Denmark’s new king shared his thoughts on faith, the future and even nightly prayers with Queen Mary and her children.
The newly installed King Frederick X has published a surprising memoir. Conjol ‘ (‘The King’s Words’) disappeared from store shelves in Denmark. In it, the new king, who succeeded his mother after she officially abdicated on January 14, 2024, claims that Christianity is the basis of Denmark and the Danish people.
“Faith is our connection to each other, to God, and to our shared history,” he writes in Danish. He also revealed that he likes to attend church services and gets chills when his mother says “Good luck Denmark!” at the end of a speech. (God bless Denmark!)
Denmark, like many European countries, is an overwhelmingly secular country. Seventy-two percent of Danes are registered members of the National Church, less than 1% are Catholic, but only about 25% report believing that Jesus is the Son of God, and approx. One-fifth think religion plays an important role in their lives. . However, the new king appears to be among this last group.
In a surprising personal revelation, he and his wife, Australian-born Queen Mary, always say the Lord’s Prayer before bed with their children, and they still do so with their 13-year-old twins. He also revealed that.
“For my wife and I, and for many other Danish parents, evening prayer is a small but living expression of faith that we don’t want to live without.”
In this respect, the new king and queen are like many families around the world.
The Lord’s Prayer, or as we often call it, the Father’s Prayer, is the highest expression of Christian prayer. The Fathers of the Church described it as a summary of the whole Gospel, and St. Thomas Aquinas called it “the most perfect prayer.”
In 2016, Pope Francis said he always prays the Lord’s Prayer five times before going to bed. He said,
“At night, before I go to bed, I say this little prayer: “Lord, if you are willing, you can cleanse me!” And I pray, one by one, for each of Jesus’ wounds. Pray to the “Our Father” of man. Because Jesus cleanses us with His wounds. ”
Today’s modern royals are very careful about what they reveal about their private lives. However, from the beginning of his reign, King Frederick was surprisingly frank about the place of Jesus Christ in his own family life.
