…and he who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.

Above:  Blessed Gjon Koda

Image in the Public Domain

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BLESSED GJON KODA (APRIL 25, 1893-MAY 11, 1947)

Albanian Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1947

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–Matthew 10:38-39, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

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Blessed Gjon Koda comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via the Roman Catholic Church.  Information about Blessed Gjon Koda seems to be scarce.  We know what we need to know, I suppose.

Our saint, born in Janjevë (Janjevo), Serbia, on April 25, 1893, was a member of the Order of Friars Minor (the Franciscans).  Serafin was his religious name.  Koda, ordained to the priesthood, celebrated his first Mass on July 25, 1925.  He served faithfully in Lezhë, Albania, for years.

The troubled political history of Albania included the Fascist Italian occupation (1939-1943), the Nazi occupation (1943-1944), and the rise of the communist government (1944).  During the Fascist Italian occupation, the Mussolini government favored the Albanian Roman Catholics.  The predictable political backlash, which began after the Albanian communists came to power, entailed labeling all Albanian Roman Catholics as fascists.  (Communists and fascists have long opposed each other.)  In 1946, the communist government nationalized most religious institutions in the country; it seized most religious property, expelled foreign religious workers, and forbade religious groups from educating the young and operating philanthropic institutions.  Roman Catholics shared in the persecution alongside their Orthodox and Muslim neighbors.  However, the Roman Catholics had something their Orthodox and Muslim neighbors lacked:  the Papacy, an international institution, with its own authority and its headquarters in a sovereign state.  So, loyalty to the Bishop of Rome made one an enemy of the Albanian communist state.

Koda, arrested in Lezhë in the spring of 1947, endured two weeks of torture.  Authorities wanted him to confirm the party line–and lie–that his brother Franciscans were plotting against the Albanian state.  Koda refused to satisfy his torturers.  On May 11, they martyred our saint by driving nails through his throat.  He was 54 years old.  Authorities interred in the corpse in a secret grave, which remained hidden until September 16, 1994.

Holy Mother Church has formally recognized Koda.  Pope Francis declared him a Venerable then a beatus in 2016.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 25, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY OF LENT

THE FEAST OF THE ANNUNCIATION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT DISMAS, PENITENT BANDIT

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Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyr Blessed Gjon Koda

triumphed over suffering and was faithful even to death:

Grant us, who now remember him in thanksgiving,

to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world,

that we may receive with him the crown of life;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns

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

Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 51:1-12

Psalm 116 or 116:1-8

Revelation 7:13-17

Luke 12:2-12

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 714

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Above:  Edina Community Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Image Source = Google Earth

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BARBARA LOUISE ANDREWS (MAY 11, 1935-MARCH 31, 1978)

First Female Minister in The American Lutheran Church

The Reverend Barbara Louise Andrews comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Witnesses, via G. Scott Cady and Christopher L. Webber, via G. Scott Cady and Christopher L. Webber, A Year with American Saints (2006).

The American Lutheran Church (1960-1987), the product of a merger, was one of the two main immediate forebears of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).  The other main immediate predecessor of ELCA was the Lutheran Church in America (1962-1987).  Both The American Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Church in America approved the ordination of women in 1970.  In November 1970, Elizabeth Platz became the first woman ordained in the Lutheran Church in America and in U.S. Lutheranism.  (Platz is still alive.)  Barbara Andrews became the first ordained woman in The American Lutheran Church and the second in U.S. Lutheranism on December 22, 1970.

Andrews, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 11, 1935, became a trailblazer in two fields.  She, born with cerebral palsy, spent her time in a wheelchair.  Our saint championed the rights of people with physical handicaps.  She, a graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College, served as a lay pastor to students at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul, from 1962 to 1969.  She matriculated at Luther Theological Seminary, Minneapolis, in 1964.  Our saint was one of the three women on the ordination track at the seminary. She graduated with (M.Div.) in 1969.

Andrews, ordained in 1970, ministered faithfully.  She was assistant pastor at Edina Community Lutheran Church, Edina, Minneapolis, Minnesota, until 1974.  Next she was a chaplain at Luther Haven Nursing Home, Detroit, Michigan (1974-1977).  Finally, in 1977-1978, our saint was the interim pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, Detroit.

Andrews, aged 42 years, died while fighting a fire in her apartment in Detroit on March 31, 1978.

Andrews helped to make possible the ordained ministries of other women in U.S. Lutheranism.  For example, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America elected Elizabeth Eaton its Presiding Bishop in 2013 then reelected her to another six-year term in 2019.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 27, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF CHARLES HENRY BRENT, EPISCOPAL MISSIONARY BISHOP OF THE PHILIPPINES, BISHOP OF WESTERN NEW YORK, AND ECUMENIST

THE FEAST OF SAINTS NICHOLAS OWEN, THOMAS GARNET, MARK BARKWORTH, EDWARD OLDCORNE, AND RALPH ASHLEY, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS, 1601-1608

THE FEAST OF ROBERT HALL BAYNES, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF MADAGASCAR

THE FEAST OF SAINT RUPERT OF SALZBURG, APOSTLE OF BAVARIA AND AUSTRIA

THE FEAST OF STANLEY ROTHER, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, MISSIONARY, AND MARTYR IN GUATEMALA, 1981

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Almighty God, we praise you for the men and women you have sent

to call the Church to its tasks and renew its life [such as Barbara Andrews].

Raise up in our own day teachers and prophets whose voices will

give strength to your Church and proclaim the reality of your kingdom;

through your Son, Jesus Christ or Lord.  Amen.

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Psalm 46

1 Corinthians 3:11-23

Mark 10:35-45

–Adapted from the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 37

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Integration in the whole church is inevitable; it is fundamental to the heart of the Gospel.

Above:  The Flag of The Episcopal Church

Image in the Public Domain

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HENRY KNOX SHERRILL (NOVEMBER 6, 1890-MAY 11, 1980)

Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church and Witness for Civil Rights

Henry Knox Sherrill made his mark on The Episcopal Church, the United States of America, and the global church.

Our saint grew up in a devout family and became an Episcopal priest.  His parents were Henry Williams Sherrill (1853-1900) and Maria Knox Mills Sherrill (1855-1932).  His brother was Franklin Goldthwaite Sherrill (1883-1933).  Our saint, born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 6, 1890, graduated from Yale University with his Bachelor’s degree in 1911.  At Yale his mentor had been Henry Sloane Coffin (1877-1954).  Then he attended the Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, from which he graduated in 1914.

The young priest opposed intolerance and favored progressive causes throughout his life.  He began his ministerial career as the Assistant Rector of Trinity Church, Boston, Massachusetts (1914-1917).  Next he served as a Red Cross chaplain, assigned first to a hospital in Boston (1917) then in Talence, France (1917-1919).  Our saint, discharged from the U.S. Army after World War I, served as the Rector of the Church of Our Saviour, Brookline, Massachusetts (1919-1923), then as the Rector of Trinity Church, Boston (1923-1930).  During his time in Boston in the 1920s Sherrill also taught pastoral care and homiletics at the Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, and pastoral care at the Boston University School of University.

Sherrill became a bishop in 1930.  He, the Ninth Bishop of Massachusetts from October 14, 1930, to June 1, 1947, served as the chairman of The Episcopal Church’s Army/Navy Commission and the General Commission of Army/Navy Chaplains.  In the latter capacity our saint traveled widely in combat zones.  For this work he received the Medal of Merit, the U.S.A.’s highest award for a civilian.  Sherrill, Presiding Bishop from January 1, 1947, resigned as Bishop of Massachusetts on June 1, 1947, in accordance with national church canons.  As the Presiding Bishop our saint oversaw the organization of the Episcopal Church Foundation, the creation of the Seabury Press, and the progress of civil rights in the denomination.

That commitment to civil rights ran deeply with Sherrill.  In 1946 President Harry S Truman had appointed our saint to serve on the Civil Rights Advisory Committee, which produced the signal report “To Secure These Rights” (October 1947).  Sherrill also presided over the decision to change the location of the denominational General Convention of 1955 from Houston, Texas, where African-American delegates would not have received equal housing arrangements, to Honolulu, Hawai’i.  That was a controversial decision.  Under Sherrill’s leadership the General Convention of 1955 issued a strong statement decrying racial segregation and discrimination as being contrary to the will of God.  Our saint also supported ecclesiastical integration openly:

–Sherrill, September 18, 1956; quoted in David E. Summer, The Episcopal Church’s History:  1945-1985 (Wilton, CT:  Morehouse-Barlow, 1987), page 37

Sherrill was also an ecumenical leader.  He served as the first President of the National Council of Churches from 1950 to 1952 then as the President of the World Council of Churches from 1954 to 1961.

Our saint, who resigned as the Presiding Bishop on November 14, 1958, for health-related reasons, received 21 honorary degrees from universities such as Columbia, Yale, Harvard, and Princeton.  He retired to the Boston area, where he died on May 11, 1980, aged 89 years.  Arthur Carl Lichtenberger (in office 1958-1964) succeeded him.

Sherrill’s legacy has continued not only via institutions, but also via his family.  He married Barbara Harris.  The couple had four children, who had their own families and other direct and indirect influences.

Edmund K. Sherrill became a priest.  He was the Bishop of Central Brazil in 1975 and the Bishop of Northern Brazil five years later.

Barbara Prue Sherrill married Mason Wilson, Jr.

Henry Williams Sherrill (1922-2001) became an Episcopal priest.

Franklin Goldthwaite Sherrill II, or F. Goldthwaite Sherrill, served as the Rector of Grace Episcopal Church, Brooklyn, New York, New York, from 1967 until his retirement in 1993.  He died, aged 87 years, in late July 2017.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 14, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS CALLIXTUS I, ANTERUS, AND PONTIAN, BISHOPS OF ROME; AND SAINT HIPPOLYTUS, ANTIPOPE

THE FEAST OF SAMUEL ISAAC JOSEPH SCHERESCHEWSKY, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF SHANGHAI

THE FEAST OF THOMAS HANSEN KINGO, DANISH LUTHERAN BISHOP, HYMN WRITER, AND “POET OF EASTERTIDE”

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Almighty God, we praise you for your servant Henry Knox Sherrill,

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:  Indochina, 1842

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINT MATTHÊÔ LÊ VAN GAM (CIRCA 1813-MAY 11, 1847)

Vietnamese Roman Catholic Martyr

Alternative feast day = November 24 (as one of the Martyrs of Vietnam)

St. Matthêô Lê Van Gam found his vocation as a layman.  He, born circa 1813 in Gò Công, Biên Hòa, Vietnam, grew up in a Christian family.  Our saint studied at the seminary at Lai Thieu, but left to assume his responsibilities as the firstborn son in his family.  He married and became the father of four children, two of whom died because they were Christian.  After an incident of infidelity our saint rededicated himself to his faith and to the Church, especially to assisting missionaries.

Emperor Nguyen Phuoc Toan (Thiêu Tri, reigned 1841-1847) persecuted Christians.  In 1864 our saint came to the attention of authorities.  He, a skilled sailor, was smuggling Christians out of the country.  For example, in two separate trips, our saint smuggled a group of seminarians to Malaysia and a group of diocesan priests out of the kingdom.  In July 1846 authorities arrested our saint, who bribed some soldiers successfully yet failed to escape imprisonment and frequent torture after he refused to desecrate a cross.  On May 11, 1847, at Cho Ðui, Dong Nai, Vietnam, our saint died of beheading after three blows.

Pope Leo XIII declared our saint a Venerable in 1899 then a Blessed the following year.  Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1988.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 13, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF EDWARD WHITE BENSON, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

THE FEAST OF CHRISTIAN DAVID, MORAVIAN MISSIONARY

THE FEAST OF LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMNODIST

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Gracious God, in every age you have sent men and women

who have given their lives in witness to your love and truth.

Inspire us with the memory of Saint Matthêô Lê Van Gam,

whose faithfulness led to the way of the cross, and give us courage

to bear full witness with our lives to your Son’s victory over sin and death,

for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Ezekiel 20:40-42

Psalm 5

Revelation 6:9-11

Mark 8:34-38

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

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Above:  The Reverend John James Moment

Image Sources = The Cyber Hymnal and HymnTime.com

(http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/m/o/m/moment_jj.htm and http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/m/o/m/moment_jj.htm)

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JOHN JAMES MOMENT (FEBRUARY 1, 1875-MAY 11, 1959)

U.S. Presbyterian Minister and Hymn Writer

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Forceful and persuasive preacher, civic leader, trusted counsellor in affairs of Church and community, gracious interpreter of the things of the spirit through song and sermons; now completing his twenty-eighth year of service in his present parish, he has fulfilled all the desired qualifications of a faithful and devoted pastor.

—Princeton Alumni Weekly (1946) on John James Moment

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John James Moment (1875-1959), son of a Canadian Methodist pastor, was born in Orono, Ontario, on February 1, 1875  He, having come to the United States at a young age, graduated from Princeton University in 1896 and taught at the Lawrenceville School, near Princeton, New Jersey, from 1898 to 1904.  Our saint, perceiving a call to ordained ministry, attended Hartford Theological Seminary next, graduating in 1906.  His ministerial career entailed him serving at the following congregations:

1. First Presbyterian Church, East Orange, New Jersey (1906-1908), as Assistant Minister;
2. Bergen Reformed Church, Jersey City, New Jersey (1908-1911), as Assistant Minister;
3. High Street Presbyterian Church, Newark New Jersey (1911-1918); and finally,
4. Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church, Plainfield, New Jersey (1918-retirement, meaning at least through 1946).

Above:  The Cornerstone of Cresecent Avenue Presbyterian Church

Image used with the gracious permission of Dan Damon, Plainfield, NJ

Moment wrote prose and poetry.  A book was Faith in Christ (1917).  And he, having composed hymn texts, served on the committee which produced The Hymnal (1933) for the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.  “God of Compassion, in Mercy Befriend Us”  is available at my GATHERED PRAYERS weblog.  Another hymn of his follows:

Men and children everywhere,

With sweet music fill the air!

Nations, come, your voices raise

To the Lord in hymns of praise!

Join the angel song,

All the worlds to Him belong!

Holy, holy,

To our God all glory be!

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Morning, evening, bless His name,

Skies with crimson clouds aflame,

Rainbow arch, His covenant sign,

Countless stars by night that shine!

Through His far domain,

Love is King where He doth reign!

Holy, holy,

To our God all glory be!

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Storm and food and ocean’s roar,

Breakers crashing on the shore,

Waterfalls that never sleep,

Towering mountain, canyon deep,

Tell ye forth His might,

Lord of life and truth and right!

Holy, holy,

To our God all glory be!

Moment cared actively for and about others.  Thus, in addition to what I have mentioned, he founded the Plainfield Community Forum in 1944.  This organization continues to meet needs of people by working with public and private-sector partners to make a variety of programs possible for a diverse population ranging from the young to elderly.  One program is Meals on Wheels, for example.

John James Moment made a great and positive impact where he was.  His legacy survives him, fortunately.  May each of us likewise love God and our neighbors actively and effectively.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 24, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF HENRY CLAY SHUTTLEWORTH, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT ANTHONY CLARET, FOUNDER OF THE CLARETIANS

THE FEAST OF ROSA PARKS, MOTHER OF THE MODERN-DAY CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

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

Lead us by his love to serve all to whom the world offers no comfort and little help.

Through us give hope to the hopeless,

love to the unloved,

peace to the troubled,

and rest to the weary,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Hosea 2:18-23

Psalm 94:1-15

Romans 12:9-21

Luke 6:20-36

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 60

Rosa Chinensis

Image Source = Sakurai Midori

1 (PHILIP AND JAMES, APOSTLES AND MARTYRS)

2 (Alexander of Alexandria, Patriarch; and Athanasius of Alexandria, Patriarch and “Father of Orthodoxy”)

• Charles Silvester Horne, English Congregationalist Minister and Hymn Writer
• Christian Friedrich Hasse, German-British Moravian Composer and Educator
• Elias Boudinot, IV, U.S. Stateman, Philanthropist, and Witness for Social Justice
• Julia Bulkley Cady Cory, U.S. Presbyterian Hymn Writer
• Sigismund of Burgundy, King; Clotilda, Frankish Queen; and Clodoald, Frankish Prince and Abbot

3 (Caroline Chisholm, English Humanitarian and Social Reformer)

• Antonin Dvořák, Czech Roman Catholic Composer
• Johann Sebastian Bach Hodges, Episcopal Priest, Liturgist, Organist, and Composer
• Marie-Léonie Paradis, Founder of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family
• Maura and Timothy of Antinoe, Martyrs, 286
• Tomasso Acerbis, Capuchin Friar

4 (Ceferino Jimenez Malla, Spanish Romani Martyr, 1936)

• Angus Dun, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, and Ecumenist
• Basil Martysz, Polish Orthodox Priest and Martyr, 1945
• Henry Parr, Anglican Priest and Hymn Tune Composer
• Jean-Martin Moyë, Roman Catholic Priest, Missionary in China, and Founder of the Sisters of Divine Providence and the Christian Virgins
• John Houghton, Robert Lawrence, Augustine Webster, Humphrey Middlemore, William Exmew, and Sebastian Newdigate, Roman Catholic Martyrs, 1535

5 (Charles William Schaeffer, U.S. Lutheran Minister, Historian, Theologian, and Liturgist)

• Caterina Cittadini, Founder of the Ursuline Sisters of Somasco
• Edmund Ignatius Rice, Founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools of Ireland and the Congregation of Presentation Brothers
• Friedrich von Hügel, Roman Catholic Independent Scholar and Philosopher
• Honoratus of Arles and Hilary of Arles, Roman Catholic Bishops; and Venantius of Modon and Caprasius of Lerins, Roman Catholic Hermits
• T. Tertius Noble, Anglican then Episcopal Liturgist, Organist, and Composer

6 (Nagai Takashi, Japanese Roman Catholic Physician and Spiritual Writer)

• Anna Rosa Gattorno, Founder of the Institute of the Daughters of Saint Anne, Mother of Mary Immaculate
• Clarence Dickinson, U.S. Presbyterian Organist and Composer
• Maria Catalina Troiani, Founder of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
• Michael Schirmer, German Lutheran Hymn Writer
• Willibald of Eichstatt and Lullus of Mainz, Roman Catholic Bishops; Walburga of Heidenhelm, Roman Catholic Abbess; Petronax of Monte Cassino, Winnebald of Heidenhelm, Wigbert of Fritzlar, and Sturmius of Fulda, Roman Catholic Abbots; and Sebaldus of Vincenza, Roman Catholic Hermit and Missionary

7 (Domitian of Huy, Roman Catholic Archbishop)

• Alexis Toth, Russian Orthodox Priest and Defender of Orthodoxy in America
• Harriet Starr Cannon, Founder of the Community of Saint Mary
• Joseph Armitage Robinson, Anglican Dean, Scholar, and Hymn Writer
• Rosa Venerini, Founder of the Venerini Sisters; and her protégé, of Lucia Filippini, Founder of the Religious Teachers Filippini
• Tobias Clausnitzer, German Lutheran Minister and Hymn Writer

8 (Juliana of Norwich, Mystic and Spiritual Writer)

• Acacius of Byzantium, Martyr, 303
• Henri Dumont, Roman Catholic Composer and Organist
• Magdalena of Canossa, Founder of the Daughters of Charity and the Sons of Charity
• Marie-Catherine de Saint-Agustin, French Roman Catholic Nun and Co-Founder of the Roman Catholic Church in Canada
• Peter of Tarentaise, Roman Catholic Archbishop

9 (Stefan Grelewski and his brother, Kazimierz Grelewski, Polish Roman Catholic Priests and Martyrs, 1941 and 1942)

• Dietrich Buxtehude, Lutheran Organist and Composer
• Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, Co-Founders of the Catholic Worker Movement
• Karolina Gerhardinger, Founder of the Poor Teachers Sisters of Notre Dame (the School Sisters of Notre Dame)
• Maria del Carmen Rendiles Martinez, Founder of the Servants of Jesus of Caracas
• Thomas Toke Lynch, English Congregationalist Minister and Hymn Writer

10 (Enrico Rebuschini, Roman Catholic Priest and Servant of the Sick; and his mentor, Luigi Guanella, Founder of the Daughters of Saint Mary of Providence, the Servants of Charity, and the Confraternity of Saint Joseph)

• Anna Laetitia Waring, Humanitarian and Hymn Writer; and her uncle, Samuel Miller Waring, Hymn Writer
• Ivan Merz, Croatian Roman Catholic Intellectual
• John of Ávila, Spanish Roman Catholic Priest, Mystic, and Spiritual Writer; the “Apostle of Andalusia”
• John Goss, Anglican Church Composer and Organist; and William Mercer, Anglican Priest and Hymn Translator
• Vasile Aftenie, Romanian Roman Catholic Bishop and Martyr, 1950

11 (Henry Knox Sherrill, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church)

• Barbara Andrews, First Female Minister in The American Lutheran Church, 1970
• Gjon Koda, Albanian Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1947
• John James Moment, U.S. Presbyterian Minister and Hymn Writer
• Matteo Ricci, Roman Catholic Missionary
• Matthêô Lê Van Gam, Vietnamese Roman Catholic Martyr, 1847

12 (Germanus I of Constantinople, Patriarch of Constantinople, and Defender of Icons)

• Gregory of Ostia, Roman Catholic Abbot, Cardinal, and Legate; and Dominic of the Causeway, Roman Catholic Hermit
• Paul Mazakute, First Sioux Episcopal Priest
• Roger Schütz, Founder of the Taizé Community
• Sylvester II, Bishop of Rome

13 (Henri Dominique Lacordaire, French Roman Catholic Priest, Dominican, and Advocate for the Separation of Church and State)

• Frances Perkins, United States Secretary of Labor
• Gemma of Goriano Sicoli, Italian Roman Catholic Anchoress
• Glyceria of Heraclea, Martyr, Circa 177
• Unita Blackwell, African-American Civil Rights Activist, Rural Community Development Specialist, and Mayor of Mayersville, Mississippi

14 (Francis Makemie, Father of American Presbyterianism and Advocate for Religious Toleration)

• Carthage the Younger, Irish Abbot-Bishop
• Maria Dominica Mazzarello, Co-Founder of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians
• Theodore I, Bishop of Rome
• Victor the Martyr and Corona of Damascus, Martyrs in Syria, 165

15 (JUNIA AND ANDRONICUS, CO-WORKERS OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE)

16 (Andrew Fournet and Elizabeth Bichier, Co-Founders of the Daughters of the Cross; and Michael Garicoits, Founder of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Betharram)

• Cyril Alington, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer
• John Nepomucene, Bohemian Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1393
• Martyrs of the Sudan, 1983-2005
• Ubaldo Baldassini, Roman Catholic Bishop of Gubbio
• Vladimir Ghika, Romanian Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1954

17 (Thomas Bradbury Chandler, Anglican Priest; his son-in-law, John Henry Hobart, Episcopal Bishop of New York; and his grandson, William Hobart Hare, Apostle to the Sioux and Episcopal Missionary Bishop of Niobrara then South Dakota)

• Caterina Volpicelli, Founder of the Servants of the Sacred Heart; Ludovico da Casoria, Founder of the Gray Friars of Charity and Co-Founder of the Gray Sisters of Saint Elizabeth; and Giulia Salzano, Founder of the Congregation of the Catechetical Sisters of the Sacred Heart
• Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall, Attorneys and Civil Rights Activists
• Donald Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury
• Ivan Ziatyk, Polish Ukrainian Greek Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1952
• John Armstrong, Anglican Bishop of Grahamstown, South Africa; and Hymn Writer

18 (Maltbie Davenport Babcock, U.S. Presbyterian Minister, Humanitarian, and Hymn Writer)

• Felix of Cantalice, Italian Roman Catholic Friar
• John I, Bishop of Rome
• Mary McLeod Bethune, African-American Educator and Social Activist
• Potamon of Heraclea, Bishop of Heraclea, Egypt; and Martyr, circa 340
• Stanislaw Kubski, Polish Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1945

19 (Jacques Ellul, French Reformed Theologian and Sociologist)

• Celestine V, Bishop of Rome
• Dunstan of Canterbury, Abbot of Glastonbury and Archbishop of Canterbury
• Georg Gottfried Muller, German-American Moravian Minister and Composer
• Ivo of Kermartin, Roman Catholic Attorney, Priest, and Advocate for the Poor
• Peter Wright, English Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1651

20 (Alcuin of York, Abbot of Tours)

• Columba of Rieti and Osanna Andreasi, Dominican Mystics
• John Eliot, “The Apostle to the Indians”
• Mariá Angélica Pérez, Roman Catholic Nun
• Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, Founder of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne

21 (Christian de Chergé and His Companions, Martyrs of Tibhirine, Algeria, 1996)

• Eugene de Mazenod, Bishop of Marseilles, and Founder of the Congregation of the Missionaries, Oblates of Mary Immaculate
• Franz Jägerstätter, Austrian Roman Catholic Conscientious Objector and Martyr, 1943
• Joseph Addison and Alexander Pope, English Poets
• Lawrence Tuttiett, Anglican and Scottish Episcopal Priest, and Hymn Writer
• Manuel Gómez González, Spanish-Brazilian Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1924; and Adilo Daronch, Brazilian Roman Catholic Altar Boy and Martyr, 1924

22 (Frederick Hermann Knubel, President of the United Lutheran Church in America)

• Humility, Italian Roman Catholic Hermitess and Abbess
• John Forest and Thomas Abel, English Roman Catholic Priests and Martyrs, 1538 and 1540
• Julia of Corsica, Martyr at Corsica, 620
• Maria Rita Lópes Pontes de Souza Brito, Brazilian Roman Catholic Nun

23 (Ivo of Chartres, Roman Catholic Bishop)

• Frederick Augustus Bennett, First Maori Anglican Bishop in Aotearoa/New Zealand
• Józef Kurgawa and Wincenty Matuszewski, Polish Roman Catholic Priests and Martyrs, 1940
• William of Perth, English Roman Catholic Baker and Martyr, 1201

24 (Nicolaus Selnecker, German Lutheran Minister, Theologian, and Hymn Writer)

• Benjamin Carr, Anglo-American Composer and Organist
• Jackson Kemper, Episcopal Missionary Bishop
• Edith Mary Mellish (a.k.a. Mother Edith), Founder of the Community of the Sacred Name
• Maria Gargani, Founder of the Sisters Apostles of the Sacred Heart
• Mary Madeleva Wolff, U.S. Roman Catholic Nun, Poet, Scholar, and President of Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana

25 (Bede of Jarrow, Roman Catholic Abbot and Father of English History)

• Aldhelm of Sherborne, Poet, Literary Scholar, Abbot of Malmesbury, and Bishop of Sherborne
• Cristobal Magollanes Jara and Agustin Caloca Cortés, Mexican Roman Catholic Priests and Martyrs, 1927
• Madeleine-Sophie Barat, Founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart; and Rose Philippine Duchesne, Roman Catholic Nun and Missionary
• Mykola Tsehelskyi, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1951

26 (Augustine of Canterbury, Archbishop)

• Lambert Péloguin of Vence, Roman Catholic Monk and Bishop
• Philip Neri, the Apostle of Rome and the Founder of the Congregation of the Oratory
• Quadratus the Apologist, Early Christian Apologist

27 (Paul Gerhardt, German Lutheran Minister and Hymn Writer)

• Alfred Rooker, English Congregationalist Philanthropist and Hymn Writer; and his sister, Elizabeth Rooker Parson, English Congregationalist Hymn Writer
• Amelia Bloomer, U.S. Suffragette
• John Charles Roper, Anglican Archbishop of Ottawa
• Lojze Grozde, Slovenian Roman Catholic Martyr, 1943

28 (John H. W. Stuckenberg, German-American Lutheran Minister and Academic)

• Bernard of Menthon, Roman Catholic Priest and Archdeacon of Aosta
• Edwin Pond Parker, U.S. Congregationalist Minister and Hymn Writer
• Hardwicke Drummond Rawnsley, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer
• Jeremias Dencke, Silesian-American Moravian Composer and Organist; and Simon Peter and Johann Friedrich Peter, German-American Composers, Educators, Musicians, and Ministers
• Robert McAfee Brown, U.S. Presbyterian Minister, Theologian, Activist, and Ecumenist

29 (Percy Dearmer, Anglican Canon and Translator and Author of Hymns)

• Bona of Pisa, Roman Catholic Mystic and Pilgrim
• Jiri Tranovsky, Luther of the Slavs and Father of Slovak Hymnody
• Mary Theresa Ledóchowska, Founder of the Missionary Sisters of Saint Peter Claver, and “Mother of the African Missions;” and her sister, Ursula Ledóchowska, Founder of the Congregation of the Ursulines of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus (Gray Ursulines)
• Ruby Middleton Forsythe, African-American Episcopal Educator

30 (Joan of Arc, Roman Catholic Visionary and Martyr, 1430)

• Apolo Kivebulaya, Apostle to the Pygmies
• Joachim Neander, German Reformed Minister and Hymn Writer
• Josephine Butler, English Feminist and Social Reformer
• Luke Kirby, Thomas Cottam, William Filby, and Laurence Richardson, Roman Catholic Priests and Martyrs, 1582

31 (VISITATION OF MARY TO ELIZABETH)

Floating

• Ascension
• First Book of Common Prayer, 1549

 

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

Image in the Public Domain

SAINT MATTEO RICCI (OCTOBER 7, 1552-MAY 11, 1610)

Roman Catholic Missionary to China

To say or write that we stand on the shoulders of giants has become cliched.  Yet often the sentiment is accurate.  Certainly it applies to many Chinese Christians and Christians of Chinese descent.  For, despite the best efforts of Chinese authorities from the 1700s forward to suppress Christianity, the faith has never died there.  And a giant of faith–St. Matteo Ricci–a saint on my Ecunemical Calendar–did much to establish the church there.

Ricci, born to Italian nobility in Macarata, studied law at Rome.  There, in 1571, our saint, against his father’s wishes, joined the Society of Jesus.  Ricci volunteered for missions in India in 1577.  He arrived in Goa the following year.

Ricci’s greatest work, however, was in China, where St. Francis Xavier had labored faithfully yet not successfully.  (As Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, God calls us to be faithful, not successful.)  Yet, in 1583, Ricci arrived at Chowkingfu (near Canton), from where he worked as a missionary for about six years.  From 1589 to 1595 our saint served as a missionary based at Chaochow.  His next stations were Nan-changfu (until 1598) then Nanjing then Beijing (fro 1601).

Ricci’s life as a missionary in China was challenging, for how does one adapt properly to a different culture?  How to dress was a major issue.  Our saint learned to adopt the wardrobe of a Confucian scholar.  He and his fellow Jesuits in China adapted to Chinese culture, becoming fluent in Mandarin, mastering Chinese classics,and speaking with Chinese scholars–working from the top of society down.  The fact that Ricci had prisms, clocks, and geographical, astronomical, and musical knowledge impressed many Chinese elites greatly, opening doors for his mission.

So, despite challenges, Ricci and his fellow Jesuits were able to make inroads at Beijing, with the emperor and the imperial court.  Jesuit knowledge of astronomy made members of that order useful to the Son of Heaven, whose duties included maintaining an accurate calendar showing the locations of heavenly bodies.  They were more skilled at that difficult task than were the people attempting it.  And the emperor, coming under Christian influence, did not convert, but some courtiers and members of the imperial family did.

The Jesuit mission in China, by working within Chinese culture–a tactic appropriate in the Middle Kingdom–opened up China to Catholic missionaries.  And the Jesuit mission created a cultural exchange.  Not only did Jesuits learn much about China, but Chinese elites gained knowledge about the West, learning Euclidian geometry and seeing an clavichord, for example.  Ricci’s detailed volume about Chinese geography expanded knowledge about that subject in Western Europe also.

The saint died at Beijing on May 11, 1610.

Unfortunately, political pressures sabotaged the Jesuit mission in China.  Had the Jesuits accommodated to Chinese culture too much?   Some Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians thought so.  Their tactics of working among the common people instead alienated leading elements in China, making life more difficult for the Jesuits.  And Confucian opposition to Christianity, grounded in xenophobia, cultural misunderstanding, and doubts about major doctrines, encouraged the imperial suppression of Christianity which began in 1722.

I wonder what would have happened if more missionaries had done as Ricci did.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 4, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ALL CHRISTIAN ENVIRONMENTALISTS

THE FEAST OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI, FOUNDER OF THE FRANCISCANS

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God of grace and glory, we praise you for your servant Saint Matteo Ricci,

who made the good news known in China.

Raise up, we pray, in every country, heralds of the gospel,

so that the world may know the immeasurable riches of your love,

and be drawn to worship you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Isaiah 62:1-7

Psalm 48

Romans 10:11-17

Luke 24:44-53

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 59

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