I too, watched, without the slightest twinge of an uneasy conscience, one of the most fascinating television presentations that I have ever watched.

I sent texts to many of my friends in the dead of night, which, alas, mostly went unanswered.

In the morning, of course, there was a flood of replies proffering a multitude of excuses, but, sadly, the moment had passed.

The week culminating in the actual ceremony was a live update in the social changes that we are passing through, reflected through the lens of the Royal Family.

Before the day itself there was endless speculation about the dress Meghan might be wearing.

There were countless interviews with the beautiful and great.

There were stone by stone tours of the Windsor chapel in which the ceremony would take place.

There was a painfully complete tour of the route the various transports, ancient and modern, would take.

But there was not a word about the significance of the ceremony itself and the fact that it would be a religious ceremony with both the Archbishop of Canterbury and the retired bishop of London leading it.

The Royal family has a unique role in the modern world.

It is, like it or not, a setter of standards, one of the yardsticks against which modern behaviour is measured.

Our society professes to have left behind the superstitions of the past, among which the Christian faith and two of its great exponents, Anglicanism and Catholicism, are in the forefront and firing line.

Yet the Royal Family has a key role in the Anglican branch of Christianity.

We say it is mostly symbolic, but I'm sure the Queen would not agree with that.

Her Christian faith is part of the warp and woof of her life.

It is the wellspring from which her values arise and it is there for all to see.

It would have been interesting to have had an interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, himself a most interesting faith figure.

An ex-banker, he is part of a modern world that the media tries to ignore or put down - the religious aspect. But it bobs up again - because, like it or not, it's part of our world.

He would have contributed something well worth thinking about on the question of the Royals and contemporary faith.

So, in spite of every effort to ignore the elephant in the room, there it was. Windsor Chapel itself is glorious.

• Every inch of its interior breathes faith, breathes with the life imparted to it by hundreds of years of believers.
• The beauty of its panelling.
• The ethereal atmosphere of the choir - even to their tunics and surplices, which themselves evoke another world of which this one is a portal.
• The banners of the Knights of the Garter, whose home chapel is Windsor, are themselves enough to make one catch ones breath.
• The atmosphere of the ceremony was reverential.
• The reading was well chosen.
• People were in the presence of God, present in His Word.

The sermon was outstanding - the significance of having an Afro-American bishop communicating in a charismatic register perhaps unheard until then in that chapel - all things conspired to deliver a truly religious experience for all privileged enough to participate bodily or through the marvel of modern media.

And finally, the couple themselves.

Not to mention the mother of the bride, not only visibly proud to be at such a landmark event, but herself quite clearly a woman of insight, a mother who has brought her daughter up to have a social conscience.

We live in a world of falsehood.

Fake news pretends to abhor war, while the countries of origin of this news expand their munitions factories.

Politicians are cowed into keeping quiet about the necessity of provoking war in order to use these munitions, so that more can be manufactured.

But beauty has a way of winning through.

It exposes falsehood and fakery.

And for a moment, last Saturday night, the beauty that comes from the union of the religious transcendence expressed in stone, wood, choirs and the Word of God, shone through.

• Michael Mahoney is a Marist, mountainer and parish priest of South Westland.

Any debate on the British Monarchy is like a debate on the Church - in many ways they are similar. Neither has democratic roots or way of acting. Superficially, they seem prime material for renovation and reform. And yet, their non-democratic way of acting is in part due to the belief that the moral and social values that both institutions represent are too important to be left to the majority to decide.

Papacy, Monarchy, both stand for realities that cannot be seen or touched - invisible, intangible realities like truth, goodness and beauty. Both symbolize a world and way of acting that is better than the one we experience every day.

They exist not for the rich, but for the common people. One thinks of the endless service commitments that both are expected to fulfil. The Queen is not asked to open Country Shows and Parliament because she is rich, but because of what she symbolizes and represents.

So when the Church, be it Anglican or Catholic, or the Monarchy, pass through a bad period, everyone is hurt. Institutions which have a symbolic, non-political value exist to support people in their struggles. If they show a lack of integrity and persist in wrong-doing, everyone suffers. In both institutions this has been happening.

So Friday night's wedding struck such a huge chord because it carried within it the hope of a new start . In a world overrun by individualism the Monarchy stands for deep and important human values. Millions of people were watching and participating, not just to see the dresses or pageantry, but because they hope that Wiliam's and Catherine's marriage will last, and that they, two thoroughly good young people, can be role models for our millions of thoroughly good young people who sorely lack role models at the moment. Role models in a modern way, but with time-honoured and timeless values.

"As the Father sent me, so I am sending you." (Gospel for 2^nd Sunday of Easter).

Mike Mahoney

Amidst high security for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Public and Commercial and Services union was outside the gates of Buckingham Palace from 12 noon to 2pm on 28 April 2011 with a giant 'fair pay for royal cleaners' card for members of the public to sign.

PCS General Secretary, Mark Serwotka commented: "While the royals were preparing for the prince's lavish wedding, our members were and are being treated like paupers."

The London living wage is paid to cleaners in the houses of parliament. However cleaners in Buckingham Palace, St James's Palace and Clarence House are paid just £6.45 an hour. They are looking a £1.40 an hour increase to match the the 'London living wage'.

The royal cleaners are employed by two private contractors, KGB Holdings and Greenzone, but the union believes ultimate responsibility rests with the Royal Household, which receives around £30 million a year from taxpayers - half of which is for upkeep of the occupied palaces.

"The royal family is seen as a major contributor to the tourist industry and many people visit London specifically to see the palaces. We'll be asking them to show their support for the people on poverty pay who keep these palaces clean." Serwotka said.

The union has also launched an online petition.

Sources

• Public and Commercial Services Union
• Ekklesia

His address focussed on the spiritual growth of a married couple, saying that the spiritual life grows as love centres beyond ourselves.

"The more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life."

"Marriage should transform, as husband and wife make one another their work of art. It is possible to transform so long as we do not harbour ambitions to reform our partner." Bishop Chartres said.

The complete text of Bishop Chartres follows.

"Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire." So said St Catherine of Siena whose festival day this is. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and their truest selves.

Many people are fearful for the future of today's world but the message of the celebrations in this country and far beyond its shores is the right one - this is a joyful day! It is good that people in every continent are able to share in these celebrations because this is, as every wedding day should be, a day of hope.

In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and groom as king and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future.

William and Catherine, you have chosen to be married in the sight of a generous God who so loved the world that he gave himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ.

In the Spirit of this generous God, husband and wife are to give themselves to each other.

The spiritual life grows as love finds its centre beyond ourselves. Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this: the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life.

It is of course very hard to wean ourselves away from self-centredness. People can dream of such a thing but that hope should not be fulfilled without a solemn decision that, whatever the difficulties, we are committed to the way of generous love.

You have both made your decision today - "I will" - and by making this new relationship, you have aligned yourselves with what we believe is the way in which life is spiritually evolving, and which will lead to a creative future for the human race.

We stand looking forward to a century which is full of promise and full of peril. Human beings are confronting the question of how to use wisely the power that has been given to us through the discoveries of the last century. We shall not be converted to the promise of the future by more knowledge, but rather by an increase of loving wisdom and reverence, for life, for the earth and for one another.

Marriage should transform, as husband and wife make one another their work of art. It is possible to transform so long as we do not harbour ambitions to reform our partner. There must be no coercion if the Spirit is to flow; each must give the other space and freedom. Chaucer, the London poet, sums it up in a pithy phrase:

"Whan maistrie [mastery] comth, the God of Love anon, Beteth his wynges, and farewell, he is gon."

As the reality of God has faded from so many lives in the West, there has been a corresponding inflation of expectations that personal relations alone will supply meaning and happiness in life. This is to load our partner with too great a burden. We are all incomplete: we all need the love which is secure, rather than oppressive. We need mutual forgiveness in order to thrive.

As we move towards our partner in love, following the example of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is quickened within us and can increasingly fill our lives with light. This leads on to a family life which offers the best conditions in which the next generation can receive and exchange those gifts which can overcome fear and division and incubate the coming world of the Spirit, whose fruits are love and joy and peace.

I pray that all of us present and the many millions watching this ceremony and sharing in your joy today will do everything in their power to support and uphold you in your new life. I pray that God will bless you in the way of life you have chosen. That way which is expressed in the prayer that you have composed together in preparation for this day:

God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage.

In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy.

Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Only three hours sleep. That'll teach me to twitter endlessly about the royal wedding while quaffing bubbly. Tragic behaviour, but I had to do something to make it through another repeat of 'The Royals at the Abbey'.

While all eyes were on Katie's posh designer number, I couldn't help but notice Will's fancy uniform and the preponderance of military clobber clanking about the place.

Ironic, isn't it, that an itinerant Jewish mystic who preached a message of radical love, even to the point of loving your enemies, should be associated with a church saturated with military memorabilia.

Read Blog by Sande Ramage

Police report Muslims Against the Crusades (MAS) applied for permission to protest outside Westminster Abbey on the day of the royal wedding. The police, who have the power to ban protests along the main route, have rejected their request.

The group however may be able to stage their protest nearby and the police say they are in negotiations with Muslims Against the Crusades.

On its Website, MAS labelled Prince William as "one of the biggest advocates of British imperialism" and, through his army and air force career, had "direct involvement with the murderous British military." MAS said it will mount a "forceful demonstration" against Britain's interventions in Muslim countries.

"We strongly advise Prince William and his Nazi sympathisers to withdraw from the crusader British military and give up all affiliation to the tyrannical British Empire.

"We promise that should they refuse, then the day which the nation has been dreaming of for so long will become a nightmare and that it will inshaa'allah (God willing) eclipse the protests in Barking, Downing Street and the events of November 11."

A counter demonstration is also planned by the English Defense League who have recently mounted several violent protests against Islam.

Lynne Owens, assistant commissioner of Scotland Yard, told the BBC: "We see this as a day of celebration and what we will be doing is making sure that no protest disrupts that celebration of the royal family.

"We have to authorise a demonstration but we can put conditions on that demonstration and it's that negotiation process that we're engaged with at the moment," she added.

About 5000 officers are being deployed to police the royal wedding, which is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets of London.

Sources

• BigPond News
• Daily India
• Image: ODT