Honeysuckles

Image in the Public Domain

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

• 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
• 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, Cofounder of the Minor Clerks Regular
• John Lancaster Spalding, Roman Catholic Bishop of Peoria then Titular Bishop of Seythopolis
• 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)

• 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
• Ini Kopuria, Founder of the Melanesian Brotherhood
• Maurice Blondel, French Roman Catholic Philosopher and Forerunner of the Second Vatican Council
• 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
• 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)

• 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”)

• 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, COWORKER 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

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

• David Abeel, U.S. Dutch Reformed Minister and Missionary to Asia
• Elias Benjamin Sanford, U.S. Methodist then Congregationalist Minister and Ecumenist
• Sigismund von Birken, German Lutheran Hymn Writer
• William Cullen Bryant, U.S. Poet, Journalist, and 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
• Francis J. Uplegger, German-American Lutheran Minister and Missionary; “Old Man Missionary”
• Frank Laubach, U.S. Congregationalist Minister and Missionary
• Mark Hopkins, U.S. Congregationalist Minister, Theologian, Educator, and Physician

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)

• 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 Cofounder 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 St. Joseph of the Apparition
• Jane Cross Bell Simpson, Scottish Presbyterian Poet and Hymn Writer
• 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

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
• Vernard Eller, U.S. Church of the Brethren Minister and Theologian
• 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
• 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)

• Bernard Adam Grube, German-American Minister, Missionary, Composer, and Musician
• 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
• Paulinus of Nola, Roman Catholic Bishop of Nola

23 (Brevard S. Childs, U.S. Presbyterian Biblical Scholar)

• Heinrich Gottlob Gutter, German-American Instrument Maker, Repairman, and Merchant
• John Johns, English Presbyterian Minister and Hymn Writer
• Nicetas of Remesiana, Roman Catholic Bishop
• 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
• Pearl S. Buck, U.S. Presbyterian Missionary, Novelist, and Social Activist
• Vincent Lebbe, Belgian-Chinese Roman Catholic Priest and Missionary; Founder of the Little Brothers of Saint John the Baptist
• 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
• 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 (John Gerard, English Jesuit Priest; and Mary Ward, Foundress of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

• Clara Louise Maass, U.S. Lutheran Nurse and Martyr, 1901
• Plutarch, Marcella, Potanominaena, and Basilides of Alexandria, Martyrs, 202
• Teresa Maria Masters, Foundress of the Institute of the Sisters of the Holy Face
• William 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.

Above:  St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican

An Odd Couple

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

The Assigned Readings for This Feast:

Ezekiel 34:11-16

1 Timothy 4:1-8

John 21:15-19

Psalm 87

The Collect:

Almighty God, whose blessed apostles Peter and Paul glorified you by their martyrdom: Grant that your Church, instructed by their teaching and example, and knit together in unity by your Spirit, may ever stand firm upon the one foundation, which is Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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

St. Peter and St. Paul began their life courses on different paths yet ended on the same route, as the greatest Christian leaders of their generation.

St. Peter, born Simon, was one of the Twelve Apostles.  Impetuous, often speaking before he thought or understood, even denying Jesus three times shortly before the crucifixion, he became the rock of faith Jesus predicted he would become.  At the Pentecost immediately following the resurrection St. Peter addressed the crowds as the leader of the surviving apostles.  St. Peter, once a firm believer in kosher laws and separation from Gentiles, abandoned those attitudes through divine and human influences.

St. Paul began life as Saul of Tarsus, a militantly devout Jew who persecuted Christians until he became a Christian.  After digesting his conversion experience for a few years St. Paul set out on missionary journeys in which founded churches, wrote epistles, suffered imprisonments and other hardships, and spearheaded the effort to take the message of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles without imposing Jewish strictures on them.  St. Paul was a well-educated, intelligent, and opinionated man with a great amount of intellectual arrogance, which is evident from this writings.  The epistles he wrote physically, dictated while in prison, and otherwise influenced account for 14 of the 27 books of the New Testament.

Both men died at Rome in 64 C.E., during the Emperor Nero’s persecutions of Christians.  St. Paul died by beheading with a sword, and St. Peter by crucifixion upside-down.  He claimed to be unworthy to die as Jesus did because he had denied him.

These men were like us in many ways.  None of us is perfect.  Be honest about yourself; do you not have certain grave faults and destructive or off-putting tendencies?  The stories of Sts. Peter and Paul teach us that these need not be obstacles to doing God’s work.  God does not call the qualified; God qualifies the called.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 12, 2010

THE FEAST OF ENMEGAHBOWH, EPISCOPAL PRIEST