Above:  Blessed Lucien Botovasoa 

Image in the Public Domain

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BLESSED LUCIEN BOTOVASOA (1908-APRIL 14, 1947)

Malagasy Roman Catholic Martyr, 1947

Blessed Lucien Botovasoa comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via the Roman Catholic Church.

Blessed Lucien, born in 1908 at Vohipeno, Madagascar, was one of nine children.  He was a subject of the French colonial regime.  Despite many dispersions regarding the French military from a plethora of critics in the twenty-first century, the French colonial regimes in places such as Madagascar and Algeria tolerated no hint of rebellion.  Tactics were harsh.

Blessed Lucien pursued a religious vocation.  He, baptized in 1918, made his First Communion four years later.  He studied at the Jesuit Saint Joseph College (1922-1928) then taught there.  Lives of the saints were part of our saint’s lessons for his pupils.  Blessed Lucien married Suzanna Soazana on October 10, 1930.  The married man and father, who joined the Crusaders of the Heart of Jesus on August 18, 1935, became a Secular Franciscan tertiary in 1940.  He made his final vows on December 18, 1944.  Blessed Lucien also took an interest in married saints and direct his parish choir.

Blessed Lucien was apolitical.  He, encouraged to seek public office in early 1947, refused.  Yet politics overtook him.  The Malagasy Uprising (1947-1949) started in March.  Predictably, French imperial repression triggered a violent rebellion.  Predictably, rebels targeted institutions of foreign influence.  The Roman Catholic Church became one of these targets.

On April 14, 1947, Blessed Lucien was eating lunch with his four children and pregnant wife.  In this context, our saint learned that he, as a Catholic teacher, would immediately become a target of rebels.  Instead of fleeing, Blessed Lucien remained with his family.  Our saint, arrested, tried, and convicted by the local chief that night, died between 10:00 p.m. and Midnight.  The guards, as well as the executioner, who beheaded Blessed Lucien, were some of his former students.  They threw the corpse into the Mattanana River.

Holy Mother Church has formally recognized our saint.  Pope Francis declared him a Venerable in 2017.  The following year, Lucien became Blessed Lucien.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 28, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JEHU JONES, JR., AFRICAN-AMERICAN LUTHERAN MINISTER

THE FEAST OF FRANCIS TURNER PALGRAVE, ANGLICAN POET, ART CRITIC, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF JOSEPH HOSKINS, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT LORENZO RUIZ AND HIS COMPANIONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES AND MARTYRS IN JAPAN, 1637

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Almighty God, by whose grace and power

your holy martyr Blessed Lucien Botovasoa

triumphed over suffering and was faithful even to death:

Grant to 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), 714

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Above:  Rod of Asclepius

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINTS ZENAIDA AND PHILONELLA OF TARSUS (DIED CIRCA 100)

SAINT HERMIONE OF EPHESUS (DIED CIRCA 117)

Unmercenary Physicians

Sts. Zenaida, Philonella, and Hermione come to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via The Episcopal Church–Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018, specifically.  All three women are also saints in the Eastern Orthodox churches.  Sts. Zenaida and Philonella of Tarsus, sisters, share the feast day of October 11 in that tradition.  The feast day of St. Hermione on the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox calendars is September 4.

Sts. Zenaida and Philonella of Tarsus were sisters of St. Jason of Tarsus, Bishop of Tarsus, and host of Sts. Paul the Apostle and Silas in Thessalonica in Acts 17:1-9.  After St. Jason became a Christian and a priest, he baptized his sisters.  Sts. Zenaida and Philonella came from a wealthy Jewish family.  The sisters, well-educated in philosophy and medicine, confronted the patriarchy that prevented them from practicing medicine via conventional channels.  They founded what sociologists call parallel institutions–in their case, a chapel, two cells, and a clinic on the outskirts of Thessaly.  The sister physicians provided free medical care and refused to accept payment from anyone.  St. Zenaida specialized in pediatrics and psychological disorders, especially depression.  She had several male disciples, who founded a monastery nearby.

The sisters died circa 100.

St. Hermione of Ephesus founded the first Christian hospital.  She was a daughter of St. Philip the Deacon, mentioned in Acts 6:1-7 and 8:26-40.  St. Hermione, who studied medicine in Caesarea, visited Ephesus to meet St. John the Evangelist.  She arrived after he had died, however.  She remained in the area, though.  St. Hermione and her sister Eukhidia opened a clinic that became a hospital.

St. Hermione died circa 117.

The collect for this feast provides a suitable conclusion.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 26, 2020 COMMON ERA

ASH WEDNESDAY

THE FEAST OF ANTONIO VALDIVIESO, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF LEON, AND MARTYR, 1495

THE FEAST OF ANDREW REED, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, HUMANITARIAN, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF EMILY MALBONE MORGAN, FOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY OF THE COMPANIONS OF THE HOLY CROSS

THE FEAST OF JAKOB HUTTER, FOUNDER OF THE HUTTERITES, AND ANABAPTIST MARTYR, 1536; AND HIS WIFE, KATHARINE HUTTER, ANABAPTIST MARTYR, 1538

THE FEAST OF SAINT PAULA OF SAINT JOSEPH OF CALASANZ, FOUNDRESS OF THE DAUGHTERS OF MARY

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Merciful God, whose most dear Son came to

heal the sick, cast out demons, and preach the gospel to the poor;

Teach us by the example of your servants, Zenaida, Philonella, and Hermione

to give freely even as we have received freely;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 38:1-14

Psalm 147

Mark 1:29-34

—Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018, 230

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Above:  Handel

Image in the Public Domain

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GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL (FEBRUARY 23, 1685 OLD STYLE/MARCH 5, 1685 NEW STYLE-APRIL 14, 1759)

Composer

Also known as Georg Friedrich Handel and George Frideric Handel

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I should be sorry if I only entertained them. I wish to make them better.

–Handel

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The feast day of this saint in The Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is July 28.  The Episcopal Church adds Johann Sebastian Bach and Henry Purcell to that feast.  The ELCA/ELCIC version of the feast is Heinrich Schutz, J. S. Bach, and G. F. Handel.  My strategy in this matter is to break those two feasts apart, as I have begun to do.

Handel was a child prodigy.  He was a child of the 63-year-old Georg Handel (a barber-surgeon) and Dorothea Taust, of Halle.  Our saint, born on February 23, 1685 (Julian Calendar)/March 5, 1685 (Gregorian Calendar), played the organ at the ducal court at Weissenfells at the tender age of eight years.  The following year Handel began to study composition and various instruments under Friedrich Wilhelm Zachau, an organist at Halle.  By the age of ten years Handel had at least six sonatas for oboe and continue to his credit.

Georg Handel, who died in 1697,  wanted our saint to become an attorney.  So it came to pass that young Handel studied law at the University of Halle.  Our saint completed that course of study, per the wishes of his late father, although he had begun to support himself as a church musician.  Handel, although a Lutheran, was organist at a Reformed church.

Handel became a musician and composer.  Among his friends was composer Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), whom he met in college.  From 1703 to 1706 Handel worked in Hamburg, a center of German opera.  He played the violin and the harpsichord in the opera orchestra there.  Our saint also wrote the St. John Passion and this first two operas (Almira and Nero) at Hamburg.

Handel spent 1706-1710 in Italy.  There he visited Florence, Rome, Naples, and Venice, met major Italian composers, and composed major works, including operas.

After completing his Italian tour Handel went to work as the musical director for Georg Ludwig, the Elector of Hanover (and, starting in 1714, King George I of Great Britain).  Our saint visited London, where he debuted his opera Rinaldo, in 1711.  The following year he settled in that city.  In 1726 he became a naturalized British subject.

Handel was a great composer.  He and J. S. Bach, who was unlike him in many ways, wrote much of the best music of the Baroque Era.  The great Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), citing Messiah (1741), declared that Handel was “the master of us all.”  Handel’s vast catalog of compositions included instrumental and vocal music, from the Water Music to operas to oratorios on Biblical topics (Messiah, Judas Maccabaeus, Samson, Esther, Israel in Egypt, et cetera).

Handel, a lifelong bachelor, enjoyed life and lived it well.  The man who demonstrated the ability to speak three languages in the same sentence was generous of spirit and gave liberally to charities; he had much to share with the less fortunate.  He, although a solitary figure, enjoyed parties, good food, and fine wine.  He did not hold grudges and, when he realized that he had caused offense, was quick to apologize.

Handel died in London on April 14, 1759, aged 74 years.  The site of his burial was Westminster Abbey.

I intend no disrespect to lawyers when I write that it is fortunate for the world that Handel became a composer, not an attorney.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 28, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF HUGH THOMSON KERR, SR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND LITURGIST; AND HUGH THOMSON KERR, JR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, SCHOLAR, AND THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINTS PLUTARCH, MARCELLA, POTANOMINAENA, AND BASTILDES OF ALEXANDRIA, MARTYRS

THE FEAST OF RANDOLPH ROYALL CLAIBORNE, JR., EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF ATLANTA

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Almighty God, beautiful in majesty and majestic in holiness,

who teaches us in Holy Scriptures to sing your praises and who gave your

musician George Frederick Handel grace to show forth your glory in his music:

Be with all those who write or make music for your people,

that we on earth may glimpse your beauty and know the

inexhaustible riches of your new creation in Jesus Christ our Savior;

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

2 Chronicles 7:1-6

Psalm 150

Colossians 2:2-6

Luke 2:8-14

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 491

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Icon of Sts. Anthony, John, and Eustathius of Vilnius

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINT ANTHONY OF VILNIUS (BORN NEZHILO)

Brother of

SAINT JOHN OF VILNIUS (BORN KUMETS)

Relative of

SAINT EUSTATHIUS (BORN KRUGLETS)

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MARTYRS IN LITHUANIA, 1347

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This feast comes to my Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days from the Russian Orthodox Church.

These three saints, young men, were courtiers of Algirdas (reigned 1345-1377), Grand Duke of Lithuania.  They had converted to Christianity and received new names at baptism.  They were safe until 1346, when Grand Duchess Maria Yaroslavna, the Christian wife of Algirdas, died.  Algirdas had converted (at least officially) to Christianity years prior, but he reverted to paganism as a widower.  The Grand Duke outlawed evangelism.  Nevertheless, Sts. Anthony and John preached in public.  The prisoners then refused to eat meat on a holy fast day.  The Grand Duke, therefore, had St. Anthony hanged on April 14, 1347, and St. John strangled and hanged ten years later.  Their relative, St. Eustathius, later also refused to eat meat on a holy fast day, so he be joined his relatives in martyrdom on December 13, 1347.

Jogaila (reigned 1377-1381, 1382-1392), the son and immediate successor of Algirdas, converted to Roman Catholicism in 1386 and united Lithuania and Poland.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 24, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE NATIVITY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST

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Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyrs

Saints Anthony, John, and Eustathius of Vilnius

triumphed over suffering and were faithful unto death:

strengthen us with your grace, that we may endure

reproach and persecution, and faithfully bear witness to the name of Jesus Christ our Lord;

who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

2 Chronicles 24:17-21 or Jeremiah 11:18-20 or Wisdom of Solomon 4:10-15

Psalms 3 or 11 or 119:161-168

Romans 8:335f or 2 Timothy 2:3-7 or Hebrews 11:32-40 or Revelation 7:13f

Matthew 10:16-22 or Matthew 14:1-12 or Matthew 16:24-26 or John 15:18-21

–Adapted from The Alternative Service Book 1980, The Church of England

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Above:  The Flag of The Episcopal Church

Image Source = Zscout370

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EDWARD THOMAS DEMBY, V (FEBRUARY 13, 1869-APRIL 14, 1957)

Episcopal Suffragan Bishop for Colored Work, Diocese of Arkansas and the Province of the Southwest

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HENRY BEARD DELANY, SR. (MAY 5, 1858-APRIL 14, 1928)

Episcopal Suffragan Bishop for Colored Work, Diocese of North Carolina

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In 2016 the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church is Michael Curry, an African American.  The fact that he leads the denomination testifies to the reality of how much The Episcopal Church has changed for the better since the days of Bishops Demby and Delany, in large part due to their efforts.  The fact that the denomination commemorates their lives on April 14 is also positive.

First I will explain the types of bishops germane to this post.  A diocesan bishop leads his or her diocese.  A bishop coadjutor serves under a diocesan prior to succeeding him or her automatically.  A suffragan bishop serves under a diocesan bishop without the right of succession.  A suffragan bishop can, however, become a diocesan bishop via election and confirmation to that post.  An old joke illustrates the difference between a bishop coadjutor and a suffragan bishop.  A suffragan bishop asks his her diocesan bishop,

How are you?,

but a bishop coadjutor asks his or her diocesan bishop,

How are you feeling?

Edward Thomas Demby, V, and Henry Beard Delany, Sr., were pioneers in the struggle for social justice in The Episcopal Church.  In 1918 the Church consecrated them Suffragan Bishops for Colored Work.  They were under the authority of White bishops and subject to an ecclesiastical establishment frequently insensitive to social equality.  Suffragan bishops could not even vote in the House of Bishops until 1946.  Demby and Delany were second-class bishops, but they remained faithful in their labors for Jesus.

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Demby, some said after he died, could have eradicated racism by good example alone, if that were possible.  He entered the world at Wilmington, Delaware, on February 13, 1869.  His parents, who had never been slaves, were Edward Thomas Demby, IV, and Mary Anderson Tippett Demby.  Our saint’s education started locally and in his community.  Then he studied at the following schools, in chronological order:

• The Institute for Colored Youth, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
• Centenary Bible Institute, Baltimore, Maryland;
• Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio; and
• The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.

Demby, originally a Methodist, left the church John Wesley made for the church that made John Wesley.  Our saint became a minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC) in 1894, the same year he began to serve as Dean of Students at Paul Quinn College, Dallas, Texas.  In 1895, however, Demby converted to The Episcopal Church.  John F. Spalding, the Bishop of Colorado, became our saint’s mentor and sent him to Tennessee.  There, 1898, Demby joined the ranks of the Sacred Order of Deacons.  He became a priest the following year.  In Tennessee our saint served as the Rector of St. Paul’s Church, Macon, the principal of the parochial school, and the vice principal of Hoffman Hall.  From 1900 to 1907 Demby served churches in Cairo, Illinois; Kansas City, Missouri; and Florida.  In 1902 he married his second wife, Antoinette Ricks, a nurse.  (His first wife, Polly Alston Sherill Demby, had died a few years prior.)  In 1907 Demby became the Rector of Emmanuel Church, Memphis, Tennessee.  In time he came to double as the Secretary of the Southern Colored convocations and as the Archdeacon for Colored Work in the Diocese of Tennessee.  In matters of racial policy he sided with W.E.B. DuBois against Booker T. Washington.

Demby had a difficult time as Suffragan Bishop for Colored Work.  He began that work on September 29, 1918, when he became the first African-American Suffragan Bishop in The Episcopal Church.  Until 1922 Demby had no salary, and the salary he received starting in 1922 was relatively meager.  Neither did our saint have an official residence.  He started with a few small congregations in Arkansas and sought to grow them and to found more churches in Arkansas and the Southwest, but financial restraints and White leadership hobbled those efforts.  Nevertheless, Demby did help to found the Christ Church Parochial and Industrial School, Forrest City, Arkansas, and recruited teachers for it.  He also recruited priests and worked with African-American orphanages, schools, and hospitals.

Matters went from bad to worse for Demby in 1932.  The diocesan convention elected a new bishop, but Demby and White allies detected racism in the procedures.  They protested the election and its result to the national church successfully, so The Episcopal Church overturned the election result.  This angered certain prominent churchmen in Arkansas.  They interfered with Demby’s work, rendering him a bishop in name only.  He turned his attention to national church efforts to resist racism.  This work continued after he retired in 1939.

Demby remained active in retirement.  He served churches in Kansas and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Cleveland, Ohio.  At the General Convention of 1940 he stood up for the desegregation of The Episcopal Church, helping to defeat a proposal to place African-American congregations in separate missionary districts.  Within 15 years the segregated dioceses integrated.  Demby lived long enough to see that happen and to witness Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and the approving statement by the Bishop of Arkansas.

Demby died at Cleveland, Ohio, on April 14, 1957.  He was 88 years old.  His written legacy included devotional and theological books:

1. Devotions of the Cross and at the Holy Mass;
2. My Companion;
3. A Bird’s Eye View of Exegetical Studies;
4. The Writings of Saints Paul and James;
5. The Holy Sacrament of the Altar and Penance; and
6. The Manual of the Guild of One More Soul.

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Demby’s co-saint for April 14 is Henry Beard Delany, Sr., the Bishop Suffragan, Diocese of North Carolina (1918-1928).

Delany rose from slavery to the episcopate.  He entered the world at St. Marys, Georgia, on May 5, 1858.  His father was Thomas Sterling Delany (1810-1890), a carpenter, plasterer, and brick layer.  Our saint’s mother was Sarah Elizabeth Delany (1814-1891), a domestic servant.  After the Civil War the family moved to Fernandina Beach, Florida, where Delany worked on the family farm and learned carpentry, plastery, and brick laying from is father.  The Delanys were Methodists, but, in 1881, the local Episcopal priest funded a scholarship for our saint to attend St. Augustine’s College, Raleigh, North Carolina, a school founded by Episcopal priests for freedmen in 1867.

Delany lived on the campus of St. Augustine’s College for the rest of his life.  He graduated in 1885 then joined the faculty, teaching masonry and carpentry as well as supervising building projects.  In 1886 he married Nanny James (1861-1956).  The couple had ten children from 1887 to 1906.  Nanny taught at St. Augustine’s College also; the family lived on campus.  Delany, Vice Principal from 1899 to 1908, became a deacon in 1889 and a priest in 1892.  He served as the campus chaplain and musician, was the architect for the Norman-style chapel, and oversaw the construction of the library (1898) and the hospital (1909).  That was the only hospital to serve area African Americans until 1940.  In 1908 Delany became the Archdeacon for Negro Work in the Diocese of North Carolina.

As Suffragan Bishop for Negro Work Delany served not only in the Diocese of North Carolina but also in the Dioceses of East Carolina, Western North Carolina, South Carolina, and Upper South Carolina.  He did this for ten years until he died at home, in Raleigh, on April 14, 1928.  He was 69 years old.

Bishop Delany also resisted racism in The Episcopal Church and in society.  He died prior to the civil rights movement, but his ten children blazed trails.  For example,  Lemuel Delany (1861-1956) became a surgeon.  Sarah Louise Delany (1889-1999) was an educator.  Annie Elizabeth “Bessie” Delany (1891-1995) became a dentist.  These two sisters were the topics of Having Our Say (1991), an oral history.  Hubert Thomas Delany (1901-1990) became an attorney then a judge.  His clients included Paul Robeson, Jackie Robinson, and Martin Luther King, Jr.  The influence of Bishop Delany was evident in his children.

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Michael Curry, who served as the Bishop of North Carolina prior to his elevation to Presiding Bishop, spoke of the arrangement of portraits of bishops at the diocesan headquarters to the 194th Annual Convention of the Diocese of North Carolina on January 22, 2010.  He noted that, in the former, suburban Raleigh headquarters, the portraits of the diocesan bishops hung in one wing of the building and the portraits of the suffragan bishops hung in another wing thereof.  The design of the building made integrating those sets of portraits difficult.  In time, however, the diocese moved its headquarters into Raleigh proper.  Curry ordered that, at the new Diocesan House, the portraits of the bishops–diocesan and suffragan–hang together and in chronological order of consecration.  Curry explained the unintentional symbolism of hanging the portraits in separate wings and the intentional symbolism of integrating the sets of portraits:

Now the portraits hang not in any order that recalls Jim Crow, but in the gospel lineage of Simon Peter, Augustine of Canterbury, and Samuel Seabury.

—Crazy Christians:  A Call to Follow Jesus (2013), page 122

Bishops Demby and Delany would have approved.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 17, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF SAINT ANTONY OF EGYPT, DESERT FATHER

THE FEAST OF SAINT BERARD AND HIS COMPANIONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS IN MOROCCO

THE FEAST OF EDMUND HAMILTON SEARS, UNITARIAN PASTOR AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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Loving God, we thank you for the ministries of Edward Thomas Demby and Henry Beard Delany,

bishops of your Church who, though limited by segregation, served faithfully to your honor and glory.

Assist us, we pray, to break trough the limitations of our own time,

that we may minister in obedience to Jesus Christ;

who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns,

one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Malachi 2:5-7

Psalm 119:161-168

1 Thessalonians 2:1-12

John 4:31-36

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 327

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Above:  The Triumphal Entry Into Jerusalem

Reasons to Apologize to God and to Repent

MARCH 20, 2016

APRIL 14, 2019

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THE ASSIGNED READINGS FOR THIS SUNDAY

At the Liturgy of the Palms:

Luke 19:28-30

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29

At the Liturgy of the Word:

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Psalm 31:9-16

Philippians 2:5-11

Luke 22:14-23:56 or Luke 23:1-49

The Collect:

Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Some Related Posts:

Prayer of Praise and Adoration:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/prayer-of-praise-and-adoration-for-passion-sundaypalm-sunday/

Prayer of Confession:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/prayer-of-confession-for-passion-sundaypalm-sunday/

Prayer of Dedication:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/prayer-of-dedication-for-passion-sundaypalm-sunday/

Prayer:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/prayer-for-passion-sundaypalm-sunday/

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Passover was the Hebrew national holiday, the commemoration of the birth of the Hebrew nation via the passage on dry land through the Sea of Reeds.  Thus it was political, especially when Judea was part of the Roman Empire and a Roman fortress towered over the Temple complex in Jerusalem.  Vast throngs of pilgrims came to the city for that week, and more Roman soldiers than usual watched them.  The empire was relatively tolerant of religions–especially old ones–but only to a point.  And it did not tolerate insurrections.  If an insurrection were to erupt in the Jewish homeland, it might do so at Passover.

Temple authorities cooperated with the occupying Romans.  So even the side of the Passover ceremonies was tainted.  Thus Jesus, by confronting the Temple system, made his execution inevitable.  There was no separation of religion and state at that time and place.

That was the background of the Triumphal entry and of the rest of Holy Week.  It is easy to condemn long-dead people.  Indeed, many long-dead people deserve historical condemnation.  But may we not stop there.  Are we complicit in an exploitative system?  If so, would we be willing to kill to defend it?  Perhaps the answer to the first question is negative, so the second question is irrelevant.  In that case, how prone are we to bow to peer pressure?  Mobs cried,

Crucify him!

History and sociology confirm what experience teaches:  Many of we humans will do in groups what we will never do alone.  So, one way or another or both, we have reasons to apologize to God and repent.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 29, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE FIRST U.S. PRESBYTERIAN BOOK OF CONFESSIONS, 1967

THE FEAST OF JIRI TRANOVSKY, HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINTS LUKE KIRBY, THOMAS COTTAM, WILLIAM FILBY, AND LAURENCE RICHARDSON, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND MARTYRS

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Above:  Gaul in 628 Common Era

SAINT WANDREGISILUS, A.K.A. WANDRILLE, OF NORMANDY (DIED 668)

Roman Catholic Abbot

His feast transferred from July 22

mentor of

SAINT LAMBERT OF LYONS (DIED 688)

Roman Catholic Abbot and Archbishop

His feast = April 14

Born to nobility and related to St. Pepin (I) of Landen, St. Wandregisilus/Wandrille served in the court of Dagobert I, King of Austrasia (623-628) and of all Franks (629-639).  The saint married against his will because his parents wished him to wed.  He and his wife separated in 628 to that each could become a monastic.  The saint became a monk at Montfaucon Abbey in Champagne but left there after a few months so he could become a hermit at St. Ursanne, in the Jura Mountains.  Five years later, he relocated to Bobbio, in Italy, then to Romain-Moutier Abbey, near the Isere River.  There he remained for a decade and became a priest.  St. Wandregisilus left Romain-Moutier to become the founding abbot of Fontanelle Abbey in Normandy.  It became a center of evangelism, missionary work, and education.  His immediate successor was St. Lambert of Lyons.

St. Lambert of Lyons grew up in the court of Clotaire/Lothair III (King of Neustria from 657 to 673 and of all Franks from 656 to 660).  St. Lambert became a monk at Fontanelles under St. Wandregisilus.  After St. Lambert’s tenure as Abbot of Fontanelles, he became Archbishop of Lyons in 678/679, having founded the Abbey of Donzere.

While researching this post and pondering the notes I took, I encountered a thread I chose not to pursue here.  One source referred to St. Balderic as a mentor to St. Wandregisilus.  And St. Balderic, I read, was brother of St. Bova, who might have been aunt of St. Doda.  I am skeptical, though, for information about these saints was brief, vague, and contradictory.  For example, chronological markers regarding St. Doda placed her in a century immediately prior to that of her aunt, St. Bova.  That works in time travel stories, not in hagiographies.

I am reasonably certain, however, that Sts. Lambert and Wandregisilus lived in the 600s.  Each of us can probably name at least one spiritual mentor.  How many people did these saints influence positively?  And how many did those influence for God?  I do not know, but I suppose that the number was great.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 29, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY, YEAR B

THE FEAST OF SAINTS LYDIA, DORCAS, AND PHOEBE, COWORKERS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL

THE FEAST OF SAINT ANDREI RUBLEV, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX ICONOGRAPHER

THE FEAST OF SAINTS GENESIUS I OF CLERMONT AND PRAEJECTUS OF CLERMONT, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS, AND AMARIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT

THE FEAST OF SAINT GILDAS, HISTORIAN AND ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

O God, by whose grace your servants

Saints Wandregisilus of Normandy and Lambert of Lyons,

kindled with the flame of your love,

became a burning and a shining light in your Church:

Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline,

and walk before you as children of light;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Acts 2:42-47a

Psalm 133 or 34:1-8 or 119:161-168

2 Corinthians 6:1-10

Matthew 6:24-33

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 723

Daisies

Image Source = WiZZiK

1 (Frederick Denison Maurice, Anglican Priest and Theologian)

• Giuseppe Girotti, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1945
• John Gray, Scottish Presbyterian Minister, Mythologist, Biblical Scholar, and Professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages
• Ludovico Pavoni, Roman Catholic Priest and Educator
• Syragius of Autun and Anarcharius of Auxerre, Roman Catholic Bishops; and Valery of Leucone and Eustace of Luxeuit, Roman Catholic Abbots

2 (James Lloyd Breck, “The Apostle of the Wilderness”)

• Carlo Carretto, Spiritual Writer
• John Payne and Cuthbert Mayne, Roman Catholic Priests and Martyrs, 1582 and 1577
• Joseph Bernardin, Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago
• Mykolai Charnetskyi, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Titular Bishop of Lebed, and Martyr, 1959
• Sidonius Apollinaris, Eustace of Lyon, and His Descendants, Roman Catholic Bishops

3 (Luther D. Reed, U.S. Lutheran Minister and Liturgist)

• Burgendofara and Sadalberga, Roman Catholic Abbesses, and Their Relatives
• Marc Sangnier, Founder of the Sillon Movement
• Mary of Egypt, Hermit and Penitent
• Reginald Heber, Anglican Bishop of Calcutta, and Hymn Writer
• Sidney Lovett, U.S. Congregationalist Minister and Chaplain of Yale University

4 (Benedict the African, Franciscan Friar and Hermit)

• Alfred C. Marble, Jr., Episcopal Bishop of Mississippi then Assisting Bishop of North Carolina
• Ernest W. Shurtleff, U.S. Congregationalist Minister and Hymn Writer
• Gaetano Catanoso, Founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of Saint Veronica (Missionaries of the Holy Face)
• Martin Luther King, Jr., U.S. Civil Rights Leader, and Martyr, 1968 (also January 15)
• Ndue Serreqi, Albanian Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1954

5 (Emily Ayckbowm, Founder of the Community of the Sisters of the Church)

• Mariano de la Mata Aparicio, Roman Catholic Missionary and Educator in Brazil
• Pauline Sperry, Mathematician, Philanthropist, and Activist; and her brother, Willard Learoyd Sperry, Congregationalist Minister, Ethicist, Theologian, and Dean of Harvard Law School
• Ruth Youngdahl Nelson, U.S. Lutheran Renewer of Society
• William Derham, Anglican Priest and Scientist

6 (Marcellinus of Carthage, Roman Catholic Martyr, 413)

• Benjamin Hall Kennedy, Greek and Latin Scholar, Bible Translator, and Anglican Priest
• Daniel G. C. Wu, Chinese-American Episcopal Priest and Missionary
• Emil Brunner, Swiss Reformed Theologian
• Milner Ball, Presbyterian Minister, Law Professor, Witness for Civil Rights, Humanitarian
• Nokter Balbulus, Roman Catholic Monk

7 (Tikhon of Moscow, Russian Orthodox Patriach)

• André Trocmé, Magda Trocmé, and Daniel Trocmé, Righteous Gentiles
• George the Younger, Greek Orthodox Bishop of Mitylene
• Jay Thomas Stocking, U.S. Congregationalist Minister and Hymn Writer
• Montford Scott, Edmund Gennings, Henry Walpole, and Their Fellow Martyrs, 1591 and 1595
• Randall Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury

8 (Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, Patriarch of American Lutheranism; his great-grandson, William Augustus Muhlenberg, Episcopal Priest, Hymn Writer, and Liturgical Pioneer; and his colleague, Anne Ayres, Founder of the Sisterhood of the Holy Communion)

• Dionysius of Corinth, Roman Catholic Bishop
• Godfrey Diekmann, U.S. Roman Catholic Monk, Priest, Ecumenist, Theologian, and Liturgical Scholar
• Hugh of Rouen, Roman Catholic Bishop, Abbot, and Monk
• Julie Billiart, Founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame
• Timothy Lull, U.S. Lutheran Minister, Scholar, Theologian, and Ecumenist

9 (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German Lutheran Martyr, 1945

• Johann Cruger, German Lutheran Organist, Composer, and Hymnal Editor
• John Samuel Bewley Monsell, Anglican Priest and Poet; and Richard Mant, Anglican Bishop of Down, Connor, and Dromore
• Lydia Emilie Gruchy, First Female Minister in the United Church of Canada
• Mikael Agricola, Finnish Lutheran Liturgist, Bishop of Turku, and “Father of Finnish Literary Language”
• William Law, Anglican Priest, Mystic, and Spiritual Writer

10 (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Roman Catholic Priest, Scientist, and Theologian)

• Bademus, Persian Martyr, 376
• Bonifacy Zukowski, Polish Roman Catholic Friar and Martyr, 1942
• Fulbert of Chartres, Roman Catholic Bishop
• Henry Van Dyke, U.S. Presbyterian Minister and Liturgist
• Howard Thurman, Protestant Theologian

11 (Heinrich Theobald Schenck, German Lutheran Pastor and Hymn Writer)

• Charles Stedman Newhall, U.S. Naturalist, Hymn Writer, and Congregationalist and Presbyterian Minister
• George Augustus Selwyn, Anglican Bishop of New Zealand, Primate of New Zealand, and Bishop of Lichfield; Missionary
• George Zabelka, U.S. Roman Catholic Priest, Military Chaplain, and Advocate for Christian Nonviolence
• Henry Hallam Tweedy, U.S. Congregationalist Minister, Liturgist, and Hymn Writer
• Symforian Ducki, Polish Roman Catholic Friar and Martyr, 1942

12 (Henry Sloane Coffin, U.S. Presbyterian Minister, Theologian, and Hymn Translator; and his nephew, William Sloane Coffin, Jr., U.S. Presbyterian Minister and Social Activist)

• Carl F. Price, U.S. Methodist Hymnologist and Composer
• David Uribe-Velasco, Mexican Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1927
• Julius I, Bishop of Rome
• Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, Chilean Roman Catholic Nun
• Zeno of Verona, Bishop

13 (Joseph Barber Lightfoot, Bishop of Durham)

• Henri Perrin, French Roman Catholic Worker Priest
• John Gloucester, First African-American Presbyterian Minister
• Lucy Craft Laney, African-American Presbyterian Educator and Civil Rights Activist
• Martin I, Bishop of Rome, and Martyr, 655; and Maximus the Confessor, Eastern Orthodox Monk, Abbot, and Martyr, 662
• Rolando Rivi, Roman Catholic Seminarian and Martyr, 1945

14 (Edward Thomas Demby and Henry Beard Delany, Episcopal Suffragan Bishops for Colored Work)

• Anthony, John, and Eustathius of Vilnius, Martyrs in Lithuania, 1347
• George Frederick Handel, Composer
• Lucien Botovasoa, Malagasy Roman Catholic Martyr, 1947
• Wandregisilus of Normandy, Roman Catholic Abbot; and Lambert of Lyons, Roman Catholic Abbot and Bishop
• Zenaida of Tarsus and her sister, Philonella of Tarsus; and Hermione of Ephesus; Unmercenary Physicians

15 (Olga of Kiev, Regent of Kievan Russia; Adalbert of Magdeburg, Roman Catholic Bishop; Adalbert of Prague, Roman Catholic Bishop and Martyr, 997; and Benedict and Gaudentius of Pomerania, Roman Catholic Martyrs, 997)

• Damien and Marianne of Molokai, Workers Among Lepers
• Flavia Domitilla, Roman Christian Noblewoman; and Maro, Eutyches, and Victorinus of Rome, Priests and Martyrs, Circa 99
• Hunna of Alsace, the “Holy Washerwoman”

16 (Bernadette of Lourdes, Roman Catholic Visionary)

• Calvin Weiss Laufer, U.S. Presbyterian Minister and Hymnodist
• Isabella Gilmore, Anglican Deaconess
• Mikel Suma, Albanian Roman Catholic Priest, Friar, and Martyr, 1950
• Peter Williams Cassey, African-American Episcopal Deacon; and his wife, Annie Besant Cassey, African-American Episcopal Educator

17 (Daniel Sylvester Tuttle, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church)

• Emily Cooper, Episcopal Deaconess
• Lucy Larcom, U.S. Academic, Journalist, Poet, Editor, and Hymn Writer
• Max Josef Metzger, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1944
• Wilbur Kenneth Howard, Moderator of The United Church of Canada

18 (Roger Williams, Founder of Rhode Island; and Anne Hutchinson, Rebellious Puritan)

• Cornelia Connelly, Founder of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus
• Maria Anna Blondin, Founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Anne
• Mary C. Collins, U.S. Congregationalist Missionary and Minister
• Murin of Fahan, Laserian of Leighlin, Goban of Picardie, Foillan of Fosses, and Ultan of Peronne, Abbots; Fursey of Peronne and Blitharius of Seganne, Monks
• Roman Archutowski, Polish Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1943

19 (Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Martyr, 1012)

• Emma of Lesum, Benefactor
• Olavus Petri, Swedish Lutheran Theologian, Historian, Liturgist, Minister, Hymn Writer, Hymn Translator, and “Father of Swedish Literature;” and his brother, Laurentius Petri, Swedish Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala, Bible Translator, and “Father of Swedish Hymnody”
• Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Anglican Organist and Composer

20 (Johannes Bugenhagen, German Lutheran Theologian, Minister, Liturgist, and “Pastor of the Reformation”)

• Amator of Auxerre and Germanus of Auxerre, Roman Catholic Bishops; Mamertinus of Auxerre, Roman Catholic Abbot; and Marcian of Auxerre, Roman Catholic Monk
• Chiara Bosatta, Co-Founder of the Daughters of Saint Mary of Providence
• Christian X, King of Denmark and Iceland; and his brother, Haakon VII, King of Norway
• Marion MacDonald Kelleran, Episcopal Seminary Professor and Lay Leader
• Robert Seymour Bridges, Anglican Hymn Writer and Hymn Translator

21 (Roman Adame Rosales, Mexican Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1927)

• Conrad of Parzham, Capuchin Friar
• David Brainerd, American Congregationalist then Presbyterian Missionary and Minister
• George B. Caird, English Congregationalist then United Reformed Minister, Biblical Scholar, and Hymn Writer and Translator
• Georgia Harkness, U.S. Methodist Minister, Theologian, Ethicist, and Hymn Writer
• Simeon Barsabae, Bishop; and His Companions, Martyrs, 341

22 (Gene Britton, Episcopal Priest)

• Donald S. Armentrout, U.S. Lutheran Minister and Scholar
• Hadewijch of Brabert, Roman Catholic Mystic
• Kathe Kollwitz, German Lutheran Artist and Pacifist
• Ndoc Suma, Albanian Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1958
• Vitalis of Gaza, Monk, Hermit, and Martyr, Circa 625

23 (Toyohiko Kagawa, Renewer of Society and Prophetic Witness in Japan)

• Maria Gabriella Sagheddu, Italian Roman Catholic Nun
• Martin Rinckart, German Lutheran Minister and Hymn Writer
• Teresa Maria of the Cross, Founder of the Carmelite Sisters of Saint Teresa of Florence
• Walter Russell Bowie, Episcopal Priest, Seminary Professor, and Hymn Writer

24 (Genocide Remembrance)

• Egbert of Lindisfarne, Roman Catholic Monk; and Adalbert of Egmont, Roman Catholic Missionary
• Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Capuchin Friar and Martyr, 1622
• Frank von Christierson, Finnish-American Presbyterian Minister and Hymn Writer
• Jakob Böhme, German Lutheran Mystic
• Johann Walter, “First Cantor of the Lutheran Church”
• Mellitus, Bishop of London, and Archbishop of Canterbury

25 (MARK THE EVANGELIST, MARTYR, 68)

26 (William Cowper, Anglican Hymn Writer)

• Adelard of Corbie, Frankish Roman Catholic Monk and Abbot; and his protégé, Paschasius Radbertus, Frankish Roman Catholic Monk, Abbot, and Theologian
• Robert Hunt, First Anglican Chaplain at Jamestown, Virginia
• Ruth Byllesby, Episcopal Deaconess in Georgia
• Stanislaw Kubista, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1940; and Wladyslaw Goral, Polish Roman Catholic Bishop and Martyr, 1945
• William Stringfellow, Episcopal Attorney, Theologian, and Social Activist

27 (George Washington Doane, Episcopal Bishop of New Jersey; and his son, William Croswell Doane, Episcopal Bishop of Albany; Hymn Writers)

• Antony and Theodosius of Kiev, Founders of Russian Orthodox Monasticism; Barlaam of Kiev, Russian Orthodox Abbot; and Stephen of Kiev, Russian Orthodox Abbot and Bishop
• Christina Rossetti, Poet and Religious Writer
• Remaclus of Maastricht, Theodore of Maastricht, Lambert of Maastricht, Hubert of Maastricht and Liege, and Floribert of Liege, Roman Catholic Bishops; Landrada of Munsterbilsen, Roman Catholic Abbess; and Otger of Utrecht, Plechelm of Guelderland, and Wiro, Roman Catholic Missionaries
• Zita of Tuscany, Worker of Charity

28 (Jaroslav Vajda, U.S. Lutheran Minister, Hymn Translator, and Hymn Writer)

• Jozef Cebula, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1941
• Louis de Montfort, Founder of the Company of Mary (the Montfort Missionaries) and Co-Founder of the Daughters of Wisdom; and Marie-Louise Trichet, Co-Founder of the Daughters of Wisdom
• Pamphilius of Sulmona, Roman Catholic Bishop and Almsgiver
• Peter Chanel, Protomartyr of Oceania, 1841

29 (Catherine of Siena, Roman Catholic Mystic and Religious)

• Bosa of York, John of Beverley, Wilfrid the Younger, and Acca of Hexham, Roman Catholic Bishops
• Hanna Helena Chrzanowska, Polish Roman Catholic Nurse
• James Edward Walsh, Roman Catholic Missionary Bishop and Political Prisoner in China
• Simon B. Parker, United Methodist Biblical Scholar
• Timothy Rees, Welsh Anglican Hymn Writer and Bishop of Llandaff

30 (James Montgomery, Anglican and Moravian Hymn Writer)

• Diet Eman; her fiancé, Hein Sietsma, Martyr, 1945; and his brother, Hendrik “Henk” Sietsma; Righteous Among the Nations
• Giuseppe Benedetto Cottolengo, Founder of the Little House of Divine Providence
• James Russell Woodford, Anglican Bishop of Ely, Hymn Translator, and Hymn Writer
• John Ross MacDuff and George Matheson, Scottish Presbyterian Ministers and Authors
• Sarah Josepha Buell Hale, Poet, Author, Editor, and Prophetic Witness

 

Floating

• The Confession of Saint Martha of Bethany (the Sunday immediately prior to Palm Sunday; March 8-April 11)

 

Lowercase boldface on a date with two or more commemorations indicates a primary feast.