The king refers to the Christian hope of the people of Sweden

When His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf celebrates tomorrow, Walpurgis, his seventy-fifth birthday, he is also a Christian husband, father, grandfather, grandfather, who we Swedes celebrate, as regent of the throne and our head of state – a man who consciously wants to contribute to it The Christian faith continues in Shaping the lives of citizens in the Kingdom of Sweden.

The king’s special wish to spend the holiday is for those who wish to give him a birthday gift to contribute to city missions all over the country – in other words, Christian social work in Eskilstuna, Gothenburg, Kalmar, Linköping, Residents, Stockholm, Uppsala, Västerås and Örebro. This is because their activities are close to the heart of the king of our country.

This time is running out Quickly we are reminded a lot. No other Swedish monarch has sat on the Swedish throne in 75 years (which has also completed two Vasaloppet races). We are close to half a century – compared to the king’s grandfather, Gustav V, who sat on the throne for 43 years (period 1907-50).

Many of us still have memories of when he took the position of a 27-year-old unmarried (with good reason) and somewhat insecure on September 15, 1973, after the death of his grandfather Gustav VI Adolf at the age of 91. Today, Carl XVI Gustaf is the fifth-longest reign in the world, and the third in the Western democratic world – second only to Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain (accession 1952) and Queen Margaret II’s cousin of Denmark (accession 1972).

On the first anniversary of The first death from the Covid-19 epidemic in Sweden invited the King and Queen Silvia to a televised memorial and intercession at the Drottningholm Castle Church. Then the royal couple lit candles and participated in prayer in front of nearly 600,000 television viewers, and this is clear evidence that in the faith of God the Creator a special comfort and a source of strength for the present and the future. .

Last spring, Palm Sunday, Carl XVI Gustaf touched the Swedish nation in a televised speech at the start of the epidemic, when he highlighted the special silence that had prevailed in the country during the Holy week before the Easter celebrations. He did not hesitate to point out that many people usually go to church during Easter, and he chose to tell us about this great Christian holiday message: a long and arduous journey, which leads to the victory of the light in the end – and thus we can feel hope over and over again.

Knowing that everyone will remember this difficult time, the king wanted to awaken people’s spirituality and their sense of justice, duty and conscience, yes, Christian virtues, when he asked whether we all think of our fellow human beings or put ourselves first:

– The choices we make today we will live with – the king reminded a long time ago.

Soon 45 Years ago, on June 19, 1976, the king chose to marry a religious woman named Sylvia Somerlath to create a Christian home and family together. Queen Silvia later took the initiative to publish Bonbuk victories, And the Crown Prince took the initiative to publish even later, in the same spirit Estelle’s prayer book.

These two initiatives constitute a message to the Swedish people: Do not forget the Christian home and the family’s devotional life.

– For me, prayer is a way to talk about what is in my heart, which is difficult, laid down by Queen Silvia 2010 in SVT Kunskapskanalen “Book, Author.”

There she spoke of Isha prayer as an important respite, to summarize the day and meeting God in prayer – a moment that she has always wanted to raise and pass on to her children and grandchildren.

Today everything is moving very fast. She said it was important for me to give the children that moment of safety and community.

Even on one Another way In the spiritual realm, the king acted with surprising courage and perseverance when, at the turn of the millennium, he opposed a proposal for a political investigation to remove the requirement that the Swedish head of state be a devout Christian as a member of Evangelical Lutheranism. Sweden Church.

The message to the Social Democratic government and then to Prime Minister Göran Persson was that the king, for the sake of the cohesion of the country and the royal family, was not prepared to remove this historically entrenched spiritual house of trust in the divine trinity. .

The Prime Minister and the government showed observance and desires of the king’s wishes. The king and his family here clearly showed where they stand spiritually.

The same was done Also through the telegram of the royal couple that was recited in one of the great manifestations of Jesus that was held for a few years in the royal garden. The royal couple also chose to attend when the Swedish Pentecostal Movement celebrated its centenary in Nehim outside Molcho in 2007, and over the years there have been many Christian contributions to the annual Christmas letters to the Swedish people.

Large parts of the royal family celebrate worship with members of the Riksdag at the annual opening of the Riksdag in September, as well as participate in the national shrine of Uppsala Cathedral in the episcopal ordination or the opening of the church meeting.

Church services and services, such as baptism, confirmation, Christian marriage, and funeral, are an obvious part of our joyful king, the spiritual identity and faith of his family.

We have 75 years now The king is well aware that difficult times always come – when continuity and stability appear, traditional, established, inherited, Christian and family-like characters are very important, yes, they are almost indispensable and indispensable.

Therefore, a democracy like Swedish is strengthened by being a constitutional monarchy. The idea is that clear democratic principles of general, free, regular, and secret elections with equal voting rights need additional moral, historical and spiritual reinforcement – additional defense – when the situation in a country is very anxious, difficult and dangerous.

Only then did the Swedish people realize that the words and message of the king or queen give added weight and depth that the popularly elected party representatives, with their political contradictions, cannot always reach.

So it also exists Constitutional monarchies remain in a number of European countries. Their presence, their historical weight, their living spiritual Christian heritage and their unifying role, on the division and attacks of partisan politics, also shows what they support, yes, they nourish – and explain why we need them.

All these are strong reasons why many people choose to pay tribute to our King, King and Head of State, Carl XVI Gustav, and pray for him on his 75th birthday, Walpurgis night 2021.