Above:  Bishop Simon Bruté

Image in the Public Domain

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SIMON WILLIAM GABRIEL BRUTÉ DE RÉMUR (MARCH 20, 1779-JUNE 26, 1839)

Roman Catholic Bishop of Vincennes

Bishop Simon Bruté comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget (1763-1850).

Simon-Guillaume-Gabriel Bruté de Rémur (Jr.), born in Rennes, France, on March 20, 1779, came from a wealthy and large family.  His mother was his father’s second wife; the first wife had died.  Our saint grew up with seven half-siblings and a full brother in the Palace of Justice, Rennes.  Simon (Sr.) died in 1886, depriving the family of opulence.  The mother, Renée Le Saulnier de Vauhello (twice a widow), managed the family’s finances capably, if not in the condition she preferred.

Bruté, who had priests and an abbot in the family, was always a faithful Roman Catholic.  He worked in the print shop (the family business his mother operated); this job kept our saint of the revolutionary regiment of boys.  During the Reign of Terror, Bruté, disguised as a prison baker’s assistant, received and delivered letters for incarcerated priests and took the Eucharist to them.  He also studied medicine (1796-1803), but never practiced.  Instead, our saint matriculated at Saint Sulpice Seminary, Paris, in November 1803.  He, ordained to the priesthood in 1808, taught at the seminary (1808-1810).

Benedict Joseph Flaget recruited Bruté to become a missionary to the United States.  Flaget, Bruté, et al sailed in June 1810.  Our saint spent a quarter of a century living on the East Coast.  He taught philosophy at St. Mary’s College, Baltimore (1810-1812).  Then, assigned to St. Mary’s College, Emmitsburg, Maryland, Bruté taught and performed pastoral duties.  The priest, renowned for his erudition and lack of selfishness, served as the spiritual director of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821).  He retrieved his library from France in 1815 then donated those volumes to St. Mary’s College, Baltimore, whose President he had just become.  Starting in 1817, at Emmitsburg, Bruté started teaching theology and moral philosophy.

Above:  Basilica of St. Francis Xavier, Vinennes, Indiana

Image in the Public Domain

Holy Mother Church carved the Diocese of Vincennes (spanning eastern Illinois and all of the State of Indiana) out of the Diocese of Bardstown, Kentucky, in 1834.  The new diocese needed a bishop.  Bruté accepted the appointment.  The challenges were great.  The territory was vast, and there were only three priests.  One priest was on loan from another diocese.  Bruté himself was the third priest.  Our saint raised funds, recruited priests, and founded churches, schools, a library, and the seminary.  He also taught at the seminary.

Bruté, aged 60 years, died in Vincennes, Indiana, on June 26, 1839.  The good work fell to Célestine Guynemer de la Hailandière (1798-1882), briefly the Bishop Coadjutor.

Bruté is officially a Servant of God; the cause for his eventual canonization is underway.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 29, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE BEHEADING OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST

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

and who raised up your servant Simon William Gabriel Bruté de Rémur

to be a light in 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 for ever.  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), 717

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I became a Socialist because I was a Christian. The Christian religion teaches that all men are to be regarded as brothers, that no one should wish to profit by the loss or disadvantage of others; as all winners must do under a competitive system; that none should enjoy “two coats” while others are coatless; that, in effect, “none should have cake til all have bread.” “Civilized” life is in grotesque contrast to all this. All the individual, acting individualistically, is helpless to modify it very much….”Society” or “the state” must see to it that strangers are entertained; that the hungry are fed and the destitute provided for. Does it?

Above:  Ellen Gates Starr, Between 1915 and 1917

Image Creator = Bain News Service

Image Source = Library of Congress

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ELLEN GATES STARR (MARCH 19, 1859-FEBRUARY 10, 1940)

U.S. Episcopalian then Roman Catholic Activist and Social Reformer

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–Ellen Gates Starr, quoted in G. Scott Cady and Christopher L. Webber, A Year with American Saints (2006), 470

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Ellen Gates Starr was more than a social reformer, although she was that.  She was a social revolutionary.  Perhaps her Unitarian upbringing contributed to her social conscience.  American Unitarianism did have a reputation for being on the vanguard of social justice efforts.  Throughout her life, whether Starr was in her Unitarian, Episcopalian, or Roman Catholic phase, social justice was an integral part of her faith.  Our saint, born in Laona, Illinois, on March 19, 1859, was a daughter of Allen Starr and Susan Gates Child (Starr).  Ellen was a classmate of Jane Addams (1860-1935) at Rockford Female Seminary in 1877-1878.  Their collaboration began.

Starr, who joined The Episcopal Church in 1883, worked with Addams to help the poor, especially immigrants.  The two women toured Europe, studying efforts to help the poor, in 1888.  Upon returning to Chicago, they founded Hull House in 1889.  The model for Hull House was Toynbee Hall, a settlement house in London.  Hull House began by offering educational opportunities, as well as concerts and other cultural enrichment programs.

Starr objected to the ills of industrialization and worked for a better society.  She worked to improve the working conditions in factories.  She advocated to end child labor.  Starr organized labor strikes and went to jail for doing so at least once.  She embraced Christian Socialism.  Our saint also developed an interest in the arts and crafts movement, going as far as to found the Chicago Society of Arts and Crafts in 1897.

Starr had a long-term interest in Roman Catholicism.  Her faith wedded doctrines, prayer, and sacraments to social activism.  In 1894 our saint joined the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross, founded by Emily Malbone Morgan (1862-1937) in 1884.  Starr finally converted to Roman Catholicism in 1920.  Starr, in failing health during her final years, moved to a convent of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus in Suffern, New York, in 1931.  The sisters took care of our saint for the rest of her life.  She, aged 80 years, died on February 10, 1940.

My Western culture (especially the conservative portion of it) overemphasizes individualism.  Biblical ethics contain both individual and collective elements; moral responsibility is both individual and collective.  Many instances of “you” and “your” in the Bible are plural.  This is more obvious in languages with different words for singular and plural second-person pronouns.

Starr understood the collective aspects of Biblical ethics.  She grasped both collective and individual responsibility.  Our saint was correct; how much one person can do is minor compared to what we can do together.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 22, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JOHN JULIAN, ANGLICAN PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMNOLOGIST

THE FEAST OF ALEXANDER MEN, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1990

THE FEAST OF LADISLAO BATTHÁNY-STRATTMANN, AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PHYSICIAN AND PHILANTHROPIST

THE FEAST OF LOUISE CECILIA FLEMING, AFRICAN-AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY AND PHYSICIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT VINCENT PALLOTTI, FOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE CATHOLIC APOSTOLATE, THE UNION OF CATHOLIC APOSTOLATE, AND THE SISTERS OF THE CATHOLIC APOSTOLATE

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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 Ellen Gates Starr] 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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the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.

Above:  Icon of the Raising of Lazarus

Image in the Public Domain

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A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days is one of my hobbies, not a calendar of observances with any force or a popular following.  It does, however, constitute a forum to which to propose proper additions to church calendars.

Much of the Western Church observes January 18 as the Feast of the Confession of St. Peter the Apostle, the rock upon which Christ built the Church.  (Just think, O reader; I used to be a Protestant boy!  My Catholic tendencies must be inherent.)  The celebration of that feast is appropriate.  The Church does not neglect St. Martha of Bethany, either.  In The Episcopal Church, for example, she shares a feast with her sister (St. Mary) and her brother (St. Lazarus) on July 29.

There is no Feast of the Confession of St. Martha of Bethany, corresponding to the Petrine feast, however.  That constitutes an omission.  I correct that omission somewhat here at my Ecumenical Calendar as of today.  I hereby define the Sunday immediately prior to Palm/Passion Sunday as the Feast of the Confession of St. Martha of Bethany.  The reason for the temporal definition is the chronology inside the Gospel of John.

This post rests primarily on John 11:20-27, St. Martha’s confession of faith in her friend, Jesus, as

The combination of grief, confidence, and faith is striking.  It is one with which many people identify.  It is one that has become increasingly relevant in my life during the last few months, as I have dealt with two deaths.

Faith frequently shines brightly in the spiritual darkness and exists alongside grief.  Faith enables people to cope with their grief and helps them to see the path through the darkness.  We need to grieve, but we also need to move forward.  We will not move forward alone, for God is with us.  If we are fortunate, so are other people, as well as at least one pet.

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Loving God, who became incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth

and enjoyed the friendship of Saints Mary, Martha, and Lazarus of Bethany:

We thank you for the faith of St. Martha, who understood that

you were the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who was coming into the world.

May we confess with our lips and our lives our faith in you,

the Incarnate, crucified, and resurrected Son of God, and draw others to you;

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

Jeremiah 8:18-23

Psalm 142

1 Corinthians 15:12-28

John 11:1-44

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 18, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE CONFESSION OF SAINT PETER THE APOSTLE

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Above:  Sebastian Castellio 

Image in the Public Domain

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SEBASTIAN CASTELLIO (1515-DECEMBER 29, 1563)

Prophet of Religious Liberty

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To kill a man is not to defend a doctrine, but to kill a man.

–Sebastian Castellio, quoted in Robert Ellsberg, All Saints:  Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (New York, NY:  The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1997), page 126

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Certain officially recognized saints of the Reformation era trouble me.  For example, I consult Anglican calendars and read about prominent churchmen who denied the existence of the right to dissent theologically.  Some of these churchmen went so far as to order the execution of dissenters or at least to consent to these judicial killings.  (It is not technically murder if it is legal.)  And that is what I find within my faith tradition, now one so tolerant that some accuse it of having become too liberal.  Better too liberal than likely to persecute dissenters, I say!  I also ponder the Roman Catholic calendar of saints and find the names of similarly troubling people there.  Overall, I have generally negative opinions of Thomas Cranmer, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, and the Popes at the time–all of whom cover much theological ground collectively.  I have generally low opinions of them because they proceeded from the ubiquitous assumption that

error has no rights,

so they persecuted those who disagreed with them or consented to the persecution of those who held other beliefs.  This did not glorify God.

I can, however, respect Sebastian Castellio without any reservations.

Castellio, born at Saint-Martin-du-Frene, France, in 1515, was a scholar and a man ahead of his time.  He, educated at the University of Lyons, was a master of six languages:  French, Italian, German, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.  In January 1540 our saint, then in his mid-twenties, witnesses the execution of three Lutherans as heretics at Lyons.  This “act of faith” had such an effect on him that he left France for Switzerland and the Roman Catholic Church for the Reformed Church.  In 1542 John Calvin, the theocrat of Geneva, appointed Castellio the Rector of the College of Geneva.  The following year, during an outbreak of plague, our saint did what many clergymen refused to do–minister to the sick and the dying.  Despite his lived piety, Castellio’s request for ordination met with rejection.  Perhaps jealousy among clergymen he had embarrassed by ministering to victims of plague was among the reasons for this result.  Officially Castellio was heterodox and too liberal.  In layman’s terms, he rejected the doctrine of Double Predestination, which he considered abhorrent.  Our saint had to leave Geneva.  He moved to Basel, Switzerland.  After years of grinding poverty Castellio finally became a professor of Greek in that city, where he spent the rest of his life.

In 1553, at Geneva, John Calvin ordered theologian Michael Servetus, who had denied the Holy Trinity, burned at the stake on the charge of heresy.  The reformer and theocrat reasoned that one function of the magistrate was to defend true doctrine and therefore to glorify God.  This execution troubled many, including Castellio.  He expressed his objections in On Heretics:  Whether They Should Be Punished by the Magistrate, which he published under a pseudonym.  He argued that to kill a person in the name of God is a blasphemous act.  A Christian’s first duty is to love his neighbor as he loves himself, our saint wrote; to execute heretics (alleged or actual) violates this principle.  Furthermore, Castellio wrote, the competing sects of Christianity not only disagreed with each other, but each of them operated from the assumption that it was obeying the Word of God.  Everyone was a heretic, according to others:

I can discover no more than this, that we regard those as heretics with whom we disagree.

–Quoted in Ellsberg, All Saints (1997), page 127

The pseudonym did not hide Castellio’s identity for long.  When he died on December 29, 1563, legal proceedings against him were underway.  The Religious Wars had begun.  Many people would have lived longer had religious toleration been the rule.  Furthermore, slaughtering people in the name of Jesus did not glorify God.

In this post I describe Castellio as a “Prophet of Religious Liberty.”  In so doing I quote Robert Ellsberg, author of All Saints (1997).  I understand that there is no such thing as absolute religious liberty, even in a pluralistic society with a (properly) secular state; we all must, for the common good, sacrifice some rights without trampling individual rights either.  As long as one does not endanger public health and safety or the most basic civil rights and liberties in the name of religious liberty, I have no objection.  Certainly the statement that one should not execute or incarcerate heretics (alleged or actual) should receive widespread support.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 21, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS MIROCLES OF MILAN AND EPIPHANIUS OF PAVIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS

THE FEAST OF SAINTS ALBAN ROE AND THOMAS REYNOLDS, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND MARTYRS

THE FEAST OF SAINT GASPAR DEL BUFALO, FOUNDER OF THE MISSIONARIES OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN YI YON-ON, ROMAN CATHOLIC CATECHIST AND MARTYR IN KOREA

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Almighty God, we praise you for your servant Sebastian Castellio,

through whom you have called the church to its tasks and renewed its life.

Raise up in our own day teachers and prophets inspired by your Spirit,

whose voices will give strength to your church and proclaim the reality of your reign,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns

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

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Psalm 46

1 Corinthians 3:11-23

Mark 10:35-45

–Adapted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 60

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Above:  St. Maria Josefa Sancho de Guerra

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINT MARIA JOSEFA SANCHO DE GUERRA (SEPTEMBER 7, 1842-MARCH 20, 1912)

Foundress of the Congregation of the Servants of Jesus

Also known as Saint Maria Josefa of the Heart of Mary and Maria Josefa of the Heart of Jesus

Piety seems natural for some people.  Consider, O reader, the case of St. Maria Josefa Sancho de Guerra, born at Vitoria, in the Basque region of Spain, on September 7, 1842.

She spent most of her life helping children, elderly people, the sick, the elderly, and the abandoned.  Our saint, aware of their needs from her youth, lost her father to death when she was seven years old.  She spent the next eleven years with relatives in Madrid before joining the Institute of the Servants of Mary.  The new nun, was 18 years old.  The newly minted Maria Josefa of the Heart of Mary had joined a new order, one founded in 1851 and devoted to

the practice of charity through the diligent and gratuitous care of the sick, preferably in their own homes.

St. Maria Josefa, who had a devotion to the Eucharist and to St. Mary of Nazareth, entered into a process of spiritual discernment with St. Anthony Mary Claret (1807-1870) and St. Maria Soledad (1826-1887), Mother Superior of the order.  Our saint discerned a vocation to found a new order, the Congregation of the Servants of Jesus, which she did at Bilbao in 1871, with four other Servants of Mary.  St. Maria Josefa of the Heart of Jesus, as she began to call herself, led the order.  When she died at age 69 on March 20, 1912, the order had 43 houses and more than 1000 sisters.

The order continues to serve Christ in the poor and the sick.

Pope John Paul II declared our saint a Venerable in 1989.  He beatified her three years later and canonized her in 2000.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 21, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS MIROCLES OF MILAN AND EPIPHANIUS OF PAVIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS

THE FEAST OF SAINTS ALBAN ROE AND THOMAS REYNOLDS, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND MARTYRS

THE FEAST OF SAINT GASPAR DEL BUFALO, FOUNDER OF THE MISSIONARIES OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN YI YON-ON, ROMAN CATHOLIC CATECHIST AND MARTYR IN KOREA

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O God, whose blessed Son became poor that we through his poverty might be rich:

Deliver us from an inordinate love of this world, that we,

inspired by the devotion of your servant Saint Maria Josefa Sancho de Guerra,

may serve you with singleness of heart, and attain to the riches of the age to come;

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

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Song of Songs 8:6-7

Psalm 34

Philippians 3:7-15

Luke 12:33-37 or Luke 9:57-62

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 722

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Above:  University of Jena, Circa 1600

Image in the Public Domain

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SAMUEL RODIGAST (OCTOBER 19, 1649-MARCH 19, 1708)

German Lutheran Academic and Hymn Writer

Samuel Rodigast, son of a German Lutheran minister at Groben (near Jena), graduated with his Master of Arts degree from the University of Jena in 1671.  Five years later he joined the faculty as an Instructor of Philosophy.  In 1680 he became joint Rector of Grayfriars Gymnasium, Berlin.  Eighteen years later he was the sole Rector.  Rodigast retained that post until he died, turning down other job offers for a decade.

The Legacy of Samuel Rodigast seems to rest heavily or primarily on one hymn.  In 1675 a friend, Severus Gastorius, was seriously ill.  The Catherine Winkworth translation of Rodigast’s great hymn follows:

Whate’er my God ordains is right;

His holy will abideth;

I will be still, whate’er He doth,

And follow where He guideth.

He is my God;

Though dark my road,

He holds me that I shall not fall;

Wherefore to Him I leave it all.

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Whate’er my God ordains is right;

He never will deceive me;

He leads me by the proper path;

I know He will not leave me,

And take, content,

What He hath sent;

His hand can turn my griefs away,

And patiently I want His day.

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Whate’er my God ordains is right;

Here shall my stand be taken;

Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,

Yet I am not forsaken;

My Father’s care

Is round me there;

He holds me that I shall not fall,

And so to Him I leave it all.

Gastorius composed the hymn tune.  And Rodigast’s text has comforted many people for centuries.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 22, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF RAYMOND E. BROWN, BIBLE SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF LUCA MARENZIO, COMPOSER

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Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

Samuel Rodigast 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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This is post #1600 of SUNDRY THOUGHTS.

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Above:  Trinity College, Cambridge, England, United Kingdom, 1890-1900

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-ppmsc-08091

Copyright Holder = Detroit Publishing Company

Print Number 10094

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CHRISTOPHER WORDSWORTH (OCTOBER 30, 1807-MARCH 20, 1885)

Anglican Bishop of Lincoln

I begin this post with a simple warning to my readers:  I mention three Christopher Wordsworths and two John Wordsworths.  I have tried to minimize or prevent confusion.  The Christopher Wordsworth to whom I devote the most attention is Christopher (Jr.), as I refer to him.  His father was Christopher (Sr.) and one of his sons was Christopher (III).

Christopher Wordsworth (1807-1885), the subject of this post, was a son of one Christopher Wordsworth, Anglican Rector of Lambeth in 1807 and later the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge.  Christopher (Jr.), the subject of this post, was both a brilliant student and a talented athlete at Manchester and at Trinity College.  His life, in fact, was that of a priest-scholar.  And he was in good company as a scholar, author, and clergyman.  William Wordsworth, his uncle, was a great poet.  John Wordsworth, a brother of Christopher (Jr.), was a scholar of antiquity.  Charles Wordsworth, another brother of Christopher (Jr.), was a bishop of the Scottish Episcopal Church.  A second John Wordsworth, a son of Christopher (Jr.), became the Bishop of Salisbury.  And a third Christopher Wordsworth, also a son of Christopher (Jr.), became a liturgical scholar.

But what about Christopher (Jr.)?  He became the Bishop of Lincoln in 1868 and held that post until his death.  During his career he published much.  Among his works was The Holy Year (1862), a collection of hymns for each season of the Western Christian year.  And, in a series of volumes, he wrote a complete commentary on the Bible.  Christopher (Jr.) also published Ancient Writings Copied from the Walls of Ancient Pompeii (1837) and Church History Up to A.D. 451 (1881-1883).

John Ellerton (1826-1893), an Anglican priest and a prolific writer of hymns, considered Christopher (Jr.) to be

…a most  humble, loving, and self-denying man. And the man was reflected in his verse.  To read one of his best hymns is like looking into a plain face, without one striking feature, but with an irresistible charm of honesty, intelligence, and affection.

Since I am writing this post during the Season after Epiphany, I choose to share an Epiphany hymn from Christopher (Jr.).

Songs of thankfulness and praise,

Jesus, Lord, to Thee we raise,

Manifested by the star

To the sages from afar;

Branch of royal David’s stem

In Thy birth at Bethlehem;

Anthems be to Thee addrest,

God in Man made manifest.

—–

Manifest in Jordan’s stream,

Prophet, priest, and King supreme;

And at Cana wedding-guest

In Thy Godhead manifest;

Manifest in power divine,

Changing water into wine;

Anthems be to Thee addrest,

God in Man made manifest.

—–

Manifest in making whole

Palsied limbs and fainting soul;

Manifest in valiant fight,

Quelling all the devil’s might;

Manifest in gracious will,

Ever bringing good from ill;

Anthems be to Thee addrest,

God in Man made manifest.

—–

Grant us grace to see Thee, Lord,

Present in Thy holy Word;

May we imitate Thee now,

And be pure, as pure art Thou;

That we like to Thee may be,

At Thy great Epiphany;

And may praise Thee, ever blest,

God in Man made manifest.

Those words from 1862 contain much theological depth, unlike the lyrics of certain contemporary (to 2013) praise songs, theological tidepools with repeated and few words.

Christopher Wordsworth (Jr.) devoted his art and intellect to noble pursuits, usually Christ.  (There was also much merit in the study of the ancient past.)  May we honor Christopher (Jr.)’s faithfulness, his intellect, and his craft with words.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 19, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SARGENT SHRIVER, U.S. STATESMAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT CAESARIUS OF ARLES, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; AND SAINT CAESARIA OF ARLES, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBESS

THE FEAST OF SAINT HENRY OF UPPSALA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF SAINT WOLFSTAN OF WORCESTER, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

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

and to another the insight of wisdom,

and to another the steadfastness of faith.

We praise you for the gifts of grace imparted to your servant Christopher Wordsworth,

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

we have seen in your Son Jesus, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and

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

Proverbs 3:1-7 or Wisdom 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 Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 61

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Revised on December 24, 2016

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Daffodil

Image Source = Bertil Videt

1 (Anna of Oxenhall and Her Faithful Descendants, Wenna the Queen, Non, Samson of Dol, Cybi, and David of Wales)

• Edward Dearle, Anglican Organist and Composer
• Edwin Hodder, English Biographer, Devotional Writer, and Hymn Writer
• George Wishart, Scottish Calvinist Reformer and Martyr, 1546; and Walter Milne, Scottish Protestant Martyr, 1558
• Richard Redhead, Anglican Composer, Organist, and Liturgist
• Roger Lefort, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bourges

2 (Shabbaz Bhatti and Other Christian Martyrs of the Islamic World)

• Aidan of Lindisfarne, Celtic Missionary Bishop; Caelin, Celtic Priest; Cedd of Lastingham, Celtic and Roman Catholic Priest, Bishop of Essex, and Abbot of Lastingham; Cynibil of Lastingham, Celtic and Roman Catholic Priest and Monk; Chad of Mercia, Celtic and Roman Catholic Priest, Abbot of Lastingham, Bishop of York/the Northumbrians and of Lichfield/the Mercians and the Lindsey People; Vitalian, Bishop of Rome; Adrian of Canterbury, Roman Catholic Abbot of Saints Peter and Paul, Canterbury; Theodore of Tarsus, Roman Catholic Monk and Archbishop of Canterbury; and Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, Celtic and Roman Catholic Monk, Hermit, Priest, and Bishop of Lindisfarne
• Daniel March, Sr., U.S. Congregationalist and Presbyterian Minister, Poet, Hymn Writer, and Liturgist
• Engelmar Unzeitig, German Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1945
• John Stuart Blackie, Scottish Presbyterian Scholar, Linguist, Poet, Theologian, and Hymn Writer
• Ludmilla of Bohemia, Duchess of Bohemia, and Martyr, 921; her grandson, Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, and Martyr, 929; Agnes of Prague, Bohemian Princess and Nun; her pen pal, Clare of Assisi, Founder of the Poor Clares; her sister, Agnes of Assisi, Abbess at Monticelli; and her mother, Hortulana of Assisi, Poor Clare Nun

3 (Katharine Drexel, Founder of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament)

• Antonio Francesco Marzorati, Johannes Laurentius Weiss, and Michele Pro Fasoli, Franscican Missionary Priests and Martyrs in Ethiopia, 1716
• Gervinus, Roman Catholic Abbot and Scholar
• Henry Elias Fries, U.S. Moravian Industrialist; and his wife, Rosa Elvira Fries, U.S. Moravian Musician
• Teresa Eustochio Verzeri, Founder of the Institute of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

4 (Charles Simeon, Anglican Priest and Promoter of Missions; Henry Martyn, Anglican Priest, Linguist, Translator, and Missionary; and Abdul Masih, Indian Convert and Missionary)

• Christoph E. F. Weyse, Danish Lutheran Organist and Composer
• Henry Suso, German Roman Catholic Mystic, Preacher, and Spiritual Writer
• John Edgar Park, U.S. Presbyterian then Congregationalist Minister and Hymn Writer
• Marie-Louise-Élisabeth de Lamoignon de Molé de Champlâtreux, Founder of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Louis
• Thomas Hornblower Gill, English Unitarian then Anglican Hymn Writer

5 (Karl Rahner, Jesuit Priest and Theologian)

• Ambrose Phillipps de Lisle, English Roman Catholic Convert, Spiritual Writer, and Translator of Spiritual Writings; Founder of Mount Saint Bernard Abbey
• Christopher Macassoli of Vigevano, Franciscan Priest
• Eusebius of Cremona, Roman Catholic Abbot and Humanitarian
• Ion Costist, Franciscan Lay Brother
• John S. Stamm, Bishop of The Evangelical Church then the Evangelical United Brethren Church

6 (Martin Niemoller, German Lutheran Minister and Peace Activist)

• Chrodegang of Metz, Roman Catholic Bishop
• Fred B. Craddock, U.S. Disciples of Christ Minister, Biblical Scholar, and Renowned Preacher
• Jean-Pierre de Caussade, French Roman Catholic Priest and Spiritual Director
• Jordan of Pisa, Dominican Evangelist
• William Bright, Anglican Canon, Scholar, and Hymn Writer

7 (James Hewitt McGown, U.S. Presbyterian Humanitarian)

• Drausinus and Ansericus, Roman Catholic Bishops of Soissons; Vindician, Roman Catholic Bishop of Cambrai; and Leodegarius, Roman Catholic Bishop of Autun
• Edward Osler, English Doctor, Editor, and Poet
• Maria Antonia de Paz y Figueroa, Founder of the Daughters of the Divine Savior
• Paul Cuffee, U.S. Presbyterian Missionary to the Shinnecock Nation

• Perpetua, Felicity, and Their Companions, Martyrs at Carthage, 203

8 (Edward King, Bishop of Lincoln)

• Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer
• John Hampden Gurney, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer
• John of God, Founder of the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God
• William Henry Sheppard, Lucy Gantt Sheppard, and Samuel N. Lapsley, Southern Presbyterian Missionaries in the Congo

9 (Harriet Tubman, U.S. Abolitionist)

• Emanuel Cronenwett, U.S. Lutheran Minister, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator
• Frances of Rome, Founder of the Collatines
• Johann Pachelbel, German Lutheran Organist and Composer
• Pacian of Barcelona, Roman Catholic Bishop of Barcelona
• Sophronius of Jerusalem, Roman Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem

10 (Marie-Joseph Lagrange, Roman Catholic Priest and Biblical Scholar)

• Agripinnus of Autun, Roman Catholic Bishop; Germanus of Paris, Roman Catholic Bishop; and Droctoveus of Autun, Roman Catholic Abbot
• Alexander Clark, U.S. Methodist Protestant Minister, Hymn Writer, and Hymnal Editor
• Folliot Sandford Pierpoint, Anglican Educator, Poet, and Hymn Writer
• John Oglivie, Scottish Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1615
• Macarius of Jerusalem, Roman Catholic Bishop

11 (John Swertner, Dutch-German Moravian Minister, Hymn Writer, Hymn Translator, and Hymnal Editor; and his collaborator, John Mueller, German-English Moravian Minister, Hymn Writer, and Hymnal Editor)

• Aengus the Culdee, Hermit and Monk; and Maelruan, Abbot
• Eulogius of Spain, Roman Catholic Bishop of Toledo, Cordoba; and Leocrita; Roman Catholic Martyrs, 859
• Francis Wayland, U.S. Baptist Minister, Educator, and Social Reformer
• Mary Ann Thomson, Episcopal Hymn Writer
• Pal Prennushi, Albanian Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1948

12 (Trasilla and Emiliana; their sister-in-law, Sylvia of Rome; and her son, Gregory I “the Great,” Bishop of Rome)

• Henry Walford Davies, Anglican Organist and Composer
• John H. Caldwell, U.S. Methodist Minister and Social Reformer
• Maximillian of Treveste, Roman Conscientious Objector and Martyr, 295
• Rutilio Grande, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1977
• Theophanes the Chroncler, Defender of Icons

13 (Yves Congar, Roman Catholic Priest and Theologian)

• Heldrad, Roman Catholic Abbot
• James Theodore Holly, Episcopal Bishop of Haiti, and the Dominican Republic; First African-American Bishop in The Episcopal Church
• Plato of Symboleon and Theodore Studites, Eastern Orthodox Abbots; and Nicephorus of Constantinople, Patriarch
• Roderic of Cabra and Solomon of Cordoba, Roman Catholic Martyrs, 857

14 (Fannie Lou Hamer, Prophet of Freedom)

• Albert Lister Peace, Organist in England and Scotland
• Harriet King Osgood Munger, U.S. Congregationalist Hymn Writer
• Nehemiah Goreh, Indian Anglican Priest and Theologian
• Vincenzina Cusmano, Superior of the Sisters Servants of the Poor; and her brother, Giacomo Cusmano, Founder of the Sisters Servants of the Poor and the Missionary Servants of the Poor
• William Leddra, British Quaker Martyr in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1661

15 (Zachary of Rome, Bishop of Rome)

• Jan Adalbert Balicki and Ladislaus Findysz, Roman Catholic Priests in Poland
• Jean Baptiste Calkin, Anglican Organist and Composer
• Ozora Stearns Davis, U.S. Congregationalist Minister, Theologian, and Hymn Writer
• Vethappan Solomon, Apostle to the Nicobar Islands

16 (Adalbald of Ostevant, Rictrudis of Marchiennes, and Their Relations)

• Abraham Kidunaia, Roman Catholic Hermit; and Mary of Edessa, Roman Catholic Anchoress
• John Cacciafronte, Roman Catholic Monk, Abbot, Bishop, and Martyr, 1183
• Megingaud of Wurzburg, Roman Catholic Monk and Bishop
• Thomas Wyatt Turner, U.S. Roman Catholic Scientist, Educator, and Civil Rights Activist; Founder of Federated Colored Catholics
• William Henry Monk, Anglican Organist, Hymn Tune Composer, and Music Educator

17 (Patrick, Apostle of Ireland)

• Ebenezer Elliott, “The Corn Law Rhymer”
• Henry Scott Holland, Anglican Hymn Writer and Priest
• Jan Sarkander, Silesian Roman Catholic Priest and “Martyr of the Confessional,” 1620
• Josef Rheinberger, Germanic Roman Catholic Composer
• Maria Barbara Maix, Founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

18 (Leonides of Alexandria, Roman Catholic Martyr, 202; Origen, Roman Catholic Theologian; Demetrius of Alexandria, Roman Catholic Bishop; and Alexander of Jerusalem, Roman Catholic Bishop)

• Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop, Theologian, and Liturgist
• Eliza Sibbald Alderson, Poet and Hymn Writer; and John Bacchus Dykes, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer
• Paul of Cyprus, Eastern Orthodox Martyr, 760
• Robert Walmsley, English Congregationalist Hymn Writer

19 (JOSEPH OF NAZARETH, HUSBAND OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD)

20 (Sebastian Castellio, Prophet of Religious Liberty)

• Christopher Wordsworth, Hymn Writer and Anglican Bishop of Lincoln
• Ellen Gates Starr, U.S. Episcopalian then Roman Catholic Social Activist and Reformer
• Maria Josefa Sancho de Guerra, Founder of the Congregation of the Servants of Jesus
• Samuel Rodigast, German Lutheran Academic and Hymn Writer
• Simon William Gabriel Bruté de Rémur, Roman Catholic Bishop of Vincennes

21 (Johann Sebastian Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and Johann Christian Bach, Composers)

• Lucia of Verona, Italian Roman Catholic Tertiary and Martyr, 1574
• Mark Gjani, Albanian Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1947
• Nicholas of Flüe and his grandson, Conrad Scheuber, Swiss Hermits
• Serapion of Thmuis, Roman Catholic Bishop

22 (Deogratias, Roman Catholic Bishop of Carthage)

• Emmanuel Mournier, French Personalist Philosopher
• James De Koven, Episcopal Priest
• Thomas Hughes, British Social Reformer and Member of Parliament
• William Edward Hickson, English Music Educator and Social Reformer

23 (Gregory the Illuminator and Isaac the Great, Patriarchs of Armenia)

• Meister Eckhart, Roman Catholic Theologian and Mystic
• Metodej Dominik Trčka, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1959
• Umphrey Lee, U.S. Methodist Minister and President of Southern Methodist University
• Victorian of Hadrumetum, Martyr at Carthage, 484
• Walter of Pontoise, French Roman Catholic Abbot and Ecclesiastical Reformer

24 (Oscar Romero, Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Salvador; and the Martyrs of El Salvador, 1980-1992)

• Didacus Joseph of Cadiz, Capuchin Friar
• George Rawson, English Congregationalist Hymn Writer
• George Rundle Prynne, Anglican Priest, Poet, and Hymn Writer
• Paul Couturier, Apostle of Christian Unity
• Thomas Attwood, “Father of Modern Church Music”

25 (ANNUNCIATION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST)

• Dismas, Penitent Bandit

26 (Margaret Clitherow, English Roman Catholic Martyr, 1586)

• Austin C. Lovelace, United Methodist Organist, Composer, Hymn Writer, and Liturgist
• Flannery O’Connor, U.S. Roman Catholic Writer
• James Rendel Harris, Anglo-American Congregationalist then Quaker Biblical Scholar and Orientalist; Robert Lubbock Bensly, English Biblical Translator and Orientalist; Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Smith Gibson, English Biblical Scholars and Linguists; Samuel Savage Lewis, Anglican Priest and Librarian of Corpus Christi College; and James Young Gibson, Scottish United Presbyterian Minister and Literary Translator
• Ludger, Roman Catholic Bishop of Munster
• Rudolph A. John, German-American Evangelical Minister, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator

27 (Charles Henry Brent, Episcopal Missionary Bishop of the Philippines, Bishop of Western New York, and Ecumenist)

• Nicholas Owen, Thomas Garnet, Mark Barkworth, Edward Oldcorne, and Ralph Ashley, Roman Catholic Martyrs, 1601-1608
• Peter Lutkin, Episcopal Composer, Liturgist, and Music Educator
• Robert Hall Baynes, Anglican Bishop of Madagascar
• Rupert of Salzburg, Apostle of Bavaria and Austria
• Stanley Rother, U.S. Roman Catholic Priest, Missionary, and Martyr in Guatemala, 1981

28 (James Solomon Russell, Episcopal Priest, Educator, and Advocate for Racial Equality)

• Elizabeth Rundle Charles, Anglican Writer, Hymn Translator, and Hymn Writer
• Guntram of Burgundy, King
• Katharine Lee Bates, U.S. Educator, Poet, and Hymn Writer
• Richard Chevenix Trench, Anglican Archbishop of Dublin
• Tutilo, Roman Catholic Monk and Composer

29 (Charles Villiers Stanford, Composer, Organist, and Conductor)

• Dora Greenwell, Poet and Devotional Writer
• John Keble, Anglican Priest and Poet
• Jonas and Barachisius, Roman Catholic Martyrs, 327
• Julius Ewald Kockritz, German-American Evangelical Minister, Hymn Writer, and Christian Educator

30 (Innocent of Alaska, Equal to the Apostles and Enlightener of North America)

• Cordelia Cox, U.S. Lutheran Social Worker, Educator, and Resettler of Refugees
• John Wright Buckham, U.S. Congregationalist Minister, Theologian, and Hymn Writer
• Julio Alvarez Mendoza, Mexican Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1927
• Maria Restituta Kafka, Austrian Roman Catholic Nun and Martyr, 1943

31 (Maria Skobtsova, Russian Orthodox Martyr, 1945)

• Ernest Trice Thompson, U.S. Presbyterian Minister and Renewer of the Church
• Franz Joseph Haydn and his brother, Michael Haydn, Composers
• Joan of Toulouse, Carmelite Nun; and Simon Stock, Carmelite Friar
• John Donne, Anglican Priest and Poet
• John Marriott, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer

 

Floating

• The Confession of Saint Martha of Bethany (the Sunday immediately prior to Palm Sunday; March 8-April 11)

 

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