Above:  The Flag of Ecuador, 1845-1860

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINT NARCISA DE JESÚS MARTILLO-MORÁN (OCTOBER 29, 1832-DECEMBER 8, 1869)

Ecuadorian Roman Catholic Mystic and Ascetic

Alternative feast day = August 30

St. Narcisa de Jesús Martillo-Morán comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via the Roman Catholic Church.

St. Narcisa was a native of Ecuador.  She, born in the village of San José, Nobol, Guayas, on October 29, 1832, was the sixth of nine children of Pedro Martillo Mosquera (d. 1852) and Josefina Morán (d. 1838), farmers.  After her father died, our saint moved to Guayaquil, Ecuador, where she lived with and worked for nobles.  St. Narcisa worked as a seamstress, supported her eight siblings, and helped sick and abandoned children.

St. Narcisa moved into a Dominican convent in Lima, Peru, in 1868.  She remained a layperson and never took vows.  Our saint in that convent, prayed eight hours daily, lived ascetically, and experienced mystical ecstasies.  Our saint, aged 37 years, had suffered from high fevers before she died in the convent on December 8, 1869.  The nuns reported smelling a sweet and pleasant odor in St. Narcisa’s room at the time of and after her death.

St. Narcisa, her corpse officially incorrupt since 1955, has received ecclesiastical recognition.  Pope John Paul II declared her a Venerable in 1987 then beatified her in 1992.  Pope Benedict XVI canonized St. Narcisa in 2008.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 5, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ALFRED TENNYSON, ENGLISH POET

THE FEAST OF ADAM OF SAINT VICTOR, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF ALBRECHT DÜRER, MATTHIAS GRÜNEWALD, AND LUCAS CRANACH THE ELDER, RENAISSANCE ARTISTS

THE FEAST OF SAINTS FRANCISCO ZANFREDINI AND MICHELINA OF PESARO, CO-FOUNDERS OF THE CONFRATERNITY OF THE ANNUNCIATION

THE FEAST OF GEORGE FREDERICK ROOT, POET AND COMPOSER

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Almighty God, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses:

Grant that we, encouraged by the good example of

your servant Saint Narcisa de Jesús Martillo-Morán,

may preserve in running the race that is set before us,

until at last we may with her attain to your eternal joy;

through Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Micah 6:6-8

Psalm 15

Hebrews 12:1-2

Matthew 25:31-40

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 724

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Above:  An Apartheid Sign

Image in the Public Domain

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RICHARD AMBROSE REEVES (DECEMBER 6, 1899-DECEMBER 23, 1980)

Anglican Bishop of Johannesburg, and Opponent of Apartheid

Bishop (Richard) Ambrose Reeves comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via historical accounts.  A standard rule (with exceptions) in provinces of the Anglican Communion is to wait about half a century after someone’s death before adding that person to an official calendar of saints.  I understand why this is a wise policy for ecclesiastical authorities to follow.  Given this policy, Bishop Reeves’s time for addition to some Anglican calendars of saints may arrive within a few years.  My Ecumenical Calendar, however, does not come with the fifty-year-rule.  So, I add Bishop Reeves to my Ecumenical Calendar today.

Ambrose Reeves, born in Norwich, England, on December 6, 1899, spent most of his life in ministry.  He, a veteran of World War I, studied at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University (B.A., 1924); the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield, England; General Theological Seminary, New York, New York; and Cambridge University (M.A., 1943).  After completing seminary in the middle 1920s, our saint became a deacon in The Church of England (May 30, 1926), then a priest therein (June 12, 1927).  Reeves served first as the Curate of St. Albans, Golders Green (1926-1931).  During that time, he doubled as the secretary of the Christian Social Movement.

Reeves married Ada van Ryssan in 1931.  The couple raised four children.

Reeves continued to serve on the parish level and beyond from 1931 to 1949.  He was the Rector of St. Margaret’s, Leven (1931-1935).  Next, our saint served in the Diocese of Gibraltar and as the secretary of the World Student Christian Federation (1935-1937).  Reeves returned to England in 1937.  He served as the Vicar of St. James, Haydock (1937-1942); the Rector of the Church of Our Lady and St. Nicholas, Liverpool (1942-1949); and the Canon of Liverpool Cathedral (1942-1949).

Reeves spent 1949-1960 in South Africa, as the Bishop of Johannesburg.  He was outspoken in his opposition to Apartheid and condemnation of the repressive, unjust, national government.  Our saint’s uncompromising moral position led to his deportation on September 12, 1960.  Bishop Reeves, back in England, resigned, effective March 31, 1961.  His anti-Apartheid activism continued; our saint served as the President of the Anti-Apartheid Movement from 1970 to 1980.

Bishop Reeves hoped to serve as a bishop ordinary in England, yet did not.  He did, however, serve as the Assistant Bishop of London (1962-1966) then the Assistant Bishop of Chichester (1966-1980).  Our saint, the General Secretary of the Student Christian Movement (1962-1965), served also as the Priest-in-Charge (1966-1968) then the Rector (1968-1972) of St. Michael’s Church, East Sussex.

Bishop Reeves, aged 81 years, died at Shoreham-by-Sea on December 23, 1980.  He had lived well and courageously.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 4, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JOHN BROWNLIE, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF CARROLL O’CONNOR, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC ACTOR AND SCREEN WRITER

THE FEAST OF FRÉDÉRIC JANSOONE, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND FRIAR

THE FEAST OF LAMBERT BEAUDUIN, BELGIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND PIONEER OF LITURGICAL RENEWAL

THE FEAST OF SARAH PLATT DOREMUS, FOUNDER OF THE WOMEN’S UNION MISSIONARY SOCIETY

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Holy and righteous God, you created us in your image.

Grant us grace to contend fearlessly against evil

and to make no peace with oppression.

Help us [like your servant Ambrose Reeves]

to use our freedom to bring justice

among people and nations, to the glory of your name;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Hosea 2:18-23

Psalm 94:1-14

Romans 12:9-21

Luke 6:20-36

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

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You shoot me because I am a priest. I am innocent. Long live the faith in Christ. Long live Albania.

Above:  Blessed Marin Shkurti

Image in the Public Domain

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BLESSED MARIN SHKURTI (OCTOBER 1, 1933-APRIL 1, 1969)

Albanian Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1969

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–Blessed Marin Shkurti, April 1, 1969

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Albania, for most of the Cold War, was a Communist state that remained apart from the Soviet Bloc.  The Soviet Union and its satellites were hardly paradise, but Albania was worse.  Persecution of religion was a long-standing policy, but, starting in 1967, the country was officially atheistic.  The government closed all houses of worship and imposed a decade-long sentence for preaching.

Blessed Marin Shkurti, born in Samrish, Shkodrë, Albania, on October 1, 1933, became a priest and celebrated his first Mass on December 8, 1961.  He ministered openly until 1967.  Then he became an underground priest.  In 1968 he fled to Yugoslavia, but authorities extradited him.  The following year, courts convicted many of his relatives and sentenced them to either hard labor or long prison terms.  Our saint, convicted to treason, received the crown of martyrdom on April 1, 1969.  He was 37 years old.

Pope Francis declared Shkurti a Venerable then beatified him in 2016.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 25, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT WILLIAM OF VERCELLI, ROMAN CATHOLIC HERMIT; AND SAINT JOHN OF MATERA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT

THE FEAST OF SAINT DOMINGO HENARES DE ZAFIRA CUBERO, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF PHUNHAY, VIETNAM, AND MARTYR; SAINT PHANXICÔ DO VAN CHIEU, VIETNAMESE ROMAN CATHOLIC CATECHIST AND MARTYR; AND SAINT CLEMENTE IGNACIO DELGADO CEBRIÁN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP AND MARTYR IN VIETNAM

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Almighty and everlasting God, who kindled the flame of your love

in the heart of your holy martyr Blessed Marin Shkurti:

Grant to us, your humble servants, a like faith and power of love,

that we who rejoice in his triumph may profit by his example;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with

you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Jeremiah 15:15-21

Psalm 124 or 31:1-5

1 Peter 4:12-19

Mark 8:34-38

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 715

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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:  The Grave of Father Walter Ciszek, S.J.

Image in the Public Domain

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WALTER JOSEPH CISZEK (NOVEMBER 4, 1904-DECEMBER 8, 1984)

Roman Catholic Missionary Priest and Political Prisoner

Father Walter Ciszek suffered for Christ and glorified God in dire circumstances.

The son of Polish immigrants entered the world at Shenandoah, Pennsylvania.  At a young age he belonged to a gang, but he changed his ways and resolved to become a priest instead.  Ciszek, who became a Jesuit novice in 1928, planned as early as 1929 to become a missionary to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.  He began to study theology and the Russian language at the Pontifical Russian College, Rome, in 1934.  Three years later our saint became a Byzantine Rite priest.  The Church sent him to the Jesuit mission at Alberty, in eastern Poland, in 1938.

Ciszek, a citizen of the United States, did not return to his homeland until 1963.  The beginning of World War II in Europe forced the closing of the Jesuit mission at Alberty.  Our saint, a clandestine missionary in the Soviet Union, was in custody from 1941 to 1963.  He spent five years at the notorious Lubyanka prison, Moscow.  For most of that time our saint was in solitary confinement.  In 1942, under pressure due to torture, Ciszek signed a false confession and received a sentence of 15 years of hard labor.  From 1946 to 1963 our saint suffered in the gulag in Siberia, performing slave labor (frequently in mines) and menial tasks.  Until 1955, when authorities permitted him to write letters to his family, Ciszek’s relatives and the Society of Jesus had presumed him to be have been dead for years.  From 1955 to 1963 the KGB forced him to move periodically, usually after he had become “too popular” and founded a church.  Through all of the suffering and indignities Ciszek relied on divine providence and maintained his dignity.

On October 12, 1963, the Soviet Union traded Ciszek and Marvin W. Markinen (an American student convicted of being a spy) for two Soviet agents.  Back in the United States our saint wrote two memoirs, lectured at Fordham University, and worked as a counselor and a spiritual advisor.  He died, aged 80 years, on December 8, 1984.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 23, 2016 COMMON ERA

PROPER 25:  THE TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF SAINT JAMES OF JERUSALEM, BROTHER OF JESUS

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Almighty God, whose will it is to be glorified in your saints,

and who raised up your servant Walter Ciszek to be a light to the world:

Shine, we pray, in our hearts, that we also in our generation may show forth your praise,

who called us out of darkness into your marvelous light;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you

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

Isaiah 49:1-6

Psalm 98 or 98:1-4

Acts 17:22-31

Matthew 28:16-20

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 717

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Above:  Akershus Castle and Fortress, Oslo, Norway

Image in the Public Domain

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ERIK CHRISTIAN HOFF (JANUARY 21, 1832-DECEMBER 8, 1894)

Norwegian Lutheran Composer and Organist

The name of Erik Christian Hoff came to my attention when I read about the life of his contemporary, Ludwig Mathias Lindeman (1812-1887), with whom he competed in the 1870s.  The new official hymnal was the Kirkesalmebog (1869) of Magnus Brostrup Landstad (1802-1880).  That hymnbook contained words yet not music, as was the custom at the time.  Hoff had prepared the Melodibog til samtlige authorisered Salmeboger, containing 265 tunes, including many Danish and Swedish tunes plus 61 tunes of his composition, for consideration as the official musical companion to the hymnal.  However, Lindeman’s Koralbog, indeholdende de i Landstads Salmebog forekommende Melodier (1871) became the authorized chorale book in 1877.  Lindeman’s innovation was to change how Norwegians sang, replacing uniform rhythms and slow tempo with dotted rhythms, faster tempos, and rests (not the usual fermatas) at the ends of phrases.  Hoff’s proposed chorale book, which he published privately in 1878, was more traditional.

Hoff, son of a smith of Bergen, Norway, entered the world on January 21, 1832.  He attended school at Stord, received his introduction to music there, and graduated at the top of his class.  For a time our saint taught music at Bergen, where he became the lead singer at the Korskirken (Church of the Cross).  Next Hoff studied organ and music theory at the Vogel conservatory, from which he graduated with honors.  From 1860 to 1862 he taught at Halmestrand.  Then Hoff moved to Christiania (now Olso), the capital city of Norway, which was then part of Sweden.

Hoff worked in Christiania for the rest of his life.  From 1862 to 1864 he conducted choirs and taught music; he taught until 1870.  From 1864 to 1894 he served as the organist at the Garnisonskirken, the garrison church at Akershus Castle and Fortress.  Among his most ardent admirers was King Oscar II (reigned 1872-1905), who visited frequently to hear him play.  Hoff, who ceased teaching so he could devote more time to choral music, composed works for the organ, songs for male chorus, and songs for children.

Hoff died on December 8, 1894.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 20, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAMUEL HANSON COX, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND ABOLITIONIST; AND HIS SON, ARTHUR CLEVELAND COXE, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF WESTERN NEW YORK, HYMN WRITER, AND TRANSLATOR OF HYMNS

THE FEAST OF SAINT ANSEGISUS OF FONTANELLE, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT

THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH CADY STANTON, AMELIA BLOOMER, SOJOURNER TRUTH, AND HARRIET ROSS TUBMAN, WITNESSES TO CIVIL RIGHTS FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS AND WOMEN

THE FEAST OF SAINTS FLAVIAN II OF ANTIOCH AND ELIAS OF JERUSALEM, ROMAN CATHOLIC PATRIARCHS

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Eternal God, light of the world and Creator of all that is good and lovely:

We bless your name for inspiring Erik Christian Hoff

and all those who with music have filled us with desire and love for you;

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

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

1 Chronicles 29:14b-19

Psalm 90:14-17

2 Corinthians 3:1-3

John 21:15-17, 24-25

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 728

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Above:  Gaul in 628 

SAINT AMATUS OF LUXEUIL (DIED 630)

Also known as Saint Ame

Roman Catholic Monk and Abbot

His feast transferred from September 13

converted

SAINT ROMARIC OF LUXEUIL (DIED 653)

Roman Catholic Monk and Abbot

One of the joys of preparing these posts about lives of saints is discovering for myself the links between and among saints.  Today, with this post, I add two saints to my Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days.  These stories converge with the lives of at least four saints of whom I have written already.  Such overlapping holiness gladdens my heart.

This saga of sanctity begins with St. Amatus (died 630).  The monk from Grenoble had grown up in a monastery.  And, in 614, at the urging of St. Eustace of Luxeuil, abbot from 611, he became a monk there.  A few years later, St. Amatus converted St. Romaric (died 653), then a nobleman serving in the court of Lothair II (reigned 584-629), King of Neustria from 584 and King of all Franks from 613.  St. Romaric also became a monk at Luxeuil.  At that monastery both saintly monks were subject to the positive influence of St. Columban/Columbanus, the great evangelist and founder of monasteries.

In 620 Sts. Amatus and Romaric, with the approval of St. Eustace, founded the double monastery of Remiremont Abbey on St. Romaric’s estate at Habendum.  St. Amatus served as the first abbot; St. Romaric succeeded him in 623 and ruled for the next thirty years.  Among the monks there were St. Arnulf of Metz, a nobleman and a bishop, and St. Germanus of Granfel (see the hyperlink for St. Arnulf), later an abbot.

Accounts of St. Romaric’s life as abbot include stories of him becoming involved in Merovingian dynastic politics, which were frequently dangerous, for certain Merovingian monarchs were violent toward their own family members.  The particulars of St. Romaric’s political entanglements are irrelevant and would distract me from my focus, but I do note that he strove for a better society–surely a good cause.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 16, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARGARET OF SCOTLAND, QUEEN

THE FEAST OF SAINT GIUSEPPE MOSCATI, PHYSICIAN

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O God, by whose grace your servants Saint Amatus of Luxeuil and Saint Romaric of Luxeuil,

kindled with the flame of your love, became burning and shining lights in your Church:

Grant that we may also be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and walk before you as children of light,

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Acts 2:42-47a

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

2 Corinthians 6:1-10

Matthew 6:24-33

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

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.