Above:  Pianello del Lario, Italy

Image Source = Google Earth

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BLESSED CHIARA BOSATTA (MAY 27, 1858-APRIL 20, 1887)

Co-Founder of the Daughters of Saint Mary of Providence

Also known as Dina Bosatta

Dina Bosatta, born in Pianello del Lario, Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, on May 27, 1858, was a daughter of silk producer Alessandro Bosatta and Rosa Mazzucchi.  Our saint, whose father died when she was young, went to the Gravedona house of the Daughters of Charity (the Canossians) in 1871.  She remained with them for seven years and worked as an attendant.  Bosatta perceived a vocation to the religious life.  Her first choice was to join the Daughters of Charity, but they rejected her request.  Our saint’s contemplative nature suited her for a different order, they said.

Dina, back home, reunited with her sister, Marcellina.  They joined the Pious Union of the Daughters of Saint Mayr, dedicated to helping elderly people and abandoned children.  The sisters taught children.  Father Carlo Cappini, founder of the Pious Union, passed the torch to St. (Father) Luigi Guanella (1842-1915) in late 1881.  Guanella and the two sisters transformed the Pious Union into the Daughters of Saint Mary of Providence.  Dina took the name Chiara.  She assumed responsibility for the spiritual formation of the members of the order.

Bosatta, aged not quite 29 years, died in Painello del Lario, Kingdom of Italy, on April 20, 1887.

Holy Mother Church has formally recognized Bosatta.  Pope John Paul II declared her a Venerable in 1988.  Then, in 1991, he added her to the beati.

Bosatta died young.  Yet she accomplished much for God and for her brother and sister human beings during the relatively little time she had.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 27, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT FRANCES DE SALES, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF GENEVA; SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL, “THE APOSTLE OF CHARITY;” SAINT LOUISE DE MARILLAC, CO-FOUNDER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF CHARITY OF SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL; AND CHARLES FUGE LOWDER, FOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY OF THE HOLY CROSS

THE FEAST OF EDWARD MCGLYNN, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, SOCIAL REFORMER, AND ALLEGED HERETIC

THE FEAST OF ELIZA SCUDDER, U.S. UNITARIAN THEN EPISCOPALIAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF JOANNA P. MOORE, U.S. BAPTIST MISSIONARY AND EDUCATOR

THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF MELANESIA, 1864-2003

THE FEAST OF THOMAS TRAHERNE, ANGLICAN PRIEST, POET, AND SPIRITUAL WRITER

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O God, by whose grace your servant Blessed Chiara Bosatta,

kindled with the flame of your love,

became a burning and a shining light in your Church:

Grant that we also 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

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 723

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Above:  Robert Seymour Bridges

Image in the Public Domain

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ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES (OCTOBER 23, 1844-APRIL 21, 1930)

Anglican Hymn Writer and Hymn Translator

Robert Seymour Bridges comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via The Methodist Hymnal (1966).  His works available at archive.org are numerous.  They include his Poetical Works (Volumes I, II, III, IV, V, and VI).

Bridges, born on the Isle of Thanet, England, on October 23, 1844, became a great figure in English-language hymnody.  He, educated at Eton then at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, graduated.  Then he traveled abroad for two years.  Next, our saint studied medicine at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London.  After practicing medicine in that hospital, Bridges ceased to do so in 1882.  He, his health failing, moved to Yattendon, Berkshire, and recovered.  Bridges married Mary Monica Waterhouse in 1884.  He lived in Oxford from 1907 to her death.

Bridges, post-medical career, devoted himself to writing.  He became the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom in 1913.  Other literary contributions, some of which predated his retirement from medicine, included the texts in Shorter Poems (1890) and The Testament of Beauty (1929).  Our saint also wrote and translated hymns.  Anyone who has sung “Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended,” “O Sacred Head, Sore Wounded,” and/or “When Morning Gilds the Skies” has sung some of our saint’s translations.  Bridges’s original hymns included “Rejoice, O Lord, in God Thy Might.”  Our saint also served as an editor of The Yattendon Hymnal (1899, 1920), to which he contributed hymns.

Bridges died in Oxford, England, on April 21, 1930.  He was 85 years old.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 6, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF FRANKLIN CLARK FRY, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA AND THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA

THE FEAST OF SAINT CLAUDE OF BESANÇON, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, MONK, ABBOT, AND BISHOP

THE FEAST OF HENRY JAMES BUCKOLL, AUTHOR AND TRANSLATOR OF HYMNS

THE FEAST OF JOHANN FRIEDRICH HERTZOG, GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM KETHE, PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

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Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

Robert Seymour Bridges 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:  The Coat of Arms of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg

Image in the Public Domain

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CHRISTIAN X OF DENMARK (SEPTEMBER 26, 1870-APRIL 20, 1947)

King of Denmark and Iceland

Born Christian Carl Frederik Albert Alexander Vilhelm Glucksburg

brother of

HAAKON VII OF NORWAY (AUGUST 3, 1872-SEPTEMBER 21, 1957)

King of Norway

Born Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel Glucksburg

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RESISTERS OF NAZISM

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Christian X and Haakon VII led their populations in opposing Nazi occupation.

In 1863 the Danish throne passed to the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg.  The new monarch, Christian IX (reigned 1863-1906), eventually became the “Father-in-Law of Europe,” rivaling Queen Victoria (reigned 1837-1901) for the number of royal relatives.  Christian IX’s adolescent son, Frederick, became the Crown Prince of Denmark and, as an elderly man, King Frederick VIII (reigned 1906-1912).

The future Frederick VIII and his wife, Louise of Sweden (1851-1926), daughter of King Carl XV (reigned 1859-1872) and Queen Louise of Sweden, raised eight children, including two kings.  Frederick was a loving father, but his wife was, according to her nieces and nephews, the “Despot.”  Louise was a humorless and Pietistic Lutheran (a “Sad Dane”) obsessed with sin.  Her definition of sin included sleeping on a soft mattress and eating food that was not plain.  On the other hand, Louise taught her children a Bible verse every day and instructed them in memorizing hymns.  The children suffered under the “Despot,” who transformed the future Christian X into a distant, tyrannical father.

Both future kings received military training and served as officers.  According to their father’s insistence, they did not receive any special treatment.  Christian joined the army and rose to the rank of Major General before succeeding his father in 1912.  Carl became a navy man, starting as a cadet at the age of 14 years.

The future kings entered into wedded life.  Carl married Maud, daughter of the future King Edward VII of Great Britain and Ireland (reigned 1901-1910) and Queen Alexandra (daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark and Queen Louise of Hesse-Cassel) at Buckingham Palace, London, on September 22, 1896.  Maud gave birth to a son, Alexander (1903-1991).  Christian married Princess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwein at Cannes, France, on April 26, 1898.  Their sons were Frederick (1899-1972) and Knud (1900-1976).

Norway regained its independence in 1905.  The Kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden had become united via a series of royal unions, culminating in the formation of the Kalmar Union (1397-1523).  The last Norwegian-born King of Norway had been Olav IV (reigned 1380-1387), who had previously become the King of Denmark.  Sweden had broken away from the Scandinavian monarchical union in 1523, leaving Norway united with Denmark.  Then, after the Napoleonic Wars, Norway had become attached to Sweden.  In 1905, with the restoration of Norwegian independence, sought a monarch.  Prince Carl of Denmark accepted the invitation.  He became Haakon VII and his son, Alexander, became Crown Prince Olav.  Haakon VII was a conscientious monarch in perhaps the most democratic–even democratic socialist–society in Europe.  The King, interested in public and cultural life, never even tried to interfere with government ministers.  The royal family, true to the upbringing of the monarch, lived simply.

Crown Prince Christian became King Christian X in 1912.  He was also a constitutional monarch, although the constitution, as it existed in 1920, permitted him some powers.  In 1920, between parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Theodore Carl Zahle, in office since 1913, lost his majority in the Riksdag.  The monarch invoked his constitutional powers to ask Zahle to resign.  The Prime Minister refused, so Christian X dismissed him.  These actions, allegedly a royal coup, according to certain critics, were within constitutional bounds.  Many Radicals and Socialists threatened a general strike.  Some even spoke briefly of abolishing the monarchy and transforming Denmark into a republic.  The Easter Crisis of 1920 ended in compromise; a caretaker government took office and new elections ensued.  Never again did Christian X intervene in government.

Christian X’s attitude toward his family began to soften in the 1930s.  His daughter-in-law, Crown Prince Ingrid (originally of Sweden), did not shy away from standing up to him.  Many liked and respected her and improved his relationship with her and his sons.  Related to that mellowing was the changing nature of Christian X’s relationship to the people.  He started riding a horse without police escort through Copenhagen every morning.

Germany invaded Denmark in 1940.  Christian X continued to ride a horse through the capital city, with the public as his body guards, until a horse threw him on October 19, 1942.  He spent the rest of his life in a wheel chair and made few public appearances.

A frequently repeated story tells us that Christian X wore the Star of David, in solidarity with Danish Jews.  However, John Van der Kiste, author of Northern Crowns:  The Kings of Modern Scandinavia (1996) and other books about royalty, cites Queen Margrethe II, granddaughter of Christian X, in refuting the story.  Van der Kiste writes that the Nazi occupiers never required Danish Jews to wear the Star of David.  According to Queen Margrethe II, via Van der Kiste, the origin of that popular story was an errand boy in Copenhagen.  This errand boy seems to have remarked,

…if they try to enforce the yellow star here, the King will be first to wear it.

–Page 116

He would have, indeed.

Christian X, King of Denmark from 1912 to 1947 and King of Iceland from 1918 to 1944, died, aged 76 years, on April 20, 1947.  Crown Prince Frederick became King Frederick IX (reigned 1947-1972).

Haakon VII led the Norwegian government-in-exile from England from 1940 to 1944.  He and Crown Prince Olav fled to the homeland of the late Queen Maud (died in 1938) when Nazi forces invaded Norway in 1940.  Crown Princess Martha and her children, in Stockholm at the time, accepted President Franklin Delano Roosevelt‘s invitation to come to the United States.  In Norway the monogram “H7” became the symbol of the resistance.  In 1945, when the royal family returned to Norway, Haakon VII was a national hero.

The aged monarch soldiered on for about a decade before a fall in his bathroom broke his thighbone and made him an invalid.  He died of heart failure at 4:35 a.m., on September 21, 1957.  Haakon VII was 85 years old.  Crown Prince Olav became King Olav V (reigned 1957-1991).

Christian X and Haakon VII were decent and honorable men who opposed tyranny.  They, as constitutional monarchs, were symbols–symbols who grasped the full power of symbolism and used it for positive purposes.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 12, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF DESIDERIUS ERASMUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF JOHN GUALBERT, FOUNDER OF THE VALLOMBROSAN BENEDICTINES

THE FEAST OF JOHANNES RENATUS VERBEEK, MORAVIAN MINISTER AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF PETER RICKSECKER, U.S. MORAVIAN MINISTER, MISSIONARY, MUSICIAN, MUSIC EDUCATOR, AND COMPOSER; STUDENT OF JOHANN CHRISTIAN BECHLER, MORAVIAN MINISTER, MUSICIAN, MUSIC EDUCATOR, AND COMPOSER; FATHER OF JULIUS THEODORE BECHLER, U.S. MORAVIAN MINISTER, MUSICIAN, EDUCATOR, AND COMPOSER

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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 servants Christian X of Denmark and Haakon VII of Norway,

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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Above:  Johannes Bugenhagen

Image in the Public Domain

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JOHANNES BUGENHAGEN (JUNE 24, 1485-APRIL 20, 1558)

German Lutheran Theologian, Minister, Liturgist, and “Pastor of the Reformation”

Also known as Johannes Pomeranus

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If you know Christ well, it is enough, though you know nothing else; if you know not Christ, what else you learn does not matter.

–Motto of Johannes Bugenhagen

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Johannes Bugenhagen, whose Latinized surname was Pomeranus, was a foundational figure for the Lutheran Church.

His feast comes to my Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days from the calendar of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.

Bugenhagen, born at Wollin, Pomerania (now Wolin, Poland) on June 24, 1485, converted from Roman Catholicism.  He, educated at the University of Greifswald from 1502 to 1504, joined the Premonstratensian Canons, also known as the Norbertines and the White Canons.  Our saint, rector of the school at Treptow, Pomerania (now Trzebiatow, Poland), from 1504, became a priest in 1509 then began to serve as vicar of the church.  In 1520 Bugenhagen converted under the direct influence of Martin Luther.  Our saint arrived in Wittenberg the following year and lectured on the Psalms.  The following year he married Walpurga (original surname unknown).  The couple had three children–Johannes the Younger, Martha, and Sara.  That year Bugenhagen, through Luther’s influence, became the pastor of St. Mary’s Church, Wittenberg, a post he held for the rest of his life.  In 1523 our saint became Luther’s confessor.  Two years later Bugenhagen acquired another portfolio–professor of theology.  Our saint and Luther also collaborated on the Low German translation of the Bible.

Bugenhagen was a liturgist and organizer of the Lutheran Church.  He and Luther prepared the simplified German Mass (1526), intended for the benefit of uneducated lay people, not to replace the Latin order permanently.  Our saint was crucial in the organization of Lutheranism in Denmark, Brunswick, Hamburg, Lubeck, and Pomerania.  Early Lutheranism had a variety of liturgical forms; Bugenhagen’s influential Brunswick Order (1528), more informal than the Brandenburg-Nuremburg type of service, provided for Matins, Vespers, and a Sunday Mass.  The Brunswick Order was still relatively conservative; it approved of traditional vestments (not deeming them mandatory, though), required the retention of traditional elements of the old Latin Mass, and forbade unnecessary novelties.  Bugenhagen, a superintendent (functionally a bishop) since 1533, accepted the invitation of King Christian III (reigned 1534-1559) in 1537 to reorganize the Danish church along Lutheran lines.  Our saint did so, consecrating seven superintendents, establishing the liturgy, and crowning the King and the Queen.

Bugenhagen, who preached Luther’s funeral (1546) then took care of the reformer’s wife and children, wrote Biblical commentaries, became a figure of controversy within Lutheranism during his final years.  In 1548 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issued the Augsburg Interim, which would have reimposed Roman Catholicism on the Lutherans of Saxony.  Bugenhagen and Philipp Melancthon made a counter-offer.  They proposed the Leipzig Interim, according to which, the affected Lutherans would maintain their core beliefs while following many Medieval Roman Catholic practices.  Charles V approved.  Gnesio-Lutherans (literally, Genuine Lutherans), for whom any compromise was excessive, objected strenuously.

Bugenhagen died at Wittenberg on April 20, 1558.  He was 72 years old.

His liturgies have been influential for centuries.  They have, however, proven to be less influential in North America since the introduction of the Common Service in 1888.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 12, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF DESIDERIUS ERASMUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF JOHN GUALBERT, FOUNDER OF THE VALLOMBROSAN BENEDICTINES

THE FEAST OF JOHANNES RENATUS VERBEEK, MORAVIAN MINISTER AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF PETER RICKSECKER, U.S. MORAVIAN MINISTER, MISSIONARY, MUSICIAN, MUSIC EDUCATOR, AND COMPOSER; STUDENT OF JOHANN CHRISTIAN BECHLER, MORAVIAN MINISTER, MUSICIAN, MUSIC EDUCATOR, AND COMPOSER; FATHER OF JULIUS THEODORE BECHLER, U.S. MORAVIAN MINISTER, MUSICIAN, EDUCATOR, AND COMPOSER

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Almighty God, we praise you for your servant Johannes Bugenhagen,

through whom you have called the church to its task and renewed its life.

Raise up in our own day teachers and prophets inspired by your Spirit,

whose voices will give strength to your church and proclaim the reality of your reign,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns

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

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Psalm 46

1 Corinthians 3:11-23

Mark 10:35-45

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

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Above:  The Flag of The Episcopal Church

Image in the Public Domain

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MARION MACDONALD KELLERAN (APRIL 20, 1905-JUNE 27, 1985)

Episcopal Seminary Professor and Lay Leader

A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  A Calendar of Commemorations (2016), of The Episcopal Church, includes a list of

people worthy of commemoration who do not quality under the “reasonable passage of time” guideline.

–Page A3

One of those people is Marion MacDonald Kelleran.  I understand why the denomination uses the “reasonable passage of time” guideline, but I, as the creator and proprietor of the Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, do not feel bound by the official policy.

Kelleran was a prominent laywoman and an advocate for the ordination of women.  Marion MacDonald, born in Byng Inlst, Parry Sound District, Ontario, on April 20, 1905, was daughter of William G. MacDonald (1867-1955) and Ida Jane Boutyette MacDonald (1877-1955).  Our saint received her B.A. degree from the University of Buffalo in 1926 then engaged in graduate studies at Union Theological Seminary (New York, New York), Harvard University, and Episcopal Divinity School.  In 1934 she married Harold C. Kelleran (died in 1946), an Episcopal priest.  From 1946 to 1962 she served as the Director of Christian Education in the Diocese of Washington.  Then, from 1962 to 1973, she taught at Virginia Theological Seminary, Alexandria, Virginia.  She started as Associate Professor of Christian Education and retired as the Chair of Pastoral Theology.  Kelleran, who served on the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church, became a founding member of the Anglican Consultative Council in 1970 and served as the Chair of that council from 1973 to 1980.  In that capacity she was the only woman present at the Lambeth Conference in 1978.

Kelleran, from 1963 until her death a parishioner at Immanuel-on-the-Hill, Alexandria, died, aged 80 years, at Alexandria on June 27, 1985.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 11, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF NATHAN SODERBLOM, SWEDISH ECUMENIST AND ARCHBISHOP OF UPPSALA

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Almighty God, we praise you for your servant Marion MacDonald Kelleran,

through whom you have called the church to its tasks and renewed its life.

Raise up in our own day teachers and prophets inspired by your Spirit,

whose voices will give strength to your church and proclaim the reality of your reign,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns

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

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Psalm 46

1 Corinthians 3:11-23

Mark 10:35-45

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

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Above:  Gaul in 481

SAINT AMATOR OF AUXERRE (DIED 418)

Roman Catholic Bishop of Auxerre

His feast transferred from May 1

converted

SAINT GERMANUS OF AUXERRE (DIED 448)

Roman Catholic Bishop of Auxerre

His feast transferred from July 31

converted

SAINT MAMERTINUS OF AUXERRE (DIED 462)

Roman Catholic Abbot

His feast transferred from March 30

oversaw

SAINT MARCIAN OF AUXERRE (DIED CIRCA 488)

Roman Catholic Monk

His feast = April 20

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Once again it happened.  I started with one name I pulled from a book and uncovered a series of connections resulting in overlapping hagiographies.  This was a happy occasion, for such incidents help me learn of the reinforcing quality of Christian faith in community.

Our first link in this chain of holiness is St. Amator of Auxerre.  One ought not to confuse him with a hermit also named St. Amator.  No, this St. Amator was Bishop of Auxerre from 388 to 418, a time during which he converted the remaining heathens living within the borders of his diocese.  He also converted St. Germanus of Auxerre.

St. Germanus of Auxerre, born in that city, was a Gallic nobleman.  Well-educated, he practiced civil law and became a Western Roman imperial official in Gaul.  At this stage of his life the saint sought and enjoyed a wide variety of pleasures, many of them dubious.  One pleasure was hunting.  Another was hanging hunting “trophies” in a tree once used for pagan worship.  The latter aroused the ire of St. Amator, who had the tree cut down and the “trophies” burned.  St. Amator then forced St. Germanus to take the tonsure, become a deacon, and train to become his successor.  St. Germanus devoted the rest of his life to prayer, study, and charitable works.  He also succeeded St. Amator as Bishop of Auxerre.  As bishop (418-448) St. Germanus governed the diocese wisely, gave his possessions to help the poor, and built the St. Cosmas and St. Damien Monastery at Auxerre.  The saint died at Ravenna in 448, where he had pleaded for mercy for rebellious Bretons.

St. Germanus also converted St. Mamertinus of Auxerre, of whom we know little.  We do know, however, that St. Mamertinus was Abbot of the St. Cosmas and St. Damien Monastery.  One of his monks was St. Marcian of Auxerre.  A native of Bourges, St. Marcian fled to Auxerre to flee a Visigothic invasion.  At Auxerre St. Marcian became a lay brother.  He was responsible for tending to the animals, with whom he had a great rapport, whether they were wild or domesticated.  He was also renowned for his humility.  The saint’s reputation was so great that the abbey became St. Marcian Monastery after he died.

I think of an All Saints’ hymn, “I Sing a Song of the Saints of God.”  It reads in part:

….And one was a doctor, and one was a queen,

and one was a shepherdess on the green….

And one was a soldier, and one was a priest,

and one was killed by a fierce wild beast:

and there’s not any reason,

no, not the least,

why I shouldn’t be one too….

Be a saint, O reader, and influence others positively.  Set off a chain reaction of holiness.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 28, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ANNA JULIA HAYWOOD COOPER, EDUCATOR

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Lord God, you have surrounded us with so great a cloud of witnesses.

Grant that we, encouraged by the examples of your servants

Saint Amator of Auxerre,

Saint Germanus of Auxerre,

Saint Mamertinus of Auxerre,

and Saint Marcian of Auxerre,

may persevere in the course that is set before us and, at the last,

share in your eternal joy with all the saints in light,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.   Amen.  

Micah 6:6-8

Psalm 9:1-10

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Luke 6:20-23

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 59

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.