Any church that starts out to be a success in the world’s eyes is doomed to failure.

Above:  The Logos of The Methodist Church (1939-1968) and The United Methodist Church (1968f), from Copies of The Book of Worship for Church and Home (1965), Pre-Merger and Post-Merger

Photographer = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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GERALD HAMILTON KENNEDY (AUGUST 30, 1907-FEBRUARY 17, 1980)

U.S. Methodist Bishop and Hymn Writer

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–Bishop Gerald Kennedy, 1960; quoted in TIME magazine, April 11, 1960

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Most of the so-called devotional material is shallow and meaningless tripe that makes me sick to my stomach.

–Bishop Gerald Kennedy, on religious publications

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INTRODUCTION

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Bishop Gerald Hamilton Kennedy comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via The Methodist Hymnal (1966).

As I looked for an image to place at the top of this post, I found pictures of Bishop Kennedy here and here. Given questions of copyright, I have chosen to provide links instead of risking invoking the wrath of the copyright enforcers. I have also trusted that using the camera on my smartphone to take a photograph of book spines from my library, transferring that image my computer, cropping that image, flipping it in my computer, and inserting that photograph at the top of this post has not angered the high gods and enforcers of copyright laws.

Kennedy was one of the most prominent preachers in the United States of America and one of the greatest bishops in The Methodist Church (1939-1968) and The United Methodist Church (1968f).  He, like anyone who has lived a long time, changed his mind as he aged.  Kennedy, for example, moved from the theological left to Neo-orthodoxy then out of it.  By 1961, our saint was also openly dismissive of Norman Vincent Peale‘s “Power of Positive Thinking.”  Kennedy called that message,

a spiritual aspirin tablet, a spiritual glass of Ovaltine.

Yet Kennedy was, according to Presbyterian arch-fundamentalist Carl McIntire (1906-2002), in 1963,

a liberal, leftist apostate

–redundant, given McIntire’s narrow, combative theology.

In other words, Kennedy was by the standards of his time, somewhere in the middle.

1. He opposed communism vigorously.
2. He opposed the “Death of God” movement.
3. In 1963, he invited ostracized, pro-civil rights ministers in Mississippi into the California-Pacific Conference.
4. He ridiculed supporters of the proposed Methodist-Episcopal-United Church of Christ-United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. merger (1960; the beginning of the Consultation on Church Union) as “ecumaniacs” in 1961.
5. He endorsed the Anti-Defamation League’s protest against Soviet repression of Jewry, in 1964.
6. He supported Billy Graham’s crusade in Los Angeles in 1963.
7. He favored ecumenical cooperation yet opposed the creation of an allegedly unwieldy Protestant super-church.  As Kennedy said in 1967, he liked having guests yet did not want to have them move in.
8. His critics came from both his right and his left.

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THE FIRST FORTY YEARS

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Gerald Hamilton Kennedy knew when he was a very young child that he had a vocation to ordained ministry.  He, born in Benzonia, Michigan, on August 30, 1907, was a son of Herbert Grant Kennedy and Marian Phelps Kennedy.  Our saint studied at the College of the Pacific (B.A., 1929).  Upon graduation, he had already married Mary Grace Leeper, on June 2, 1928.  The M.A. (1931) and the Ph.D. (1932) from the Pacific School of Religion followed.  Then Kennedy studied at Hartford Theological Seminary (S.T.M., 1933; Ph.D., 1934).

Kennedy, as an ordained minister, served in congregations in four denominations, three of them Methodist.  His first parish was the First Congregational Church (The General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States), Collinsville, Connecticut (1932-1936).  (This congregation has become the Christ Community Church of Collinsville, an affiliate of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference.)  Kennedy, ordained in the Methodist Episcopal Church (1784-1939), had graduated from a Congregationalist theological seminary.  Starting in 1936, he ministered within the bounds of his tradition–in the Methodist Episcopal Church, The Methodist Church (1939-1968), and The United Methodist Church (1968f).  He served at Calvary Methodist Episcopal (Methodist, 1939-1940) Church, San Jose, California (1936-1940), now Calvary United Methodist Church.  Then he served at the First Methodist (now United Methodist) Church of Palo Alto, California (1940-1942).  Kennedy was also the Acting Professor of Homiletics at the Pacific School of Religion (1938-1942) and the Director of the Wesley Foundation at Stanford University (1940-1942).   Then Kennedy relocated to Nebraska.  He served at Saint Paul Methodist (now United Methodist) Church, Lincoln (1942-1948).  He was also Lecturer in Religion at Nebraska Wesleyan University in 1942.  While in Lincoln, furthermore, Kennedy preached on the radio (1945-1948) and sat on the Executive Committee of the Community Chest (1945-1948).

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BISHOP KENNEDY

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In 1948, at the age of forty years, Kennedy became the youngest Methodist bishop in the United States.  Portland, Oregon, was his base of operations for four years.  Then, in 1952, our saint, reassigned to the California-Pacific Conference (Hawaii, Arizona, and Southern California), moved to Los Angeles.  He served as the bishop there for two decades.

Kennedy remained busy building up church and society.  He was a preacher, not an administrator.  He sat on various denominational boards and committees.  He served on the state Board of Education.  Our saint spent a year (1960-1961) as the President of the Council of Bishops.  He wrote most of his twenty-one books.  Kennedy served on the texts subcommittee for The Methodist Hymnal (1966).  And he lectured at universities and theological seminaries, as he had done since 1946.  Meanwhile, Kennedy tended conscientiously to to his flock and maintained a rigorous travel schedule.

By 1968, however, Kennedy needed to travel less frequently; his health had begun to fail.  Denominational law permitted early retirement at the age of 65 years–in August 1972, in our saint’s case.  In this context, Kennedy appointed himself the Senior Minister of the First United Methodist Church, Pasadena, California, effective December 8, 1968.  In laymen’s terms, the organic fertilizer hit the ecclesiastical fan.

An active bishop doubling as a parish minister was without precedent in the Methodist tradition, but not in other denominations.  In my adopted denomination, The Episcopal Church, for example, William White (1747-1836) served as the Rector of Christ Church and St. Peter’s Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1779-1836); the Bishop of Pennsylvania (1787-1836); and the Presiding Bishop of the denomination (1789, 1795-1836).  In my home state, Stephen Elliott (1806-1866), the first Bishop of Georgia (1841-1866), served also as the Rector of Christ Church, Savannah (1852-1859, 1861-1866); as well as the Presiding Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America (1862-1866).

I also note that Mark A. Cowell, the Episcopal Bishop of Western Kansas (2018f), doubles as the Vicar of Holy Nativity, Kinsley; the Vicar of Saints Mary and Martha, Larned; the Municipal Prosecutor in Dodge; and the County Attorney in Hodgerman County.  In other words, an active bishop doubling as a parish minister can be a workable situation.

Kennedy’s self-appointment triggered a denominational bureaucratic-judicial series of events that resulted in a settlement.  He got to serve as the Senior Minister of the First United Methodist Church, Pasadena, without administrative responsibilities and a second salary, so long as he was an active bishop.  Kennedy also preached three Sundays a month.  This arrangement was mutually agreeable, and consistent with Kennedy’s intentions anyway.  

Kennedy retired twice.  He retired as an active bishop in August 1972, after his sixty-fifth birthday.  He had already suffered a mild stroke at the 1972 General Conference, in Atlanta, earlier in the year.  Then our saint retired from parish ministry in 1973.

Gerald and Mary Kennedy moved into an apartment in Laguna Hills, California, in September 1973.  The bishop’s health continued to deteriorate.  A series of strokes robbed the great orator of his voice.  Kennedy, aged 72 years, died at the hospital in Laguna Hills on February 17, 1980.

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EVALUATION

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Kennedy wrote a hymn, “God of Love and God of Power,” while at Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church, San Jose, California, in the late 1930s.  That hymn debuted in a hymnal when The Methodist Hymnal (1966) included it.  The United Methodist Hymnal (1989) has retained the hymn.

We are not the first to be

banished by our fears from thee;

give us courage, let us hear

heaven’s trumpets ringing clear.

God of love and God of power,

thou hast called us to this hour.

That stanza from Kennedy’s hymn speaks to the mission of the Church.  The bishop’s example, bound by time and other circumstances, contains a timeless principle–the need to have courage and to banish fears that separate us from God.

Kennedy certainly behaved courageously, according to the demands of the Gospel, as he understood it, upon his life.  He lived and worked in a different political climate and a different societal milieu.  The Cold War defined Kennedy’s time.  In the early 1960s, when our saint derided attempts to merge denominations from different Christian traditions, membership was increasing in the United States.

(Aside:  Frankly, I do not know how merging The Methodist Church, The Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ, and The United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. would have been feasible or desirable.  Ecumenism works better via cooperation than organic union sometimes.  Reformed denominations merging can make sense.  So can uniting Wesleyan denominations.  Likewise, merging Lutheran denominations can be feasible and desirable.  Baptist denominations divide more often than they merge, but Baptist mergers can be workable, too.  This is not to say that breaking down lines separating traditions is never a good idea.  The Church of South India, formed in 1947, seems to work well, for example. And my denomination, The Episcopal Church, has joint congregations with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  I do not know how well a merger of the denominations would work, though.  I am open to the idea, however.)

God of love and God of power,

thou hast called us for this hour.

The hour of 2021, when I write and publish this blog post, is unlike any of Bishop Kennedy’s hours.  Nevertheless, the refrain from his hymn joins his example in challenging us to ask ourselves what his hour requires of us in the Church.  We may disagree with Kennedy of certain points.  I do.  Yet we can still recognize the greatness of the faith that animated him and defined his life.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 15, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE NEW MARTYRS OF LIBYA, 2015

THE FEAST OF BEN SALMON, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PACIFIST AND CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR

THE FEAST OF FRANCIS HAROLD ROWLEY, NORTHERN BAPTIST MINISTER, HUMANITARIAN, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF MICHAEL PRAETORIUS, GERMAN LUTHERAN COMPOSER AND MUSICOLOGIST

THE FEAST OF THOMAS BRAY, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND MISSIONARY

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Heavenly Father, shepherd of your people,

we thank you for your servant Gerald Hamilton Kennedy,

who was faithful in the care and nurture of your flock;

and we pray that, following his example and the teaching of his holy life,

we may by your grace grow into the full stature of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Ezekiel 34:11-16 or Acts 20:17-35

Psalm 84

1 Peter 5:1-4 or Ephesians 3:14-21

John 21:15-17 or Matthew 24:42-47

–Adapted from Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 38

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Above:  Cully and Vevey, Switzerland

Image Source = Google Earth

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EDMOND LOUIS BUDRY (AUGUST 30, 1854-NOVEMBER 12, 1932)

Swiss Reformed Minister, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator

Edmond L. Budry comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via The Methodist Hymnal (1966).

Budry, born in Vevey, Switzerland, on August 30, 1854, studied theology at the Faculté Libre, Lausanne (of the old Evangelical Free Church of the Canton of Vaud, extant 1847-1966).  Our saint, ordained, served as pastor at Cully (1881-1889) then Vesey (1889-1923), both on the shores of Lake Geneva.  Then he retired.

Budry’s musical legacy consists of a plethora of hymns and chorales.  It includes more than 60 chorales and hymns, original (in French) and others translated (into French) from English, German, and Latin.  The most famous of these chorales is an original text, “Á Toi la Gloire, O Recussité,” set to “See, the Conquering Hero Comes,” by George Frederick Handel, from Judas Maccabaeus and Joshua.  That text, which English Baptist minister Richard Birch Hoyle translated into English in 1923, is “Thine Be the Glory, Risen, Conquering Son.”  Another major work in Budry’s catalog is his version of the Veni Creator Spiritus, from his seventieth year.

Budry, aged 78 years, died in Vevey, Switzerland, on November 12, 1932.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 13, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS AQUILA, PRISCILLA, AND APOLLOS, COWORKERS OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE

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Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

Edmond Louis Budry 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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O Lord, may church and home combine

Above:  First Christian Church, Eugene, Oregon

Image Source = Google Earth

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CARLTON C. BUCK (AUGUST 31, 1907-FEBRUARY 13, 1999)

U.S. Disciples of Christ Minister, Musician, and Hymn Writer

Carlton C. Buck comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via The Methodist Hymnal (1966).

Buck, born in Salina, Kansas, on August 31, 1907, became a musician, an author, and a minister.  After studying at the Biola Institute of Los Angeles (now Biola University) and Whittier College, our saint worked as a church musician.  He, ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in 1934, served in five congregations during his four decades of active ministry.  The name of each congregation was “First Christian Church.”  They were in, in order:

1. Arlington, California (1934-1939);
2. Holtville, California;
3. Orange, California;
4. Fullerton, California; and
5. Eugene Oregon (1960-1974).  

Then Buck retired.

During has period of active ministry, our saint furthered his education.  He graduated from the Los Angeles Bible Seminary with a Bachelor of Sacred Music Degree (1946) and from San Gabriel College with a Master of Arts Degree (1950).

Buck wrote at least 26 hymn texts.  He also composed the tune (THE HOUR DIVINE) for one of his hymns, “Amid the Toils of a Day Filled with Care.”

Buck also wrote poems, meditations, books, and librettos.  His books included:

1. Make Us One:  A Hymn-Prayer for Christian Unity (1939);
2. At the Lord’s Table (1956);
3. At the Lord’s Treasury (1959);
4. Dust for Diamonds (1959);
5. Spiritual Frontiers (1962);
6. The Secret of Spiritual Success (1965);
7. All You Need (1968);
8. To Marry or Not to Marry (1970); and
9. Special Time Verse (1970).

Information about Buck’s family was scarce.  The 1940 Census revealed that our saint was thirty-two years old, wife Freida was thirty-one years old, and children Eldin and Helen Louise were both eight years old.

To teach thy perfect way,

With gentleness and love like thine,

That none shall ever stray.

–Carlton C. Buck, 1961

I imagine that the stanza I quoted above described the Buck household.

Our saint, aged 91 years, died in Eugene, Oregon, on February 13, 1999.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 13, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS AQUILA, PRISCILLA, AND APOLLOS, COWORKERS OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE

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Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

Carlton C. Buck 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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All his spiritual efforts, and there were many, were not however primarily focused on himself, on his own righteousness, on his own salvation, etc. His life was intensely ordered toward others. The prayers, the choices, the daily Masses and Communions, the repentance, the study, the retreats, etc., had one aim, namely to make possible the deeds of Christ-like love, mercy, service and kindness here and now, in the particular concrete moment. John believed he could not genuinely serve people except by loving them in the way God revealed they should be served in the person of Jesus.

Above:  The Flag of Boston, Massachusetts

Image in the Public Domain

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JOHN TIMOTHY LEARY (FEBRUARY 22, 1958-AUGUST 31, 1982)

U.S. Roman Catholic Social Activist and Advocate for the Marginalized

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—Father Emmanuel Charles McCarthy, on John Leary, September 4, 1982

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John had a sensitivity, an awareness of the pain of others that was relentless.  Compassion for others had become the dominant experience of his life.

–Sister Evelyn Ronan on John Leary; quoted in Robert Ellsberg, All Saints:  Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (1997), 375

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The difference with John was that he discovered that life had no purpose, no meaning, no direction, and no focus apart from the purpose and focus on God….He became in his short life the complete and total man for others, and those who knew him and loved him testify to the face of Christ that shone in and through him.

–The Reverend Peter Gomes on John Leary; quoted in All Saints (1997), 376

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This feast comes to my Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days via Robert Ellsberg, All Saints (1997).  Ellsberg’s assigned date is August 31, but, given that I have reserved that date for St. Nicodemus, a Biblical figure, I transfer Leary’s feast to August 30.

John Timothy Leary, born into a New England Roman Catholic working class family with Irish roots on February 22, 1958, spent his 24 years well.  He, inspired by Thomas Merton (1915-1968) and Dorothy Day (1897-1980), took his Catholicism seriously.  Leary was a pacifist–a member of Pax Christi.  He also affiliated with the Catholic Worker Movement.  Leary’s eulogist, Father Emmanuel Charles McCarthy, described our saint as a “Magna Cum Laude Harvard Graduate” and “Summa Cum Laude Catholic Worker.”  Leary, committed to the “seamless garment” doctrine of life, protested against the death penalty, abortion, and the military draft.  He allowed street people to live in his apartment.  Leary worked with the elderly, the homeless, and the incarcerated.  The major in religious studies (Harvard University Class of 1980) attended Mass daily, usually at Our Lady of the Annunciation Melkite Greek Catholic Cathedral, Boston, Massachusetts.  Leary also read the Bible, prayed the rosary, and attended retreats at a Trappist monastery.

Leary, who enjoyed running, died in Boston on August 31, 1982.  That afternoon he was running from work to his room at the Catholic Worker house when he had a heart attack.

What might Leary have done for God and many of his fellow human beings–especially vulnerable ones–had he lived longer?

The answers to that question occupy the realm of the counterfactual, but the holy example of his life can and should inspire us to use our time wisely, to the glory of God and the benefit of others.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 6, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JOHN WYCLIFFE AND JAN HUS, REFORMERS OF THE CHURCH

THE FEAST OF GEORGE DUFFIELD, JR., AND HIS SON, SAMUEL DUFFIELD, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTERS AND HYMN WRITERS

THE FEAST OF HENRY THOMAS SMART, ENGLISH ORGANIST AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF OLUF HANSON SMEBY, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

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Almighty God, by your Holy Spirit you have made us one with your saints in heaven and on earth:

Grant that in our earthly pilgrimage we may always be supported by this fellowship of love and prayer,

and know ourselves to be surrounded by their witness to your power and mercy.

We ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, in whom all our intercessions are acceptable through the Spirit,

and who lives and reigns for ever and ever.  Amen.

Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 2:7-11

Psalm 1

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Matthew 25:1-13

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 726

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Little Sisters, take good care of the aged, for in them you are caring for Christ Himself.

Above:  Portrait of St. Jeanne Jugan, by Leon Brune

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINT JEANNE JUGAN (OCTOBER 25, 1792-AUGUST 29, 1879)

Foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor

Also known as Sister Marie of the Cross

Her feast transferred from August 29

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–Saint Jeanne Jugan

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On the Roman Catholic calendar of saints August 29 is the feast of St. Jeanne Jugan.  August 29, on my Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, is the day reserved fr the Feast of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, a Biblical figure.  I therefore transfer Jugan’s feast one day.  Incidentally, August 30 is her feast day in All Saints (1997), by Robert Ellsberg.

There is a certain kind of hagiography I like to write.  It is an account of a determined, industrious person pursuing his or her vocation from God and receiving help from influential people at critical junctures.  Thus the saint succeeds in glorifying God and bringing benefits to many people via the combination of talent, effort, and patronage.  We humans are supposed to help each other become the best people we can be in God, after all.

This is a succinct summary of the life of Michael Faraday (1791-1867), who would not have been a great scientist without help.  He was brilliant and hard-working, but he needed someone to open a proverbial door for him at a crucial moment; he needed for someone to give him his big break.

It is not a summary of the life of St. Jeanne Jugan, however.  No, the story of her life is an account of a saint whom others–one priest, in particular–held back for selfish reasons.

St. Jeanne Jugan knew poverty and menial labor well.  She, born in Cancale, Brittany, France, on October 25, 1792, grew up in a pious, poor family.  Her father, Joseph, was a fisherman who was often at sea.  He died when St. Jeanne was four years old.  Her mother was Marie, a farmer.  Our saint, at the age of 16 years, became a maid.  She accompanied her employer, a Christian woman, on regular visits to poor and sick people.  This inspired St. Jeanne to dedicate her life to God and not to marry.  She resolved to help poor, sick people also.

The 25-year-old St. Jeanne, filled with a sense of mission, gave away her possessions, such as they were, and spent six years serving Christ in the poor at the hospital in Saint Servan.  It was a pious undertaking.  It was also an exhausting commitment.  St. Jeanne returned to life as a domestic servant.  Years passed.

In 1837 the 45-year-old St. Jeanne went to work as a spinner.  She gave her disposable income to the less fortunate.  Our saint also began to go door-to-door, collecting money for the support of impoverished widows.  This led to the founding of the Little Sisters of the Poor in 1843, with St. Jeanne as the superior.  The order expanded its work and increased in membership under her leadership.

The local bishop appointed a new superior general, Father Auguste Le Pailleur.  By 1852 he had seized complete control, rewriting history to depict himself as the actual founder of the Little Sisters of the Poor.  Le Pailler sidelined St. Jeanne, known as Sister Marie of the Cross, who spent the last 27 years of her life as a marginal figure, performing menial labor, in the order she had founded.  She died, aged 88 years, in Saint-Pern, France, on August 29, 1879.  To the end St. Jeanne maintained proper perspective; the mission of the Little Sisters of the Poor was more important than she was.

The Church acknowledged St. Jeanne’s proper place in history posthumously.  Pope John Paul II declared her a Venerable in 1979 then a Blessed in 1982.  Pope Benedict XVI canonized St. Jeanne in 2009.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 5, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT ANTHONY MARY ZACCARIA, FOUNDER OF THE BARNABITES AND THE ANGELIC SISTERS OF SAINT PAUL

THE FEAST OF GEORGE BERNANOS, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC NOVELIST

THE FEAST OF HULDA NIEBUHR, CHRISTIAN EDUCATOR; HER BROTHERS, H. RICHARD NIEBUHR AND REINHOLD NIEBUHR, UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST THEOLOGIANS; AND URSULA NIEBUHR, EPISCOPAL THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOSEPH BOISSEL, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY PRIEST AND MARTYR IN LAOS, 1969

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O God, your Son came among us to serve and not to be served, and to give his life for the life of the world.

Lead us by his love and serve all those to whom the world offers no comfort and little help.

Through us give hope to the hopeless, love to the unloved, peace to the troubled, and rest to the weary,

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), 60

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Above:  The Hymn Tune “Serpahim,” from the Hymnal and Liturgies of the Moravian Church (Unitas Fratrum) (1923)

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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KARL OTTO EBERHARDT (AUGUST 31, 1714-DECEMBER 16, 1757)

German Moravian Organist, Music Educator, and Composer

Available information about Karl Otto Eberhardt (1714-1757) seems to be scarce.  He entered the world on August 31, 1714.  Eberhardt’s father was a Lutheran teacher and organist.  Our saint’s first music lessons occurred at home; perhaps his father provided them.  Eberhardt joined the Moravian Church in 1740.  From 1756 to his death the following year he served as an organist and a teacher at Herrnhut, the Moravian headquarters in Saxony.  His musical legacy, as far as I can determine, rests upon “Seraphim,” a hymn tune dated to 1746 and used in Moravian hymnals for centuries, down to today.

The ideal of Moravian musicianship was to build up the community of faith and to glorify God.  Eberhardt succeeded in that goal.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 17, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIE ADOLPHINE DIERKS, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN, MISSIONARY, AND MARTYR

THE FEAST OF SAINT FRANCIS SERRANO, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MISSIONARY

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Almighty God, beautiful in majesty, majestic in holiness:

You have shown us the splendor of creation

in the work of your servant Karl Otto Eberhardt.

Teach us to drive from the world all chaos and disorder,

that our eyes may behold your glory,

and that at last everyone may know the inexhaustible richness

of your new creation in Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.  

Isaiah 28:5-6 or Hosea 14:5-8

2 Chronicles 20:20-21 or Psalm 96

Philippians 4:8-9 or Ephesians 4:8-9

Matthew 13:44-52

–Adapted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (1996), page 61

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Poppies

Image Source = Santosh Namby Chandran

1 (JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA, DISCIPLE OF JESUS)

2 (Georg Weissel, German Lutheran Pastor and Hymn Writer)

• Anna Bernadine Dorothy Hoppe, U.S. Lutheran Hymn Writer and Translator
• Carroll O’Connor, U.S. Roman Catholic Actor and Screen Writer
• Christian Gottfried Gebhard, German Moravian Composer and Music Educator
• Frederick William Foster, English Moravian Bishop, Liturgist, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator
• Peter Julian Eymard, Founder of the Priests of the Blessed Sacrament, the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament, and the Priests’ Eucharistic League; and Organizer of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament

3 (JOANNA, MARY, AND SALOME, WITNESSES TO THE RESURRECTION)

4 (John Brownlie, Scottish Presbyterian Minister, Hymn Writer, and Translator of Hymns)

• Frédéric Janssoone, French Roman Catholic Priest and Friar
• Lambert Beauduin, Belgian Roman Catholic Priest and Pioneer of Liturgical Renewal
• Sarah Platt Doremus, Founder of the Women’s Union Missionary Society

5 (Alfred Tennyson, English Poet)

• Adam of Saint Victor, Roman Catholic Monk and Hymn Writer
• Albrecht Dürer, Matthias Grünewald, and Lucas Cranach the Elder, Renaissance Artists
• Francisco Zanfredini and Michelina of Pesaro, Co-Founders of the Confraternity of the Annunciation
• George Frederick Root, Poet and Composer

6 (TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST)

7 (Colbert S. Cartwright, U.S. Disciples of Christ Minister, Liturgist, and Witness for Civil Rights)

• Guglielmo Massaia, Italian Cardinal, Missionary, and Capuchin Friar
• John Scrimger, Canadian Presbyterian Minister, Ecumenist, and Liturgist
• Maxim Sandovich, Russian Orthodox Priest and Martyr, 1914
• Victricius of Rouen, Roman Conscientious Objector and Roman Catholic Bishop

8 (Mary MacKillop, Founder of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart)

• Altman, Roman Catholic Bishop of Passau
• Bonifacia Rodriguez Castro, Co-Founder of the Congregation of the Servants of Saint Joseph
• Dominic, Founder of the Order of Preachers
• Raymond E. Brown, U.S. Roman Catholic Priest and Biblical Scholar

9 (Edith Stein, Roman Catholic Nun and Philosopher)

• Florence Spearing Randolph, First Female Ordained Minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
• Herman of Alaska, Russian Orthodox Monk and Missionary to the Aleut
• John Dryden, English Puritan then Anglican then Roman Catholic Poet, Playwright, and Translator
• Mary Sumner, Founder of the Mothers’ Union

10 (William Walsham How, Anglican Bishop of Wakefield and Hymn Writer; and his sister, Frances Jane Douglas(s), Hymn Writer)

• Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Founder of the Madonna House Apostolate
• Cyriaca, Roman Catholic Martyr at Rome, 249; and Sixtus II, His Companions, and Laurence of Rome, Roman Catholic Martyrs at Rome, 258
• Edward Grzymala and Franciszek Drzewiecki, Polish Roman Catholic Priests and Martyrs, 1942
• John Athelstan Laurie Riley, Anglican Ecumenist, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator

11 (Gregory Thaumaturgus, Roman Catholic Bishop of Neocaesarea; and Alexander of Comana “the Charcoal Burner,” Roman Catholic Martyr, 252, and Bishop of Comana, Pontus)

• Equitius of Valeria, Benedictine Abbot and Founder of Monasteries
• Matthias Loy, U.S. Lutheran Minister, Educator, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator; and Conrad Hermann Louis Schuette, German-American Lutheran Minister, Educator, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator
• Maurice Tornay, Swiss Roman Catholic Priest, Missionary to Tibet, and Martyr, 1949
• Stephen Rowsham, English Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1587

12 (Thaddeus Stevens, U.S. Abolitionist, Congressman, and Witness for Civil Rights)

• Charles Inglis, Anglican Bishop of Nova Scotia
• Jane Frances de Chantal, Co-Founder of the Congregation of the Visitation
• Józef Stepniak and Józef Straszewski, Polish Roman Catholic Priests and Martyrs, 1942
• Karl Leisner, German Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1945

13 (Jeremy Taylor, Anglican Bishop of Down, Connor, and Dromore)

• Elizabeth Payson Prentiss, U.S. Presbyterian Hymn Writer
• Irene of Hungary, Hungarian Princess and Byzantine Empress
• Octavia Hill, English Social Reformer

14 (William Croft, Anglican Organist and Composer)

• G. Bromley Oxnam, U.S. Methodist Bishop
• John Bajus, U.S. Lutheran Minister and Hymn Translator
• John Henry Hopkins, Jr., Episcopal Priest and Hymnodist; and his nephew, John Henry Hopkins, III, Episcopal Priest and Musician

• Maximilian Kolbe, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1941; and Jonathan Myrick Daniels, Episcopal Seminarian and Martyr, 1965
• Sarah Flower Adams, English Unitarian Hymn Writer; and her sister, Eliza Flower, English Unitarian Composer

15 (MARY OF NAZARETH, MOTHER OF GOD)

16 (John Diefenbaker and Lester Pearson, Prime Ministers of Canada; and Tommy Douglas, Federal Leader of the New Democratic Party)

• Alipius, Roman Catholic Bishop of Tagaste, and Friend of Saint Augustine of Hippo
• John Courtney Murray, U.S. Roman Catholic Priest and Theologian
• John Jones of Talysarn, Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Minister and Hymn Tune Composer
• Matthias Claudius, German Lutheran Writer

17 (Samuel Johnson, Congregationalist Minister, Anglican Priest, President of King’s College, “Father of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut,” and “Father of American Library Classification;” Timothy Cutler, Congregationalist Minister, Anglican Priest, and Rector of Yale College; Daniel Browne, Educator, Congregationalist Minister, and Anglican Priest; and James Wetmore, Congregationalist Minister and Anglican Priest)

• Baptisms of Manteo and Virginia Dare, 1587
• Eusebius of Rome, Bishop of Rome, and Martyr, 310
• George Croly, Anglican Priest, Poet, Historian, Novelist, Dramatist, Theologian, and Hymn Writer
• William James Early Bennett, Anglican Priest

18 (Artemisia Bowden, African-American Educator and Civil Rights Activist)

• Erdmann Neumeister, German Lutheran Minister and Hymn Writer
• Francis John McConnell, U.S. Methodist Bishop and Social Reformer
• Jonathan Friedrich Bahnmaier, German Lutheran Minister and Hymn Writer
• Petter Dass, Norwegian Lutheran Minister, Poet, and Hymn Writer

19 (Sixtus III, Bishop of Rome)

• Blaise Pascal, French Roman Catholic Scientist, Mathematician, and Theologian
• Geert Groote, Founder of the Brethren of the Common Life
• Ignaz Franz, German Roman Catholic Priest, Hymn Writer, and Hymnal Editor
• Magnus and Agricola of Avignon, Roman Catholic Bishops of Avignon
• William Hammond, English Moravian Hymn Writer

20 (ZACCHAEUS, PENITENT TAX COLLECTOR AND ROMAN COLLABORATOR)

21 (Bruno Zembol, Polish Roman Catholic Friar and Martyr, 1942)

• Camerius, Cisellus, and Luxorius of Sardinia, Martyrs, 303
• Martyrs of Edessa, Circa 304
• Maximilian of Antioch, Martyr, Circa 353; and Bonosus and Maximianus the Soldier, Martyrs, 362
• Victoire Rasoamanarivo, Malagasy Roman Catholic Laywoman

22 (Jack Layton, Canadian Activist and Federal Leader of the New Democratic Party)

• John David Chambers, Anglican Hymn Writer and Translator
• Hryhorii Khomyshyn, Symeon Lukach, and Ivan Slezyuk, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Bishops and Martyrs, 1947, 1964, and 1973
• John Kemble and John Wall, English Roman Catholic Priests and Martyrs, 1679
• Thomas Percy, Richard Kirkman, and William Lacey, English Roman Catholic Martyrs, 1572 and 1582

23 (Martin de Porres and Juan Macias, Humanitarians and Dominican Lay Brothers; Rose of Lima, Humanitarian and Dominican Sister; and Turibius of Mogrovejo, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lima)

• Franciszek Dachtera, Polish Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1944
• Theodore O. Wedel, Episcopal Priest and Biblical Scholar; and his wife, Cynthia Clark Wedel, U.S. Psychologist and Episcopal Ecumenist
• Thomas Augustine Judge, U.S. Roman Catholic Priest; Founder of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity, the Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity, and the Missionary Cenacle Apostolate

24 (BARTHOLOMEW THE APOSTLE, MARTYR)

25 (Michael Faraday, English Scientist)

• Andrea Bordino, Italian Roman Catholic Lay Brother
• María del Tránsito de Jesús Sacramentado, Founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Tertiary Missionaries of Argentina
• Maria Troncatti, Italian Roman Catholic Nun
• William John Copeland, Anglican Priest and Hymn Translator

26 (John Paul I, Bishop of Rome)

• Frederick William Herzberger, U.S. Lutheran Minister, Humanitarian, and Hymn Translator
• Levkadia Harasymiv, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Nun, and Martyr, 1952
• Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi and Maria Corsini Beltrame Quattrocchi, Italian Roman Catholic Humanitarians
• Teresa of Jesus, Jornet y Ibars, Catalan Roman Catholic Nun and Co-Founder of the Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly

27 (Thomas Gallaudet and Henry Winter Syle, Episcopal Priests and Educators of the Deaf)

• Amadeus of Clermont, French Roman Catholic Monk; and his son, Amadeus of Lausanne, French-Swiss Roman Catholic Abbot and Bishop
• Dominic Barberi, Roman Catholic Apostle to England
• Henriette Luise von Hayn, German Moravian Hymn Writer

28 (Ambrose of Milan, Roman Catholic Bishop; Monica of Hippo, Mother of Saint Augustine of Hippo; and Augustine of Hippo, Roman Catholic Bishop of Hippo Regius)

• Denis Wortman, U.S. Dutch Reformed Minister and Hymn Writer
• George Thomas Coster, English Congregationalist Minister, Hymn Writer, and Humanitarian
• Laura S. Coperhaver, U.S. Lutheran Hymn Writer and Missionary Leader
• Moses the Black, Roman Catholic Monk, Abbot, and Martyr

29 (BEHEADING OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST)

30 (Jeanne Jugan, Founder of the Little Sisters of the Poor)

• Carlton C. Buck, U.S. Disciples of Christ Minister, Musician, and Hymn Writer
• Edmond L. Budry, Swiss Reformed Minister, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator
• Gerald Kennedy, U.S. Methodist Bishop and Hymn Writer
• John Leary, U.S. Roman Catholic Social Activist and Advocate for the Poor and Marginalized
• Karl Otto Eberhardt, German Moravian Organist, Music Educator, and Composer

31 (NICODEMUS, DISCIPLE OF JESUS)

 

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