I know that several of
you, like me, enjoyed watching the recent Netflix miniseries, The Crown. For me, one of the most moving scenes was
Elizabeth’s coronation in Westminster Abbey at the close of the fifth episode,
an event whose planning had consumed a good deal of the dramatic tension in the
several episodes preceding it. The
Netflix series faithfully rendered the grand music, solemn ritual and stunning
costumes of the ceremony.
It also showed part of
the homage, the ancient ceremony that
follows the anointing and crowning of the monarch. The senior nobles of the kingdom, the “lords
of the realm,” (Prince Philip notably among them) knelt before the new queen to
speak an oath and kiss her hand. The
words of the oath at the homage (not includes in the series script, if I
remember correctly), are these: “I do become your liege man of life and limb,
and of earthly worship; and faith and truth I will bear unto you, to live and
die, against all manner of folks. So
help me God.”
The oath is a promise of deep
loyalty. The act of kneeling expresses
respect, even a kind of reverence for the monarchy and its place in the life of
the nation. And the kiss is a token of
affection, a sign that the promise is made freely, with the whole heart.
Anglican theologian Roger
Greenacre, in his seminal study of the rites of Lent and Holy Week, The Sacrament of Easter (1965), points
out that the royal homage is remarkably similar to the rite of venerating the
Cross in the Solemn Liturgy of Good Friday.
When the faithful come forward to kneel before the image of Christ
crucified, he notes, “we pay our homage not to a corpse but to a reigning
sovereign…The Cross is a throne, and we are taking part in the Homage at a
Coronation (69).”
The ritual probably
developed originally in the Church of Jerusalem. Its famous fourth century bishop Cyril
(314-386). The most precious relic in
ancient Jerusalem was the true cross, which had been discovered by the Emperor
Constantine’s mother Helena in the late 320’s.
The relic was brought out for the faithful to venerate on Good Friday, and
Cyril designed a simple ceremony around this became the center of the day’s
observance. Pilgrims, deeply moved by
the experience, carried the practice back to Europe. The practice of bowing before a cross and
kissing it soon came to be cherished widely as a way for the faithful to show
their loyalty, reverence and love for Christ crucified
In the Good Friday Liturgy
of The Book of Common Prayer, the veneration of the cross follows the
Solemn Collects, a series of prayers that appeal to Christ for the needs of the
world, particularly for the spread of the Gospel among those who do not know
and love Him. The celebrant then brings
forward a cross, often a crucifix, where Christ’s sufferings for us are vividly
represented. The celebrant then removes
his or her shoes, bends the knee three times, and then kneels before the cross
and kisses it. The choir then sings an
ancient chant, the Reproaches, which call us to repentance for our disloyalty
and indifference to He who has given so much for us. As the reproaches are sung, all are welcome
to come forward and make their own expression of loyalty, reverence and
affection.
All of you who attend the
Good Friday liturgy at Saint Francis this year will be welcome to participate
in the veneration of the cross. We will
venerate the cross at Saint Francis in front of the Altar steps, at a prayer
desk. I’ve been a priest for over a
decade now, and for me, this ceremony has always been among the most moving
experiences of the liturgical year. It
gives me a window into how deeply Christ is loved by His people, how grateful
they are for His mercy, how determined they are to serve Him with courage. One may participate fully in the Good Friday without
venerating the cross. One may come
forward without choosing to either kneel or kiss the cross. The love and respect we show for the crucifix
is, of course, offered to Christ, and not to the wooden image of Him.
As Fr. Greenacre writes,
the liturgy of Good Friday consistently stresses that the One who gave His life
for us now reigns in glory with the Father whose will He came to fulfill. The hymns and prayers do express our profound
sorrow for the sufferings He endured, but they also acknowledge, with wonder
and reverence, that His passion has been fruitful in reconciling the world to
God and defeating the power of sin, death and the devil. He who died for us is the eternal king,
before whom every knee will ultimately bow.
To me, there is no more fitting way to express these truths than the
ancient ceremony of the veneration of His cross.
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