For the first time since the coronation of the first Elizabeth, the Dean of Westminster brought the two Armills from the Altar.

         These were bracelets, wide and thick and solid gold, lined in velvet as cushioning for the Queen’s wrists.  The Armills were a unique addition to the ceremony, for they were the gifts of the people to their Sovereign.  They were, symbolically, Sincerity and Wisdom.  The Archbishop’s prayer was that they would “betoken the Lord’s protection, embracing her on every side,” and be to her “pledges of the bond which unites you with your Peoples,” whose gift they were.

These words were spoken also, that she would be “strengthened in all her work” and protected against every enemy, “bodily and ghostly.”  It is of interest to us, and important, that attention was given to Her Majesty’s spiritual protection, and that Sincerity and Wisdom were given for her defense.  It was a wise gift!  Sincerity and wisdom do safeguard us, when we keep them close and live by them.

In this moment of the Coronation Ceremony, her subjects were taking part, like the aunt whose necklace the bride wears to her wedding.  Both Elizabeths wore this honored gift, the people’s contribution in the presentation of the Regalia. 

We look, sometimes in vain, for Sincerity and Wisdom in our leaders.   Not politically correct sincerity, but the kind that is what the word implies sin cere . . . without wax.  As products of old were so labeled, that the purchaser would not go home with water vessels  fashioned with wax fillers that would melt and result in leaks, we want to be led by those whose lives and policies won’t melt in the heat of day.  We want to be those whose lives and testimony won’t melt in the furnace of life.

One thing is certain . . . Elizabeth hasn’t melted.  In her designer clothes and fetching hats, her pocketbook over her arm and her smile even more warm today than it was on that glorious morning, she doesn’t melt.   The Armills are stored away for another Coronation Day, but she has fastened Sincerity and Wisdom about her, as must all of us, here in the royal Kingdom of God’s Son.

The Armills

Wikipedia