THANKSGIVING.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19665, 8 July 1929, Page 11

THANKSGIVING.

THE KING'S RECOVERY. SPECIAL SERVICE IN THE CATHEDRAL.

! People of aii denominations and reprei sentatives of public bodies and the civic j authorities joined in a service in the I Christchureh Cathedral yesterday afternoon, in thanksgiving for the delivery ot King George V. from his severe ill- | a ess, and for the signal love and loyalty j of his people, made manifest id the i tiiue of trouble. | The service was conducted by Dean I Julius, and associated with him were the Rev. A. N. Scotter (Methodist), and i the Rev. J. Miller (Moderator of the Presbytervu The Mayor and Mayoress (Mr and Mrs J. K. Archer) represented the citizens of Christchureh, and there were representatives present from the Defence authorities, the Fir? Board, the Hospital Board, the Drainage Board, and "other public bodies, also ministers from other denominations.

"To-day Tse celebrate our gratitude to God for the recovery from illness of 1 King George. During his illness we j realised the danger of losing not only j a King, but a friend," said Bishop West-Watson, in a short address. "Foi- | lowing Edward VLL, he has continued ! to use his keen sagacity, and to etand | for all the principles of brotherhood and unity. He led us in the paths digj nity, endurance, and willing self-saeri- | iiee during the dark days of the war. i In Europe monarchies crashed to the j ground, but when peace came our King j and Queen found themselves enthroned ! not only at Windsor, but in the hearts of the people. Bound about them has grown up that legend of homeliness that is one of the greatest things of their monarchy. Chasms between man and man are not made by differences in rank or office, but by selfishness 'and self-seeking. During his 20 years of harassing public life our King has shown remarkable self-sacrifice and devotion to duty. Both King and Queen have proved themselves sensitive to suffering and to the outcry of one and all of their far-flung realms. Our King has shown that Shakespeare's rhetoric can be translated into fact by a gentleman of modern England. He loves Englishmen as brothers, and to-day we thank God that he has been spared to us, and to his family. We thank God, too, for the surpassing skill of the doctors and nurses who were able to stay the ravages of a malady so often fatal. Our thanks go out also to the investigators of medicine in the year* past, who made possible the happy result we commemorate to-day. "Who can doubt that through prayer the physicians were guided in their decisions? We are surely learning that God's goodwill and lovo are constantly finding expression in the men and women who use their gifts for each other's good. It is a false distinction that opposes spiritual healing to medical healing, for the •will to recover and the means to cure are each combined with prayer, and these have restored to us our King." The King and Queen were ever visitors to the sick and suffering, and onr gratitude should spar us on to higher endeavours to advance the cause of science, and to support the work of the hospitals, doctors, and nurses, said the Bishop. If the skill and devotion of the doctors and nurses was to find full expression, the people must clear every obstacle that was in their paths. They must have the means to experiment and investigate, and it was the duty of the country to see that those means were provided. The service, which was choral, was opened with the singing of the hymn, "All People that on Earth Do Dwell.'' While the people stood the minister then said: "God save the King. God save this Realm. God give us thankful hearts." The congregation made reply with a verse of the National Anthem. Special prayers were said for the King, the sick and suffering, the British Empire, and general thanksgiving. The "Te Deum Laudamus" was sung, followed by tho anthem, "From all that Dwell Below the Skies." The Benediction was said and the service closed with the hymn, "Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven." The offerings are to be given to the Mayor's fund for the relief of sufferers from the earthquake.

MIRACLE OF PRAYER.

THE ARCHBISHOP'S ADDRESS. "In the dark days of the Great War our King was with us, striving for the nation, and leading us with a sober and steadfast trust in God. With our most gracious Queen he set a great example to us all," said Archbishop Julius, preaching at the Cathedral yesterday morning. "It was when he was stricken with illness and death knocked at the door of his chamber that the people awoke to a full realisation of the great loss which threatened them," said the Archbishop. "The whole Empire prayed to God to save him and the prayer was heard and answered. Whether _ the King's return to health was a direct act of God or whether it was due to the skill of the physicians—God's instruments —it was a miracle. He is now able once again to traverse the streets of the great city, among the masses of the people, and feel the love they have for him. It is hard to understand the desperate loneliness induced by his high position, and yet he is ever quiet and undemonstrative. But he knows to-day that the whole of the British Empire is joining in prayers of deep thankfulness for his return to health, and his re-assumption of his great office."

CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL.

Yesterday at the Catholic Cathdral Masses ■were celebrated at the usual hours; and throughout the day there was Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament; numbers of people visited the Cathedral to spend some time in prayer and adoration. At the evening devotions there was a very large congregation —his Lordship Bishop Brodie speaking in reference to the recovery of the King, said: —"Throughout the" wide extent of the British Empire, Catholics, to-day, will unite with their fellow citizens in expressing gratitude to God for the recovery of his Majesty from his recent aerious and prolonged illness. The Great War brought many great changes in the world, perhaps the most remarkable being the change in the established form of government in some of the European nations. When we view the chaotic state of Russia and Austria, because of this change, it is a matter of deepest gratification that this revolutionary spirit has not extended to tire British Empire, where the form of government, a limited monarchy, is so adapted to the genius of the people, blending, as it does, in harmonious relations, the two essential elements of national happiness, namely

the due safeguarding of the rights erf lawful constituted authority with a maximum of persona! liberty for each and every citizen. Tb© war has been followed by a period of social' industrial, and commercial dislocation, yet through all, has endured zi at national stability so essential to tae right consideration and necessary adjustment of urgent post war problems. "The present vear marks the centenary of Catholic Emancipation, and during the reign of the present King many Catholic disabilities have been removed by the good will of the people and with "Royal approval. "His Majesty and the members oi the Royal Family have shown a sympathetic interest in iho people and nave thus cemented that bond of union calculated to ensure prosperity and peace. In their public pravers Catholics are taught, to pray for their rulers and those in high authority, and at this time when there is rejoicing at the recovery of his Majesty those prayers are offered that the prolonged life may see the solution of wartime difficulties, and an era of progress and prosperity for the nation, with the crowning blessings of peace at Homo, and peaceful relations with all the nations of the world." ST. MARY'S, MERIVALE.

Archdeacon Haggitt, preaching at St. Mary's, Merivale, said: ''Tho time has nut come when we can determine all the good the King and Queen have done for the Empire; but this we can say, they have set a high standard of moral and spiritual life, of home life, of true dignity and service, of sympathy and magnanimity, which, please God, will never be lowered. The King has demonstrated to Europe, nay to the whole world, how a ruler can command the respect and honour and win the affection of a free people. Th« cabled description of their return to Windsor, the 00 miles of cheers, was a beautiful symbol and proof to the world of their deep respect and affection in which their Majesties are held by all their subjects. It made one feel that 'while thrones in Europe have fallen fast and thick, that of England stands more secure than ever.* If we had be«n there, we should have joined in the cheering; but we were not. There is something, however, we can all do to prove our appreciation of the thankfulness for the blessings that have come to us from the Throne, something that God would have us do, and which their Majesties would value above all else. We can set ourselves to be efficient as Christian citizens of the British Empire. We can take a real interest in social problems. We can adopt the right, the Christian attitude to onr fellow-beings—upright-ness, respect, sympathy—we can 'honour al! men," of whatever class or nationality. We can do what we can to help people bear their burdens. Most important of all, we can set ourselves, like their Majesties, to follow the Christ, the King, and be loyal to His Church." At the conclusion of the service the speech delivered on Empire Day to the boys and girls of the Empire was reproduced by gramophone.

DURHAM STREET METHODIST CHURCH. References to the way in which the King had upheld the traditions of home life and of devotion to public welfare were made by the Rev. W. T. Blight, at the Durham street Methodist Church. The preacher stated that the King had shared willingly the hardships of the war years, and had shown an intimate conception of every section of the community, and every phase of religious work. He was always the servant of the people, as well as the common link, binding scattered parts of the Empire together. His recovery called forth profound gratitude from all rightthinking men and women, said' Mr Blight, who concluded by tracing the relationship of the Christian Church to the State, and referring specially to cases affecting the rights of -conscience.

ST. ANDREW'S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. "It is with grateful hearts t! ' : we have gathered in this honse of GoJ today, to return thanks to God that we hare been spared bo great sorrow and calamity that the loss of onr Sovereign would have meant," said the Eev. N. L. D. Webster, preaching at the service of thanksgiving at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church yeßterday morning. "In his great mercy, He heard the prayers and supplications of the people of the Empire. There were hours when the flame of the King's life seemed to be flickering, and our anxiety was tense and keen; when we were alternating between fear and hope. Thanks however to the over-ruling providence of God, and to the skill of the many physicians and devoted nurses, he was spared. As we thought of the true worth of our King as a man, and of his wise and beneficent rule, we realised how much he really meant to us, and what a loss his removal would have been." Preaching from Isaiah, chapter 38, verse xvii., "Thou hast loved my soul from the pit," the Eev. Mr Webster likened the illness and ultimate recovery of King George to the illness and succour of Hezekiah. No man, he said, who had reached the very door of death, before returning once more to life and strength, could be the same man after his experience. He must come to the realisation that his recovery was in the nature of a reprieve, and that he had been spared by God for some definite purpose. As it was true of Hezekiah, so would it be true of our beloved Sovereign.

OXFORD TERRACE BAPTIST CHURCH. Preaching at the Oxford terrace Baptist Church at the special thanksgiving service last evening, the Rev. J. Robertson dealt with the wonderful growth of the British Empire in its widespread Dominions. The King, he said, and so gracious and fine a TU \ eT as King George V., was a wonderful connecting link between those far-flung Colonies; the prestige and tradition of the Crown were vital factors in the weldinc and bonding together of the great British Empire. For all countries under the British flag to unite in thanksgiving for the recovery of the Sovereign was a most worthy action, and all loyal citizens would recognise the saeredness of the appeal in a loving response. Appropriate hvmns were sung, the choir giving a' fine rendering ot "Gloria in Exeelsis."

KNOX CHURCH. At Knox Church a crowded congregation assembled for the Thanksgiving Service and the staff and pupils of St. Andrew's College paraded to the church, headed bv the College PiP e Band. The Rev T. W. Armour chose as his text I. Tim., ii.. 1-3: and **£ that if it was seemlv to honour tne King when Nero was" Emperor, it was more fitting still that we shooJd assemble to give thanks at the «w"n»~ of the King. We were thankful to God because we were members ot Empire whose vocation it was to the Christian civilisation and to tawr

less favoured peoples till thev were able to take their place in the "Parliament of the world. Kings wore bat common men in great offices, and it was no wonder if sometimes they disappointed the hopes cf their people, but George V. had more than realised the promise of his coronation and his reign would go down as the greatest in British history. It had been made great because he was attuned to his times. Many, among them Kinga, had been broken because they opposed the inevitable when it had arrived, but our Sovereign had been a democratic King in a democratic age and might well De known to history as "the people's King." Though the aristocrat of the aristocrats, he belonged to the people, and his interests were mainly those of the middle classes. In other days loyalty was thought of as due only from subjects to Princes, but the King had identified himself with the cause of the nation and the Empire. His illness had dated back to Armistice I>ay, when he had stood bareheaded throughout the service at the Cenotaph. Scandal loved to sift the rumours of Kings' houses, but found nothing in the records of King George, and those who knew best how an evil example in high places could deprave a whole generation would be most erateful for the noble example of the King and Queen. Not least, we rejoiced because he was a man of sincere religion. He knew himself a subject in a greater Kingdom than the British Empire and humbly acknowledged his dependence on the King of Kings. It was no wonder that his pious subjects rejoiced to join with him in thanksgiving for his recovery and in prayer that he might be spared for many years to the Empire that he loved. During the service the hymns cnosen bv the King were sung, the Te Deum was chanted, and at the close the organist gave a fine rendering of the Hallelujah Chorus.

THE SALVATION ARMY

Bands and choristers from the City, Linwood, Sydenham, St. Albans, and Spreydon Corps combined at the united thanksgiving serviee at the Salvation Army Citadel yesterday afternoon, whan Major Charles Bear, assisted by corps officers, presided over a large congregation, whose enthusiasm clearly reflec ed their sympathies for the King and their happiness at his restoration to health. In his address, Major Bear said that King George had shown himself to be a wise ruler, and a God-fearing man. The Empire had prospered exceedingly during his reign. Other countries had not prospered to the same extent as had the British peoples, whose ruler had protected and fostered Godliness and humanitarian effort* for the betterment of his subjects. He had shown that he had a real love for all his people, and the Salvation Army community would gladly join in thanksgiving and praise for his restoration to health, and the hope that he would be spared to rule so wisely, so justly, and so well for inasv vears to come.

GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S MESSAGE (PRZ?B ASSOCIATION TXtEOSAM.) WELLINGTON, July 7. His Excellency the Governor-General has sent the following telegram to his Majesty the King: "Your Majesty's subjects in New Zealand have joined to-day with the rest of the Empire in united thanksgiving to Almighty God for your Majesty's restoration to health, and in earnest prayer that your Majesty may long be spared to reign over a people knit together in common lovalty and love to your Majesty's throne and person." THE ABBEY SERVICE. ABSENCE OF CEREMONIAL. (rSTTBD PRESS ASSOCLiTIOK —BT ELECTRIC TELE GSAPH —CO LTXIGHT.J (Received July 7th, 0.0 p.m.) LONDON, July 6. The Westminster Abbey thanksgiving service begins at 11 a.m. At the King's own wish it will be one of the shortest and simplest services ever held, and is expected to last only | about m minutes. Weather permit-j ting, the King will drive from Buckingham Palace in an open carriage, via the Mall, Horse Guard's Parade, and Whitehall. Members of the British Legion will lin<j che route. Their Majesties, with the Prince of Wales, Duke and Duchess of York, and other members of the lloyal family, will enter through the great west "door, and while thev are being conducted to their places the choir will ?ins Sir Spring Rice's hvmn, "I Vow to Thee, My Country," after which.

the service will continue as indicated in previous cablegrams. There will be no sermon, the Primate believing that all who are present will be fully conicious of their purpose in attending. The King will wear morning dress, and there will be no State ceremonial. —United Service. THANK-OFFERING FUND. (Received July 7th, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, July 6. Hia Majesty's Thank-offering Fund has now reached £43o.264.—Australian Press Association, United Service.