leaders of then independent nations throughout the world within the compass of that commonwealth it was the next day after that and sounding like the beginning of the gospel of sin john the day after february the eighth at st james's palace that she held her first privy council with her ministers around her and she said to them and here are the words the exact words by the sudden death of my father i am called to assume the duties and responsibilities of sovereignty my heart is too full for me to say more to you today then i shall always work as my father did throughout his reign to advance the happiness and prosperity of my peoples spread as they are all the world over now you could also just reflect back then to what she had said on her 21st birthday in 1947 over the airwaves i declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service says that word again service and you are aware of that whenever the queen comes to a public occasion where the people are there all around and the stories she tells about times when she was with her father a story in canterbury where were the king when he was walking with princess elizabeth when they came to give thanks for the fact that this place did not get bombed flat in the blitz and as she was walking through the cloister which was full of people in those days the security was not as it is now in that way they felt very safe she we were walking through an empty cloister and she said when i was here with my father and mother um the king looked forward and said i know you to a young man and the young man really smiled and said um yes your majesty we were together in the royal navy and the the king the fact that he remembered when it's been a gift of her mother and her father and of the queen herself that in order to look people in the eye a good memory is is and her memory is absolute so that of course many briefings are given but when you're talking to the people you can't know that and so all those memories one remembers her having are carried to the people themselves now it happens that in 2002 the queen came here for the royal maundy it was a a special year because it was a a jubilee year and she came here for the royal mundi and as we were walking outside in the green court outside the deanery gates um everyone knew that her mother was very very near to death and we had been wondering whether this event would even happen it did and queen elizabeth the queen mother died on easter day that year but meanwhile i observed the way in which the queen responded to all the warm and tender wishes about the health of her mother and the concern for her majesty in that way flowers being given each one received and handed gently to one of the people with her so that they could be cared for and proper gratitude given all the way along until we went into the service of the royal mandi you will have so many memories yourselves of occasions perhaps when the queen was present in with great numbers but especially was reminding me this morning and we were thinking then of the time when she and prince philip came here to unveil the statues of them on the west front of the cathedral of themselves and he said do you remember how uh then and in the receptions afterwards you always knew way that where they were by the laughter around because they had a way of cheering people up particularly prince philip who with our own work staff could make them raw with laughter and that sense of being amongst people became crucially important now we saw something like that yesterday happening at sandringham in the ballroom where the queen gave a reception uh very rare at this time of year when she's in san diego but a reception for all those um charity groups uh and old estate workers from sandringham they're on the eve of this accession and she was there in her mind really as president of the women's institute of that area but there were many other charities and communities represented and and the laughter around is very evident when you see the little clips from that occasion and most of all when she is cutting the cake which has been made for her by one of the people there and and the the lady stands forward and and and says uh um could you cut the cake mom and uh then she apologizes um for the fact that to her the writing is upside down and she i think points towards the press and says but they will see the writing and the queen understands that and says i don't matter and that causes laughter but in a way it it it's it's right because she's very keen on seeing the fact that this beautiful cake which has been made locally for her amongst the community there is being seen the world over as we have seen it and the laughter heard all over again well how many things we could say like that on this particular day but what she is saying to us is this should be a day of reflection and thanksgiving not just for her but with her and with our own memories across the world as we say our own prayers each of us will have sadnesses and rejoicings in our heart but let's take the cue of the queen on this first day of platinum jubilee celebrations which will go right on until we have the big occasion uh in june itself but between now and then there will be many occasions when this event is celebrated for it is truly uh on a record-breaking uh time of service to the whole world from the queen so quietly done so gently done and we remember that on this day of reflection and thanksgiving for ourselves there is a sense of extra sadness when you're separated from the one who has just died many have felt that in pandemic the parents of the little boy ran we thought in the beginning separated only by 32 meters but unable to give comfort and our queen on this day in 1952 separated by such a distance from her father who had died and no doubt longing to be back at home with her mother and sister at that time and prince philip by her side well all of those things we remember and many of us will have that kind of flavor we have a friend at the moment uh felicity in the united states whose father john has died in australia and so we pray for her today as another sign of that distance but the ability of prayer to cut right across distance and time and plumb back into memory and then gradually come to new thoughts and treasuring memories of happiness days who pray for el smith also his wife in australia and the distance separating for the city from her mother in grieving but we're using these and little ryan as signs of the fact that there are ways now of cutting right through the airwaves but at the same time the undergirding of prayer in which our queen believes wholeheartedly though she walks the path with many different cultures many different faiths in that worldwide commonwealth but always the christmas message holds the christ light high as her own inspiration and it was an inspiration she took from the face of her mother and father too so let's say god bless her on this day we won't have loud triumphal music it's a day for reflection and a day for quietness and then we can go on so here is the collect for the accession we're praying today in the anglican communion for the church of ireland uh and it's the united church of ireland right across the whole of ireland northern ireland and uh the republic of ireland itself so we pray for the anglican communion church of ireland and for justin our archbishop and for rose bishop of dover for emma bishop at lambeth and for the life of our diocese and we pray for all those who in leadership positions serve the church and the community throughout kent here and did you do the same for those who have hard decisions to make and whose task is to minister to others here's the prayer for this particular day for the accession and then the collect for the sunday bring your own prayers and intentions as we pray almighty god the fountain of all goodness bless our sovereign lady queen elizabeth and all who are in authority under her that they may order all things in wisdom and equity righteousness and peace to the honor and glory of your name and the good of your church and people through jesus christ our lord amen and the correct for the fourth sunday before lent oh god you know us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright grant us such strength and protection as may support us in all dangers and carry us through all temptations through jesus christ our lord amen so each in our own language and in our own way the prayer our savior taught us our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever are men moment now of quiet reflection and thanksgiving oh [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so that quiet little reflective anthem which is a prayer for elizabeth our queen was written by william bird for the first queen elizabeth all those years ago and as we pray for the second queen elizabeth we have the words of the blessing the peace of god which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of god and of his son jesus christ our lord and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and those whom you would pray for today and always amend