The modern term would be inauguration, but 'enthronement' remains
appropriate: this ceremony is all about the Archbishop of Canterbury
'taking his seat' - in fact, two seats.
First, the Archbishop will be installed on the Diocesan throne as the
Bishop of the see of Canterbury, the oldest diocese in the English
church.
He will then be installed on the chair of St Augustine as
Primate of All England – the 'first bishop' in the country.
This latter
enthronement has also come to respresent the Archbishop's inauguration
as the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The ceremony will be attended by Prince Charles and the Duchess of
Cornwall, the Prime Minister, and archbishops and bishops from around
the world.
Representatives of many other faiths will also be present.
Two seats
The notion of a 'seat' dominates the ceremony enthroning an
Archbishop of Canterbury.
The very word cathedral comes from the Latin
cathedra, for the seat where a bishop would sit to teach the faith to
the people of the diocese.
Another word for diocese is See, from the
Latin, sedes – seat or chair.
While a cathedral plays many roles, essentially it is the church
where the bishop's seat is – the particular church of which he is
appointed bishop and pastor.
In this respect, the enthronement of the Archbishop of Canterbury has much in common with that of any bishop in any cathedral.
But what is especially important about this Thursday's ceremony is
the seat in question: the chair of St Augustine is the primatial seat of
the Church of England – a primacy in the English church which has
lasted since St Augustine came to preach in England at the orders of
Pope St Gregory the Great in the 6th century, and has had significance
almost from the beginning far beyond the shores of the British Isles.
Three knocks on the door
At 3pm on Thursday, while Archbishop Justin waits outside the
cathedral's west door, the Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, Robert Willis,
will be inside reading out a letter from the Queen, Supreme Governor of
the Church of England.
This letter authorises the Dean and cathedral
community representatives to go to the church's west door to greet the
Archbishop.
In the famous tradition, the Archbishop will then strike the door
three times with his pastoral staff, and the Dean will open the door to
greet him.
The Archbishop will be led up to the nave altar, where the
Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, will ask him to swear an oath of
faithfulness to the statutes of the Church of England and an oath of
faithfulness to the Queen of England.
The Dean then presents the Archbishop with the ancient Canterbury
Gospels, brought to England by St Augustine in 597, on which he will
swear faithfulness.
The Archbishop is then enthroned on his seats, marking the core of the ceremony.
First he is led to the Diocesan throne and installed by the
Archdeacon of Canterbury as Bishop of the See of Canterbury. He is then
led to the chair of St Augustine where the Dean installs him as Primate
of All England.
Having been installed, Archbishop reads the Gospel and preaches a sermon from St Augustine's chair.
The service will feature music chosen by Archbishop Justin, including
hymns marking Passiontide and looking forward to Holy Week, which
starts next week. It will also include an African song, and improvised
organ music following the Archbishop's sermon.
The Archbishop's robes
Archbishop Justin has chosen to wear robes originally designed and
made for the late Bishop of Peterborough, Ian Cundy.
These were bought
as a gift for Ian from the students and staff at Cranmer Hall, Durham
where the Archbishop was a student.
Archbishop Justin wears them in
gratitude to a teacher and bishop who had a formative impact on his
ministry.
The robes' design is based on the first miracle that Jesus did at the
wedding in Cana.
The blues and purples represent water changing into
wine, as well as baptismal waters.
The three fish suggest the Holy
Trinity, while serving as a reminder to Christians to be partners in
mission as fishers of men. The robes were designed and made by Juliet
Hemingray.
The date of the ceremony resonates in several ways: March 21st is the
feast day of St. Benedict of Monte Cassino, a significant figure for
both Canterbury Cathedral and Archbishop Justin himself, who is an
oblate of the Order of Benedict.
A thousand years ago, the cathedral was
a Benedictine monastery.