seeks only self-enjoyment

Above:  Pomona Fellowship Church of the Brethren, Pomona, California

Image Source = Google Earth

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VERNARD MARION ELLER (JULY 11, 1927-JUNE 18, 2007)

U.S. Church of the Brethren Minister and Theologian

Vernard Eller comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, because (1) he was a Christian, (2) he has died, and (3) I like him.  I add an objectively correct note in two parts.  Eller was an Anabaptist who, by definition, recognized two ordinances, not sacraments.  I am an Episcopalian (to be precise, an Anglican-Lutheran-Catholic) who acknowledges seven sacraments.  Unlike many Roman Catholics, I affirm Transubstantiation.  O reader, know that I have some major theological disagreements with Eller.  Many of them pertain to baptism and the Eucharist.

For those interested in reading much or a little of Eller’s writings, I include this link.

Eller, born in Everest, Washington, on July 11, 1927, became an author of profound theological works that were also accessible and rooted in the Gospel.  He wrote more than 20 books, all but one published from from between 1967 and 2003.  The Illustrators of The Mad Morality:  or, the Ten Commandments Revisited (1970) worked for Mad magazine.  The Sex Manual for Puritans (1971) came in a plain brown wrapper.  His End Up:  Getting God into the New Theology (1969) made a lasting impression on me because of both its content and literary style.  Eller’s assertion in The Beloved Disciple:  His Name, His Story, His Thought:  Two Studies from the Gospel of John (1987) that the Beloved Disciple was St. Lazarus of Bethany, not St. John the Evangelist, has arched many eyebrows and made me want to read that book.  Eller completed yet could never find a publisher for Could the Church Have It All Wrong?, about sacramentalism, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper.  That text is available here.

Our saint grew up in the Church of the Brethren, an Anabaptist denomination and one of the Historic Peace Churches.  (Other Historic Peace Churches include varieties of Quakers, as well as other Anabaptists, mainly the Mennonites and their more conservative offshoots, the Amish.)  Eller remained within the Church of the Brethren all his life.  Our saint, a son of Jay and Geraldine Eller, graduated from La Verne College, La Verne, California, in 1949.  Then he earned his B.D.  from Bethany Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois; and his Ph.D. from the Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, California.  Eller married Phyllis Kulp on July 9, 1955.  They raised three children.  That marriage lasted for more than half a century.  Eller, based in Elgin, Illinois, served as the editor of youth publications for the Church of the Brethren from 1955 to 1958.  Then he was Professor of Religion at La Verne College (renamed the University of La Verne) from 1958 to 1992.  He was also a free minister attached to Fellowship Church of the Brethren, La Verne.  After that congregation merged with Pomona Church of the Brethren, in nearby Pomona, to become Pomona Fellowship Church of the Brethren, Eller became attached to that congregation.

Above:  La Verne and Pomona, California, Near Los Angeles

Image Source = Google Earth

Our saint, an expert on Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), also served on the denominational General Board and on the Board of Bethany Theological Seminary.

Topics of Eller’s books and articles included worship, morality, war and peace, ordinances, Christian anarchy, simple living, language, the Book of Revelation, church history, and ethics.  In an article about traditional worship and contemporary worship, our saint favored the former.  Contemporary worship, Eller wrote,

and

the riotous noise of the world,

but traditional worship seeks

quiet contemplation.

Our saint also had no use for nationalism in religion.  Jesus, he insisted, had primacy over powers.

Eller, unfortunately, suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease during his final years.  He, aged 79 years, died in Ontario, California, on June 18, 2007.

His wit, faith, and scholarship can still inspire, however.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 12, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT GERMANUS I OF CONSTANTINOPLE, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE, AND DEFENDER OF ICONS

THE FEAST OF SAINT GREGORY OF OSTIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT, CARDINAL, AND LEGATE; AND SAINT DOMINIC OF THE CAUSEWAY, ROMAN CATHOLIC HERMIT

THE FEAST OF PAUL MAZAKUTE, FIRST SIOUX EPISCOPAL PRIEST

THE FEAST OF ROGER SCHÜTZ, FOUNDER OF THE TAIZÉ COMMUNITY

THE FEAST OF SYLVESTER II, BISHOP OF ROME

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Almighty God, your Holy Spirit gives to one the word of wisdom,

and to another the word of knowledge,

and to another the word of truth.

We praise you for the gifts of grace imparted to your servant Vernard Eller,

and we pray that by his teaching we may be led to a fuller knowledge

of the truth which we have seen in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

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

Psalm 119:89-104

1 Corinthians 2:6-10, 13-16 or 1 Corinthians 3:5-11

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

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

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Above:  Map of Southern Africa, 1894

Image in the Public Domain

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BERNARD MIZEKI (1861-JUNE 18, 1896)

Anglican Catechist and Martyr in Southern Rhodesia, 1896

First Anglican Martyr in Africa

Also known as Bernard Mzeki

Born as Mamiyeri Mitseka Gwambe

June 18 is the feast day of Bernard Mizeki in The Church of England, The Episcopal Church, The Anglican Church of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.  I document the English and Episcopal feast days via books, official publications.  I document the Canadian and Southern African feast days via PDFs of official documents.  I can prove that Mizeki has been a saint in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa at least since The Book of Common Prayer (1954).

My attempts to locate the calendar of saints of the Church of the Province of Central Africa have proven fruitless.  For Mizeki to be a saint in that province would make sense, given that Zimbabwe, where he died, falls within the boundaries of it.

Mizeki, born in Inhambane, Portuguese East Africa (now Mozambique), in 1861, became a Christian in his mid-twenties.  Mamiyeri Mitseka Gwambe, a migrant worker in Cape Town, Cape Colony (now South Africa), was serious-minded.  He lived in a slum and witnessed the ravages of alcoholism around him.  He chose to abstain.  Our saint also attended night classes at an Anglican school.  Baroness Paula Dorothea von Blomberg, a German missionary, helped to convert Mizeki.  So did members of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, also known as the Cowley Fathers.  Mizeki accepted baptism at St. Philip’s Mission, Cape Town, on March 7, 1886.  He mastered at least eleven languages, at least eight of them African.  Our saint also started a new job at St. Columba’s Hostel as he prepared to become a catechist.

In January 1891, George Wyndham Hamilton (G. W. H.) Knight-Bruce, the newly-installed and first Bishop of Mashonaland, started evangelistic work among the Shona people in Southern Zambezia.  (As men redrew lines on maps, Mashonaland wound up in Southern Rhodesia then in Rhodesia, known as Zimbabwe since 1980.)  Mizeki, a catechist, accompanied the bishop.  Our saint settled in Mangwende Mungati, in the Marondera district, in 1891.  He worked among the Nhowe people, a subset of the Shona people.  There he lived, with the local chief’s permission, in a sacred grove most local people believed the spirits of ancestors occupied.  A community grew up around our saint.  Mizeki angered some people whenever he cut down a tree or carved a cross into a living tree.  He also married Mutwa (Lily), a Christian convert, in March 1896.

That marriage was brief.  Many missionaries were imperial agents, objectively.  Mizeki, however, was not.  Many hostile locals perceived him as an imperial agent though.  Mizeki knew that his life was in danger.  He also knew that he had an obligation to those who lived nearest to him.  He remained, therefore.  Our saint died violently on the night of June 18, 1896.

The blood of this martyr watered the church in central and southern Africa.  Furthermore, the site of the Mizeki shrine has become a destination for many pilgrims.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 9, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT STEFAN GRELEWSKI AND HIS BROTHER, SAINT KAZIMIERZ GRELEWSKI, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND MARTYRS, 1941 AND 1942

THE FEAST OF DIETRICH BUXTEHUDE, LUTHERAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF DOROTHY DAY AND PETER MAURIN, COFOUNDERS OF THE CATHOLIC WORKER MOVEMENT

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIA DEL CARMEN RENDILES MARTINEZ, FOUNDRESS OF THE SERVANTS OF JESUS OF CARACAS

THE FEAST OF THOMAS TOKE LYNCH, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

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

in the heart of your holy martyr Bernard Mizeki:

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.

Nehemiah 6:6-11

Psalm 124

Revelation 7:13-17

Luke 12:2-12

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 433

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Almighty God, your servant Bernard Mizeki gladly brought

the word of salvation to a people that did not know him

and in obedience to Christ surrendered his life

for the sake of those committed to his care.

Grant that, after his blessed example, your Church may ever seek

to impart that power of love and forgiveness,

once and for all made perfect in the passion of your Son Jesus Christ;

who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Baruch 4:21-24

Psalm 116:1-8

Luke 12:4-12

–The Anglican Church of Canada

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Above:  Terebinth Trees (Such as Those at Mamre)

The Juxtaposition of Mercy and Judgment

The Sunday Closest to June 15

The Third Sunday after Pentecost

JUNE 18, 2023

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FIRST READING AND PSALM:  OPTION #1

Genesis 18:1-15, (21:1-7) (New Revised Standard Version):

The LORD appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day.  He looked up and saw three men standing near him.  When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground.  He said,

My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant.  Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.  Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on–since you have come to your servant.

So they said,

Do as you have said.

And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said,

Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.

Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it.  Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

They said to him,

Where is your wife Sarah?

And he said,

There, in the tent.

Then one said,

I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah will have a son.

And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him.  Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.  So Sarah laughed to herself, saying,

After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?

The LORD said to Abraham,

Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I have indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the LORD?  At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.

But Sarah denied, saying,

I did not laugh;

for she was afraid.  He said,

Oh yes, you did laugh.

…

The LORD dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as he had promised.  Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him.  Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him.  And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.  Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.  Now Sarah said,

God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.

And she said,

Who would ever said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children?  Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.

Psalm 116:1, 10-17 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1 I love the LORD, because he has heard the voice of my supplication,

because he has inclined his ear to me whenever I call upon him.

10 How shall I repay the LORD

for all the good things he has done for me?

11 I will lift up the cup of salvation

and call upon the Name of the LORD.

12 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD

in the presence of all his people.

13 Precious in the sight of the LORD

is the death of his servants.

14 O LORD, I am your servant,

I am your servant and the child of your handmaid;

you have freed me from my bonds.

15 I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving

and call upon the Name of the LORD.

16 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD

in the presence of all his people,

17 In the courts of the LORD’s house,

in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.

Hallelujah!

FIRST READING AND PSALM:  OPTION #2

Exodus 19:2-8a (New Revised Standard Version):

They had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain.  Then Moses went up to God; the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying,

Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites:  You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.  Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples.  Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.  These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.

So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him.  The people all answered,

Everything that the LORD has spoken we will do.

Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.  Then the LORD said to Moses,

I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you and so trust you ever after.

Psalm 100 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1 Be joyful in the LORD, all you lands;

serve the LORD with gladness

and come before his presence with a song.

2 Know this:  The LORD himself is God;

he himself has made us, and we are his;

we are the sheep of his pasture.

3 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;

go into his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and call upon his name.

4 For the LORD is good;

his mercy is everlasting;

and his faithfulness endures from age to age.

SECOND READING

Romans 5:1-8 (New Revised Standard Version):

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.  And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die.  But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

GOSPEL READING

Matthew 9:35-10:8 (9-23) (New Revised Standard Version):

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples,

The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.  These are names of the twelve apostles:  first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions:

Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the Gentiles, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.   As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of God has come near.”  Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.  You received without payment, give without payment. (Take no gold, or silver, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food.  Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave.  As you enter the house, greet it.  If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.  If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.  Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.  Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles.  When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who will speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.  Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name.  But the one who endures to the end will be saved.  When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.)

The Collect:

Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

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Nothing is too wonderful or difficult for God, who is faithful to promises, even though we are not always mindful of ours or or God.  Therein lies the juxtaposition of mercy and judgment.  This is my theme for this devotional writing.

Let us begin with the reading from Genesis.  Abraham welcomes three visitors and extends to them full hospitality, according to his culture.  The patriarch does not know that one of them is YHWH, who has come to make a shocking announcement.  Sarah is post-menepausal, or as the formal euphemism states, “it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.”  Yet she will have a son, which is what she and her husband have wanted for years and thought impossible by now.  She laughs incredulously and silently to herself when she overhears the prophesy, but laughs with delight when she sees her newborn son.  She names him Yitzhak, or Isaac in English.  This names means, “He will laugh.”  And now others will laugh with Sarah.

Sometimes laughter of joy is appropriate after considering what God has done.  In the case of Sarah, God was merciful, and the laughter constituted high praise.  And although God refused to accept Sarah’s denial that she had laughed, God did not seem to hold either the initial laugh or her lie against her.  Really, who could blame Sarah?  Had anyone ever heard of such a thing as a woman of her years giving birth?

God was faithful in Genesis 18 and 21.  And, in Exodus 19, God (via Moses) challenged the Israelites to obey divine commandments.  They said they would, but their subsequent actions belied their words.  God did not destroy them (That was merciful.), but God did not permit them to enter Canaan.  (That was judgment.)  The next generation entered the Promised Land.  Read the accounts of the wanderings in the wilderness, if you have not done so already.  And if you have, you might want to read them again.  It is no wonder that Moses and God became angry with such behaviors as many Israelites exhibited.

Jesus and Paul remind us of suffering for the sake of righteousness.  The manners of their deaths give their words credibility:  The Roman Empire beheaded Paul and crucified Jesus.  And almost all of the twelve Apostles died as martyrs.  The incarnation of Jesus was itself an indication of great mercy, the message of which Paul took to the Gentile world.  Empires have executed messengers of the Kingdom of God, which had “come near” with Jesus, but the work of God is unstoppable.  Those who persecute such messengers will face judgment, but the faithful–those who endure–will live with God, regardless of what anyone does to their bodies.

I grew up in a Christian home.  This fact contributes greatly to the fact that I remain a Christian.  But other factors have contributed to this choice.  Among these factors is the person of Jesus of Nazareth.  Read ancient comparative religion; few claims are original to Christianity.  Older religions featured a Son of God who died for the sins of the world, for example.  But these alleged Sons of God never walked the face of the earth; they were figments of imaginations.  Jesus was real, however.  He was, as I say, the genuine article.

God has come near.  The Kingdom of God has come near.  We have seen it in human flesh, in the form of Jesus.  And, in his own way, Abraham had an incarnational experience.  God seems to like us, sometimes despite ourselves.   Divine mercy does not preclude us suffering consequences of our actions, however.  But judgment does not necessarily connote divine hostility, for discipline is part of love.

Not only does God seem to like us, God loves us.  Should we not love God back?  Should we not laugh in delight for God has done, is doing, and will do out of love for us?

KRT

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2010/11/30/proper-6-year-a/

Above:  Augustus Nelson

Image Source = The Escanaba Daily Press, Escanaba, Michigan, June 27, 1924, Page 4

Accessed via newspapers.com

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AUGUSTUS NELSON (SEPTEMBER 20, 1863-JUNE 18, 1949)

Swedish-American Lutheran Minister and Hymn Translator

The name of Augustus Nelson came to my attention as I added English-language translations of Swedish hymns to my GATHERED PRAYERS weblog.  I made a note to myself to learn more about him as part of the process of considering him for addition to my Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days.  A meme I saw on Facebook recently depicted an iceberg, most of which was underwater.  The portion of the iceberg above water represented canonized saints, and the majority of the iceberg represented all the other saints.  Nelson has come to my Ecumenical Calendar from the portion of the iceberg that is underwater.

Nelson, born in Sweden on September 20, 1863, emigrated to the United States of America in 1883.  Here he made great contributions to communities, congregations, and the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America (1860-1894)/Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America (1894-1948)/Augustana Lutheran Church (1948-1962).  Upon his arrival in the U.S.A. Nelson worked as a farm laborer.  He graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota, in 1890.  Next our saint continued his studies at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, and at Augustana Theological Seminary, Rock Island, Illinois.  Nelson, ordained in 1898, married his love, Emma, who had studied music at Gustavus Adolphus College, on September 7, 1898.  She was 13 years his junior.  The couple had four children, all of whom became educators:

1. Anna Regina E. Nelson (Quist) (1899-1981);
2. Ruth G. E. Nelson (Johnson) (1900-1992), who was also a missionary in Tanganyika (now Tanzania);
3. Carl E. A. Nelson (1902-1978?); and
4. Esther E. Nelson (Carlson) (1915-1990).

Emma died at Mankato, Minnesota, on March 25, 1957, aged 77 years.  She had survived her husband by about eight years.  Her four children, nine grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren survived her.

Our saint served at various congregations, mostly in the Midwest.  First was Bethany Lutheran Church,  at Escanaba, Michigan, from 1898 to 1902.  During the next several years the Nelsons were in Waukegan, Illinois, then New Haven, Connecticut.  From 1906 to August 1909 Nelson was minister at Trade Lake, Wisconsin.  A 15-year-long tenure at Zion Lutheran Church, Manistique, Michigan, and its mission at Thompson, also on the Upper Peninsula, followed.  Then, from 1924 to 1938, our saint ministered at Clear Lake, Minnesota, and its mission at Gibbon.  He retired to Minneapolis in 1938 and eventually moved to Mankato, where he died, aged 85 years, on June 18, 1949.

Nelson also served beyond the congregational level.  From 1904 to 1906 he sat on the board of the Augustana Synod’s Upsala College, East Orange, New Jersey.  Our saint also served on the denominational Board of Education from 1922 to 1924.  Furthermore, he was the secretary of the Augustana Synod’s Superior Conference for nine years which included 1922-1925.

Nelson translated hymns, mostly from Swedish but also from Latin.  I have added four of these to my GATHERED PRAYERS weblog.  A fifth text was a translation from the writings of St. Venantius Honorius Clementius Fortunatus (circa 530-600/609):

Praise the Saviour

Now and ever!

Praise Him all beneath the skies!

Prostrate lying,

Suffering, dying

On the cross, a Sacrifice;

Victory gaining,

Life obtaining,

Now in glory He doth rise.

+++++

Man’s work faileth,

Christ’s availeth,

He is all our Righteousness.

He our Saviour

Hath forever

Set us free from dire distress

We inherit

Through his merit

Light and peace and happiness.

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Sin’s bonds severed,

We’re delivered,

Christ hath bruised the serpent’s head;

Death no longer

Is the stronger,

Hell itself is captive led.

Christ hath risen

From death’s prison,

O’er the tomb He light hath shed.

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For His favor

Praise forever

Unto God the Father sing;

Praise the Saviour,

Praise Him ever,

Son of God, our Lord and King;

Praise the Spirit,

Through Christ’s merit.

He doth us salvation bring.

Nelson’s legacy of hymnody does survive, albeit less robustly than it did in hymnals published prior to 1990.  My survey of denominational hymnals published since 1990 indicates that each of the following volumes contains one translation by our saint:

1. Trinity Hymnal–Revised Edition (Orthodox Presbyterian Church and Presbyterian Church in America, 1990),
2. Ambassador Hymnal for Lutheran Worship (The Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, 1994),
3. Trinity Hymnal–Baptist Edition (Reformed Baptist, 1995),
4. The Covenant Hymnal:  A Worshipbook (The Evangelical Covenant Church of America, 1996), and
5. Glory to God:  The Presbyterian Hymnal (Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 2013).

One can, however, find other and more translations by Nelson in older hymnals (especially those of Lutheran denominations in North America) and at hymn websites.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 5, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE SAINT OF SAINT AVITUS OF VIENNE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF EDWARD HAYES PLUMPTRE, ANGLICAN PRIEST

THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF JAPAN

THE FEAST OF SAINTS PHILEAS AND PHILOROMUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS

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Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

Augustus Nelson and others, who have translated hymn texts.

May we, as you guide us,

find worthy hymn texts to be icons,

through which we see you.

In the Name of God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 44:1-3a, 5-15

Psalm 147

Revelation 5:11-14

Luke 2:8-20

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 20, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS AMATOR OF AUXERRE AND GERMANUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS; SAINT MAMERTINUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AND SAINT MARCIAN OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

THE FEAST OF JOHANNES BUGENHAGEN, GERMAN LUTHERAN PASTOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARCELLINUS OF EMBRUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF OLAVUS AND LAURENTIUS PETRI, RENEWERS OF THE CHURCH

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Above:  An Advertisement from the Pittsburgh Daily Post, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, May 24, 1848, Page 4

Accessed via newspapers.com

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WILLIAM BINGHAM TAPPAN (OCTOBER 24 OR 29, 1794-JUNE 18, 1849)

U.S. Congregationalist Minister, Poet, and Hymn Writer

William Bingham Tappan comes to my Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days via The Pilgrim Hymnal (1931/1935).

Our saint came from a Congregationalist family of New England.  He had a younger brother, Daniel Dana Tappan (1798-1890), who became a prominent Congregationalist minister.  Daniel, like his older brother, wrote poetry, such as “The Prince of Peace” (1889).  The brothers’ parents were Samuel Tappan (a schoolmaster) and Aurelia Bingham Tappan, who married on April 26, 1789, at Beverly, Massachusetts.  Our saint, christened on November 9, 1794, at Beverly, grew up with both parents until April 29, 1806, when his father died.  Our saint was 12 years old and in the sixth grade at Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  That event changed Tappan’s life.  Out of necessity he dropped out of school, moved to Boston, Massachusetts, and apprenticed himself to a clock maker.  There he remained for nine years, until 1815.  In Boston Tappan, in the words of The Handbook to The Lutheran Hymnal (1942), “fell in with evil companions” (page 587).  Aurelia prayed for him and helped to rescue him from a life defined by bad choices.

Tappan, as an adult on the straight and narrow path, lived in various places.  He worked in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1815 to 1818.  Then he studied in Somerville, New Jersey, for a time.  Next, from 1819 to 1826, he taught in Philadelphia.  On August 31, 1822, our saint married Amelia Colton (1796-1886).  In 1826, at Philadelphia, he became superintendent of the American Sunday School Union, founded two years earlier.  Tappan worked for that organization for the rest of his life, traveling extensively to speak on behalf of the religious education of children and youth.  He relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1829, moved back to Philadelphia in 1834, and settled in Boston in 1838.  Tappan became a Congregationalist minister in 1841.

The Second Great Awakening had stimulated the growth of Sunday schools, some of which overshadowed worship services in certain locations.  There was a need for educational materials suitable for this movement.  Although the American Sunday School Union was an ecumenical organization, its theological orientation was heavily Reformed.  In fact, state branches in New England functioned as branches of the Congregationalist Church.

Tappan wrote poems and published collections of them.  They were:

1. New England, and Other Poems (1819),
2. Lyrics (1822),
3. Poems (1822),
4. Lyric Poems (1826),
5. The Poems of William B. Tappan (1834),
6. The Poems of William B. Tappan, Not Contained in a Former Volume (1836),
7. The Poet’s Tribute:  Poems of William B. Tappan (1840),
8. Poems and Lyricks (1842),
9. The Daughter of the Isles, and Other Poems (1844),
10. Poetry of the Heart (1845),
11. The Sunday School, and Other Poems (1848),
12. Sacred and Early Poems (1848), and
13. Late and Early Poems (1849).

Later volumes of Tappan’s verse included the following:

1. Poetry of Life (1850), and
2. Gems of Sacred Poetry (1860).

Tappan’s work appeared in various collections, including volumes of hymns with temperance and antislavery themes.  Some of his poems also graced Lyra Americana, or, Verses of Praise and Faith from American Poets (1865), selected and edited by the Rev. George T. Rider, M.A.

Most of Tappan’s hymns have fallen into disuse since the 1800s.  This is unfortunate, for the quality of his texts far exceeds that of most contemporary contributions to hymnals.  One text from 1818 follows:

There is an hour of peaceful rest;

To mourning wanderers given;

There is a joy for souls distrest;

A balm for every wounded breast:

‘Tis found above–in heaven.

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There is a soft, a downy bed,

‘Tis fair as breath of even;

A couch for weary mortals spread

Where they may rest the aching head

And find repose–in heaven.

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There is a home for weary souls,

By sin and sorrow driven,–

When tossed on life’s tempestuous shoals,

Where storms arise and ocean rolls,

And all is drear–but heaven.

+++++

There faith lifts up her cheerful eye,

To brighter prospects given;

And views the tempest passing by,

The evening shadows quickly fly,

And all serene–in heaven.

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There fragrant flowers immortal bloom,

And joys supreme are given;

There rays divine disperse the gloom;

Beyond the confines of the tomb

Appears the dawn of heaven.

The following text dates to 1822:

‘Tis midnight; and on Olive’s brow

The star is dimm’d that lately shone:

‘Tis midnight; in the garden now

The suff’ring Saviour prays alone.

+++++

‘Tis midnight; and, from all removed,

Emmanuel wrestles lone with fears:

E’en the disciple that he loved

Heeds not his Master’s grief and tears.

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‘Tis midnight; and, for others’ guilt,

The Man of Sorrows weeps in blood:

Yet he that hath in anguish knelt

Is not forsaken by his God.

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‘Tis midnight; from the heav’nly plains

Is borne the song that angels know:

Unheard by mortals are the strains

That sweetly soothe the Saviour’s woe.

Tappan’s mother, Aurelia, died in 1846, aged 77 years.  He followed her in death on June 18, 1849, at West Needham, Massachusetts.  He was 54 years old, and the cause of death was cholera.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 5, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE SAINT OF SAINT AVITUS OF VIENNE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF EDWARD HAYES PLUMPTRE, ANGLICAN PRIEST

THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF JAPAN

THE FEAST OF SAINTS PHILEAS AND PHILOROMUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS

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Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

William Bingham Tappan and others, who have composed hymn texts.

May we, as you guide us,

find worthy hymn texts to be icons,

through which we see you.

In the Name of God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 44:1-3a, 5-15

Psalm 147

Revelation 5:11-14

Luke 2:8-20

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 20, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS AMATOR OF AUXERRE AND GERMANUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS; SAINT MAMERTINUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AND SAINT MARCIAN OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

THE FEAST OF JOHANNES BUGENHAGEN, GERMAN LUTHERAN PASTOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARCELLINUS OF EMBRUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF OLAVUS AND LAURENTIUS PETRI, RENEWERS OF THE CHURCH

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Above:  The Groves, Chester, England, Between 1890 and 1900

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-ppmsc-08174

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RICHARD MASSIE (JUNE 18, 1800-MARCH 11, 1887)

Hymn Translator

Richard Massie (1800-1887) was an independently wealthy man, an avid gardener, and a translator of hymns from the German language.  He was fortunate to have the opportunity to pursue his avocations, which were positive.  He was also the first of twenty-two children of the Reverend Richard Massie and Hester Massie.  Our saint grew up in the rectory of St. Bride’s Parish, Chester, England.  On January 7, 1834, he married Mary Ann Hughes of Chester.  Their marriage ended seven years later, when she died.

Massie’s first interest was gardening.  He was unusual among English gardeners of the time in that he had a rock garden.  Our saint’s other great hobby was translating German-language hymns.  He contributed translations to publications, such as the Reverend William Reid’s British Herald (1864-1875) and to hymnals, such as William Mercer’s Church Psalter and Hymn Book (1862 and 1864).  Our saint also published books, such as Martin Luther’s Spiritual Songs (1854) and the two volumes (1860 and 1864) of Lyra Domestica.

My research has indicated that Massie’s texts, to the extent that they appeared in twentieth-century hymnals, did so in altered forms.  Regardless of the reasons for altering the original translations and what one thinks of the changes themselves, the best way to read the original translations is from Massie’s books and the publications to which he contributed texts.  One can also read a few of these texts at my GATHERED PRAYERS weblog.

Massie died at Cheshire, on one of his two estates, on March 11, 1887.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 15, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

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Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

Richard Massie and others, who have translated hymn texts.

May we, as you guide us,

find worthy hymn texts to be icons,

through which we see you.

In the Name of God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 44:1-3a, 5-15

Psalm 147

Revelation 5:11-14

Luke 2:8-20

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 20, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS AMATOR OF AUXERRE AND GERMANUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS; SAINT MAMERTINUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AND SAINT MARCIAN OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

THE FEAST OF JOHANNES BUGENHAGEN, GERMAN LUTHERAN PASTOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARCELLINUS OF EMBRUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF OLAVUS AND LAURENTIUS PETRI, RENEWERS OF THE CHURCH

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Above:  Luther Rose

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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JOHANN FRANCK (JUNE 1, 1618-JUNE 18, 1677)

German Lutheran Hymn Writer

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HEINRICH HELD (JULY 21, 1620-AUGUST 16, 1659)

German Lutheran Hymn Writer

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SIMON DACH (JULY 29, 1605-APRIL 15, 1659)

German Lutheran Hymn Writer

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In this post I return to one of  my favorite themes–people influencing each other positively.

Johann Franck (1618-1677) became one of the greatest hymn writers of this time.  His work marked the transition from objective hymns which reinforced doctrines to the dominance of subjective texts.  Franck’s emphasis was the union of a person’s soul with Jesus.  The collection of his hymns was Geitliches Sion (1674).

Franck entered the world at Guben, Brandenburg, on June 1, 1618.  His father, Johann Franck (Sr.), a councilor and an advocate there, died in 1620.  Our saints’s uncle, Adam Tielckau, the town’s judge, raised him.  Franck, educated at Guben, Cottbus, Stettin, and Thorn, entered law school at the University of Konigsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia), in 1638.  That institution of higher learning was a shelter from the ravages of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648).  While at the university our saint avoided certain destructive excesses with the help of Heinrich Held (1620-1659) and Simon Dach (1605-1659).

Heinrich Held, born at Guhrau, Silesia, on July 21, 1620, felt the affects of the Thirty Years’ War during his youth.  His family had to flee Guhrau for Fraustadt, Prussia (now Wschowa, Poland), to escape religious persecution.  From 1637 to 1640 he studied law at the University of Konigsberg.

Simon Dach, born at Memel, Prussia (now Klaipeda, Lithuania), grew up in a family of humble means, for his father, a court interpreter, earned a modest income.  Dach attended the cathedral school at Konigsberg then departed for Wittenberg to escape an outbreak of the plague.  Later he studied at Magdeburg yet left that city to flee from the plague and the Thirty Years’ War.  Thus he came to study philosophy and theology at the University of Konigsberg in 1626.  He remained in that city for the rest of his life.  Dach earned his degree then became a private tutor.  In 1633 he started teaching at the cathedral school; three years later he became the co-rector there.  In 1639 Dach became the Chair of Poetry at the University of Konigsberg, from which he received his doctorate the following year.  He led a prominent group of poets which published eight books of songs and poems from 1638 to 1650.  One member of this group was Johann Franck.

Franck returned to Guben and his mother in 1640; the town had suffered greatly during the Thirty Years’ War.  He remained at that town for the rest of this life.  There he started practicing law in 1645, becoming a respected attorney in time.  He became a burgess councilor in 1648, the mayor thirteen years later, and a deputy to the Landtag (parliament) of Lower Lusatia in 1671.  He died at Guben on June 18, 1677.

Held, Franck’s fellow law student at Konigsberg, went on to study at Frankfurt and Leyden before traveling in The Netherlands, England, and France.  In 1647 he was a practicing attorney at Rostock.  The Thirty Years’ War, however, forced him to leave for Altdamm, a suburb of Stettin, Prussia (now Szczecin, Poland).  He became the clerk of Altdamm in 1657; later he served as the town treasurer and a councilor.  In 1659, however, Held became ill during a siege.  (The Swedish and Prussian governments disagreed about who had jurisdiction in the area.)  Our saint found refuge and a place to die at Stettin.  He, one of the best Silesian hymn writers, wrote Deutschen Gedichte Vartrab (1643) and received much recognition for his literary ability during his lifetime.

A portion of a Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878) translation of one of Held’s Christmas texts follows:

Welcome, O my Savior, now!

Hail! My Portion, Lord, art Thou.

Here, too, in my heart, I pray,

Oh, prepare Thyself a way!

+++++

King of Glory, enter in;

Cleanse it from the filth of sin,

As Thou hast so often done;

It belongs to Thee alone.

+++++

As Thy coming was in peace,

Quiet, full of gentleness,

Let the same mind dwell in me

That was ever found in Thee.

—The Lutheran Hymnal (1941), hymn #91

Dach’s final eighteen years of life contained personal commitment and a prolific output of hymns.  He married Regina Pohl, daughter of the court attorney, in 1641.  The couple had seven children.  And, after the death of his friend Robert Rotherbin in 1648, Dach ceased to compose secular poems and wrote more than 150 hymns instead.  He died at Konigsberg on April 15, 1659.

War shaped the times of these three men’s lives.  That context was often evident in their hymn texts, such as the following stanza by Heinrich Held in 1658, according to the 1866 translation by Charles William Schaeffer (1813-1896):

Holy Spirit, strong and mighty,

Thou who makest all things new,

Make Thy work within me perfect,

Help me by Thy Word so true;

Arm me with that sword of Thine,

And the victory shall be mine.

—Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church (1917), hymn #149

Regardless of your context, O reader, may you find your source of faith to persevere and to glorify God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 10, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT THEODOSIUS THE CENOBRIARCH, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

THE FEAST OF CHARLES WILLIAM EVEREST, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN THE GOOD, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF MILAN

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM LAUD, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

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Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

Johann Franck, Heinrich Held, Simon Dach,

 and others, who have composed hymn texts.

May we, as you guide us,

find worthy hymn texts to be icons,

through which we see you.

In the Name of God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 44:1-3a, 5-15

Psalm 147

Revelation 5:11-14

Luke 2:8-20

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 20, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS AMATOR OF AUXERRE AND GERMANUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS; SAINT MAMERTINUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AND SAINT MARCIAN OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

THE FEAST OF JOHANNES BUGENHAGEN, GERMAN LUTHERAN PASTOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARCELLINUS OF EMBRUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF OLAVUS AND LAURENTIUS PETRI, RENEWERS OF THE CHURCH

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Honeysuckles

Image in the Public Domain

1 (Justin Martyr, Christian Apologist and Martyr, 166/167)

• David Abeel, U.S. Dutch Reformed Minister and Missionary to Asia
• Pamphilus of Caesarea, Bible Scholar and Translator; and His Companions, Martyrs, 309
• Samuel Stennett, English Seventh-Day Baptist Minister and Hymn Writer; and John Howard, English Humanitarian
• Simeon of Syracuse, Roman Catholic Monk
• William Robinson, Marmaduke Stephenson, and Mary Dyer, British Quaker Martyrs in Boston, Massachusetts, 1659 and 1660

2 (Blandina and Her Companions, the Martyrs of Lyons, 177)

• Anders Christensen Arrebo, “The Father of Danish Poetry”
• Christoph Homburg, German Lutheran Hymn Writer
• John Lancaster Spalding, Roman Catholic Bishop of Peoria then Titular Bishop of Seythopolis
• Margaret Elizabeth Sangster, Hymn Writer, Novelist, and Devotional Writer
• Stephen of Sweden, Roman Catholic Missionary, Bishop, and Martyr, Circa 1075

3 (John XXIII, Bishop of Rome)

• Christian Gottfried Geisler and Johann Christian Geisler, Silesian Moravian Organists and Composers; and Johannes Herbst, German-American Organist, Composer, and Bishop
• Frances Ridley Havergal, English Hymn Writer and Composer
• Ole T. (Sanden) Arneson, U.S. Norwegian Lutheran Hymn Translator
• Will Campbell, Agent of Reconciliation

4 (Stanislaw Kostka Starowieyski, Roman Catholic Martyr, 1941)

• Francis Caracciolo, Co-Founder of the Minor Clerks Regular
• Maurice Blondel, French Roman Catholic Philosopher and Forerunner of the Second Vatican Council
• Petroc, Welsh Prince, Abbot, and Missionary
• Thomas Raymond Kelly, U.S. Quaker Mystic and Professor of Philosophy

5 (Dorotheus of Tyre, Bishop of Tyre, and Martyr, Circa 362)

• Elias Benjamin Sanford, U.S. Methodist then Congregationalist Minister and Ecumenist
• Orlando Gibbons, Anglican Organist and Composer; the “English Palestrina”

6 (Franklin Clark Fry, President of The United Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church in America)

• Claude of Besançon, Roman Catholic Priest, Monk, Abbot, and Bishop

• Henry James Buckoll, Author and Translator of Hymns
• Ini Kopuria, Founder of the Melanesian Brotherhood
• Johann Friedrich Hertzog, German Lutheran Hymn Writer
• William Kethe, Presbyterian Hymn Writer

7 (Matthew Talbot, Recovering Alcoholic in Dublin, Ireland)

• Anthony Mary Gianelli, Founder of the Missionaries of Saint Alphonsus Liguori and the Sisters of Mary dell’Orto
• Frederick Lucian Hosmer, U.S. Unitarian Hymn Writer
• Hubert Lafayette Sone and his wife, Katie Helen Jackson Sone, U.S. Methodist Missionaries and Humanitarians in China, Singapore, and Malaysia
• Seattle, First Nations Chief, War Leader, and Diplomat

8 (Clara Luper, Witness for Civil Rights)

• Bliss Wiant, U.S. Methodist Minister, Missionary, Musician, Music Educator, and Hymn Translator, Arranger, and Harmonizer; and his wife, Mildred Artz Wiant, U.S. Methodist Missionary, Musician, Music Educator, and Hymn Translator
• Charles Augustus Briggs, U.S. Presbyterian Minister, Episcopal Priest, Biblical Scholar, and Alleged Heretic; and his daughter, Emilie Grace Briggs, Biblical Scholar and “Heretic’s Daughter”
• Gerard Manley Hopkins, English Roman Catholic Poet and Jesuit Priest
• Henry Downton, Anglican Priest, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator
• Roland Allen, Anglican Priest, Missionary, and Mission Strategist

9 (Columba of Iona, Celtic Missionary and Abbot)

• Giovanni Maria Boccardo, Founder of the Poor Sisters of Saint Cajetan/Gaetano; and his brother, Luigi Boccardo, Apostle of Merciful Love
• José de Anchieta, Apostle of Brazil and Father of Brazilian National Literature
• Thomas Joseph Potter, Roman Catholic Priest, Poet, and Hymn Writer
• Will Herzfeld, U.S. Lutheran Ecumenist, Presiding Bishop of the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, and Civil Rights Activist

10 (James of Nisibis, Bishop; and Ephrem of Edessa, “The Harp of the Holy Spirit”)

• Frank Laubach, U.S. Congregationalist Minister and Missionary
• Frederick C. Grant, Episcopal Priest and New Testament Scholar; and his son, Robert M. Grant, Episcopal Priest and Patristics Scholar
• Getulius, Amantius, Caeraelis, and Primitivus, Martyrs at Tivoli, 120; and Symphorosa of Tivoli, Martyr, 120
• Landericus of Paris, Roman Catholic Bishop
• Thor Martin Johnson, U.S. Moravian Conductor and Music Director

11 (BARNABAS THE APOSTLE, CO-WORKER OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE)

12 (Edwin Paxton Hood, English Congregationalist Minister, Philanthropist, and Hymn Writer)

• Christian David Jaeschke, German Moravian Organist and Composer; and his grandson, Henri Marc Hermann Voldemar Voullaire, Moravian Composer and Minister
• Enmegahbowh, Episcopal Priest and Missionary to the Ojibwa Nation
• Joseph Dacre Carlyle, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer
• Milton Smith Littlefield, Jr., U.S. Presbyterian and Congregationalist Minister, Hymn Writer, and Hymnal Editor
• William Cullen Bryant, U.S. Poet, Journalist, and Hymn Writer

13 (Spyridon of Cyprus, Bishop of Tremithus, Cyprus; and his convert, Tryphillius of Leucosia, Bishop of Leucosia, Cyprus; Opponents of Arianism)

• Brevard S. Childs, U.S. Presbyterian Biblical Scholar
• Sigismund von Birken, German Lutheran Hymn Writer

14 (Methodius I of Constantinople, Defender of Icons and Ecumenical Patriarch of Constaninople; and Joseph the Hymnographer, Defender of Icons and the “Sweet-Voiced Nightingale of the Church”)

• David Low Dodge, U.S. Presbyterian Businessman and Pacifist

15 (John Ellerton, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer and Translator)

• Carl Heinrich von Bogatsky, Hungarian-German Lutheran Hymn Writer
• Dorothy Frances Blomfield Gurney, English Poet and Hymn Writer
• Evelyn Underhill, Anglican Mystic and Theologian
• Landelinus of Vaux, Roman Catholic Abbot; Aubert of Cambrai, Roman Catholic Bishop; Ursmar of Lobbes, Roman Catholic Abbot and Missionary Bishop; and Domitian, Hadelin, and Dodo of Lobbes, Roman Catholic Monks

16 (George Berkeley, Irish Anglican Bishop and Philosopher; and Joseph Butler, Anglican Bishop and Theologian)

• Francis J. Uplegger, German-American Lutheran Minister and Missionary; “Old Man Missionary”
• John Francis Regis, Roman Catholic Priest
• Norman Macleod, Scottish Presbyterian Minister and Hymn Writer; and his cousin, John Macleod, Scottish Presbyterian Minister, Liturgist, and Hymn Writer
• Rufus Jones, U.S. Quaker Theologian and Co-Founder of the American Friends Service Committee
• William Hiram Foulkes, U.S. Presbyterian Minister and Hymn Writer

17 (Samuel Barnett, Anglican Canon of Westminster, and Social Reformer; and his wife, Henrietta Barnett, Social Reformer)

• Edith Boyle MacAlister, English Novelist and Hymn Writer
• Emily de Vialar, Founder of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Apparition
• Jane Cross Bell Simpson, Scottish Presbyterian Poet and Hymn Writer
• Mark Hopkins, U.S. Congregationalist Minister, Theologian, Educator, and Physician
• Teresa and Mafalda of Portugal, Princesses, Queens, and Nuns; and Sanchia of Portugal, Princess and Nun

18 (William Bingham Tappan, U.S. Congregationalist Minister, Poet, and Hymn Writer)

• Adolphus Nelson, Swedish-American Lutheran Minister and Hymn Writer
• Bernard Mizeki, Anglican Catechist and Convert in Southern Rhodesia, 1896
• Johann Franck, Heinrich Held, and Simon Dach, German Lutheran Hymn Writers
• Richard Massie, Hymn Translator
• Vernard Eller, U.S. Church of the Brethren Minister and Theologian

19 (John Dalberg Acton, English Roman Catholic Historian, Philosopher, and Social Critic)

• Adelaide Teague Case, Episcopal Professor of Christian Education, and Advocate for Peace
• Michel-Richard Delalande, French Roman Catholic Composer
• William Pierson Merrill, U.S. Presbyterian Minister, Social Reformer, and Hymn Writer

20 (Joseph Augustus Seiss, U.S. Lutheran Minister, Liturgist, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator)

• Alfred Ramsey, U.S. Lutheran Minister and Hymn Translator
• Bernard Adam Grube, German-American Minister, Missionary, Composer, and Musician
• Charles Coffin, Roman Catholic Priest and Hymn Writer
• Hans Adolf Brorson, Danish Lutheran Bishop, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator
• William John Sparrow-Simpson, Anglican Priest, Hymn Writer, and Patristics Scholar

21 (Aloysius Gonzaga, Jesuit)

• Carl Bernhard Garve, German Moravian Minister, Liturgist, and Hymn Writer
• Charitie Lees Smith Bancroft de Chenez, Hymn Writer
• John Jones and John Rigby, Roman Catholic Martyrs, 1598 and 1600

22 (Alban, First British Martyr, Circa 209 or 305)

• Desiderius Erasmus, Dutch Roman Catholic Priest, Biblical and Classical Scholar, and Controversialist; John Fisher, English Roman Catholic Classical Scholar, Bishop of Rochester, Cardinal, and Martyr, 1535; and Thomas More, English Roman Catholic Classical Scholar, Jurist, Theologian, Controversialist, and Martyr, 1535
• Gerhard Gieschen, U.S. Lutheran Minister and Hymn Translator
• James Arthur MacKinnon, Canadian Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr in the Dominican Republic, 1965
• Nicetas of Remesiana, Roman Catholic Bishop
• Paulinus of Nola, Roman Catholic Bishop of Nola

23 (John Gerard, English Jesuit Priest; and Mary Ward, Founder of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

• Heinrich Gottlob Gutter, German-American Instrument Maker, Repairman, and Merchant
• John Johns, English Presbyterian Minister and Hymn Writer
• Vincent Lebbe, Belgian-Chinese Roman Catholic Priest and Missionary; Founder of the Little Brothers of Saint John the Baptist
• Wilhelm Heinrich Wauer, German Moravian Composer and Musician

24 (NATIVITY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST)

25 (William Henry Heard, African Methodist Episcopal Missionary and Bishop)

• Domingo Henares de Zafira Cubero, Roman Catholic Bishop of Phunhay, Vietnam, and Martyr, 1838; Phanxicô Đo Van Chieu, Vietnamese Roman Catholic Catechist and Martyr, 1838; and Clemente Ignacio Delgado Cebrián, Roman Catholic Bishop and Martyr in Vietnam, 1838
• William of Vercelli, Roman Catholic Hermit; and John of Matera, Roman Catholic Abbot

26 (Isabel Florence Hapgood, U.S. Journalist, Translator, and Ecumenist)

• Andrea Giacinto Longhin, Roman Catholic Bishop of Treviso
• Pearl S. Buck, U.S. Presbyterian Missionary, Novelist, and Social Activist
• Philip Doddridge, English Congregationalist Minister and Hymn Writer
• Theodore H. Robinson, British Baptist Orientalist and Biblical Scholar
• Virgil Michel, U.S. Roman Catholic Monk, Academic, and Pioneer of Liturgical Renewal

27 (Cornelius Hill, Oneida Chief and Episcopal Priest)

• Arialdus of Milan, Italian Roman Catholic Deacon and Martyr, 1066
• Hugh Thomson Kerr, Sr., U.S. Presbyterian Minister and Liturgist; and his son, Hugh Thomson Kerr, Jr., U.S. Presbyterian Minister, Scholar, and Theologian
• James Moffatt, Scottish Presbyterian Minister, Scholar, and Bible Translator
• John the Georgian, Abbot; and Euthymius of Athos and George of the Black Mountain, Abbots and Translators

28 (Teresa Maria Mastena, Founder of the Institute of the Sisters of the Holy Face)

• Clara Louise Maass, U.S. Lutheran Nurse and Martyr, 1901
• Plutarch, Marcella, Potanominaena, and Basilides of Alexandria, Martyrs, 202
• William Mundy and John Mundy, English Composers and Musicians

29 (PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES AND MARTYRS)

30 (Johann Olaf Wallin, Archbishop of Uppsala, and Hymn Writer)

• Gennaro Maria Sarnelli, Italian Roman Catholic Priest and Missionary to the Vulnerable and Exploited People of Naples
• Heinrich Lonas, German Moravian Organist, Composer, and Liturgist
• Paul Hanly Furfey, U.S. Roman Catholic Priest, Sociologist, and Social Radical
• Philip Powel, English Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1646

Floating

• First Book of Common Prayer, 1549

 

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