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King Charles III's coronation will take place on Saturday 6 May 2023 in London. During the ceremony, the King will be crowned alongside Camilla, the Queen Consort.

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Cardinal Vincent Nichols writes:

"The coronation of King Charles III will take place in Westminster Abbey. This will be the first coronation for 70 years in our countries; indeed, the first since our late Queen, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, entered the ancient church as a young woman to take on the awesome responsibilities of monarchy. In his first address to our countries after the death of the Queen, His Majesty stated, in the context of the late Queen’s unwavering service, 'that promise of lifelong service I renew to you all today.'

"None of us can imagine the incredible burden that His Majesty will assume as he is crowned King alongside his wife and Queen, Camilla. The world has immeasurably changed since 1953 with many more opportunities and challenges in the lives of all.

"As faithful citizens of our countries, we now pray for our King as he assumes the fullness of the high office of monarch. From Wednesday 3 May until Friday 5 May, the Bishops of England and Wales ask each Catholic in our lands to pray for His Majesty and the Queen. We can do this in our daily prayer asking Almighty God to guide the King in his appointed tasks. We can also pray for him when we gather for prayer at Mass. This triduum of prayer will culminate on Friday evening when we have asked each Catholic community to offer a special Mass for the King before the Coronation on Saturday. It will be the culminating moment of our three days of prayer when we ask God’s continuing blessing on our new King and Queen.

"As we look towards the Coronation Day, which will be marked with joy and celebration across England and Wales, and the Commonwealth, let us commend King Charles and Queen Camilla to our Heavenly Father, that he may sustain them in their duties all the days of their lives.

"May God bless His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen Consort, preserve them both in health of mind and body and grant them every grace and blessing now and for the years to come."

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‍Source: CBCEW, Photograph of King Charles and the Queen Consort: Chris Jackson

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Marking the event in our Diocese

Alongside a wide range of parish celebrations there will be important opportunities for prayer:

• A number of parishes are offering a Triduum of Prayer from Wednesday 3 to Friday 5 May, encouraging people across our community of faith to pray for the King as he assumes the fullness of his responsibility - this can be in any form that the community thinks best.
• Many diocesan parishes are celebrating a Mass for the intentions of the King on Friday evening, 5 May. Liturgical texts and suggested readings have already been shared with parishes.
• On Sunday 7 May, the day after the Coronation, a Prayer of Intercession for the King should be included in the Prayer of the Faithful along with the option for saying (or singing) the Domine, salvum fac in English or Latin - it will be appropriate to sing the National Anthem at the end of Mass, prior to the Recession.

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Resources

• You can access a downloadable image of the King and Queen Consort on the royal.uk website here. The picture should be credited to Chris Jackson.
• Buckingham Palace have released information about the events taking place to commemorate and celebrate the Coronation, you can access these on the Royal website here and here. To download the Coronation Emblem pictured at the top of the page click here.
• There a a number of Coronation resources on the Bishops' Conference (CBCEW) website here.
• The Church of England has produced a Book of Daily Prayers from Easter Sunday to the Coronation Day - these can be used by all and are a popular resource. The Daily Prayers can be found here.
• There are a number of ideas and resources for schools on the coronation.gov.uk website.

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