Above:  The High Altar, Calvary Episcopal Church, Americus, Georgia, December 24, 2017

All Photographs by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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Above:  The Credence Table

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Above:  The View from Behind the High Altar

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When I visit Americus, Georgia, as I do a few times annually, I attend Calvary Episcopal Church, assuming that my time in town overlaps with a service.  The oldest part of the physical plant is part of the architectural legacy of Ralph Adams Cram (1863-1942), a saint in The Episcopal Church.  Subsequent additions blend well with the Cram structure.

Below:  Cram’s Architecture at Night

Calvary Episcopal Church split in March 2012.  This did not come out of nowhere; the rector of the parish and a group of parishioners had even incorporated a rival congregation (not an Episcopal one) before the Bishop of Georgia relieved the rector of duty.  Since the schism Calvary Church has not been the same; it has certainly experienced financial difficulties.  The next priest, with the title of Priest-in-Charge, will commence his service in January 2018.

I pray that he and the parish will succeed, for the glory of God and the benefit of local people.

Unfortunately, the building is in peril of demolition, in the name of economic progress.  Next to the church building is a sunken railroad track, with a bridge (also in peril) over it.  The church building is priceless, however.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 25, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS:  CHRISTMAS DAY

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Above:  One of Josephine Butler’s Political Handbills

Image in the Public Domain

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JOSEPHINE ELIZABETH GREY BUTLER (APRIL 13, 1828-DECEMBER 30, 1906)

English Feminist and Social Reformer

The feast day for Josephine Butler–suffragette, advocate for educational equality for males and females, and activist against human trafficking–in The Church of England is May 30.

Josephine Elizabeth Grey came from a politically active family.  Her mother, Hannah Annett Butler, descended from Huguenots, an oppressed population.  Our saint’s father, John Grey, was an antislavery activist.  His cousin, Charles Grey, the Second Earl Grey, was the leader of the Whig Party and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1830 to 1834 whose government abolished slavery in the British Empire.  Our saint, born on April 13, 1828, married George Butler, an academic and later the Canon of Winchester, in 1852.  The couple had four children.

Josephine became politically and socially involved after the death of her six-year-old daughter in 1863.  Our saint channeled her grief into social reform–initially regarding women’s suffrage and the fight against child prostitution.  She was partially responsible for Parliament increasing the age of consent from 13 to 16 years.  After the Butlers moved to Liverpool in 1866 Josephine began her work related to the rehabilitation of prostitutes.  The Contagious Diseases Acts (1864, 1866, and 1869) allowed for the arrest of women suspected of being prostitutes at naval stations and in garrison towns.  Those laws also mandated the medical examination of these suspects and, upon diagnosis of venereal disease, their hospitalization.  Our saint created a scandal by speaking and writing openly about this “unladylike” topic in Victorian England.  She argued that the Contagious Disease Acts were not only ineffective as public health measures but also in violation of the constitutional rights of suspects.  Parliament suspended the laws in 1883 and 1886.  Josephine also lobbied European governments no longer to license brothels, frequently hubs of human trafficking, including the sale of children, and founded the International Abolitionist Federation (in 1877) to combat human trafficking.  Supporters of her international anti-human trafficking crusade included William Lloyd Garrison and Victor Hugo.

Our saint also advocated for the educational equality of males and females.  Her lobbying of the administration of Cambridge University led to the founding of Newnham College for women in 1871.  Butler also served as the President of the North of England Council for the Higher Education of Women, starting in 1867,

Our saint, aged 78 years, died on December 30, 1906, at Wooler, Northumberland, England.  She had not lived long enough to see women gain the right to vote, but she had left the world better than she had found it.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 9, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF KARL BARTH, SWISS REFORMED MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR; FATHER OF MARKUS BARTH, SWISS LUTHERAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF GEORG FRIEDRICH HELLSTROM, DUTCH-GERMAN MORAVIAN MUSICIAN, COMPOWER, AND EDUCATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER FOURIER, “THE GOOD PRIEST OF MATTAINCOURT;” AND SAINT ALIX LE CLERC, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF NOTRE DAME OF CANONESSES REGULAR OF SAINT AUGUSTINE

THE FEAST OF SAINT WALTER CISZEK, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY PRIEST AND POLITICAL PRISONER

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Holy and righteous God, you created us in your image.

Grant us grace to contend fearlessly against evil and to make no peace with oppression.

Help us, like your servant Josephine Butler, to work for justice among people and nations,

to the glory of your name, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Hosea 2:18-23

Psalm 94:1-15

Romans 12:9-21

Luke 6:20-36

–Adapted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 60

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An illiterate peasant girl, a shepherd, a “nobody,” she heeded a religious call to save her country when all the “somebodies” of her time proved unable or unwilling to meet the challenge. She stood up before princes of the church and state and the most learned authorities of her world and refused to compromise her conscience or deny her special vocation. She paid the ultimate price for her stand. And in doing so she won a prize far more valuable than the gratitude of the Dauphin or the keys of Orleans.

Above:  St. Joan of Arc

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINT JOAN OF ARC (JANUARY 6, 1412-MAY 30, 1431)

Roman Catholic Mystic, Visionary, and Martyr

Also known as Saint Jeanne d’Arc

The Roman Catholic Church lists St. Joan of Arc as a virgin, not a martyr.  That is because Holy Mother Church martyred her.  The Episcopal Church, which added her feast in 2009, lists her as a mystic and a soldier.  The Church of England lists St. Joan as a visionary.

St. Joan was pious throughout her brief life.  She, born in Greux-Domremy, Lorraine, France, was an illiterate child of Jacques d’Arc, a peasant farmer.  At the age of 13 years, in the summer of 1425, she reported receiving her first vision, a voice accompanied by a blaze of light.  Over the next few years Sts. Margaret of Antioch, Catherine of Alexandria, Michael the Archangel, and other holy figures seem to have appeared and spoken to St. Joan.

Above:  France in 1422

Image scanned by Kenneth Randolph Taylor from Hammond’s World Atlas–Classics Edition (1957)

By May 1428 St. Joan had become convinced that God wanted her to help king and country, then suffering during the Hundred Years’ War (1437-1453).  Since 1422 the claimant to the French throne had been Charles (VII).  Our saint, after much persistence, finally reached the Dauphin at Chinon in March 1429.  She proved to be a capable military commander until May 1430, when Burgundians captured her at Compiègne.  In the meantime, St. Joan ad made the coronation of the Dauphin as King Charles VII possible. The ungrateful and probably embarrassed Charles VII did not help our saint after she became a prisoner of the English.  The verdict of the trial on the charges of being a witch and a heretic was a fait accompli as long as St. Joan refused to enter a false plea.  Our saint, convicted, burned alive at the stake at Rouen on May 30, 1431.

The Church cleared her name in 1456, beatified her in 1905, and canonized her in 1920.

Robert Ellsberg, writing in All Saints:  Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (New York, NY:  The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1997), observed:

–Page 238

Organized religion has long had a difficult relationship with mysticism, which bypasses official channels, much to the consternation of people invested in those channels.  This was one of the points of controversy relative to St. Joan of Arc.  Another was gender; she dressed like a man.  Both of these points obsessed her dubious inquisitors, who acted in the name of God and the Church yet glorified only themselves, and only in the short term.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 9, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF KARL BARTH, SWISS REFORMED MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR; FATHER OF MARKUS BARTH, SWISS LUTHERAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF GEORG FRIEDRICH HELLSTROM, DUTCH-GERMAN MORAVIAN MUSICIAN, COMPOWER, AND EDUCATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER FOURIER, “THE GOOD PRIEST OF MATTAINCOURT;” AND SAINT ALIX LE CLERC, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF NOTRE DAME OF CANONESSES REGULAR OF SAINT AUGUSTINE

THE FEAST OF SAINT WALTER CISZEK, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY PRIEST AND POLITICAL PRISONER

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Holy God, whose power is made perfect in weakness:

we honor you for the calling of Jeanne d’Arc, who, though young,

rose up in valor to bear your standard for her country,

and endured with grace and fortitude both victory and defeat;

and we pray that we, like Jeanne, may bear witness

to the truth that is in us to friends and enemies alike,

and, encouraged by the companionship of your saints,

give ourselves bravely to the struggle for justice in our time;

through Jesus Christ our Savior, who with you and the Holy Spirit

lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Judith 8:32-9:11

Psalm 144:1-12

2 Corinthians 3:1-6

Matthew 12:25-30

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 395

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Above:  Westminster, Evening (1909), by Joseph Pennell (1857-1926)

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-ppmsca-06832

 

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PERCIVAL DEARMER (FEBRUARY 27, 1867-MAY 29, 1936)

Anglican Priest, Liturgist, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator

Percy Dearmer, who was on the Anglo-Catholic side of Anglicanism, was one of the most important figures in modern English hymnody.  He, for example, served on the committee for The English Hymnal (1906), to which he contributed seven original texts and ten translations.  Dearmer also edited Songs of Praise (1925), which included twenty-three of his original texts, as well as four texts by his son Geoffrey (1893-1996).  Songs of Praise, Expanded (1931) and its companion volume, Songs of Praise Discussed (1933) followed.

Dearmer came from an artistic family.  His father, Thomas, was an artist.  Our saint, educated at Westminster School, overseas, and at Christ Church, Oxford (B.A., 1890; M.A., 1896), married Mabel White (died in 1915) in 1891.  Mabel, with whom Dearmer had two sons (including Geoffrey, a poet), was an artist, novelist, playwright, and author of children’s books.  Appropriately, our saint served as chairman of the League of Arts.

Dearmer, a native of London England, became a deacon in The Church of England in 1891.  He joined the ranks of priests the following year.  He, the Secretary of the London branch of the Christian Social Union from 1891 to 1912, served at Berkeley Chapel, Mayfair (1891-1897) then St. Mark’s, Marylebone (1897-1901) then St. Mary’s, Primrose Hill (1901-1915).  During World War I he was the chaplain to the British Red Cross in Serbia.  Our saint, who married Mary Knowles (the eventual mother of two daughters and a son with him) in 1916, lectured around the world.  From 1919 to 1936 Dearmer was Professor of Ecclesiastical Art at King’s College, London.  Starting in 1931 he doubled as the Canon of Westminster.

Dearmer, aged 69 years, died on May 29, 1936.

Dearmer wrote, edited, or contributed to 61 works, including the following:

1. The Parson’s Handbook (1899);
2. The English Liturgy (1903);
3. The Server’s Handbook (1904);
4. The Prayer Book, What It Is (1907);
5. The English Carol Book (1913);
6. The Necessity of Art (1924); and
7. The Oxford Book of Carols (1928).

Dearmer left an enduring and impressive legacy in the overlapping fields of liturgy and hymnody.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 9, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF KARL BARTH, SWISS REFORMED MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR; FATHER OF MARKUS BARTH, SWISS LUTHERAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF GEORG FRIEDRICH HELLSTROM, DUTCH-GERMAN MORAVIAN MUSICIAN, COMPOWER, AND EDUCATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER FOURIER, “THE GOOD PRIEST OF MATTAINCOURT;” AND SAINT ALIX LE CLERC, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF NOTRE DAME OF CANONESSES REGULAR OF SAINT AUGUSTINE

THE FEAST OF SAINT WALTER CISZEK, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY PRIEST AND POLITICAL PRISONER

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Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

Percy Dearmer and others, who have composed and translated hymn texts.

May we, as you guide us,

find worthy hymn texts to be icons,

through which we see you.

In the Name of God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 44:1-3a, 5-15

Psalm 147

Revelation 5:11-14

Luke 2:8-20

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 20, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS AMATOR OF AUXERRE AND GERMANUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS; SAINT MAMERTINUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AND SAINT MARCIAN OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

THE FEAST OF JOHANNES BUGENHAGEN, GERMAN LUTHERAN PASTOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARCELLINUS OF EMBRUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF OLAVUS AND LAURENTIUS PETRI, RENEWERS OF THE CHURCH

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Above:  Joachim Neander

Image in the Public Domain

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JOACHIM NEANDER (1650-MAY 31, 1680)

German Reformed Minister and Hymn Writer

“First Poet of the Reformed Church in Germany”

A hymnal can be a wonderful source of names for a calendar of saints.  Thus Joachim Neander finds a place on my Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days.

The Ecumenical Calendar has a few rules, including the following one:  With few exceptions, whenever a Bible-related feast falls on a day, I reserve that day for that feast, instead of following my usual custom of stacking commemorations on top of each other.  (As of the writing of this post, the maximum number of feasts per day is four.)  Thus December 25 is just the First Day (of twelve) of Christmas, January 6 is only the Feast of the Epiphany, and May 31 (on which Neander died) is exclusively the Feast of the Visitation.  However, January 1 is both the Feast of the Holy Name and the World Day of Peace and March 25 is both the Feast of the Annunciation and the Feast of St. Dismas, a Biblical figure.  Since May 31 is the Feast of the Visitation, the commemoration of Neander moves to an adjacent day.

Joachim Neander began his life in Bremen, where his father, Johann Joachim Neander, served on the faculty of the Gymnasium Illustre.  Our saint, born in 1650, converted in 1670.  He had once been a rowdy student who attended church to make fun of it.  Pastor Theodore Under-Eyck of St. Martin’s Church, Bremen, presided over Neander’s conversion, however.

Neander spent part of his life as an educator.  For several years (1671-1674) he was a tutor, first in Heidelberg then in Frankfurt.  During this stage of life our saint plunged into his newfound Pietism.  In 1674 he became the Rector of the Reformed grammar school at Duesselforf.  Our saint’s responsibilities included teaching and serving as assistant minister.  Three years later local politics led to his suspension from all those duties.  Neander had offended too many people for his own good by (1) altering the academic schedule unilaterally, (2) making other education-related decisions the same way, and (3) persistently refusing to take the Eucharist with allegedly unconverted people.  After a two weeks’ suspension he promised to change his ways and found himself restored as Rector of the school yet not as assistant minister.  The experience of suspension, followed by demotion, humiliated him.

Neander returned to Bremen in 1679.  There he became an assistant to Pastor Under-Eyck at St. Martin’s Church.  Again our saint proved controversial.  Under-Eyck had plans, however; he intended to arrange a pastorate for Neander.  That never came to pass because our saint died of tuberculosis at the age of 29 or 30 on May 31, 1680.

Regardless of any errors (such as Donatism) Neander manifested, he left a fine legacy in the realm of hymnody.  He composed many hymn tunes and 60 hymn texts, some of which exist in English-language translations.  I have added some of them to my GATHERED PRAYERS weblog.  Other texts included those translated as “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” and “All My Hope on God is Founded.”  Neander, whose love of nature was evident in many of his hymns, earned his reputation as the greatest Reformed hymn writer in Germany.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 9, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF KARL BARTH, SWISS REFORMED MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR; FATHER OF MARKUS BARTH, SWISS LUTHERAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF GEORG FRIEDRICH HELLSTROM, DUTCH-GERMAN MORAVIAN MUSICIAN, COMPOWER, AND EDUCATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER FOURIER, “THE GOOD PRIEST OF MATTAINCOURT;” AND SAINT ALIX LE CLERC, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF NOTRE DAME OF CANONESSES REGULAR OF SAINT AUGUSTINE

THE FEAST OF SAINT WALTER CISZEK, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY PRIEST AND POLITICAL PRISONER

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Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

Joachim Neander and others, who have composed hymn texts.

May we, as you guide us,

find worthy hymn texts to be icons,

through which we see you.

In the Name of God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 44:1-3a, 5-15

Psalm 147

Revelation 5:11-14

Luke 2:8-20

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 20, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS AMATOR OF AUXERRE AND GERMANUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS; SAINT MAMERTINUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AND SAINT MARCIAN OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

THE FEAST OF JOHANNES BUGENHAGEN, GERMAN LUTHERAN PASTOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARCELLINUS OF EMBRUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF OLAVUS AND LAURENTIUS PETRI, RENEWERS OF THE CHURCH

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Above:  Northwestern Spain

Scanned by Kenneth Randolph Taylor from Hammond’s World Atlas–Classics Edition (1957)

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SAINT BONA OF PISA (CIRCA 1156-CIRCA 1207)

Roman Catholic Mystic and Pilgrim

St. Bona of Pisa was a mystic, visionary, and pilgrim from her childhood.  The native of Pisa, Italy, born circa 1156, reported seeing visions of Jesus, Mary, and St. James the Greater when she was a girl.  Our saint joined the Third Order of Augustinians at the age of 10 years.  St. Bona made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where her father was a soldier between the Second and Third Crusades, when she was 14 years old.  On the way back home she became a prisoner of Muslim pirates, from whom fellow Pisans rescued her.  St. Bona, who made a pilgrimage to Rome and nine pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela, was a guide for other pilgrims to that site in Galicia, Spain.  She died at Pisa in 1207, shortly after returning from her ninth pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.

St. Bona is the patron saint of flight attendants, couriers, guides, pilgrims, travelers, and the city of Pisa.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 9, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF KARL BARTH, SWISS REFORMED MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR; FATHER OF MARKUS BARTH, SWISS LUTHERAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF GEORG FRIEDRICH HELLSTROM, DUTCH-GERMAN MORAVIAN MUSICIAN, COMPOWER, AND EDUCATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER FOURIER, “THE GOOD PRIEST OF MATTAINCOURT;” AND SAINT ALIX LE CLERC, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF NOTRE DAME OF CANONESSES REGULAR OF SAINT AUGUSTINE

THE FEAST OF SAINT WALTER CISZEK, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY PRIEST AND POLITICAL PRISONER

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O God, you have brought us near to an innumerable company of angels,

and to the spirits of just men made perfect:

Grant us during our earthly pilgrimage to abide in their fellowship,

and in our heavenly country to become partakers of their joy;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with

you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9

Psalm 34 or 34:15-22

Philippians 4:4-9

Luke 6:17-23

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 725

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I favor a progressive Christianity based on the living teachings of Christ and his Apostles. I am opposed to the stagnation created by religious dogmatism and traditionalism, and wish none of my possessions to be used in the interest of this stagnation.

Above:  Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Publisher and Copyright Holder = Detroit Publishing Company

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-ppmsca-18248

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JOHN HENRY WILBURN STUCKENBERG (JANUARY 6, 1835-MAY 28, 1903)

German-American Lutheran Minister and Academic

Born as Johann Heinrich Wilbrand(t) Stuckenberg

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–John H. W. Stuckenberg’s Last Will and Testament (June 6, 1898)

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The Reverend John H. W. Stuckenberg was a scholar, pastor, chaplain, sociologist, map collector, and theological liberal.  He, born as Johann Heinrich Wilbrand(t) Stuckenberg in Bramsche, Hanover, on January 6, 1835, was the fifth of six children of Hermann Rudolph Stuckenberg and Anne Marie Biest Stuckenberg.  The family emigrated to the United States in two phases.  Hermann and a daughter arrived first, in 1837.  The remainder of the family came two years later.  The Stuckenbergs lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, before leaving for Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1843.  Johann, his name Anglicized as John, was a pious and intellectual young man who grew up in a bilingual home.  Although German was the main language at home, he made English his primary language.

Above:  Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio, Circa 1910

Copyright Claimant = Charles F. Bowden

Image Source = Library of Congress

Stuckenberg had a lifelong interest in sociology.  He attended Wittenberg College (now University), Springfield, Ohio, from 1852 to 1857.  There he focused on sociology, philosophy, and theology.  After graduating as the valedictorian on June 28, 1857, our saint studied at Wittenberg Theological Seminary.  He graduated the following year.

Stuckenberg became a minister.  He served as the pastor of a struggling congregation in Davenport, Iowa, in 1858 and 1859.  Next he studied theology further at the University of Halle, in Germany, from 1858 to 1861.  Our saint was working toward a doctorate, but the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War and a lack of funding interfered with his plans.  In 1861-1862 and again from October 1863 to June 1865 Stuckenberg was a pastor in Erie, Pennsylvania.  From September 1862 to October 1863 Stuckenberg was the chaplain of the 145th Pennsylvania Volunteers, U.S. Army.  Our saint, an opponent of slavery and a critic of the foul language of General Winfield Scott Hancock, kept a diary, published posthumously (in 1995) as I’m Surrounded by Methodists….  This document has become the only published account of that unit of the U.S. Army.

As I had not slept any night before and had run about all day, ministering to the sick I felt very tired in the afternoon and was urged by Mrs. Wittich, and by Mrs. and Miss Coleman (at whose house I took my breakfast while at the Ferry) to remain till morning.  But I feared our regiment would move on and perhaps get into a battle, so I started the ferry at 4:20 P.M.  I got a chance to ride several miles in an ambulance.  When I got to our camp I found that the regiment had gone, so I started in pursuit and walked at a quick rate till nearly nine o’clock.  As I was very tired and still some miles from our regiment I went into a house and stayed there for the night.  The old lady and son-in-law (Mrs. Hagar) and one daughter were strong secesh.  The other daughter was Union, her husband a Un[ited] Breth[ren] preacher, being in our army.  Mrs. Hagar asked me whether I considered slavery a sin; on replying that I did, she became very much incensed and asked me whether I took the Bible for my guide?

–Stuckenberg, from the entry for November 10, 1862, at Warrenton, Virginia

In June 1865 Stuckenberg left for Germany, where he studied theology at the Universities of Göttingen, Berlin, and Tubingen (one semester each).

Stuckenberg, back in the United States in the Autumn of 1866, served as a pastor in Indianapolis, Indiana, from January 1867 to April 1868, when he left to serve at another church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, until August 1873.  He married Mary Gingrich (1849-1934), a former parishioner from Erie, Pennsylvania, on October 27, 1869.  Our saint, part of the old General Synod (1820-1918), wrote The History of the Augsburg Confession (1868) and served as Professor of Theology at Wittenberg College from August 1873 until 1880, when he resigned for health-related reasons.

The Stuckenbergs lived in Berlin, Germany, for about 14 years, starting in August 1880.  He served as an early pastor of the American Church there.  The couple returned to Berlin for a visit in November 1901, for the laying of the cornerstone of the new building.

The Stuckenbergs, back in the United States in 1894, settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Our saint was primarily an academic from 1894 until his death in 1903.  Theological developments at Wittenberg College soured Stuckenberg on his alma mater, so he transferred his favor to the progressive Pennsylvania (now Gettysburg) College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  He left his estate (including his collection of maps) and papers to that institution of higher learning.  [Aside:  Unfortunately, the author of the biography of John H. W. Stuckenberg at the webpage of the Special Collections and College Archives at Gettysburg College seems not to know consistently that “Stuckenberg’s” is a singular possessive adjective, not a plural noun.]  Stuckenberg traveled to Germany and England for occasional research.  Our saint, in London in April and May 1903, fell ill and required surgery.  At the time Mary was in Berlin.  She departed for London yet arrived too late; her husband had died during surgery.

Stuckenberg was a proto-Social Gospeler.  He, the author of Christian Sociology (1880), argued that authentic Christianity makes a concrete difference in society, influencing public policy for the better in lasting ways.  Our saint also insisted that human history is moving toward shalom, which makes no room for social class distinctions.

Stuckenberg, the author of many articles, also wrote the following books:

1. The Life of Immanuel Kant (1882);
2. The Final Science; or Spiritual Materialism (1885);
3. Introduction to the Study of Philosophy (1888 and 1896);
4. The Age and the Church (1893);
5. The Social Problem (1897);
6. Introduction to the Study of Sociology (1897);
7. Sociology: The Science of Human Society (1903)–Volumes I and II.

Stuckenberg had also helped to translate K. R. Hagenbach’s German Rationalism, In Its Rise, Progress, and Decline into English (1865).

Stuckenberg was a great figure in U.S. Lutheranism.  Unfortunately, he has fallen through the cracks of scholarship with the passage of time.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 9, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF KARL BARTH, SWISS REFORMED MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR; FATHER OF MARKUS BARTH, SWISS LUTHERAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF GEORG FRIEDRICH HELLSTROM, DUTCH-GERMAN MORAVIAN MUSICIAN, COMPOWER, AND EDUCATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER FOURIER, “THE GOOD PRIEST OF MATTAINCOURT;” AND SAINT ALIX LE CLERC, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF NOTRE DAME OF CANONESSES REGULAR OF SAINT AUGUSTINE

THE FEAST OF SAINT WALTER CISZEK, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY PRIEST AND POLITICAL PRISONER

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O God, you have endowed us with memory, reason, and skill.

We thank you for the faithful legacy of [John H. W. Stuckenberg and all others]

who have dedicated their lives to you and to the intellectual pursuits.

May we, like them, respect your gift of intelligence fully and to your glory.

In the Name of God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Psalm 103

Philippians 4:8-9

Mark 12:28-34

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 6, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT CHRODEGANG OF METZ, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF EDMUND KING, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF LINCOLN

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A NOTICE REGARDING STUCKENBERG’S ANGLICIZED NAME:

As I prepared this post I read different versions of Stuckenberg’s Anglicized full name.  I read “John Henry Wilburn Stuckenberg” in the published version of his Civil War diary.  The biography at Gettysburg College listed his Anglicized name as “John Henry Wilbrand Stuckenberg.”  However, I found both “John Henry Wilbrandt Stuckenberg” and “John Henry Wilburn Stuckenberg” at archive.org.

KRT

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Above:  Part of Europe, 962 C.E.

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINT BERNARD OF MENTHON (CIRCA 923-1008)

Roman Catholic Priest and Archdeacon of Aosta

Apostle of the Alps

Alternative feast day = June 15

St. Bernard, patron saint of skiers, mountaineers, mountain climbers, travelers in the mountains, dwellers in the Alps, and Campiglia Cerva (in Italy), came from nobility.  He, born in a castle in Menthon, Savoy (now France), circa 923, received a fine education.  Then he rejected the marriage his father had arranged for him.  St. Bernard prepared for the priesthood instead.  Our saint proved to be an effective evangelist in the region of Aosta for 42 years.

The mountain pass from the Valley of Aosta into Valois canton, Switzerland, was perilous.  That pass, now named for St. Bernard, was prone to avalanches and a haunt for robbers.  Our saint founded two monasteries (the first one in 962) along the pass and staffed them with Augustinian monks.  They provided shelter for religious pilgrims and religious pilgrims.  The monks, assisted by dogs, also searched for people lost in the snow.  St. Bernard also founded a patrol to rid the pass of robbers.

St. Bernard served on the diocesan level also.  He, the Archdeacon of Aosta (starting in 996), also held the position of Vicar-General of the diocese.

St. Bernard died in Novara, Italy, in 1008.  He was about 85 years old.  Starting in the 1300s he was informally a saint, until Pope Innocent XI canonized him in 1681.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 9, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF KARL BARTH, SWISS REFORMED MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR; FATHER OF MARKUS BARTH, SWISS LUTHERAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF GEORG FRIEDRICH HELLSTROM, DUTCH-GERMAN MORAVIAN MUSICIAN, COMPOWER, AND EDUCATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER FOURIER, “THE GOOD PRIEST OF MATTAINCOURT;” AND SAINT ALIX LE CLERC, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF NOTRE DAME OF CANONESSES REGULAR OF SAINT AUGUSTINE

THE FEAST OF SAINT WALTER CISZEK, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY PRIEST AND POLITICAL PRISONER

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Almighty God, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses:

Grant that we, encouraged by the good example of your servant Saint Bernard of Menthon,

may persevere in running the race that is set before us,

until at last we may with him attain to your eternal joy;

through Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Micah 6:6-8

Psalm 15

Hebrews 12:1-2

Matthew 25:31-40

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 724

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Above:  Yugoslavia, September 1939

Scanned by Kenneth Randolph Taylor from Hammond’s New Era Atlas of the World (1945)

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BLESSED LOJZE GROZDE (MAY 27, 1923-JANUARY 1, 1943)

Slovenian Roman Catholic Martyr

Alternative feast day = January 1

Blessed Lojze Grozde served God ably during his 19 years of life.  He, born out-of-wedlock at Trzišce, Zgornje Vodale, Slovenia, Yugoslavia, on May 27, 1923, and baptized that day, grew up with his maternal grandparents and an aunt, pious peasants who raised him.  Our saint, a fine student, attended a boarding school in Ljubljana, thanks to the generosity of an anonymous benefactor.  Grozde, who joined the Congregation of Mary at the age of 13 years and Catholic Action two years later, considered studying for the priesthood yet concluded that he could do more for God as a layman.

World War II proved deadly for Grozde.  Yugoslavia was under fascist–Italian and German–occupation.  Communist rebels, being opposed to fascism because they were communists, resisted the occupiers (as rebels in occupied countries tend to do).  Some of these rebels mistook our saint, who was en route to visit relatives, for a fascist collaborator.  He was, without a doubt, a Roman Catholic; he carried a Latin prayer-book and the copy of The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis.  These rebels arrested, incarcerated, and tortured Grozde, whom they killed at Mirna Trebnje, Slovenia, on January 1, 1943.  Some children found his corpse in the woods on February 23.

Pope Benedict XVI declared Grozde a Venerable then a Blessed in 2010.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 9, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF KARL BARTH, SWISS REFORMED MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR; FATHER OF MARKUS BARTH, SWISS LUTHERAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF GEORG FRIEDRICH HELLSTROM, DUTCH-GERMAN MORAVIAN MUSICIAN, COMPOWER, AND EDUCATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER FOURIER, “THE GOOD PRIEST OF MATTAINCOURT;” AND SAINT ALIX LE CLERC, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF NOTRE DAME OF CANONESSES REGULAR OF SAINT AUGUSTINE

THE FEAST OF SAINT WALTER CISZEK, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY PRIEST AND POLITICAL PRISONER

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Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyr Blessed Lojze Grozde

triumphed over suffering and was faithful even to death:

Grant us, who now remember him in thanksgiving,

to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world,

that we may receive with him the crown of life;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with

you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 51:1-12

Psalm 116 or 116:1-8

Revelation 7:13-17

Luke 12:2-12

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 714

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Above:  Amelia Bloomer

Image in the Public Domain

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AMELIA JENKS BLOOMER (MAY 27, 1818-DECEMBER 18, 1894)

U.S. Suffragette

On the calendar of saints of The Episcopal Church the feast of Amelia Bloomer is July 20.  On that calendar, however, she shares that date with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Ross Tubman.  On this, my Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, I am in the process of breaking up that joint commemoration.

Amelia Jenks, born in Homer, New York, on May 27, 1818, came from a devout Presbyterian family.  She, the youngest of six children, grew up to become a teacher and an activist.  She worked for temperance, the end of slavery, and the establishment of equal rights for women with men in the United States.  She married attorney Dexter Bloomer in Seneca Falls, New York, on April 13, 1840.  Our saint wrote political articles for her husband’s newspaper.  She attended the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls in 1848.  The following year our saint began to publish The Lily, a newspaper advocating for temperance, women’s suffrage, and legal and social equality for women.  She published that newspaper through 1855.  Furthermore, she began her journeys on the lecture circuit in 1851.

Above:  Title Page of the Bloomer Waltz, 1851

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-USZC4-3591

In 1851 Bloomer began to wear the loose-fitting clothes (designed by Elizabeth Smith Miller) that became known as bloomers.  Bloomers came to replace corsets for many women, for corsets were not only uncomfortable but the causes of health problems.  Certain ministers, citing the Law of Moses’s injunction against women dressing like men, condemned bloomers as immoral.  Our saint replied that (1) the Law of Moses was irrelevant in this matter and (2) if these clergymen really cared about the Law of Moses, they would add fringes to their garments.

Our saint, associate editor of The Western Home Journal in the early 1850s, resided with her husband in Mount Vernon, Ohio, in 1854-1855, before they relocated to the frontier town of Council Bluffs, Iowa.  There the family remained.  There our saint, an Episcopalian, became deeply involved in civic life, helping to start schools and a library.  She also served as the first President of the Iowa Suffrage Association from 1871 to 1873.  Furthermore, Bloomer supported a variety of charities to help poor people.

Bloomer died, aged 76 years, at Council Bluffs on December 30, 1894.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 9, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF KARL BARTH, SWISS REFORMED MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR; FATHER OF MARKUS BARTH, SWISS LUTHERAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF GEORG FRIEDRICH HELLSTROM, DUTCH-GERMAN MORAVIAN MUSICIAN, COMPOWER, AND EDUCATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER FOURIER, “THE GOOD PRIEST OF MATTAINCOURT;” AND SAINT ALIX LE CLERC, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF NOTRE DAME OF CANONESSES REGULAR OF SAINT AUGUSTINE

THE FEAST OF SAINT WALTER CISZEK, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY PRIEST AND POLITICAL PRISONER

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Holy and righteous God, you created us in your image.

Grant us grace to contend fearlessly against evil and to make no peace with oppression.

Help us, like your servant Amelia Bloomer, to work for justice among people and nations,

to the glory of your name, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Hosea 2:18-23

Psalm 94:1-15

Romans 12:9-21

Luke 6:20-36

–Adapted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 60

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