Remembrance services for the Queen have been held in churches around the country, while Jews, Muslims and members of other faiths have also paid tribute to her and prayed for King Charles III.
Thousands of mourners descended on Windsor on Sunday to pay their respects near to the palatial Castle that was a favourite home of Elizabeth II.
St Stephen and St Agnes Church was among many places of worship to mark the late sovereign’s life with a table displaying photos of her as a young woman and in later years. These were placed next to a card with a prayer for her successor, King Charles III.
“Everlasting God, we pray for our new King,” it said. “Bless his reign and the life of our nation. Help us to work together so that truth and justice, harmony and fairness flourish among us through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.”
Reverend Canon Sally Lodge, Rector of Windsor, led the church service, saying: “Gracious God, we give thanks for the life of your servant Queen Elizabeth, for her faith and her dedication to duty. Bless our nation as we mourn her death and may her example continue to inspire us.”
In Scotland, where the Queen’s body was being driven from Balmoral to Edinburgh on Sunday, her hearse passed Glenmuick Church at the village of Ballater, where Rev David Barr rang its bells 70 times after her death was announced on Thursday.
A Jewish prayer for the Queen was read at many synagogues on Saturday. Written by movement president Rabbi Alexandra Wright, senior rabbi of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue St John’s Wood.
Noting how she “served her people with enduring devotion and grace, uniting races, creeds and tongues with outstretched hand and cheerful countenance”, it said that she “sought comfort from her faith and led by example, speaking truth, abiding by her oath of majesty, accepting the discipline of her sovereignty and serving God with humility and intent”.
In Gloucester, Imam Hassan of the Masjid-e-Noor mosque spoke for many in the Muslim community with :his tribute. After the Queen’s death, he said: “We as a community of people of all faiths are coming together to remember and celebrate all of her achievements and her dedication to public service. We know His Majesty King Charles III has a lot of love for our community and our county of Gloucestershire and we wish him all the best in his new reign as our king.”
The Government published advice for religious groups on how to mark the Queen’s life following her death. To help vicars and their congregations, the websites for the Church of England and Church of Scotland have also provided orders of service which can be customised, including suggested hymns, prayers and scripture readings.
Many more services will be held ahead of the Queen’s funeral on Monday 19 September. The Dean of Exeter, the Very Revd Jonathan Greener, said his city’s cathedral, like others throughout the UK, “will be open throughout the coming days, and will, we hope, be a place where people can come to reflect, to light a candle and offer a prayer, to sign a condolence book, to share memories of this extraordinary human being”.
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