The bishops of England and Wales have requested that every parish celebrate a Mass with prayers to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II this Sunday.
The prayer for the Queen, “O Lord, save Elizabeth, our Queen”, will be said after the post-Communion prayer and before the final blessing. There will also be a reading from 1 Kings 3:11-14.
The prayer calls on God “that your servant Elizabeth, our Queen, who, by your providence has received the governance of this realm, may continue to grow in every virtue, that, imbued with your heavenly grace, she may be preserved from all that is harmful and evil and, being blessed with your favour, may, with her consort and the royal family, come at last into your presence, through Christ who is the way, the truth and the life and who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever”.
Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster will attend the Thames Diamond Jubilee pageant on Sunday, along with Archbishop George Stack of Cardiff on board the Sarpedon cruise ship.
Archbishop Nichols will also attend a national service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral on Tuesday morning, and in the evening he will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving for the Diamond Jubilee at Westminster Cathedral, concelebrated with Bishop John Arnold and Bishop Alan Hopes, auxiliary bishops of Westminster.
Bishop Kieran Conry of Arundel and Brighton will also be present. Bishop John Rawsthorne of Hallam will celebrate a Jubilee Mass at St Matthew’s, Sheffield, while Bishop Arthur Roche of Leeds will attend a service at Ripon Cathedral. Cardinal Keith O’Brien, meanwhile, will attend a Thanksgiving Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, and will later attend services at Dunfermline Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Archbishop Nichols has delivered a Loyal Address to Her Majesty on behalf of the Catholic Church. Mary Kenny: Page 12
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