The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-06-17
CATHOLIC FEATURES OF THE
CORONATION.

The coronation Of His Majesty,
King George V Of England, which
takes place in London on the
twenty-second instant, is not de-
void of interest for Catholics. The
whole ceremony is instinct with
Catholic meaning and preserves,
as it's most important feature, the
solemn JUNCTION prescribed by the
Roman Pontifcal for the anoin-
ting and browning Of Catholic
Kings.
King George will be crowned in
Westminster Abbey with all the
quaint rites and elaborate ceremo-
NAL which have been religiously
observed at the coronation of
every English sovereign since the
days Of William the Conqueror.
Indeed, the ritualistic service for
the coronation of England's King
is the oldest that has come down
to our day in completed form.
'''The form Of conservation, !"
wrote the late Lord Beauchamp in
his edition Of the Liber RECALLS,
remained essentially unaltered
from the time Of Ethelred to that
Of George "" He might have
made it stronger than that; for
the ceremonial now in use is de-
rived from that prescribed by the
Egbertine Order which is said to
be copy Of the Pontifcal Of
Archbishop Egbert Of York who
lived in the eighth century, and Of
which the Liber RECALLS of Ed
ward II is a modification. Strange
to say, this rite passed through the
Reformation period almost I'M
changed, save for it's translation
into English, and suffered no sub
stantial modification until the
coronation Of James II. Even
then, the essential part of the SER
vice-the amounting of the Sow
ereign-elect with Holy Oil-re-
manned unchanged, and today it
is the central feature of the cor
onation ceremony.
In Catholic England the sacring
of King took place during the
Mass which was celebrated by the
consecrating prelate. In the
present instance, the Archbishop
Of Canterbury will be the offciat.
ing prelate; and the Mass will
give place to the Communion Ser.
vice Of the Book Of Common
Prayer. AS the time for the
amounting draws near the King
will seat himself on the corona
ton stone'' in St. Edwards Chair
and the Primate of England will
anoint him with the consecratec
, oil on the palms Of the hand anc
on the crown of the head, pouring
from golden ampulla thu
chrism which call the waters il
, the rough, rude sea cannot wasl
: from an anointed King
1t would seem as if the leaders
Of the so-called Reformation il
England who, in their hatred O
Catholicism, rejected the Mass ant
3 everything that savored of tn
: Church Of Rome, did ont dare t.
5 lay sacrilegious hands upon thi
: essential feature of the ancien
rite by which the kings Of tn
{ realm were crowned. In thos
e days, the most important part o
| the coronation was the amounting
I with the oil of Catechumens an,
e it will be the essential feature 0
next week s function in England
| venerable Abbey. There will b
! much within that majestic pile t
3 carry the thoughts of the spects
5 tors back to the days when Eng
. land's sons were united before tn
f Catholic altar; but nothing wi
}. be more significant, more redolen
i of the Ancient Faith, than thi
! pouring on of Holy Oil in tn
) sacring of their king.
!. We are all sinners. We all belon