‘She taught us more about grace than any other modern figure’
Archbishop of Canterbury pays tribute to late Queen ‘who had ability to make everyone seem special’
QUEEN ELIZABETH II was the “most wonderful example of a Christian life” and “had the ability to see the value of people as God sees them”, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.
Delivering a sermon at Canterbury Cathedral, the Most Rev Justin Welby told the congregation that the late Queen had the capacity to make someone feel as if they were the only person in the room.
But he said the new King also shared that ability and like his late mother was able to help people find healing by simply listening to them.
The Archbishop had not been due to take yesterday’s service, but explained it was an “unexpectedly extraordinary Sunday”.
He told worshippers the late monarch had “transcended cultures, languages and nations”, adding that her loss would have left people “navigating their way around the raw and ragged edges of grief ”.
Mr Welby told the congregation: “In her life and her example, God gave us – so graciously – the most wonderful example of a Christian life and a Christian death.
“Her late Majesty taught as much, if not more, about God and grace than any other contemporary figure. We remember her not for what she had, but for what she gave.”
He added: “Those who met Her Majesty were always struck by her ability to make them feel as though they were the most important, the only person in the room, the only person in the street, in the crowd.
“King Charles III has the same ability to see the value of each person as God sees them. That is his conscious understanding of people.”
The Archbishop recalled seeing the King on a visit to the Lady Chapel in Liverpool Cathedral, where he met the families of police officers who had died, including a widow with young children.
“By the time the then-prince of Wales – His Majesty – had done the rounds, he’d talked to everyone in that chapel and every person there, and I quote that
‘Her loss would have left people navigating their way around the raw and ragged edges of grief ’
‘Those who met Her Majesty were always struck by her ability to make them feel as though they were the most important person in the room’
young widow, felt they mattered uniquely and found healing.”
He also described how, during a lunch, the late Queen had spent 20 minutes talking to a Rwandan woman, whose entire family had been wiped out in the genocide.
Reflecting on how the woman felt after the conversation, the Archbishop said: “When I spoke to her later, she said there was healing.”
He added: “Both Her late Majesty and His Majesty treat others as special because, for both, their faith is built on the same rock – the rock of Christ.”
His sermon also touched on what he said was the late Queen’s ability to show “wisdom and reconciliation”, citing her visit to the Republic of Ireland in 2011.
He said: “Her Majesty chose quite literally to extend the hand of friendship to Martin Mcguinness, despite their differences and painful history – history that was very personal for the Queen after the death of her beloved uncle Lord Mountbatten as a result of an IRA attack in 1979.
“She was able to offer her hand because she knew that, ultimately, we are all equal before God.”
Concluding his sermon, the Archbishop said: “This is a moment of deep grief, indeed. As Her Majesty said herself, grief is the price we pay for love.
“But that love has in it the reality of hope that can lift heavy hearts, heal wearied spirits, for it is love that originates in God.
“All that is lost will be found again, as surely as Christ Jesus was raised from the dead and defeated death.
“And he will gather us all together in heaven on the glorious day of resurrection, where in a different context, as Her late Majesty once said to us in difficult times, we will meet again.”
The service concluded with the national anthem, with the Archbishop gently reminding the congregation of the change in words.
In other cathedrals and churches around the country services took place to reflect on the life of the late Queen.
Worshippers at the church she attended near Balmoral heard how she might have urged those grieving to find comfort in the “message of faith and hope” in Psalm 23 – understood to be her favourite.
A few dozen people attended the first Sunday service at Crathie Kirk since the Queen’s death, which took place after her coffin departed Balmoral.