Above:  Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin

Image Source = Baroness Pauline von Hügel, A Royal Son and Mother (1902)

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DEMETRIUS AUGUSTINE GALLITZIN (DECEMBER 22, 1770-MAY 6, 1840)

Russian-American Roman Catholic Priest

“The Apostle of the Alleghenies”

Born Dmitri Dmitrievich Galitzin

Also known as Augustine Smith

Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin 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).

Prince Dmitri Dmitrievich Gallitzin, born in The Hague, the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, was the son of Prussian Countess Adelheid von Schmettau (1748-1806) and Prince Dmitri Alexeivich Galitzin (1728-1803), at the time, the Russian Imperial Ambassador to the Dutch Republic.  The ambassador was a nominal member of the Russian Orthodox Church.  The Countess was a nominal Roman Catholic.  Both parents were friends of François-Marie Arouet, ak.a. Voltaire (1694-1778) and followers of Denis Diderot (1713-1784).  Our saint grew up a nominal, baptized member of the Russian Orthodox Church, with no religious training.

Our saint, a member of the aristocracy, grew up among political and intellectual elites.  As a young child, he sat on the lap of Czarina Catherine II “the Great” (reigned 1762-1796), in The Hague.  His first language–the tongue of his home–was French.  One childhood friend was the future William I, King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg (reigned 1815-1840).

The Countess returned to the Roman Catholic Church in 1786.  She and those around her influenced her son, confirmed in Holy Mother Church (as Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin) on August 28, 1787.  This development greatly displeased the ambassador, who had planned a military career in Russia for our saint.  The father nearly sent the son back to Russia.  Gallitzin remained in Western Europe and briefly served as an aide-de-camp to the commander of Austrian forces in Brabant in 1792.  Later that year, for political reasons, the Austrian Army dismissed all foreigners from its ranks.

Gallitzin’s parents sent him to the New World; they intended for him to travel in the Western Hemisphere for two years.  Our saint departed Rotterdam on August 18, 1792, and arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 28.  He disappointed his father again my matriculating at the Seminary of Saint Sulpice, Baltimore, on November 5, 1792.  The ambassador arranged for the son to receive a commission as a member of the palace guard in Saint Petersburg, Russia.  Gallitzin went AWOL from the Russian Imperial Army and remained in seminary.

Gallitzin, ordained a priest on March 18, 1795, became the first Roman Catholic priest to conduct all of his theological studies in the United States of America.  He served as a missionary in Maryland, Virginia (including what is now West Virginia), and Pennsylvania–mostly in Pennsylvania.  Gallitzin founded Loretto, Pennsylvania, the first Roman Catholic community with resident clergy in that part of that state, in 1799.  The congregation he founded became the Basilica of Saint Michael the Archangel.  Saint Michael’s was the only Roman Catholic church between Saint Louis, Missouri, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for a few years.  Furthermore, ministry left Gallitzin deeply in debt for much of his life.  He paid off his debts before dying, however.  Our saint, a naturalized citizen of the United States (as Augustine Smith) since 1802, damaged his health by traveling in the Allegheny Mountains for years.  In so doing, he helped to build up the Roman Catholic Church in western Pennsylvania.

Somehow, Gallitzin found time to write defenses of Roman Catholicism, in response to attacks from Protestant ministers:

1. A Defence of Catholic Principles, in a Letter to a Protestant Minister (1816); and
2. Letter to a Protestant Friend, on the Holy Scriptures, or the Written Word of God (1820).

Gallitzin nearly became a bishop four times:

1. He was on the short list for Bishop Coadjutor of Bardstown, Kentucky, under Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget (1763-1850).  That job went to John Baptist Mary David (1761-1841), Bishop Coadjutor of Bardstown (1819-1832) then Bishop of Bardstown (1832-1833).
2. Our saint declined an offer to become the first Bishop of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1821/1822.  The Church had carved the Diocese of Cincinnati from the Diocese of Bardstown in 1821.
3. Gallitzin was also a candidate to become the first Bishop of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1827.  The Church created the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1843, however.
4. The Church created the Diocese of Detroit from the Diocese of Cincinnati in 1833.  Gallitzin declined the offer to become the first Bishop of Detroit.

Gallitzin, aged 69 years, died in Loretto, Pennsylvania, on May 6, 1840.

Our saint is on the road to eventual canonization, given that the Roman Catholic Church declared him a Servant of God in 2005.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 20, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT ZACCHAEUS, PENITENT TAX COLLECTOR AND ROMAN COLLABORATOR

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Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your servant Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin,

whom you called to preach the Gospel to the people of western Pennsylvania.

Raise up in this and every land evangelists and heralds of your kingdom,

that your Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ,

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

Isaiah 52:7-10

Psalm 96 or 96:1-7

Acts 1:1-9

Luke 10:1-9

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 716

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On my bed when I think of you,

Above:  A Domestic Scene, December 8, 2018

Photographer = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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I muse on you in the watches of the night,

for you have always been my help;

in the shadow of your wings I rejoice;

my heart clings to you,

your right hand supports me.

–Psalm 63:6-8, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)

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In my U.S. culture, the time from Thanksgiving (late November) to New Year’s Day is quite busy.  Holidays populate the calendar.  Some of these holidays are, for lack of a better word, ecumenical.  Others are religiously and/or culturally specific, though.  Christmas, originally the Christ Mass, has become an occasion, for many, to worship the Almighty Dollar at the high altar of commercialism.  This is how many Evangelicals of the Victorian Era wanted matters to be.

On the relatively innocuous side, this is the time of the year to populate one’s calendar with holiday social events, such as parties, school plays, and seasonal concerts.  Parents often like to attend their children’s events, appropriately.  Holiday concerts by choral and/or instrumental ensembles can also be quite pleasant.

Yet, amid all this busyness (sometimes distinct from business), are we neglecting the innate human need for peace and quiet?  I like classical Advent and Christmas music, especially at this time of the year (all the way through January 5, the twelfth day of Christmas), but I have to turn it off eventually.  Silence also appeals to me.  Furthermore, being busy accomplishing a worthy goal is rewarding, but so is simply being.

The real question is one of balance.  Given the absence of an actual distinction between the spiritual and the physical, everything is spiritual.  If we are too busy for God, silence, and proper inactivity, we are too busy.  If we are too busy to listen to God, we are too busy.  If we are too busy or too idle, we are not our best selves.

May we, by grace, strike and maintain the proper balance.  May we, especially at peak periods of activity, such as the end of the year, not overextend ourselves, especially in time commitments.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 14, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF SAINT VENANTIUS HONORIUS CLEMENTIUS FORTUNATUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF POITIERS

THE FEAST OF DOROTHY ANN THRUPP, ENGLISH HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MYSTIC

THE FEAST OF ROBERT MCDONALD, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND MISSIONARY

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Published originally at BLOGA THEOLOGICA

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Above:  Henry Budd

Image in the Public Domain

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HENRY BUDD (CIRCA 1812-APRIL 2, 1875)

First Anglican Native Priest in North America; Missionary to the Cree Nation

The Book of Alternative Services (the Anglican Church of Canada, 1985) lists April 2 as the feast of “Henry Budd, First Canadian Native Priest, 1850.”  Budd’s feast, introduced to The Episcopal Church in 2009 and first included in Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), falls on December 22.  A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  A Calendar of Commemorations (2016) retains his feast on that date.  Both volumes list him as “Henry Budd, Priest, 1875.”

Sakachuwescum (literally “Going Up the Hill”), baptized as Henry Budd, became the first Native American ordained to priesthood in North America (in 1850).  In contrast, The Episcopal Church (in the U.S.A.) ordained Enmegahbowh (died in 1902), of the Odawa (Ottawa) Nation to the diaconate in 1859 and the priesthood in 1867.  Another pioneer in the U.S.A. was David Pendleton Oakerhater (circa 1847-1931), of the Cheyenne Nation; he, ordained deacon in 1881, never became a priest.  Budd’s date of birth has remained unknown; sources have listed his year of birth as either 1810 or 1812.  His father died circa 1811.  Our saint’s mother was Washesooesquew, a.k.a. Mary Budd.  Our saint, orphaned, attended a mission school backed by the Hudson’s Bay Company in Rupert’s Land.  His spiritual mentor in the Red River Colony was the Reverend John West (1778-1845; Canadian Anglican feast day = December 31), Church of England missionary and founder of the colony. Budd, a member of the Cree Nation, worked as a clerk for the Hudson’s Bay Company before embarking upon religious vocations.

Budd joined the Church Missionary Society (CMS).  At first he worked as a teacher n what is now Manitoba.  In 1836 he married Elizabeth “Betsy” Work (1820-1874), of Irish and Cree ancestry.  They had six children.  In 1837 the CMS sent Budd to lead the Day School at the Upper Church in the Red River Valley.  Three years later the CMS transferred our saint to The Pas (now in Manitoba) to establish a new mission.  He was a productive missionary who improved the lives of his fellow Cree physically and spiritually.  He remained there for a decade.

On December 22, 1850 (hence Budd’s feast day in The Episcopal Church) our saint became a priest.  The CMS, which paid him half the salary of a white missionary, sent him to Nipowewin (now Nipawin, Saskatchewan), where he remained until 1867.  Then Budd returned to The Pas, where he lived for the rest of his life.  Throughout his missionary career he endured the elements and physical injuries, buried his wife and several of his children, and covered vast territories.  Budd also translated The Book of Common Prayer and the Bible into Cree.

Our saint died at The Pas on April 2, 1875 (hence his Canadian Anglican feast day).

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 11, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARTIN OF TOURS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF ANNE STEELE, FIRST IMPORTANT ENGLISH HYMN WRITER

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Creator of light, we thank you for your priest Henry Budd,

who carried the great treasure of Scripture to his people and the Cree Nation,

earning their trust and love.  Grant that his example may call us to

reverence, orderliness, and love, that we may give you glory in word and action;

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

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

Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 11:1-6, 14, 17

Psalm 29

1 Thessalonians 5:13-18

John 14:15-21

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 131

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Above:  Ilza and Chico Mendes

Image Source = Miranda Smith, Miranda Productions, Inc.

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FRANCISCO ALVES MENDES FILHO (DECEMBER 15, 1944-DECEMBER 22, 1988)

“Gandhi of the Amazon”

The Amazon rainforest is crucial to the well-being of the global ecosystem; this is a scientific fact.  Another fact is that both are in peril due to greed and short-term thinking.  A third fact is the mounting body count as certain landowners and their agents murder defenders of the rainforest.  This post tells the story of one of those martyrs.

Francisco Alves “Chico” Mendes Filho, born at Xapuri, Acre, Brazil, on December 15, 1944, was a lifelong rubber tapper in the Amazon rainforest.  He was a son of rubber tappers, his father having moved from northeastern to northwestern Brazil in 1943 to become part of the “rubber tapper army” supplying rubber to the Allies during World War II.  One did not become wealthy performing this work, so Mendes grew up a part of the working poor.

Our saint, influenced by his Roman Catholic faith and by Liberation Theology in particular, resisted non-violently the burning of parts of the rainforest for the purpose of clearing the land for cattle ranching or other reasons.  In 1977 he founded a union of rubber tappers.  This threatened the interests of many landowners, some of whom not only threatened but committed or authorized violence.  Mendes knew that someone might kill him, but he persisted in his efforts anyway.  His widow, Ilzamar “Ilza” Gadelha Mendes, recalled:

Sometimes I’d say to Chico, “Chico, they’re going to kill you!  Why don’t you take care of yourself and go away?”  But Chico wasn’t afraid of death.  He told me that we would never stop defending the Amazon forest–never!

–Quoted in Robert Ellsberg, All Saints:  Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (1997), page 558

Mendes came to understand the link between the “cry of the poor” and the “cry of the Earth”:

At first I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees, then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest.  Now I realize I am fighting for humanity.”

–Quoted in The Guardian, December 20, 2013

In 1987 the United Nations recognized Mendes with its Global 500 Award for Environmental Protection.  Shortly thereafter the Brazilian government declared four areas of the Amazon rainforest protected.  Mendes had protection too, at least theoretically.  On December 22, 1988, he was home when rancher Darcy Alves killed him.  The police officers assigned to guard Mendes were playing dominoes at the kitchen table.  Alves likened murdering Mendes to shooting a jaguar.

Ilza stated later:

Chico had a lot of faith.  When he died, I was filled with despair.  But God comforted me and inspired me to work alongside others to carry on Chico’s work.  They killed him, but they didn’t kill his idealism or crush the struggle.

–Quoted in Ellsberg, All Saints (1997), pages 558-559

The struggle continues.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 9, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM CROSWELL, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF JOHANN(ES) MATTHAUS MEYFART, GERMAN LUTHERAN EDUCATOR AND DEVOTIONAL WRITER

THE FEAST OF MARTIN CHEMNITZ, GERMAN LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN

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God of grace and glory, you create and sustain the universe in majesty and beauty:

We thank you for Chico Mendes and all in whom you have planted

the desire to know your creation and to explore your work and wisdom.

Lead us, like them, to understand better the wonder and mystery of creation;

through Jesus Christ your eternal Word, through whom all things were made.  Amen.

Genesis 2:9-20

Psalm 34:8-14

2 Corinthians 13:1-6

John 20:24-27

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 738

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This is post #1500 of SUNDRY THOUGHTS.

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Above:  Father Isaac Hecker

Image in the Public Domain

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ISAAC THOMAS HECKER (DECEMBER 18, 1819-DECEMBER 22, 1888)

Founder of the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle

Robert Ellsberg, author of All Saints:  Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (1997), suggests commemorating the life of Isaac Hecker on December 18.

Hecker was a Roman Catholic missionary to Protestants and a witness against nativism.  He argued against traditional American anti-Roman Catholicism, for many native-born Americans thought of the Roman Catholic Church as a foreign institution incompatible with American politics and society.  Certainly Papal hostility toward constitutions in Europe seemed to affirm this perspective.  Nevertheless, the ubiquitous anti-Roman Catholicism was unquestionably bigoted.

Hecker, born in New York City, on December 18, 1819, to German immigrants, grew up a Methodist.  Methodism did not satisfy our saint, who experimented with Unitarianism, Mormonism, and Transcendentalism.  Ultimately, however, he found Holy Mother Church.  In 1844 our saint converted to Roman Catholicism.  Five years later he became a priest.  Until 1857 Hecker worked as a missionary of the Redemptionist order; he ministered to German immigrants.

Hecker perceived a different vocation, however.  He became a bridge between American society and the Roman Catholic establishment, which distrusted each other.  In 1858, with Papal permission, Hecker founded the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle.  The purpose of the new order was to convert the United States to Roman Catholicism.  The Paulist Fathers operated differently than members of other orders; they did not take vows.  Also, internal discipline was, as much as possible, to be a response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.  Although many conservative Roman Catholics considered the Paulist Fathers and their methods subversive, more liberal-minded Roman Catholics tended to be supportive.

Hecker anticipated a post-Vatican II style of Roman Catholicism, one affirming of liberty of conscience and the separation of church and state.  His death in 1888 left the order with much work left to do.  In 1928, for example, many Americans voted against Governor Al Smith, the Democratic nominee for President of the United States, because he was a Roman Catholic.  (My great-grandfather, George Washington Barrett, was among them.)  In 1960 the Roman Catholicism of John Fitzgerald Kennedy was a major issue during the presidential campaign.  Many Protestants, whether mainline or more conservative, repeated old nativistic arguments against the Roman Catholic Church.

The Paulist Fathers continue to perform the work of, in their words of their motto, “giving the Word a voice.”

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 8, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JOHN CASPAR MATTES, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND LITURGIST

THE FEAST OF JOHANN VON STAUPITZ, MARTIN LUTHER’S SPIRITUAL MENTOR

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Almighty God, we praise you for your servant Isaac Hecker,

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:  Canterbury Cathedral, 1910

Publisher and Copyright Claimant = Detroit Publishing Company

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-det-4a24699

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FREDERICK TEMPLE (NOVEMBER 30, 1821-DECEMBER 22, 1902)

Archbishop of Canterbury

father of

WILLIAM TEMPLE (OCTOBER 15, 1881-OCTOBER 26, 1944)

Archbishop of Canterbury

His feast transferred from November 6

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So let us set ourselves to gain a deepening loyalty to our Anglican tradition of Catholic order, Evangelical immediacy in our approach to God, and liberal acceptance of new truth made known to us; and let us at the same time join with all our fellow Christians who will join with us in bearing witness to the claim of Christ to rule in every department of human life, and to the principles of His Kingdom.

–William Temple, April 17, 1942; quoted in Lee W. Gibbs, The Middle Way:  Voices of Anglicanism (Cincinnati, OH:  Forward Movement Publications, 1991), page 130

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The standard feast day of William Temple is November 6.  To the best of my knowledge, no ecclesiastical body lists his father, Frederick Temple, on its calendar of saints.  On this, my Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, however, the two Archbishop Temples share a feast day–December 22.

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Above:  Frederick Temple

Image in the Public Domain

Frederick Temple was an educator, an educational reformer, a theologian, and a minister.  He, born on November 30, 1821, debuted at Leukas (a.k.a. Santa Maura), the Ionian Islands, off the coast of Greece.  His father, Major Octavius Temple (1784-1834) was there on imperial assignment.  Our saint’s mother was Dorcas Carveth (born in 1805).  He was one of five children.  The family relocated to Corfu in 1828.  Then, in 1833, Octavius became the Lieutenant Governor of Sierra Leone, serving until he died the following year.

The death of Octavius left the family impoverished.  Frederick studied at Blundell’s School, Devonshire, from 1834 to 1839.  Then, from 1839 to 1842, he attended Baillol College, Oxford, on scholarship, studying mechanics and the classics.  He encountered Tractarians there and found himself more liberal than they were.  From 1842 to 1848 our saint worked as a lecturer then a fellow at Baillol College.  Along the way he became an Anglican deacon (1846) then priest (1847).

Frederick left Oxford in 1848.  Until 1850 he worked at the Education Office.  Then, from 1850 to 1855, he was the Principal of Kneller Hall, a training college for teachers at workhouses.  Next (until 1857) our saint inspected training colleges.  From 1857 to 1869, as the Headmaster of Rugby School, expanded the curriculum, presided over new construction, and functioned as a good example to everyone.  On the side, from 1864 to 1867, Frederick served on the Schools Enquiry Commission.

Frederick contributed an essay, The Education of the World,” to Essays and Reviews (1860), a liberal Anglican manifesto.  The volume proved to be controversial, partially because all seven authors favored freedom of inquiry in religion.  In our saint’s case, his argument irked many people and led to allegations to heresy.  He wrote of the parallels of human life (obedience during childhood, example during adolescence, and responsible freedom during adulthood) to three religious stages (the Law, the Gospels, and Pentecost).  In the last phase, Frederick wrote, humankind must be free to make decisions while drawing from all worthy sources, mainly the Bible.  Some critics accused our saint of being unduly optimistic regarding human nature and of ignoring sin and redemption.  In response to the controversy he authorized the omission of his essay from subsequent editions of Essays and Reviews.

Our saint became the Bishop of Exeter in 1869 and served until 1885.  Frederick encouraged secondary education.  he also worked hard to implement the Elementary Education Act of 1870, which expanded the reach of elementary school access and improved attendance.  Also during his tenure Frederick oversaw the creation of the Diocese of Truro from his diocese.  And, on October 15, 1881, our saint and his wife, Beatrice Blanche Lascelles, welcomed their second son, William, into the world.

During his time as Bishop of Exeter our saint published The Relations Between Religion and Science (1884).  He accepted both science and religion, acknowledging the reality of Evolution.  He had already covered much of that material in a sermon, The Present Relation of Science to Religion (1860).

From 1885 to 1896 Frederick was the Bishop of London.  During that time he advised the Archbishop of Canterbury, his friend, Edward White Benson, whom he succeeded in 1897.  When our saint became the Primate he was already going blind.  Yet he labored faithfully, attempting to settle ritualistic controversies and refuting the Papal bull (literally) regarding the invalidity of Anglican Holy Orders.  Frederick died at London on December 22, 1902.  He was 81 years old.

Another published work of our saint was “The Church’s Message to Mankind,” included in The Church’s Message to Men (1899).

Volumes about Frederick, at least in part, included the following:

1. Archbishop Temple, Being the People’s Life of the Right Hon. and Most Rev. Frederick Temple, P.C., D.D., LL.D., Primate of All England, and Metropolitan (1903), by Charles Henry Dant;
2. Six Great Schoolmasters (1904), by F. D. How;
3. Memoirs of Archbishop Temple by Seven Friends (1906), edited by E. G. Sandford–Volumes I and II;
4. Frederick Temple:  An Appreciation (1907), by E. G. Sandford, with a biographical introduction by William Temple; and
5. The Exeter Episcopate of Archbishop Temple, 1869-1885 (1907), by E. G. Sandford.

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Above:  William Temple

Image in the Public Domain

William Temple entered the world on October 15, 1881, when his father, then the Bishop of Exeter, was 60 years old.  Young William grew up in a financially comfortable and artistically rich family.  When his father was the Bishop of London our saint learned to play the piano and the organ.  He also attempted to learn to play the oboe and the French horn and came to consider Johann Sebastian Bach to be

the supreme master  who more than any other enables us for a few moments snatched from the passage of time to enter upon the experience of eternity.

–Quoted in Lee W. Gibbs, The Middle Way:  Voices of Anglicanism (1991), page 114

The bookworm suffered from various illnesses, such as gout, throughout his life.  He, like his father, had eye-related problems; William became blind in one eye, due to a cataract, in 1921.

William was also a natural intellectual.  He, educated at Rugby School (1894-1900) and Baillol College, Oxford (1900-1904), was a fellow and lecturer in philosophy at Queen’s College, Oxford, from 1904 to 1910.  Ordained to the diaconate in December 1909 and the priesthood in December 1910, our saint served as the Headmaster of Repton School, Derbyshire, from 1910 to 1914.

The priesthood had once been far from William’s mind, but it was his vocation.  Allegations of heresy had delayed his Holy Orders, but our saint became a simultaneously relatively orthodox and heterodox figure after his ordination.  The Incarnation occupied the center of his theology.  The Incarnation, William argued, had made the universe sacramental.  This understanding informed our saint’s opinion that one cannot properly divorce Christian doctrine from social justice.  Thus he served as the President of the Workers’ Educational Association from 1908 to 1924 and joined the Labour Party.  Christian disunity weakened the witness of the Church in the world, William knew.  Therefore he supported ecumenism in general and the Life and Work Movement (1925f) and the Faith and Order Movement (1927f), predecessors of the World Council of Churches (1948), in particular.  Our saint also favored the process that led to the formation of the Church of South India (1947).  William also supported the ordination of women to the diaconate and the priesthood as early as 1916, but struggled with the fact that the ordination of women at that time would become an obstacle to ecumenism.

William entered full-time ministry in 1914.  That year he became the Rector of St. James’ Church, Picadilly, London.  On the side he also served as honorary chaplain to King George V and to Randall Davidson, the Archbishop of Canterbury.  In 1916 our saint married Frances Anson; the couple had no children.  From 1919 to 1921 William was Canon of Westminster.  Next he served as the Bishop of Manchester (thereby becoming a successor of James Prince Lee) for eight years.  As the Bishop of Manchester our saint offended cotton magnates by seeking to resolve a general strike peacefully in 1926.  From 1929 to 1942 he was the Archbishop of York.  Then he succeeded Cosmo Lang as the Archbishop of Canterbury.

William was perhaps the most renowned Archbishop of Canterbury since the English Reformation.  He exercised the duties of the office during difficult times–World War II.  Our saint advocated for aid to Jews fleeing the Nazis, visited soldiers and sailors, broadcast sermons to soldiers and sailors, led prayer services at factories, preached on Sundays when Germans were bombing, and supported a negotiated settlement to the war.  He had to travel to and from his final public appearances in an ambulance and had to stand on one foot while speaking.

Wiliam died at Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, on October 26, 1944.  He was 63 years old.  Reinhold Niebuhr reflected:

Dr. Temple was able to relate “religious insights and social order” more vitally and creatively than any other modern Christian leader.

–Quoted in Lee W. Gibbs, The Middle Way:  Voices of Anglicanism (1991), page 113

Major published works by our saint included the following:

1. The Nature of Personality:  A Course of Lectures (1911);
2. “The Divinity of Christ” and “The Church” in Foundations:  A Statement of Christian Belief in Terms of Modern Thought (1913);
3. The Faith and Modern Thought:  Six Lectures (1913);
4. Christianity and War (1914);
5. Theology:  The Science of Religion (1914);
6. Studies in the Spirit and Truth of Christianity (1914);
7. Our Need of a Catholic Church (1915);
8. Church and Nation (1915);
9. Plato and Christianity (1916);
10. Mens Creatrix:  An Essay (1917);
11. The Universality of Christ:  A Course of Lectures (1921);
12. Life of Bishop Percival (1921);
13. Christus Veritas (1924);
14. Personal Religion and the Life of Fellowship (1926);
15. Christianity and the State (1928);
16. Nature, Man, and God (1934);
17. Readings in St. John’s Gospel (1939 and 1940); and
18. Christianity and the Social Order (1942).

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Understanding Frederick Temple increases one’s comprehension for his famous son.  The apple, I contend, did not fall far from the tree.  Although William Temple overshadows his father, nobody should minimize the importance of the elder.

As both Temples understood well, an excessively personalized Christianity divorced from social justice is heretical.  They were good Anglicans and therefore men rooted in the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity as Jesus of Nazareth.  As I have learned, the Anglican emphasis on the Incarnation (as opposed to the Lutheran emphasis on the crucifixion) lends itself to reading John 1:1-18, especially the part about God dwelling among us, and seeking to serve God in those around us.  This point of view has led to ecclesiastical involvement in social justice movements.  This has always been orthodox; turning away from the mandate to love one’s neighbor as one loves oneself has always been heretical.

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KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 8, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JOHN CASPAR MATTES, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND LITURGIST

THE FEAST OF JOHANN VON STAUPITZ, MARTIN LUTHER’S SPIRITUAL MENTOR

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Almighty God, we praise you for your servants Frederick Temple and William Temple,

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:  Roman Egypt in 400 C.E.  

(Nilopolis is near Memphis.)

SAINTS CHAEREMON AND ISCHYRION (DIED CIRCA 250)

Roman Catholic Martyrs

Those of us fortunate to live in a nation with a history of religious freedom might not read the notices of impending persecution and martyrdom in the New Testament the same way many of our fellow Christians living under difficult circumstances do.  But we can, through a study of history, understand somewhat what our forebears in faith have endured.  And that is sufficient reason to consider the lives and deaths of Sts. Chaeremon and Ischyrion.

Decius reigned as Roman Emperor from 249 to 251.  He ordered the persecution of Christians who refused to make even one pagan sacrifice per year.  Such sacrifices were, in the mind of the emperor and many other Romans, basic civic responsibilities; by honoring the gods, the reasoning went, citizens might convince the gods to continue to bless the empire.  And the empire was experiencing much difficulty between the 230s and the 280s.  Yet even one pagan sacrifice was one too many for a conscientious Christian, so many died.  Among them were Chaeremon (an elderly man), Bishop of Nilopolis, and Ischyrion, a city official.  Historical sources differ on the city of which he was an employee, but they agree that he also refused to make the pagan sacrifice.

In other words, Chaeremon, Ischyrion, and the many other Christians who died for their faith under Decius were scapegoats for imperial problems, which continued.  May we of today refrain from scapegoating others for our national problems.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 26, 2011 COMMON ERA

THE LAST DAY OF ORDINARY TIME 2011

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN BERCHMANS, ROMAN CATHOLIC SEMINARIAN

THE FEAST OF ISAAC WATTS, HYMN WRITER

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Gracious God,

in every age you have sent men and women

who have given their lives in witness to your love and truth.

Inspire us with the memory of Saints Chaeremon and Ischyrion,

whose faithfulness led to the way of the cross,

and give us courage to bear full witness with our lives

to your Son’s victory over sin and death,

for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,

now and forever.  Amen.

Ezekiel 20:40-42

Psalm 5

Revelation 6:9-11

Mark 8:34-38

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 59

Poinsettia

Image Source = Andre Karwath

1 (Charles de Foucauld, Roman Catholic Hermit and Martyr, 1916)

• Albert Barnes, U.S. Presbyterian Minister, Abolitionist, and Alleged Heretic
• Brioc, Roman Catholic Abbot; and Tudwal, Roman Catholic Abbot, and Bishop of Treguier
• Douglas LeTell Rights, U.S. Moravian Minister, Scholar, and Hymn Writer
• Edward Timothy Mickey, Jr., U.S. Moravian Bishop and Liturgist
• George Hugh Bourne, Anglican Priest, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator

2 (Hormisdas, Bishop of Rome; and his son, Silverius, Bishop of Rome, and Martyr, 537)

• Channing Moore Williams, Episcopal Missionary Bishop in China and Japan
• Gerald Thomas Noel, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer; his brother, Baptist Wriothesley Noel, Anglican Priest, English Baptist Evangelist, and Hymn Writer; and his niece, Caroline Maria Noel, Anglican Hymn Writer
• Justin Heinrich Knecht, German Lutheran Organist, Music Teacher, and Composer
• Maura Clarke and Her Companions, U.S. Roman Catholic Martyrs in El Salvador, December 2, 1980
• Rafal Chylinski, Polish Franciscan Roman Catholic Priest

3 (Francis Xavier, Roman Catholic Missionary to the Far East)

• Amilie Juliane, Countess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, German Lutheran Hymn Writer
• Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury
• Jan Franciszek Macha, Polish Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1942
• M. Woolsey Stryker, U.S. Presbyterian Minister, Educator, Author, Hymnal Editor, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator
• Sophie Koulomzin, Russian-American Christian Educator

4 (John of Damascus and Cosmas of Maiuma, Theologians and Hymnodists)

• Alexander Hotovitzky, Russian Orthodox Priest and Martyr, 1937
• Bernard of Parma, Roman Catholic Bishop of Parma
• Joseph Mohr, Austrian Roman Catholic Priest; and Franz Gruber, Austrian Roman Catholic Teacher, Musician, and Composer
• Maruthas, Roman Catholic Bishop of Maypherkat, and Missionary to Persia
• Osmund of Salisbury, Roman Catholic Bishop of Salisbury

5 (Clement of Alexandria, Father of Christian Scholarship)

• Cyran, Roman Catholic Abbot
• Narcyz Putz, Polish Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1942
• Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa, and Renewer of Society
• Nicetius of Trier, Roman Catholic Monk, Abbot, and Bishop of Trier; and Aredius of Limoges, Roman Catholic Monk
• Peter Mortimer, Anglo-German Moravian Educator, Musician, and Scholar; and Gottfried Theodor Erxleben, German Moravian Minister and Musicologist

6 (Nicholas of Myra, Bishop of Myra)

• Abraham of Kratia, Roman Catholic Monk, Abbot, Bishop of Kratia, and Hermit
• Alice Freeman Palmer, U.S. Educator and Hymn Writer
• Anne Ross Cousin, Scottish Presbyterian Hymn Writer
• Henry Ustick Onderdonk, Episcopal Bishop of New York, Liturgist, and Hymn Writer
• Philip Berrigan and his brother, Daniel Berrigan, Roman Catholic Priests and Social Activists

7 (John Greenleaf Whittier, U.S. Quaker Abolitionist, Poet, and Hymn Writer)

• Emma Francis, Lutheran Deaconess in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Harlem
• Georg Friedrich Hellstrom, Dutch-German Moravian Musician, Composer, and Educator
• John Howard Bertram Masterman, Anglican Scholar, Hymn Writer, Priest, and Bishop of Plymouth
• Maria Josepha Rossello, Co-Founder of the Daughters of Our Lady of Pity
• William Gustave Polack, U.S. Lutheran Minister, Liturgist, and Hymn Writer and Translator

8 (Walter Ciszek, Roman Catholic Missionary Priest and Political Prisoner)

• Amatus of Luxeuil and Romaric of Luxeuil, Roman Catholic Monks and Abbots
• Ambrose Reeves, Anglican Bishop of Johannesburg, and Opponent of Apartheid
• Erik Christian Hoff, Norwegian Lutheran Composer and Organist
• Marin Shkurti, Albanian Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1969
• Narcisa de Jesús Martillo-Morán, Ecuadorian Roman Catholic Mystic and Ascetic

9 (Liborius Wagner, German Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1631)

• David Brüning, S. German Evangelical Minister, Hymnal Editor, and Hymn Tune Composer
• George Job Elvey, Anglican Composer and Organist
• John Zundel, German-American Organist, Hymnal Editor, Hymn Tune Composer, and Music Editor
• Peter Fourier, “The Good Priest of Mattaincourt;” and Alix Le Clerc, Founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame of Canonesses Regular of Saint Augustine
• Thomas Merton, S. Roman Catholic Priest, Monk, and Spiritual Writer

10 (Karl Barth, Swiss Reformed Minister, Theologian, and Biblical Scholar; and his son, Markus Barth, Swiss Lutheran Minister and Biblical Scholar)

• Howell Elvet Lewis, Welsh Congregationalist Clergyman and Poet
• John Roberts, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1610
• Olivier Messiaen, Claire Delbos, and Yvonne Loriod, French Roman Catholic Musicians and Composers
• Paul Eber, German Lutheran Theologian and Hymn Writer
• Robert Murray, Canadian Presbyterian Minister and Hymn Writer

11 (Martyrs of El Mozote, El Salvador, December 11-12, 1981)

• Howard Chandler Robbins, Episcopal Priest, Hymn Writer, Hymn Translator, and Hymn Tune Composer
• Kazimierz Tomas Sykulski, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1942
• Lars Olsen Skrefsrud, Hans Peter Boerresen, and Paul Olaf Bodding, Lutheran Missionaries in India
• Luke of Prague and John Augusta, Moravian Bishops and Hymn Writers
• Severin Ott, Roman Catholic Monk

12 (William Lloyd Garrison, Abolitionist and Feminist; and Maria Stewart, Abolitionist, Feminist, and Educator)

• Bartholomew Buonpedoni and Vivaldus, Ministers among Lepers
• Jonathan Krause, Silesian Lutheran Minister, Hymn Writer, and Hymnal Editor
• Ludwik Bartosik, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1941
• Thomas Canning, U.S. Composer and Music Educator
• William Louis Poteat, President of Wake Forest College, and Biologist; his brother, Edwin McNeill Poteat, Sr., Southern and Northern Baptist Minister, Scholar, and President of Furman University; his son, Edwin McNeill Poteat, Jr., Southern Baptist Minister, Missionary, Musician, Hymn Writer, and Social Reformer;  his brother, Gordon McNeill Poteat, Southern and Northern Baptist and Congregationalist Minister and Missionary; and his cousin, Hubert McNeill Poteat, Southern Baptist Academic and Musician

13 (Samuel Johnson, “The Great Moralist”)

• Christian Furchtegott Gellert, German Lutheran Minister, Educator, and Hymn Writer
• Ella J. Baker, Witness for Civil Rights
• Paul Speratus, German Lutheran Bishop, Liturgist, and Hymn Writer
• Pierson Parker, U.S. Congregationalist Minister, Episcopal Priest, and Biblical Scholar
• R. Birch Hoyle, English Baptist Minister and Hymn Translator

14 (Radegunda, Thuringian Roman Catholic Princess, Deaconess, and Nun; and Venantius Honorius Clementius Fortunatus, Roman Catholic Bishop of Poitiers)

• Dorothy Ann Thrupp, English Hymn Writer
• Henry Aldrich, Anglican Priest, Composer, Theologian, Mathematician, and Architect
• James Arnold Blaisdell, U.S. Congregationalist Minister, Scholar, and Hymn Writer
• John of the Cross, Roman Catholic Mystic and Carmelite Friar
• William Adams Brown, U.S. Presbyterian Minister, Theologian, and Social Reformer

15 (Thomas Benson Pollock, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer)

• Fred D. Gealy, U.S. Methodist Minister, Missionary, Musician, and Biblical Scholar
• Henry Fothergill Chorley, English Novelist, Playwright, and Literary and Music Critic
• John Horden, Anglican Bishop of Moosenee
• Ralph Wardlaw, Scottish Congregationalist Minister, Hymn Writer, and Liturgist
• Robert McDonald, Anglican Priest and Missionary

16 (Ralph Adams Cram and Richard Upjohn, Architects; and John LaFarge, Sr., Painter and Stained-Glass Window Maker)

• Alexis Feodorovich Lvov, Russian Orthodox Musician and Composer
• Conrad Kocher, German Composer and Music Educator; Reformer of Church Music in Germany
• Filip Siphong Onphithakt, Roman Catholic Catechist and Martyr in Thailand, 1940
• Lewis Henry Redner, Episcopal Organist and Hymn Tune Composer
• Maude Dominica Petre, Roman Catholic Modernist Theologian

17 (Eglantyne Jebb and Dorothy Buxton, Founders of Save the Children)

• Althea Brown Edmiston, African-American Southern Presbyterian Missionary in the Congo Free State then Belgian Congo
• Dorothy Sayers, Anglican Poet, Novelist, Playwright, Translator, Apologist, and Theologian
• Frank Mason North, U.S. Methodist Minister, Social Reformer, and Hymn Writer
• Mary Cornelia Bishop Gates, U.S. Dutch Reformed Hymn Writer
• Olympias of Constantinople, Widow and Deaconess

18 (Marc Boegner, French Reformed Minister and Ecumenist)

• Alicia Domon and Her Companions, Martyrs in Argentina, 1977
• Giulia Valle, Roman Catholic Nun
• Horatio William Parker, Episcopal Composer, Organist, and Music Educator
• John Darwall, Anglican Priest and Composer
• John MacLeod Campbell Crum, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer

19 (Raoul Wallenberg, Righteous Gentile)

• Francesco Antonio Bonporti, Italian Roman Catholic Priest and Composer
• Kazimiera Wolowska, Polish Roman Catholic Nun and Martyr, 1942
• Robert Campbell, Scottish Episcopalian then Roman Catholic Social Advocate and Hymn Writer
• William Henry Draper, Anglican Priest, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator
• William Howard Bishop, Founder of the Glenmary Home Missioners

20 (Dominic of Silos, Roman Catholic Abbot)

• Bates Gilbert Burt, Episcopal Priest, Hymn Writer, and Composer
• Benjamin Tucker Tanner, African Methodist Episcopal Bishop and Renewer of Society
• D. Elton Trueblood, U.S. Quaker Theologian
• Johann Christoph Schwedler, German Lutheran Minister and Hymn Writer
• Michal Piasczynski, Polish Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1940

21 (THOMAS THE APOSTLE, MARTYR)

22 (Frederick Temple and William Temple, Archbishops of Canterbury)

• Chaeremon and Ischyrion, Roman Catholic Martyrs, Circa 250
• Chico Mendes, “Gandhi of the Amazon”
• Demetrius A. Gallitzin, Russian-American Roman Catholic Missionary Priest; “The Apostle of the Alleghenies”
• Henry Budd, First Anglican Native Priest in North America; Missionary to the Cree Nation
• Isaac Hecker, Founder of the Missionary Society of Saint Paul the Apostle

23 (John of Kanty, Roman Catholic Theologian)

• Charbel, Roman Catholic Priest and Monk
• Henry Schwing, U.S. Organist and Music Educator; “The Grand Old Man of Maryland Music”
• James Prince Lee, Anglican Bishop of Manchester
• Thomas Baldwin, U.S. Baptist Minister and Hymn Writer
• William John Blew, English Priest and Hymn Writer

24 (CHRISTMAS EVE)

25 (CHRISTMAS DAY)

26 (SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS)

• STEPHEN, DEACON AND MARTYR

27 (THIRD DAY OF CHRISTMAS)

• JOHN THE EVANGELIST, APOSTLE

28 (FOURTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS)

• HOLY INNOCENTS, MARTYRS, 4 B.C.E

29 (FIFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS)

• Antonio Caldara, Roman Catholic Composer and Musician
• John Burnett Morris, Sr., Episcopal Priest and Witness for Civil Rights
• Philipp Heinrich Molther, German Moravian Minister, Bishop, Composer, and Hymn Translator
• Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Martyr, 1170
• Thomas Cotterill, English Priest, Hymn Writer, and Liturgist

30 (SIXTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS)

• Allen Eastman Cross, U.S. Congregationalist Minister and Hymn Writer
• George Wallace Briggs, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer
• John Main, Anglo-Canadian Roman Catholic Priest and Monk
• Josiah Booth, English Organist, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Tune Composer

• Frances Joseph-Gaudet, African-American Educator, Prison Reformer, and Social Worker

31 (SEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS)

• Giuseppina Nicoli, Italian Roman Catholic Nun and Minister to the Poor
• Henry Irving Louttit, Jr., Episcopal Bishop of Georgia
• New Year’s Eve
• Rossiter Worthington Raymond, U.S. Novelist, Poet, Hymn Writer, and Mining Engineer
• Zoticus of Constantinople, Priest and Martyr, Circa 351

 

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