Daily Prayers for the Coronation of King Charles III

In her 1975 Christmas broadcast, the late Queen reflected on the value and importance of our relationships and love of one another. She said, ‘Christ commanded us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves, but what exactly is meant by “loving ourselves”? I believe it means trying to make the most of the abilities we have been given, it means caring for our talents.’

The Bible can be read as a narrative of God’s love, and of how we can imitate that love in the way we live. St Paul’s Letter to the Galatians speaks of nine qualities given to those who are guided by the Holy Spirit: the so-called ‘Fruit of the Spirit’. Love is the first of these, and all the others (which we will be exploring in the coming days) are expressions or outcomes of love.

We pray that King Charles will, throughout his reign, continue to know God’s love and to abide in that love as he fulfills his responsibilities.

We hear the National Anthem so often in different situations: at sporting fixtures, at civic, military, and community occasions, and on television and radio. Some people may remember a time when it was played in theatres and cinemas. When we take a moment to listen to the words and consider what they mean, we may be surprised to recall that it is, at its heart, a prayer for the Sovereign.

As we sing, we pray to God that he might protect and care for our King, that God will grant him good things, happiness, and long life as he serves us.

Following long historical precedent, Camilla, Queen Consort, will be crowned alongside her husband.

Prayers will be offered for her as she occupies a special and important role in the Royal Family, both as spouse of the Sovereign and in the work she does with charities and other bodies of which she is patron.

The adoption of a crown by Christian rulers can be dated from the time of the Emperor Constantine in the fourth century. It was common at the time for a helmet – a symbol of military power and domination – to be placed on the head of the chosen ruler at their installation. The crown was a symbol of royalty rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures. It proclaimed the sovereignty of God and the monarch as regent on earth, administering the law of God.

As King Charles prepares for his coronation, we pray that he and all our leaders may have grace to animate and not dominate, that all may flourish.

For over a thousand years our kings and queens have been invested with ring, sceptre, rod, orb and crown. These golden objects are adorned with diamonds and other precious stones, worldly wealth beyond measure.

And yet the ring is marked with a cross, and the other objects are each topped with one, symbolizing the authority of Christ. A dove, the symbol of God the Holy Spirit, perches on the cross at the top of the rod. Together they remind us that Jesus Christ is king over all. Christ reigns from the cross, wearing a crown of thorns, defying the world’s expectations, forgiving and loving to the end, dying and rising that we might have life in all its fullness.

At the heart of the coronation is a ritual in which the Archbishop of Canterbury anoints The King with oil. This custom, with roots in the Old Testament, can be traced back to the coronation of King Edgar by St Dunstan in 973. At this coronation, the oil will come from the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem where The King’s grandmother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, is buried.

The outward and visible act of anointing signifies an inward grace: we pray that God would bless and set apart King Charles to serve the people of our nation and Commonwealth with humility and joy. The words of Isaiah, adopted by Jesus himself at the start of his ministry, will be an inspiration.

The 1625 coronation of King Charles I used a translation of the Latin hymn to the Holy Spirit, Veni, Creator Spiritus, or, Come, Holy Spirit, by John Cosin.

And after it was included in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, it came to be included in services of confirmation and ordination as we recall the royal priesthood in which we all participate. It prays that we may live always within the breath of Jesus Christ, receiving life from him, so that he may inspire in us authentic life, the life that death can never take away.

Westminster Abbey was founded by King Edward the Confessor and consecrated just before his death in 1066. Edward was revered as a saintly king, and ever since our monarchs have knelt in prayer at his tomb in the Abbey before their coronation. 

Today we think of the ideal of the king, and those who govern in his name: that in their personal and public lives they may show the values of God’s kingdom, where those in need are cared for and the oppressed lifted up, and there is peace and justice between people and nations. We pray for strength to live as citizens of the kingdom where God reigns.

Although its spread reaches well beyond the Commonwealth, the Anglican Communion is, like that organization, a free association of independent bodies.

The Anglican Communion comprises over forty different churches around the world, representing tens of millions of Christians. Sharing one faith in Jesus Christ, the autonomous churches of the Communion are also committed to interdependence. They strive to work together as part of the worldwide Church of Christ, ‘God’s own people’, across the cultural differences and theological disagreements which mark their life together. 

We pray that our King, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, may encourage us in this quest for unity.

The Commonwealth (or Commonwealth of Nations) is a unique grouping of 56 developed and developing nations, comprising 30 per cent of the world’s population spread across a quarter of the world’s land mass on every continent. Many members were once part of the British Empire.

The modern Commonwealth was born in 1949 when India, on gaining independence and republican status, agreed to remain in the Commonwealth based on ‘free association’ and ‘equality’, with the British Monarch becoming ‘a symbol of the free association of independent members nations, and as such, Head of the Commonwealth’.