Today a service of remembrance was held at St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, for Her Majesty the Queen. Because St. Giles is a congregation of the Church of Scotland, the service included portions of the Psalms. The worshippers sang the familiar Psalm 100 from the Scottish Psalter of 1650, All People that on Earth Do Dwell. The choir sang the opening sentences from Psalms 51:15 and 40:13/70:1. The presiding minister followed with the votum from Psalm 124:8. The choir then sang Psalm 116 to Anglican chant. Finally, the congregation sang Psalm 23 to CRIMMOND.
12 Sept 2022
Service of remembrance for Her Majesty: the Psalms
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I posted this on my FB page:
The Memorial Service for Elizabeth Queen of Scots in St Giles High Kirk of Edinburgh, called St Giles Cathedral.
Explanation. The Church of Scotland does not have cathedrals in the Roman Catholic and Anglican sense. The churches called Cathedral are so named because they were each the seat of a Bishop before the Reformation. They are no longer the seat of a Bishop, but are Parish Churches. St Giles Cathedral is a Parish Church, and an exception. It was made a Cathedral by Charles the First when he unwisely tried to impose Anglicanism on the Church of Scotland.
The Church of Scotland Ministers wearing a red cassock are Chaplains to the King.
You will observe the Scottish Crown placed on the coffin. "Made from gold, silver and precious gems, the crown is the centrepiece of the Honours of Scotland - which are the oldest Crown jewels in Britain and among the oldest in Europe.
The solid-gold crown in its current form dates back to 1540, when King James V of Scotland ordered the royal goldsmith to melt down the old crown and refashion it.
More than 40 ounces of gold mined from the Upper Clydeside were added to the circlet of the crown, which weighs 1.59kg.
James V first wore the refashioned crown at the coronation of Mary of Guise in 1540, with Mary Queen of Scots becoming the first monarch to be crowned using the new crown and sceptre together in 1543."
Notice the use of the English form, (Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them who trespass against us) rather than the Scottish form (Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors) of The Lord's Prayer. This surprised me.
Notice also the absence of prayer for the Queen's soul. The Church of Scotland does not pray for the dead, believing that Christians who have died go immediately to Heaven because their acceptance by God does not depend on them or prayers for them, but on the life, death and resurrection of The Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice also that the Queen was simply referred to as Queen Elizabeth. This is because her title Elizabeth II is a sore point in Scotland as she is only the first Elizabeth of Scotland and of the United Kingdom. Elizabeth II is actually an English title. In the gathering in the Scottish Parliament the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, was the only one to give the Queen her Scottish title, Elizabeth, Queen of Scots. The leaders of Unionist Parties gave her her British Title, Elizabeth the Second. This underscores their lack of adherence to the Claim of Right, which King Charles the Third himself acknowledged, by which the People of Scotland IS the Sovereign in Scotland, and the Monarch is not. He reigns under the Sovereignty of the People of Scotland.
Note also the King's Bodyguard in Scotland. "The Royal Company of Archers, The King's Bodyguard for Scotland is a ceremonial unit that serves as the Sovereign's bodyguard in Scotland, a role it has performed since 1822 during the reign of King George IV, when the company provided a personal bodyguard to the King on his visit to Scotland. It is currently known as the King's Bodyguard for Scotland or, more often and colloquially, The Royal Company. It is located in Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland." "Every officer of The Royal Company is of the rank of a general, and the Archers of the corps rank at Court as colonels."
Members of the Royal Company must be Scots or have strong Scottish connections. Membership is by election; the present membership totals around 530, with an active list of some 400 who pay an annual subscription.
"SCOTTISH singer Karen Matheson ... sung Psalm 118: 17-21 in the Gaelic language at St Giles’ Cathedral before First Minister Nicola Sturgeon read Ecclesiastes 3: 1–15."
Ah, thanks. I knew it was Gaelic, but I had no idea what it meant.
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