I promise I have not spent my entire day slavishly following the royal wedding. But a friend sent along the text of the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres’ wedding sermon and I thought it worth sharing (at least in part):
A spiritual life grows as love finds its centre beyond ourselves. Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this; the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life.
It is of course very hard to wean ourselves away from self-centredness. And people can dream of doing such a thing but the hope should be fulfilled it is necessary a solemn decision that, whatever the difficulties, we are committed to the way of generous love.
Chartres recognized as well though, that the gift of self is not enough, spouses also need to bring Christ to one another to bring them into fuller life:
As the reality of God has faded from so many lives in the West, there has been a corresponding inflation of expectations that personal relations alone will supply meaning and happiness in life. This is to load our partner with too great a burden. We are all incomplete: we all need the love which is secure, rather than oppressive, we need mutual forgiveness, to thrive.
As we move towards our partner in love, following the example of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is quickened within us and can increasingly fill our lives with light.
Alright, that’s it. I’m done talking about the royal wedding. I did think her dress lovely though . . .
April 29th, 2011 | 5:40 pm
The entire liturgy was so pro-life! Just read the pre-amble to the vows! It was a celebration of heterosexuality and fertility in no uncertain terms.
http://ph2.cerosmedia.com/1X4db9331cd725f012.cde
April 29th, 2011 | 7:37 pm
Comment all you want! I watched for two hours this morning before I went to work. Wonderful! Beautiful!
April 29th, 2011 | 9:55 pm
These excerpts are amazing, and I agree with Rachelle—it definitely was a celebration of fertility. These ideas are at the heart of the traditional Christian position against contraception, and I’m glad to hear the position so eloquently articulated in such a public way.
April 30th, 2011 | 12:51 am
I fast forwarded through some parts, but I saw a good deal of the ceremony itself, and I was surprised by how Christ centered and traditional the ceremony was, given that many in the congregation did not share the convictions that the liturgy expressed. And, it seemed like a gentle rebuke when the bishop talked of the reality of God fading in the lives of so many in the West.
April 30th, 2011 | 1:27 am
The Saxons are a cruel and brutal people, ineloquent and unmusical. A grim and dark race who seem to have never felt Italian sunshine. Throughout history they have persecuted and dominated their neighbors and done great damage to the Faith. Tell me, why are we celebrating their “fertility?”
April 30th, 2011 | 9:14 am
Replace ‘Saxon’ with any other race and you have the…human race.
I thought the bride’s brother’s reading of scripture was a high point of the service but the sermon by the Bishop of London was wonderful.
The flyover by the aircraft of the Battle of Britain was a glorious reminder of England’s finest hour. For another day, the world was reminded that there was a time when the sun never set on the British Empire.
April 30th, 2011 | 10:23 am
Your supply of the milk of human kindness seems to have curdled there, Patrick me boyo.
April 30th, 2011 | 11:58 am
Patrick,
It’s because Christ makes all things new.
April 30th, 2011 | 1:52 pm
I too found this wedding moving including the Bishop of London’s eloquent homily.
Patrick, the British Saxons for all their faults saved western civilization during WWII, while the Irish nation for the most part sat on its hands. Shakespeare would be another example of English eloquence.
April 30th, 2011 | 2:00 pm
I watched the whole ceremoni, it was nice to see the big show. And let me just say this is first time i actually saw the whole thing.
April 30th, 2011 | 2:24 pm
Patrick: I’m Irish myself and found your remarks embarrassing. Another time, another context, perhaps.Here, your words seem bitter and unfair to the Bishop.
April 30th, 2011 | 2:47 pm
I can hardly watch something like this without cracking up, ever since Peter Cook played “The Impressive Clergyman” in “The Princess Bride”:
“Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam… “
April 30th, 2011 | 4:26 pm
The homily was wonderful, it pulled no punches about the function of marriage and the risks of trying to make personal relationships the sole source of our happiness. Really liked the dress too, modest and stylish, hopefully it will spark many imitations.
Like Tom, I’m Irish and I agree Patrick’s comments were completely uncalled for. But Peter, the Irish nation were left with no choice but to be neutral in WWII because of the legacy of colonialism. It’s not a simple history, unfortunately.
April 30th, 2011 | 7:39 pm
Stuart Koehl: Yes, thoughts of Monty Python crossed my mind – Nigel Incubator-Jones and the church of St. Looney-Up-The-Creambun. But I also thought of Mark Steyn’s comment to the effect that most of the civilized places on the face of the earth were once, or are now, associated with the British Empire, while many other places continue to have a difficult time emerging from barbarism. God Save The Queen!
May 1st, 2011 | 5:29 am
For a far more insightful, informed, and Christian assessment, see Peter Hitchens. The ceremony was only impressive to the degree that we’ve forgotten they used to be:
http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2011/04/they-wouldnt-have-thought-much-of-this-wedding-back-in-1953.html
May 1st, 2011 | 1:20 pm
And speaking of the dress…one can pray that it ushers in an era of more modest and appropriate bridal gowns. (The tight, strapless, sometimes perilously close to topless bridal gown is at the end of the line. Please!)
May 1st, 2011 | 4:30 pm
Nora, I live in the Boston area among not a few Irish folk who actually from the time of their arrival in the last half of the nineteenth-century have helped transform and vitalize the area whose Yankees had become rather enervated.
The Catholic Church in the area, though marred to some extent by a surfeit of liberalism, has actually outflanked the hopelessly ineffectual liberal Protestants.
While I understand Ireland was badly treated by British
Colonialism, I still question the wisdom of Ireland being neutral in WWII.
May 2nd, 2011 | 2:41 pm
“While I understand Ireland was badly treated by British Colonialism, I still question the wisdom of Ireland being neutral in WWII.”
Yet thousands of Irish fought gallantly in the British armed forces against Hitler. One of them was Wing Commander Brendan Éamon Fergus Finucane DSO, DFC & Two Bars, an RAF fighter ace with 26 aircraft confirmed destroyed.
The youngest Wing Commander in the RAF, he could frequently be heard exclaiming loudly in the pub near his base at RAF Redhill, “Thank God for Eamon de Valera! He kept us out of the war!”
Brendan “Paddy” Finucane was killed in action when his Spitfire, damaged by ground fire, ditched in the English Channel. His last words were “Well, lads, this is it”. He was 21 years old.
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