Above:  The Flag of England

Image in the Public Domain

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ELIZABETH RUNDLE CHARLES (JANUARY 28, 1828-MARCH 28 OR APRIL 1, 1896)

Anglican Writer, Hymn Translator, and Hymn Writer

Also known as Elizabeth Rundle-Charles

Elizabeth Rundle Charles come to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via The Methodist Hymnal (1966).

Our saint, born Elizabeth Rundle, was a daughter of John Rundle, M.P.  She, born in Tavistock, Devonshire, England, on January 28, 1828, received training at home.  In 1851, she married barrister Andrew Paton Charles (d. 1868).  Our saint distinguished herself as a novelist, a poet, a hagiographer, a hymn writer and translator, a musician, and a painter.  She began her literary career in 1850, when she translated her first German hymn.  Our saint went on to translate texts from Swedish, German, and Latin.

Our saint’s works available at archive.org are:

1. Mary, the Handmaid of the Lord (1854);
2. Te Deum Laudamus:  Christian Life in Song–The Song and the Singers (First Edition, 1858; Second Edition, ?; Third Edition, ?; Fourth Edition, ?; Fifth Edition, 1897);
3. The Black Ship:  With Other Allegories and Parables (1862);
4. The Voice of Christian Life in Song; or, Hymns and Hymn-Writers of Many Lands and Ages (First Edition, 1858; Second Edition, 1865)
5. The Early Dawn; or, Sketches of Christian Life in England in the Olden Time (1864);
6. Chronicles of the Schönberg-Cotta Family (1865);
7. Sketches of Christian Life in England in the Olden Time; Sketches of the United Brethren of Bohemia and Moravia (1865);
8. Tales and Sketches of Christian Life in Other Lands and Ages (1865);
9. The Martyrs of Spain, and the Liberators of Holland (1865);
10. The Two Vocations; Or, the Sisters of Mercy at Home:  A Tale (1865);
11. The Draytons and the Davenants:  A Story of the Civil Wars (1866);
12. Wanderings Over Bible Lands and Seas (1866);
13. Winifred Bertram and the World She Lived In (1866);
14. On Both Sides of the Sea:  A Story of the Commonwealth and the Restoration (1867);
15. The Women of the Gospels, the Three Wakings, and Other Verses (1868);
16. Watchwords for the Welfare of Life; from Dr. Martin Luther (1869);
17. The Diary of Brother Bartholomew, A Monk in the Abbey of Marienthal, in the Odenwald, in the Twelfth Century (1871);
18. The Victory of the Vanquished:  A Story of the First Century (1871);
19. Against the Stream:  The Story of an Heroic Age in England (1873);
20. Conquering and to Conquer (1875)
21. The Bertram Family (1877);
22. Lapsed, But Not Lost:  A Story of Roman Carthage (1878);
23. Joan the Maid, Deliverer of Deliverer of France and England:  A Story of the Fifteenth Century, Done Into Modern English (1879);
24. Martyrs and Saints of the First Twelve Centuries (1885);
25. Three Martyrs of the Nineteenth Century:  Studies from the Lives of Livingstone, Gordon, and Patteson (1885);
26. Diary of Mrs. Kitty Trevylyan:  A Story of the Times of Whitefield and the Wesleys (1886);
27. Songs Old and New (1887);
28. Early Christian Missions of Ireland, Scotland, and England (1893);
29. Attila and His Conquerors:  A Story of the Days of St. Patrick and St. Leo the Great (1894);
30. The Ravens and the Angel: With Other Stories and Parables (1894); and
31. Ewan Christian:  Architect (1896).

Our saint’s hymn translations include:

1. “Dost Thou In a Manger Lie,” and
2. “Be Not Dismayed, Thou Little Flock.”

Her original hymns include:

1. “Praise Ye the Father,” and
2. “Never Further Than Thy Cross.”

Her hymnary.org page is here.

Our saint, aged 68 years, died in Hampstead Heath (near London) on March 28 or April 1, 1896.  By then she used Rundle-Charles as her surname.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 5, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT DOROTHEUS OF TYRE, BISHOP OF TYRE, AND MARTYR, CIRCA 362

THE FEAST OF 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

THE FEAST OF INI KOPURIA, FOUNDER OF THE MELANESIAN BROTHERHOOD

THE FEAST OF MAURICE BLONDEL, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PHILOSOPHER AND FORERUNNER OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL

THE FEAST OF ORLANDO GIBBONS, ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER; THE “ENGLISH PALESTRINA”

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Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

Elizabeth Rundle Charles and others, who have composed and 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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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:  James Solomon Russell

Image in the Public Domain

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JAMES SOLOMON RUSSELL (DECEMBER 20, 1857-MARCH 28, 1935)

Episcopal Priest, Educator, and Advocate for Racial Equality

The feast day of James Solomon Russell in The Episcopal Church is March 28.

Russell, born a slave near Palmer Springs, Virginia, on December 20, 1857, attended Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, Hampton, Virginia, when family finances permitted him to do so.  Sometimes our saint had to work as a teacher between periods of being a student.  He also taught after completing his studies at Hampton.  In the 1870s Russell attended annual conferences of the Zion Union Apostolic Church (an 1869 offshoot of the African Methodist Episcopal Church), called the Reformed Zion Union Apostolic Church since 1882.  In 1878 he served as the recording secretary of the annual conference.  Later that year, after receiving a copy of The Book of Common Prayer (1789), he decided to become an Episcopalian.

Russell studied for ordained ministry.  He was the first student at St. Stephen’s Normal and Theological Institute (later the Bishop Payne Divinity School), Petersburg, Virginia.  In 1882, after four years of study, he became a deacon.

Russell served at Lawrenceville, Virginia.  There, in 1882, he founded a congregation, which became St. Paul’s Church the following year.  Also in 1882 (on December 20, to be precise), he married Virginia Michigan Morgan, his wife until she died on July 2, 1920.  They couple had two sons and four daughters.  In 1883 the Russells founded the parish school.  Four years later our saint became a priest.  In 1888 he founded St. Paul’s Normal School, which expanded its programs and changed its names over time, ultimately becoming St. Paul’s College, which closed in 2013.  Russell served as the principal and chaplain of the school until he retired in 1929.  He also supported efforts to help African-American farmers improve their economic status, as in the St. Paul’s Farmers’ Conference (1905).

Russell recruited African-American priests.  Due to his efforts as the first Archdeacon for Colored Work in the Diocese of Southern Virginia (from 1893), that diocese had the largest African-American population of any diocese in The Episcopal Church.

Russell received two offers to become a Suffragan Bishop and rejected all of them.  The first came from the Diocese of Arkansas in 1917; the second came from the Diocese of North Carolina the following year.  Our saint cited the importance of his work in Lawrenceville when he rejected those offers.  He also objected to the fact that African-American bishops were subordinate to their white counterparts.  The position in Arkansas went to Edward Thomas Demby, V (1869-1957).  Henry Beard Delany, Sr. (1858-1928), accepted the position in North Carolina.  Russell’s objection eventually led The Episcopal Church to correct that injustice.  [Aside:  I did detect the typographical error–1927 for 1917–in Russell’s biography in A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  A Calendar of Commemorations (2016).]

Russell, citing his age, retired at the end of 1929.  His son, James Alvin Russell, Sr., succeeded him in the leadership role at the school immediately; he retired in 1950.  James Alvin Russell, Jr., served as the President of St. Paul’s College from 1971 to 1981.

Russell asked the Diocese of Virginia to allow full representation of the clergy, regardless of race, at its convention in 1933.  His request met with rejection.

Russell died at Lawrenceville on March 28, 1935.  He was 77 years old.  His autobiography, Adventure in Faith, debuted in print the following year.

The Episcopal Church, which has been honest about its institutional sins of racism, has made much progress since Russell’s time.  Michael Curry, an African American, became the Bishop of North Carolina, in 2000.  Fifteen years later he resigned that position to become the Presiding Bishop of the denomination.

The Diocese of Southern Virginia designated Russell a local saint in 1996.  The General Convention of The Episcopal Church included him on the denominational calendar of saints in 2015, as evident in his inclusion in A Great Cloud of Witnesses (2016).

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 5, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF JAPAN, 1597-1639

THE FEAST OF SAINT AVITUS OF VIENNE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF SAINT JANE (JOAN) OF VALOIS, COFOUNDER OF THE SISTERS OF THE ANNUNCIATION

THE FEAST OF SAINTS PHILEAS AND PHILOROMUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS

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God, font of the resurrected life, we bless you for the courageous witness

of your deacon James Solomon Russell, whose mosaic ministry vaulted over adversity;

allure us into the wilderness and speak tenderly to us there

so that we might love and worship you as he did,

sure of our legacy of saving grace through Jesus Christ,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, always and ever.  Amen.

Exodus 22:21-27

Psalm 78:1-7

1 John 4:13-21

Matthew 21:12-16

—A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  A Calendar of Commemorations (2016)

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Above:  The Headstone of Katharine Lee Bates

Image Source = Midnightdreary

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KATHARINE LEE BATES (AUGUST 12, 1859-MARCH 28, 1929)

U.S. Educator, Poet, and Hymn Writer

The most famous text by Katharine Lee Bates is “America the Beautiful” (1893), which she wrote one evening at Colorado Springs, Colorado, after having reached the top of Pike’s Peak with a group of teachers.  One might, however, overlook the condemnation of the mistreatment of indigenous peoples in the second stanza:

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,

Whose stern, impassioned stress

A thoroughfare for freedom beat

Across the wilderness!

America! America!

God mend thine every flaw,

Confirm thy soul in self-control,

Thy liberty in law.

–Quoted in The Hymnal (1941), Evangelical and Reformed Church

There was much more to Bates than her “fugitive verse,” as she referred to it.  Our saint came from a Congregationalist family.  Her grandfather, the Reverend Joshua Bates, was the President of Middlebury College.  Her father, William Bates, was the Congregationalist minister at her native Falmouth, Massachusetts.  Young Katharine was a near-sighted bookworm.  That formative reality led to a life of reading, writing, and publishing.

Bates had help achieving as much as she did.  Arthur, her brother, put her through her undergraduate program at Wellesley College, at great sacrifice.  After our saint graduated with her B.A. in 1880, she taught at Natick High School (1880-1881) and worked on her M.A. (Wellesley College, 1881).  Next she taught at Dana Hall, a preparatory school for Wellesley College.  Bates taught at her alma mater from 1885 to 1925, first as an instructor then, from 1891, as a professor.  She became the chair of the English Department after completing studies at Oxford University.

Our saint wrote much prose and verse for children and adults.  Her published works included the following:

1. The College Beautiful and Other Poems (1887);
2. Rose and Thorn (1888);
3. Ballad Book (1890);
4. Hermit Island (1891);
5. English Religious Drama (1893);
6. History of American Literature (1898);
7. Spanish Highways and Bylaws (1900);
8. English History Told By English Poets:  A Reader for School Use (1902);
9. From Gretna Green to Land’s End:  A Literary Journal in England (1907);
10. The School of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales Re-Told for Children (1909);
11. Romantic Legends of Spain (1909), with her mother, Cornelia F. Bates;
12. America the Beautiful and Other Poems (1911);
13. In Sunny Spain (1913);
14. Fairy Gold (1916);
15. The Retinue (1918);
16. Sigurd (1919);
17. Once Upon a Time:  A Book of Old-Time Fairy Tales (1921);
18. Yellow Clover:  A Book of Remembrance (1922);
19. The Pilgrim Ship (1926); and
20. America the Dream (1930).

Bates, who retired in 1925, received honorary degrees from Middlebury College (1914), Oberlin College (1916), and Wellesley College (1925).

Our saint, two of whose hymns I have added to my GATHERED PRAYERS weblog, did not belong to a church as an adult.  Perhaps the fact that her life partner (from 1890 to 1915, when by death they did part) was Katharine Coman.  Bates was unconventional for her time; she was merely the person God created her to be.  She spent her life on the fringe, which she enjoyed.  (I respect that.)  Certainly the fact that she left the Church did not indicate that she left God behind.

Bates died at Wellesley, Massachusetts, on March 28, 1929.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 14, 2015 COMMON ERA

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

THE FEAST OF DOROTHY ANN THRUPP, ENGLISH HYMN WRITER

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

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O God, you have endowed us with memory, reason, and skill.

We thank you for the faithful legacy of [Katharine Lee Bates and all others]

who have dedicated their lives to you and to the intellectual pursuits.

May we, like them, respect your gift of intelligence fully and to your glory.

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

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Psalm 103

Philippians 4:8-9

Mark 12:28-34

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 6, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT CHRODEGANG OF METZ, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF EDMUND KING, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF LINCOLN

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Above:  St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland, Between 1890 and 1900

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-ppmsc-09874

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RICHARD CHEVENIX TRENCH (SEPTEMBER 9, 1807-MARCH 28, 1886)

Anglican Archbishop of Dublin

I, for the sake of brevity, have listed Richard Chevenix Trench simply as the Archbishop of Dublin.  Yet I wrote seven other descriptins in my notes as I prepared this post:

1. Bible Translator;
2. Scholar;
3. Linguist;
4. Theologian;
5. Poet;
6. Historian; and
7. Hymn Writer.

Trench, born in Dublin, Ireland, graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1829.  Among his school friends was Alfred, Lord Tennyson.  Trench, ordained a Deacon in 1832, served as the Curate of Hadleigh (1832-1833) then as the Curate of Suffolk (1833-1835).  Trench’s career as a priest (from 1835) was quite interesting.  He was:

1. Curate of Curdridge, Hampshire (1835-1841);
2. Curate of Alverstoke, Hants (1841-1844);
3. Rector of Itchenstoke (1844-1845);
4. Examining Chaplain to Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford (1845-1846);
5. Professor of Divinity, King’s College, London (1846-1858);
6. Dean of Westminster (1856-1863); and
7. Archbishop of Dublin (1864-1884), succeeding Richard Whately.

During this time Trench’s output was astounding.  A partial list follows:

• The Story of Justin Martyr, and Other Poems (1835);
• Notes on the Parables of Our Lord (1841);
• Poems from Eastern Sources (1842);
• Exposition on the Sermon on the Mount (1844);
• Christ the Desire of All Nations (1846);
• Sacred Latin Poetry (1849);
• The Star of the Wise Men:  Being a Commentary on the Second Chapter of St. Matthew (1850);
• On the Study of Words (1851);
• English, Past and Present (1855);
• Sermons Preached Before the University of Cambridge (1857);
• On Some Deficiencies in Our English Dictionaries (1857);
• On the Authorized Version of the New Testament (1858);
• A Select Glossary of English Words (1859);
• Studies in the Gospels (1867);
• A Household Book of English Poetry (1868);
• Plutarch:  His Life, His Lives, and His Morals (1873);
• Lectures on Medieval Church History (1877);
• Poems (1879);
• Synonyms of the New Testament (1880); and
• Sermons Old and New (1886).

Trench also served on the committee that produced the Revised Version of the Bible (1881).  And one of his sonnets became a hymn, “Lord What a Change Within Us One Short Hour.”

Richard Chevenix Trench was a scholar, a cleric, and a man of letters–an impressive saint indeed.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 23, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT ROSE OF LIMA, ROMAN CATHOLIC MYSTIC

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O God, you have endowed us with memory, reason, and skill.

We thank you for the faithful legacy of [Richard Chevenix Trench and all others]

who have dedicated their lives to you and to the intellectual pursuits.

May we, like them, respect your gift of intelligence fully and to your glory.

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

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Psalm 103

Philippians 4:8-9

Mark 12:28-34

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 6, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT CHRODEGANG OF METZ, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF EDMUND KING, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF LINCOLN

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Revised on December 24, 2016

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Above:  Map of Gaul in 587 C.E.

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINT GUNTRAM OF BURGUNDY (525/532-MARCH 28, 592)

King

St. Guntram, a Merovingian King of Burgundy, was a violent scoundrel before he became a penitent.  The Merovingians were frequently violent toward each other.  Lothair I (r. 511-561), King of All Franks, died, and his four sons became monarchs.

Above:  Map of Gaul in 561 C.E.

Image in the Public Domain

Charibert I (r. 561-567) ruled from Paris, Sigibert I (r. 561-575) governed in Austrasia, Chilperic I (r. 561-584) reigned in Soissons, and Guntram (r. 561-592) governed in Burgundy.  Charibert I died in 567, prompting Sigibert I and Chilperic I to fight each other over how to struggle to maintain the balance of power.  Along the way he survived revolts by usurpers (who enjoyed the support of nobles) and an assassination attempt by Frenegunde, his sister-in-law and wife of Chilperic I.

The Treaty of Andelot established peace on November 28, 587.

John J. Delaney, in Dictionary of Saints (1980), wrote of St. Guntram,

His personal life was not the most edifying….

St. Guntram, before he reformed his life, did have people killed and act in other cruel ways.  Yet, in his final years, he did rule justly and strive to live morally and to make amends for his sins.   Childebert II (King of Austrasia from 575) succeeded to the throne of Burgundy.

The Church affirms repentance–turning around, changing one’s mind.  As we think, so we are.  And the same grace which delivered St. Guntram is available to all of us.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 30, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF FREDERICK OAKELEY,  ANGLICAN THEN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST

THE FEAST OF SAINT BATHILDAS, QUEEN OF FRANCE

THE FEAST OF CHARLES I OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND, KING AND MARTYR

THE FEAST OF LESSLIE NEWBIGIN, UNITED REFORMED THEOLOGIAN

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

Grant that we, encouraged by the good example of your servant Saint Guntram of Burgundy,

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

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

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

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

Micah 6:6-8

Psalm 15

Hebrews 12:1-2

Matthew 25:31-40

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

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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.

Abbey of St. Gall, St. Gallen, Switzerland

Image Source = Roland Zumbuhl, of Picswiss

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SAINT TUTILO (DIED IN 915)

Roman Catholic Monk, Scholar, Artist, and Composer

While an undergraduate at Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia, I spent considerable amounts of time at the Wesley Foundation.  I had ceased to be a United Methodist by then, having already converted to The Episcopal Church.  But I moonlighted at the Wesley Foundation.  Long conversations with the Director have influenced my thinking profoundly.  Gene, now retired, was (and presumably remains) a committed Christian who dared to ask great questions and to contradict the local prevailing “wisdom.”  So he was correct about a great many things, I am convinced.  Yet he was quite mistaken regarding the matter of monasticism.  Monks and nuns, he said, were useless.

To the contrary, they are some of the most useful people on the planet.  Historically they have devoted their lives to prayer, medicine, education, scholarship, and the care of orphans and of children whose parents could not care for them adequately.  Today many faithful monks and nuns devote their lives to prayer.  That is an excellent way to spend one’s time on Earth.

Consider the case of St. Tutilo.  He spent much of his life at the Abbey of St. Gall, a center of learning, music, and art during the Middle Ages.  (Monasteries and convents developed and preserved such treasures during that difficult period of time.)  At the abbey St. Tutilo was in his element.  There he worked on illuminated manuscripts, many of them books of Gregorian Chants, many of which he composed.  Details of his life remain sketchy, but, according to surviving accounts, all of the following words described him:  scholar, teacher, monk, composer, school master, goldsmith, builder, sculptor, builder, painter, poet, musician, genius, and humorist.

The Westminster Larger Catechism, Question #1, says it best:

What is the chief and highest end of man?

Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.

St. Tutilo fulfilled that description.  May you do so also, as God directs.

May we never underestimate the power of a holy life.  Names may fade into history and documentary evidence may crumble and become lost forever, but God remembers.  The full record of the holy saints of God is not lost; it is merely not entirely accessible in this life.

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Loving God, the memory of most of those who have trusted in your promises is lost to recorded history, if ever it was part of the historical record.  And most of us who live today and affirm you with our faith will join them in historical anonymity.  Of others, such as St. Tutilo, there is scant available information.  We thank you for the examples of St. Tutilo and all others who are nearly or entirely forgotten to us.  People understood their witness in their times; may we likewise function as beacons of divine light, for your glory and the benefit of others.  Amen.

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 44:1-15

Psalm 29

Philippians 4:2-9

Luke 8:4-8, 11-15

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 26, 2011 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS TIMOTHY, TITUS, AND SILAS, COWORKERS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL

THE FEAST OF SAINT ANGELA MERICI, FOUNDER OF THE COMPANY OF SAINT URSULA

THE FEAST OF SAINT PAULA, CONFIDANTE OF SAINT JEROME

THE FEAST OF CHARLES MATHIAS, UNITED STATES SENATOR

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Revised on December 24, 2016

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