Above:  Florence Spearing Randolph

Image in the Public Domain

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

FLORENCE SPEARING RANDOLPH (AUGUST 9, 1866-DECEMBER 28, 1951)

First Female Ordained Minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

Florence Spearing Randolph comes to this A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via G. Scott Cady and Christopher L. Webber, A Year with American Saints (2006).

We mere mortals frequently mistake societal norms and mores for divine standards.  How we define proper gender roles provides many examples of this pattern.  Hence the subordination of women, dressed up as the law of God, becomes and remains socially acceptable.  Many women internalize these unjust societal patterns and ascribe them to God.  Many of them eventually change their minds and fulfill their sacred vocations, fortunately.

Florence Spearing, born in Charleston, South Carolina, on August 9, 1866, came from a free African-American family.  She was a daughter of Anna Smith Spearing and cabinet maker John Spearing.  Our saint, educated at Avery Normal Institute, Charleston, trained as a dress maker.  She moved to Jersey City, New Jersey, and lived with her sister Lena, there.  Making dresses in Jersey City was substantially more lucrative in Jersey City than in Charleston.

Florence married Hugh Randolph of Richmond, Virginia, in 1884.  He was a cook on Pullman trains.  The couple had one child, Leah Viola, born in 1887.  Hugh died in 1913.

Our saint, raised a Methodist, joined the church at the age of 13 years.  She remained a life-long member.  In Jersey City, she joined the local African Methodist Episcopal Zion (A.M.E. Zion) church.  Randolph taught Sunday School and became a youth leader.  She also studied the Bible under the tutelage of A.M.E. Zion minister, George E. Biddle, a scholar of Greek and Hebrew, as well as a Yale graduate.  Biddle encouraged Randolph to violate a specific gender norm; he told her she should preach.

Our saint, initially reluctant, eventually agreed; she became an exhorter.  Randolph, starting in 1888, exhorted in both White and African-American congregations.  Yet, for a while, she remained reluctant for anyone to call her a “preaching woman.”  Our saint continued to oppose the ordination of women, for a time.  Yet, as time passed, Randolph accepted her vocation.  She asked God for a sign.  Our saint prayed that, if she were supposed to preach full-time, that her dress-making business would fail within a year, and that her exhorting would succeed.  She received that sign.

Randolph had accepted her vocation.  Many within the A.M.E. Zion Church had not, however.  After much debate in denominational officialdom, our saint received her license to preach in 1897, became an ordained deacon in 1900, and received ordination as an elder in 1903.  She also served as a delegate to the Third Methodist Ecumenical Conference, London, in 1901.

Randolph excelled as a pastor.  From 1903 to 1922, she rehabilitated a series of small, problematic congregations in New Jersey and New York.  After she had done her work in one church, she moved on to another one.  A “nice young man” always succeeded her.  During this time, our saint also found the time for social reform.  She, having joined the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.) in 1892, lectured for them.  Randolph, organized the New Jersey Federation of Women’s Clubs in 1915.  She served as its president for 12 years.  Our saint also sat on the Executive Committee of the New Jersey Suffrage Association, starting in 1917.  Furthermore, Randolph served as the President of the Missionary Society of New Jersey.  And she was the chaplain of the Northeastern Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs in 1918 and 1919.

Our saint, a supporter of foreign missions, traveled in Liberia and Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1922-1924.  This work was consistent with her collection of and distribution of supplies for missionaries.

Randolph’s final pastorate was Wallace Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church, organized in 1923.  When she arrived at the congregation in Summit, New Jersey, in 1925, the church was small; it had 35 members.  The appointment, initially meant to be temporary, terminated with her retirement, in 1946.  Our saint built up the congregation and presided over the construction of its edifice in 1937.  During this pastorage, she made history by becoming the first African-American woman to matriculate at Drew University, in 1926.

Our saint, aged 85 years, died in Jersey City, on December 28, 1951.   Many of her sermons, now published, have survived; relatives salvaged them.

Drew University’s Theological School grants the Reverend Florence Spearing Randolph Prize.

I wonder how much human potential well-meaning, even devout, people have squandered and suppressed in others or in themselves because of allegiance to misplaced societal norms.  I also wonder how much better society would be without that squandering and suppression of human potential.  And I thank God for those who have challenged and continue to challenge such destructive societal norms, for the common good.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 24, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT MATTHIAS THE APOSTLE, MARTYR

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

Almighty God, we praise you for the men and women you have sent

to call the Church to its tasks and renew its life [such as your servant Florence Spearing Randolph].

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 kingdom;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Psalm 46

1 Corinthians 3:11-23

Mark 10:35-45

–Adapted from the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 37

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

All this day, O Lord, let me touch as many lives as possible for thee; and every life I touch, do thou by my spirit quicken, whether through the word I speak, the prayer I breathe, or the life I live.

Above:  Mary Sumner

Image in the Public Domain

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

MARY ELIZABETH HEYWOOD SUMNER (DECEMBER 31, 1828-AUGUST 9, 1921)

Foundress of the Mothers’ Union

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

–Mary Sumner

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

August 9 is the feast day of Mary Sumner in The Church of England.

Mary Sumner focused on the application of Christian faith in mothers to their family life.  She lived in circumstances quite different from those of many readers of this post; in her Victorian society respectable women were not supposed to engage in public speaking.  In some ways Sumner was of her times; in others she was ahead of them.

Mary Elizabeth Heywood, born in Swinton, England, on December 31, 1828, came from a cultured and wealthy family.  Her well-read father was a banker.  Her mother came from a family that owned land in two counties.  Mary, educated at home in Hope End, Herefordshire, mastered three foreign languages and sang well.  While studying music in Rome, our saint met George Sumner (1824-1909), son of Charles Sumner, the (Anglican) Bishop of Winchester.  George, recently ordained, married Mary in 1848.  They remained married for 61 years.

Sumner spent the 30 years of her marriage raising her three children–two daughters and a son.  She also managed her home and supported her husband’s ministry.  Our saint had initially felt inadequate as a mother.  When her elder daughter gave birth to Sumner’s first grandchild, our saint founded the Mothers’ Union.

The Mothers’ Union, founded at the rectory at Old Alresford, Hampshire, in 1876, was initially a parochial organization.  I brought together mothers from across social class lines, rooted them in prayer, and shared practical advice for meeting the physical and emotional needs of children.  The speaker at the first meeting, held at the rectory, was the Rector–George Sumner.

The Mothers’ Union began to grow and spread in 1885.  That year, despite social norms forbidding women from addressing public meetings, Sumner spoke to the 1000 women gathered for the Portsmouth Church Congress.  She called for national transformation via Christian women devoted to prayer and holy living.  Then the Bishop of Winchester made the Mothers’ Union a diocesan organization.  It was an international organization by 1896, when Sumner became the president.  She remained active in the Mothers’ Union until death in Winchester on August 9, 1921.  She was 92 years old.  Meanwhile, George Sumner (d. 1909) served as the Bishop of Guildford from 1888 to 1909.

Parenting is a great responsibility, one I hear, best exercised in community, not social isolation.  (I have no desire to become a parent, for I dislike children.)  Comparative studies of parenting styles around the world affirm the truth of the African proverb that it takes a village to raise one child.  May that village be a faithful and loving one.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 14, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF CHARLES AUGUSTUS BRIGGS, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, AND ALLEGED HERETIC; AND HIS DAUGHTER, EMILIE GRACE BRIGGS, BIBLICAL SCHOLAR AND “HERETIC’S DAUGHTER”

THE FEAST OF SAINT METHODIUS I OF CONSTANTINOPLE, DEFENDER OF ICONS AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE; AND SAINT JOSEPH THE HYMNOGRAPHER, DEFENDER OF ICONS AND THE “SWEET-VOICED NIGHTINGALE OF THE CHURCH”

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM HIRAM FOULKES, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

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

Almighty God, we praise you for your servant Mary Sumner,

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)

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

Above:  Kodiak Island, Alaska, 1968

Scanned from Rand McNally World Atlas–Imperial Edition (1968)

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

SAINT HERMAN OF ALASKA (1755-DECEMBER 25, 1837)

Russian Orthodox Monk and Missionary to the Aleut

“Herman” was our saint’s monastic name.  His birth name–even his family name–has become lost to historical records.

Our saint, born into a merchant family of Serpukhov, Russia, in 1755, was a devout boy.  In 1771, at the age of 16 years, he entered monastic life at the Monastery of St. Sergius, near St. Petersburg, and became Herman.  After five years he transferred to the Valaam Monastery on Lake Ladoga, Finland.  There, in 1793, St. Herman volunteered to join a missionary journey to Alaska.  The eight missionaries arrived at Kodiak Island on December 25, 1793 (Julian Calendar)/January 5, 1794 (Gregorian Calendar).

The mission was initially to Russian fur traders, not indigenous people.  The founding of Holy Resurrection Church, Kodiak, in 1794, was a pivotal event.  The following year the first martyrdom of a Russian Orthodox missionary in Alaska occurred when Juvenal, a priest-monk, died at Lake Iliamma.  In 1799 Archimandrite Joasaf, head of the Alaska mission, became the Bishop of Kodiak.  Not only were some fur traders mistreating Aleut people, but, in 1800, Russian officialdom forbade missionaries from having any contact with the Natives.  The missionaries, allies of the Aleuts in complaints of mistreatment, were allegedly stirring up resistance to the Russian government there.  Missionaries’ attempts to be faithful led to their house arrest in 1801 and the cessation of services for a year.  They complained to the Holy Synod.  The mission resumed in 1804.

A few years later St. Herman moved to Spruce Island, near Kodiak Island.  He lived in a cave until the Russian American Company built a cell for him.  There St. Herman spent the rest of his life.

Meanwhile, the Kodiak mission lasted until 1820, nine years after the Holy Synod closed the Diocese of Kodiak and transferred missionary work on Kodiak Island to the Bishop of Irkutsk.

On Spruce Island St. Herman ministered to the Aleuts.  From 1820 to 1831 he did this despite official Russian persecution.  Our saint established a school, converted people, fed animals by hand, counseled locals, and baked cookies and biscuits for children.  St. Herman demonstrated his love for the people, who reciprocated.

St. Herman died on December 13 (Julian Calendar)/December 25 (Gregorian Calendar), 1837.  His reputation grew posthumously, leading to his canonization by the Orthodox Church in America on August 9, 1970.  The Episcopal Church added his feast to its calendar of saints in 2009.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 14, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF CHARLES AUGUSTUS BRIGGS, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, AND ALLEGED HERETIC; AND HIS DAUGHTER, EMILIE GRACE BRIGGS, BIBLICAL SCHOLAR AND “HERETIC’S DAUGHTER”

THE FEAST OF SAINT METHODIUS I OF CONSTANTINOPLE, DEFENDER OF ICONS AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE; AND SAINT JOSEPH THE HYMNOGRAPHER, DEFENDER OF ICONS AND THE “SWEET-VOICED NIGHTINGALE OF THE CHURCH”

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM HIRAM FOULKES, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

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

Holy God, we bless your Name for Herman, joyful North Star of Christ’s Church,

who came from Russia to bring the Good News of Christ’s love to your native people in Alaska,

to defend them from oppressors and to proclaim the Gospel of peace;

and we pray that we may follow his example in proclaiming the Gospel:

through the same Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit

lives and reigns, one God, throughout all ages.  Amen.

Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 1:1-10

Psalm 148:7-14

2 Timothy 1:3-7

Luke 9:46-48

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 517

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

Above:  A Painting of John Dryden by Sir Godfrey Kneller

Image in the Public Domain

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

JOHN DRYDEN (AUGUST 9, 1631-MAY 18, 1700)

English Puritan then Anglican then Roman Catholic Poet, Playwright, and Translator

Many of the people I have added to the Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days have been fairly consistent throughout their lives, at least in terms of denominational affiliations.  A certain Moravian bishop, for example, grew up in the Moravian Church and spent his life in that communion.  John Dryden (1631-1700), however, changed greatly.

He began as a Puritan, born into a Puritan family at Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire, England, on August 9, 1631.  Dryden, who earned his B.A. from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1654, had supported the Commonwealth.  In 1658, for example, he published Heroic Stanzas on the Death of Oliver Cromwell.  Then he became a Royalist and an Anglican, supporting the Restoration of the monarchy.  His Astraea Redux and A Pagegyric on the Coronation testified to his support for the restored order.  In 1663 he married Lady Elizabeth Howard.  The marriage was unhappy, due largely to his infidelity.  In 1668 Dryden became the Poet Laureate.

How a person ends up is more important for the purposes of the Ecumenical Calendar than are the beginning and end of his or her life.  Thus I turn to the Roman Catholic phase of our saint’s life.  Dryden converted to Catholicism in 1685 and began to translate Latin hymns.  Among these was Veni Creator Spiritus, a classic Pentecost text.  Dryden’s 1693 rendering, in seven stanzas, read in part:

Plenteous of grace, descend from high,

Rich in Thy sevenfold energy.

Thou Strength of His almighty hand

Whose power does heaven and earth command;

Proceeding Spirit, our Defense,

Who dost Thy gift of tongues dispense

And crown’st Thy gift with eloquence.

–Quoted in W. G. Polack, The Handbook to the Lutheran Hymnal, Second and Revised Edition (St. Louis, MO:  Concordia Publishing House, 1942), page 176

The Glorious Revolution (1688) ended the reign of the Catholic monarch James II/VII and put Dryden in a difficult situation.  He lost his position and the accompanying financial security because he refused to swear loyalty to King William III and Queen Mary II.  This new reality forced him to write and translate much to earn a living.  He died on May 18, 1700.  His tomb is inside Westminster Abbey.

Dryden, who found his spiritual home in Roman Catholicism, wrote plays, poems, odes, and satires.  He also translated Latin hymns as well as works of Virgil, Juvenal, Plutarch, Boccaccio, et cetera.  Archive.org has made some germane books available.  These include:

1. Memoirs of John Dryden, by Sir Walter Scott (1823; Volumes I and II);
2. The Poetry of John Dryden, by Mark Van Doren (1920); and
3. The Works of John Dryden (1808; Volumes I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, and XVIII).

How might words of John Dryden enrich your life, O reader?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 13, 2015 COMMON ERA

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

THE FEAST OF ABSALOM JONES, EPISCOPAL PRIEST

THE FEAST OF ANDREAS KATSULAS, ACTOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT LICINIUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF ANJOU

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

Almighty God, beautiful in majesty, majestic in holiness:

You have shown us the splendor of creation

in the work of your servant John Dryden.

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

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

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.

ST. EDITH STEIN (OCTOBER 12, 1891-AUGUST 9, 1942)

Nun and Philosopher

The life of St. Edith Stein exemplifies the union of faith, philosophy, intellect, and prayer.

Stein, born in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland), raised an observant Jew, converted to Roman Catholicism in 1922.  The impetus for this conversion came during her studies of philosophy at universities in Gottingen and Freiburg, when she read the writings of St. Theresa of Avila.  Stein considered Roman Catholicism an expansion of her Jewish beliefs.  Sensitive to her mother’s feelings, Stein continued to attend synagogue services with her for a while.

Stein was a keen intellect, but academic work at the university level was closed to her because she was a woman.  Nevertheless, while teaching German language and literature at a Dominican school for girls, she continued philosophical studies privately.  Stein flowered philosophically after 1933, when she became a Carmelite nun.  Her output during this period included texts on St. John of the Cross and on prayer.
Stein, being ethnically Jewish, was at great risk during in the 1930s and 1940s.  She had to leave Germany in 1937, so the Carmelites sent her to the Netherlands.  The saint was not safe there for long, either, for the Nazis deported her to Auschwitz two years later.  For the last three years of her life, Stein ministered to her fellow prisoners.  She and her sister, Rose, died in 1942.  Perhaps the best epitaph for St. Edith Stein come from her own words:

Sufferings endured with the Lord are his sufferings, and bear great fruit in the context of his great work of redemption.

Pope John Paul II canonized her in 1998.  The Roman Catholic Church has declared Edith Stein a martyr,  on the grounds that she died because the Dutch Roman Catholic bishops had condemned Nazism.  So Stein died upholding the moral position of the Church.  One might say that this is an unusual definition for martyrdom, but it works.  And what about St. Maximilian Kolbe (August 14), whom the Nazis murdered also?  He died because his faithfulness put into the path of danger.  He was no less a martyr than Pope Sixtus II or St. Laurence of Rome.  And neither was St. Edith Stein.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 19, 2010 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF F. BLAND TUCKER, EPISCOPAL PRIEST

THE FEAST OF ST. ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY, PRINCESS

THE FEAST OF FRANZ SCHUBERT, COMPOSER

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

Almighty God, your Holy Spirit gives to one the word of knowledge, and to another the insight of wisdom, and to another the steadfastness of faith.  We praise you for the gifts of grace imparted to your servant St. Edith Stein, and we pray that by her teaching we may be led to a fuller knowledge of the truth we have seen in your Son Jesus, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Proverbs 3:1-7 or Wisdom of Solomon 7:7-14

Psalm 119:89-104

1 Corinthians 3:6-10, 13-16 or 1 Corinthians 3:5-11

John 17:18-23 or Matthew 13:47-52