Above:  Blessed Marie-Louise-Élisabeth de Lamoignon de Molé de Champlâtreux

Image in the Public Domain

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BLESSED MARIE-LOUISE-ÉLISABETH LAMOIGNON DE MOLÉ DE CHAMPLÂTREUX 

(OCTOBER 3, 1763-MARCH 4, 1825)

Founder of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Louis

Also known as the “Angel of the Garrets”

Blessed Marie-Louise-Élisabeth de Lamoignon de Molé de Champlâtreux comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via the Roman Catholic Church.

Our saint entered the world in Paris, France, on October 3, 1763.  She was the second of six children of Chrétien François de Lamoignon (1735-1789) and Marie-Élisabeth Berryer.  Most of the men in the family were politicians.  Lamoignon grew up with Christian values, such as caring for the poor.  Strong influences during her formative years included a maternal grandfather and Father Louis Bourdaloue, a Jesuit priest and the parents’ spiritual director.

Our saint continued to practice her spiritual values of living simply and caring for the poor after she married.  Her husband (from February 9, 1779) was Édouard-François Mathieu Molé (1760-1794), also a politician and a nobleman.  Our saint, the “Angel of the Garrets,” gave birth to five children, only two of whom lived to adulthood.  She pondered joining a religious order, but her spiritual advisor, but her spiritual advisor, Father Antoine Xavier Mayneaud de Pancemont, advised waiting until after the death of her husband.  She became a widow on April 20, 1794, as a the Reign of Terror.

Napoleon Bonaparte finally put the French Revolution out of its misery.  In 1802, Mayneaud, who had become the Bishop of Vannes, encouraged our saint to found a new religious order.  So, on May 25, 1803, Lamoignon founded the Sisters of Charity of Saint Louis and became its Mother Superior.  The purpose of the new religious order was to educate poor and abandoned girls.  Pope Pius VII blessed our saint and the new religious order in person in 1804.  Pope Gregory XVI formally recognized the order in 1860.

Lamoignon, aged 61 years, died in March 4, 1825, as she grasped a crucifix.

Holy Mother Church has formally recognized Lamoignon.  Pope John Paul II declared her a Venerable in 1986.  Pope Benedict XVI made her a beatus in 2012.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 19, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT SIXTUS III, BISHOP OF ROME

THE FEAST OF BLAISE PASCAL, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC SCIENTIST, MATHEMATICIAN, AND THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF GEERT GROOTE, FOUNDER OF THE BRETHREN OF THE COMMON LIFE

THE FEAST OF IGNAZ FRANZ, GERMAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMNAL EDITOR

THE FEAST OF SAINTS MAGNUS AND AGRICOLA OF AVIGNON, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF AVIGNON

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM HAMMOND, ENGLISH MORAVIAN HYMN WRITER

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Lord God, your Son came among us to serve and not to be served,

and to give his life for the world.

Lead us by his love to serve all those to whom

the world offers no comfort and little help.

Through us give hope to the hopeless,

love to the unloved,

and rest to the weary;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Hosea 2:18-23

Psalm 94:1-14

Romans 12:9-21

Luke 6:20-36

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 37

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Above:  The Flag of Denmark

Image in the Public Domain

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CHRISTOPH ERNST FRIEDRICH WEYSE (MARCH 5, 1774-OCTOBER 8, 1842)

Danish Lutheran Organist and Composer

Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  A Great Cloud of Witnesses, via the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), Lutheran Worship (1982), and Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006).

Above:  A Map of Schleswig-Holstein (1905)

Image in the Public Domain

Altona is near Hamburg, in the south.

Weyse was a musical prodigy.  He, born in Altona, Schleswig-Holstein, Denmark (now Germany), on March 5, 1774, was a son of an herb peddler who doubled as a captain in the militia.  Our saint’s mother was a pianist.  Weyse’s father died when our saint was seven years old.  The mother eventually remarried.  Weyse received his first musical lessons from his maternal grandfather, C. B. Hauser, a violinist.  Our saint started piano lessons in 1782 and began composing two years later.

Weyse grew up.  His stepfather wanted him to choose a practical profession–being a merchant.  The young man, therefore, became an apprentice to a merchant.  After eight days, however, that merchant terminated the apprenticeship and pronounced Weyse to be useless.  OUr saint was free to pursue his vocation.  The Mayor of Altona arranged for the young man to live with and study under Johann A. P. Schulz (1747-1800) in Copenhagen (1790-1793).  Schulz gave Weyse violin and organ lessons and introduced him to the royal court.  There, the young man performed his original compositions.  Weyse also blossomed into a capable concert pianist.  Yet he chose to cease in that capacity in 1802, after suffering a stroke the previous year.  Our saint never fully recovered from that stroke, which also created a hiatus in his composing.

Above:  Christoph E. F. Weyse

A portrait by Christian Albrecht Jensen

Image in the Public Domain

Weyse earned his living as a professor, a composer, and a church organist.  he was the deputy organist (1792-1794) then the principal organist (1794-1805) at the Reformed Church in Copenhagen.  His next job was as organist at Roskilde Cathedral, Roskilde (1805-death).  Overlapping appointments included a professorship at The University of Copenhagen (1816f) and the royal court composer (1819f).  Compositions included symphonies, works for piano, cantatas, hymn tunes, and folk songs.

I refer you, O reader, to YouTube for recordings of many of these compositions.

Above:  Roskilde Cathedral

Image Source = Google Earth

Weyse was a Grundtvigian Lutheran–a “Happy Dane.”  He, of the school of Bishop Nikolai Grundtvig (1793-1872), enjoyed “worldly amusements” that Pietistic Danish Lutherans (“Sad Danes”) condemned as sinful.  These alleged occasions of sin included the theater and folk dancing. Our saint, a lifelong bachelor, was also a “foodie” and a bookworm.  He collected a large library and read widely.  Topics that interested him included theology, geography, astronomy, mathematics, history, and linguistics.  Our saint read in English, French, Latin, and German, beside Danish, of course.  Weyse’s Grundtvigian sympathies were evident in an original hymn tune, DEN SIGNEDE DAG, written in 1826 for a text Bishop Grundtvig had composed.  The hymn tune, with its Romantic style, was thoroughly Grundtvigian.

Weyse remained an excellent musician until the end of his life.  In 1841, Franz Liszt (1811-1886) visited Copenhagen.  Our saint impressed him by improvising a five-voice double fugue that lasted for half an hour.

Weyse, who received an honorary doctorate from The University of Copenhagen in 1842, died on October 8 that year.  He was 68 years old.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 18, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ARTEMISIA BOWDEN, AFRICAN-AMERICAN EDUCATOR AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST

THE FEAST OF ERDMANN NEUMEISTER, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF FRANCIS JOHN MCCONNELL, U.S. METHODIST BISHOP AND SOCIAL REFORMER

THE FEAST OF JONATHAN FRIEDRICH BAHNMAIER, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF PETTER DASS, NORWEGIAN LUTHERAN MINISTER, POET, AND HYMN WRITER

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

We bless your name for inspiring Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse

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

through Jesus Christ our Savior,

who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns,

one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

1 Chronicles 29:14b-19

Psalm 90:14-17

2 Corinthians 3:1-3

John 21:15-17

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

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Ah, gentle God, if Thou art so lovely in Thy creatures, how exceedingly beautiful and ravishing Thou must be in Thyself.

Above:  Blessed Henry Suso

Image in the Public Domain

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BLESSED HENRY SUSO (MARCH 21, 1295-JANUARY 25, 1366)

German Roman Catholic Mystic, Preacher, and Spiritual Writer

Born Heinrich von Berg

Alternative feast days = January 25 and March 2

Also known as Amandus and the Servant of the Eternal Wisdom

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–Blessed Henry Suso, quoted in Robert Ellsberg, All Saints:  Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (New York:  The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1997), 101

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Blessed Henry Suso comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via Robert Ellsberg, All Saints (1997), in which March 4 is his feast day.

Heinrich von Berg, born in Uberlingen, near Contance, on March 21, 1295, changed his life then preached the love of God.  Our saint, from German nobility, joined the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans) at the age of 13 years.  Young Suso was obsessed with his salvation or damnation.  He mortified his flesh and reported terrifying visions of Hell.  Then our saint sought and received spiritual counsel from another Dominican, Meister Eckhart (1260-1329).  Under Eckhart’s guidance Suso stopped being self-centered spiritually, abandoned physical mortification, and focused on the salvation of other people.

The Dominican prior became an itinerant preacher in service to Christ, whom he called “Eternal Wisdom,” “a gentle loving mistress.”  Suso sought to bring people to God and to deepen their faith by focusing on divine love, not by scaring them.  He also wrote under the pseudonym “Amandus” and worked mainly in Switzerland and the Upper Rhine valley.

Suso was a good man, objectively.  He was also gentle and kind.  Nevertheless, he had to contend with false allegations, including poisoning someone, fathering the child of a woman he was counseling, and stealing.  Our saint spent time in prison on false charges.  Authorities ultimately exonerated him with each other, however.

The self-identified “Servant of Divine Wisdom,” aged 70 years, died in Ulm on January 25, 1366.

Pope Gregory XVI beatified Suso in 1831.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 14, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARCINA THE ELDER, HER FAMILY, AND SAINT GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS THE YOUNGER

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

THE FEAST OF EIVIND JOSEF BERGGRAV, LUTHERAN BISHOP OF OSLO, HYMN TRANSLATOR, AND LEADER OF THE NORWEGIAN RESISTANCE DURING WORLD WAR II

THE FEAST OF KRISTEN KVAMME, NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN HYMN WRITER AND TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT SAVA I, FOUNDER OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH AND FIRST ARCHBISHOP OF SERBS

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O God, by whose grace your servant Blessed Henry Suso,

kindled with the flame of your love,

became a burning and a shining light in your Church:

Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline,

and walk before you as children of light;

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

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

Acts 2:42-47a

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

2 Corinthians 6:1-10

Matthew 6:24-33

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

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Above:  Logo of the Church Missionary Society

Image in the Public Domain

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CHARLES SIMEON (SEPTEMBER 24, 1759-NOVEMBER 13, 1836)

Anglican Priest and Promoter of Missions

His feast transferred from November 12

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HENRY MARTYN (FEBRUARY 18, 1781-OCTOBER 16, 1812)

Anglican Priest, Linguist, Translator, and Missionary

His feast transferred from October 19

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ABDUL MASIH (1776-MARCH 4, 1827)

Indian Convert and Missionary

His feast = March 4

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Among my purposes for the renovation of my Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days is to emphasize influences and relationships.  Hence I transfer two saints from their established feast days (according to The Episcopal Church) to the designated feast day of Abdul Masih (according to The Church of North India), who might not have become a Christian without their efforts.

Above:  Charles Simeon

Image in the Public Domain

Charles Simeon entered the world at Reading, England, on September 24, 1759.  He grew up in a prominent family and in The Church of England.  Our saint, educated at Eton and at King’s College, Cambridge, had a conversion experience while a student at Cambridge.  He had previously thought of taking the Holy Communion in negative terms, for he had thought of worthiness to partake in the sacrament as a matter of obedience to divine commandments.  After his conversion experience, however, Simeon realized the merits of Christ made one worthy to partake of the Holy Eucharist.  In 1782 our saint graduated from King’s College, became a fellow thereof, and became the Rector of Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge.  At first he had to contend with much opposition, due to his membership in the evangelical wing of The Church of England.  Nevertheless, he won widespread acceptance over time.

Above:  Henry Martyn

Image in the Public Domain

Henry Martyn was among the people whom Simeon influenced.  Martyn entered the world at Truro, Cornwall, England, on February 18, 1781.  He, educated at Truro then at St. John’s College, Cambridge, from 1797 to 1801, intended originally to pursue a career in the law.  Simeon, however, persuaded him to follow a different path.  Martyn, who became a fellow at St. John’s College in 1802, became a deacon in 1803 before joining the ranks of priests.  After a brief tenure as the Curate of Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge, under Simeon, Martyn became a missionary.

Simeon had helped to found the Church Missionary Society (originally the Society for Missions to Africa and East and currently the Church Mission Society) in 1799.  He also advised the East India Company on the selection of chaplains.  In 1806 Martyn arrived in Calcutta as a chaplain of the East India Company.  He spent five years in India.  During that time he founded schools and churches, translated the New Testament and The Book of Common Prayer into Hindi, studied Farsi, and translated the New Testament into that language.

Above:  Abdul Masih

Image in the Public Domain

Among the people Martyn brought to Christian faith was Sheikh Salih, a Muslim scholar aged 38 years. Salih, born at Delhi in 1776, learned Arabic and Persian at an early age.  He became a scholar and a teacher at Lucknow.  Salih met and befriended Martyn, the chaplain at Cawnpore.  On Pentecost Sunday 1811 Salih, due to Martyn’s influence, became not only a Christian but Abdul Masih, literally “Servant of the Messiah.”

Masih was a Christian for about twelve years—the rest of his life.  For eight years he was a catechist for the Church Missionary Society.  Then he spent a time as a Lutheran minister before returning to The Church of England in 1825.  That year Reginald Heber (1783-1826), the Bishop of Calcutta from 1823 to 1826, ordained him.  Masih, a medical missionary (because he operated a dispensary), pursued a respectful strategy of converting Muslims.  He, being the intellectual he was, engaged them in scholarly conversations.  He converted and baptized Muslims for the rest of his life.  Masih died of natural causes at Lucknow on March 4, 1827.  He was either 50 or 51 years old.

Martyn left India for Persia in 1811.  There he became the first English clergyman in the city of Shirmas.  Martyn also engaged Muslim scholars in theological discussions and corrected his earlier translations into Farsi.  While in Persia Martyn developed the desire to visit Arabia and to translate the New Testament into Arabic.  In 1812, while en route to Constantinople, Martyn stopped at the Armenian city of Tokat in the Ottoman Empire.  There he died, aged 31 years.  Local Armenian Christians buried him with the honors they usually reserved for a bishop.

Martyn was among the founders of modern Christianity in Iran and India.

One wonders what else Martyn would have done had he lived longer.

Simeon, who served as the Rector of Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge, for 54 years, published many sermons and became one of the leading members of the evangelical wing of The Church of England.  He died at Cambridge on November 13, 1836.  He was 77 years old.

The influences of all three men have survived them.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 5, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE TWELFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN NEPOMUCENE NEUMANN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF PHILADELPHIA

THE FEAST OF ANTONIO LOTTI, ROMAN CATHOLIC MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF SAINT GENOVEVA TORRES MORALES, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS AND THE HOLY ANGELS

THE FEAST OF MARGARET MACKAY, SCOTTISH HYMN WRITER

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Lord God, you have surrounded us with so great a cloud of witnesses.

Grant that we, encouraged by the example of your servants

Charles Simeon, Henry Martyn, and Addul Masih,

may persevere in the course that is set before us and,

at the last, share in your eternal joy with all the saints in light,

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

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

Micah 6:6-8

Psalm 9:1-10

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Luke 6:20-23

–Adapted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 59

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Above:  John Edgar Park 

Image Source = http://wheatoncollege.edu/college-history/1920s/j-edgar-park/

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JOHN EDGAR PARK (MARCH 7, 1879-MARCH 4, 1956)

U.S. Presbyterian then Congregationalist Minister and Hymn Writer

John Edgar Park (1879-1956) was a distinguished educator, spiritual writer, and minister of the Gospel.

Park, born in Belfast, Ireland, on March 7, 1879, was heir to a rich legacy of faith.  His father was a minister, as were our saint’s grandfather and great-grandfather.  Park studied at New College, Edinburgh, and Royal University, Dublin, before continuing his studies at Leipzig, Munich, and Oxford.  After he graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey, Park became a Presbyterian minister in 1902.  That phase of Park’s life did not last long, for he went to work as a lumberjack in the Adirondack Mountains for a time.  In September 1904 our saint became the pastor of West Parish Church (Congregationalist), Andover, Massachusetts.  He left there in 1906 to serve at Second Congregational Church, West Newton, Massachusetts, where he remained for 19 years.

Then Park’s educational career began.  From 1925 to 1926 he was a Professor of the Theory of Worship at the Boston University School of Theology.  His next position was President of Wheaton College, Newton, Massachusetts (1926-1944), where he modernized the curriculum.  Our saint, the Lyman Beecher Lecturer at Yale University in 1936, received honorary degrees from Tufts University, Middlebury University, Wesleyan University, and Wheaton College (Newton).  In 1944 he retired, aged 65 years.

Park, among the most popular preachers in New England, wrote at least four hymns:

1. “O Jesus, Thou Wast Tempted” (1913);
2. “We Would See Jesus” (1913);
3. “O Christ, Whose Love Hast Sought Us Out” (1953); and
4. “The Peace of Heaven is in Our Fields” (1955).

Our saint was also a prolific author of books.  They included the following:

1. Historical Sketches of the West Parish Church, Andover, Massachusetts, 1906 (1906);
2. The Keen Joy of Living (1908);
3. The Wonder of His Gracious Words:  An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount (1909);
4. The Dwarf’s Spell:  A Christmas Play (1912);
5. Parables of Life (1912);
6. The Man Who Missed Christmas (pre-1913);
7. How I Spent My Million:  A Christmas Story (1913);
8. The Rejuvenation of Father Christmas (1914);
9. The Disadvantages of Being Good (1915);
10. The Children’s Bread (1916);
11. The Return of Our Boys:  A Tale of Great Days (1919);
12. The Bad Results of Good Habits, and Other Lapses (1920);
13. The Merrie Adventures of Robin Hood and Santa Claus (1922);
14. The Christian Heretic, and Other Stories (1929);
15. The Miracle of Preaching (1936); and
16. The Art of Living (1948).

Park died at Cambridge, Massachusetts, on March 4, 1956.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 12, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL, FOUNDER OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE VISITATION

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Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

John Edgar Park and others, who have composed hymn texts.

May we, as you guide us,

find worthy hymn texts to be icons,

through which we see you.

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

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

Psalm 147

Revelation 5:11-14

Luke 2:8-20

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 20, 2013 COMMON ERA

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

THE FEAST OF JOHANNES BUGENHAGEN, GERMAN LUTHERAN PASTOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARCELLINUS OF EMBRUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

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

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Above:  The Union Jack

Image in the Public Domain

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THOMAS HORNBLOWER GILL (FEBRUARY 10, 1819-MARCH 4, 1906)

English Unitarian then Anglican Hymn Writer

The historical record provides little information about the life of Thomas Hornblower Gill (1819-1906).  The native of Birmingham, England, born on February 10, 1819, grew up a Unitarian.  His lineage was traditionally Presbyterian, but had turned away from Trinitarian theology.  Gill graduated from the King Edward VI Grammar School in 1838.  His next destination would have been Oxford University, but he could not attend that institution of higher education, where a requirement was to sign off on the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion of The Church of England.  Although Gill was still a dissenter in 1838, Unitarianism was already proving unsatisfactory to him.  Our saint, denied admission to Oxford, studied history and theology independently instead.  Spiritually he moved toward Congregationalism then Evangelical, that is, Low Church, Anglicanism.

Gill wrote more than 200 hymns.  In the Preface to The Golden Chain of Praise:  Hymns (1869) he explained his philosophy of hymnody:

Hymns are not meant to be theological statements, expositions of doctrine or enunciations of precepts; they are utterances of the soul in its manifold moods of hope and fear, joy and sorrow, love, wonder and aspiration.  A hymn should not consist of comments on a text or of remarks on an experience; but of a central thought, shaping for itself melodious utterance, and with every detail subordinated to its clear and harmonious presentation.  Herein a true hymn takes rank as a poem; but it is a poem that has to be sung and should exhibit all the qualities and limitations of a good song–liveliness and intensity of feeling, directness, clearness and vividness of utterance, strength, sweetness and simplicity of diction and melody of rhythm:  excessive subtlety and ornament should be alike avoided.  Hymns are meant and made to be sung:  the best and most glorious hymns cannot be more exactly defined then as Divine Love-Songs.

–Pages v-vi

Gill’s hymns reflect the religiosity of his Puritan-Presbyterian lineage and the keen social conscience of Unitarianism.  (Unitarians have long been on the vanguard of progressive social causes.)  I have added a small fraction of his hymns, most of which have fallen out of favor with hymnal committees, to my GATHERED PRAYERS weblog.  The webpage for Gill at hymnary.org helped me locate certain hymns among my collection of old hymnals and brought to my attention other worthy texts I chose not to add to GATHERED PRAYERS or this post.

Among Gill’s hymns was this text from 1868:

Walk with the Lord! along the road

Your strength he will renew;

Wait on the everlasting God,

And he will wait on you.

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Ye shall not faint, ye shall not fail,

Still in the Spirit strong;

Each task divine ye still shall hail,

And blend th’exulting song.

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Aspiring eyes ye still shall raise,

And heights sublime explore;

Like eagles ye shall sunward gaze,

Like eagles heav’nward soar.

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Your wondrous portion shall be this,

Your life below, above,–

Eternal youth, eternal bliss,

And everlasting love.

–Quoted in The Pilgrim Hymnal (1931/1935)

Gill’s published works included the following:

1. The Fortune of Faith (1841);
2. Songs of the Revolution (1848);
3. The Anniversaries (1858);
4. The Papal Drama:  A Historical Essay (1866);
5. The Golden Chain of Praise:  Hymns (First Edition, 1869; Second Edition, 1894);
6. Luther’s Birthday (1883), a volume of hymns; and
7. The Triumph of Christ (1883).

Gill died in London on March 4, 1906.  Most of his hymns have ceased to feature in hymnals, but his texts remain available for the spiritual edification of those who find them.  The Internet has facilitated the preservation of his legacy, fortunately.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 11, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF LUKE OF PRAGUE AND JOHN AUGUSTA, MORAVIAN BISHOPS AND HYMN WRITERS

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Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

Thomas Hornblower Gill 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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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.