Above:  England, 600 C.E.

Image scanned by Kenneth Randolph Taylor from Hammond’s World Atlas–Classics Edition (1968)

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SAINT AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY (DIED MAY 26, 604 OR 605)

Archbishop of Canterbury

Anglican feast day = May 26

Roman Catholic feast day = May 27

Alternative feast day = May 28

In 596 our saint was the Prior of the Monastery of St. Andrew, Rome.  If he had remained there, he would have been at most a footnote in history.  That year, however, Pope St. Gregory I “the Great” appointed him to lead a group of 30 or so missionary monks to southern England.  The Christian Gospel had most likely come to the island of Britain with the Roman army.  In the wake of Roman withdrawal and pagan invasions, however, the Celtic Church was present mostly in the western and northern regions of the island.

The Italian-born monk and his entourage arrived in the Kingdom of Kent in 597.  King Ethelbert of Kent (reigned circa 597-616) and his Frankish Christian wife, Bertha (both saints in the Roman Catholic Church), welcomed them.  With royal support the monks settled in Canterbury and began to preach.  That year, at Arles, he became a bishop.  Four years later St. Gregory the Great promoted St. Augustine to the rank of Archbishop.  As the first Archbishop of Canterbury St. Augustine ordained priests, consecrated bishops (including St. Mellitus, a subsequent Archbishop of Canterbury), consecrated the cathedral at Canterbury, presided over the construction of the Monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul (later renamed St. Augustine’s), converted King Ethelbert and many royal subjects, and attempted to united the Celtic and Roman Catholic Churches.  He did not live long enough to witness the completion of the final goal at the Synod of Whitby (664).

The year of St. Augustine’s death is uncertain.  The official website of the Archbishop of Canterbury states that he died between 604 and 609.  The 1968 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica lists his death as occurring no earlier than 604 and probably before Easter 607.  The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Second Edition, 1974) states that our saint died in either 604 or 605.  The 1962 edition of The Encyclopedia Americana provides 604 as the year of his death.  Common Worship:  Services and Prayers for the Church of England (2000) lists 605 as the year of his death.   Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010) and A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  A Calendar of Commemorations (2016), resources of The Episcopal Church, also list the year of St. Augustine’s death as 605.

St. Augustine of Canterbury, with help from other saints (not all of them canonized), laid a fine foundation for the Roman Catholic Church in Britain.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 7, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF PHILIP AND DANIEL BERRIGAN, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND SOCIAL ACTIVISTS

THE FEAST OF ANNE ROSS COUSIN, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF GERALD THOMAS NOEL, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER; BROTHER OF BAPTIST WRIOTHESLEY NOEL, ANGLICAN PRIEST, ENGLISH BAPTIST EVANGELIST, AND HYMN WRITER; AND HIS NIECE, CAROLINE MARIA NOEL, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF MARIA JOSEPHA ROSSELLO, COFOUNDER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF OUR LADY OF PITY

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O Lord our God, by your Son Jesus Christ you called your apostles

and sent them forth to preach the Gospel to the nations:

We bless your holy Name for your servant Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury,

whose labors in propagating your Church among the English people we commemorate today;

and we pray that all whom you call and send may do your will, and bide your time, and see your glory;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with

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

Tobit 13:1, 10-11

Psalm 66:1-8

2 Corinthians 5:17-20a

Luke 5:1-11

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 389

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No bond but the bond of love.

Above:  St. Philip Neri

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINT PHILIP ROMOLO NERI (JULY 22, 1515-MAY 27, 1595)

The Apostle of Rome and the Founder of the Congregation of the Oratory

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–St. Philip Neri

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St. Philip Neri was a humble man given to self-deprecating humor and practical jokes.  He came from Italian nobility who had fallen on hard times; Francesco Neri, the father, was a notary at Florence who barely earned a living.  St. Philip was a pious young man who learned the humanities under the tutelage of Dominicans at Florence.  At the age of 16 years our saint went to San Germano, near Monte Cassino, to assist his father’s cousin, a businessman.  St. Philip, who frequently prayed in a Benedictine chapel, was on track to become the cousin’s heir when he left his family behind and went, penniless, to Rome, to pursue a religious calling.

For 17 years St. Philip lived as a layman in the Eternal City.  During much of that time he worked as the tutor to the sons of Galeotto Caccia, late of Florence.  In charge for those services our saint lived in a room and received an allowance of flour.  He also wrote poetry.  Furthermore, St. Philip studied philosophy at the Sapienza and theology with the Augustinians.  Eventually he sold his books and gave the money to the poor.  In 1544 or so St. Philip befriended St. Ignatius Loyola (1491/1495-1556), the founder of the Society of Jesus.  In the middle and late 1540s our saint lived as a hermit and an ascetic.  He reported occasional visions, which affected him profoundly.  One vision, from 1544, was of a globe of fire entering his heart.  This meant to our saint that God had enlarged his heart.  One piece of evidence of that compassion was the founding of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Trinity, to care for convalescents and pilgrims, by St. Philip and his confessor, Persiano Rosa, in 1548.

Then, in 1551, at the urging of Rosa, St. Philip became a priest.  He took an interest in the lives of others, for their benefit.  In the mornings our saint heard confessions at the Church of San Girolamo.  On some mornings he heard 40 confessions before dawn.  In the afternoons St. Philip met informally with men and boys, engaging in leisure with them.  Our saint became the center of a religious community.  At meetings of this community, which consisted mostly of laymen, lay people spoke at length.  This fact led to false allegations of heresy–Protestantism, to be precise–against St. Philip.  Ecclesiastical authorities cleared him of charges.  In 1575 Pope Gregory XIII recognized this community as the Congregation of the Oratory.  Priests of the Congregation devoted themselves to preaching and teaching.

Along the way, while in Rome, other spiritual developments occurred in the life of St. Philip.  In the 1550s he pondered leaving the Eternal City for India.  With help he concluded that God was not calling him to serve as a missionary in the subcontinent.  Also, in 1562-1564 our saint struggled with an invitation to become the Rector of the Church of San Giovanni, Rome, the parish of Florentines there.  A papal compromise in 1564 led to St. Philip finally accepting that invitation while remaining at the Church of San Girolamo and sending five priests to represent him.

Meanwhile, the Church of San Maria, Vallicella, had been part of the holdings of the Congregation of the Oratory since 1575.  St. Philip, obeying a papal command, left the Church of San Girolamo, Rome, for Vallicella in 1583.  Pope Gregory XIV offered St. Philip the status of Cardinal in 1590; our saint politely declined.  St. Philip, aged 79 years, died of natural causes in Vallicella in 1595.

Pope Paul V beatified St. Philip in 1615.  Pope Gregory XV canonized him seven years later.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 7, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF PHILIP AND DANIEL BERRIGAN, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND SOCIAL ACTIVISTS

THE FEAST OF ANNE ROSS COUSIN, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF GERALD THOMAS NOEL, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER; BROTHER OF BAPTIST WRIOTHESLEY NOEL, ANGLICAN PRIEST, ENGLISH BAPTIST EVANGELIST, AND HYMN WRITER; AND HIS NIECE, CAROLINE MARIA NOEL, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF MARIA JOSEPHA ROSSELLO, COFOUNDER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF OUR LADY OF PITY

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Almighty God, we praise you for your servant Saint Philip Neri,

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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certain wicked men were trying to get our people into trouble.

Above:  The Roman Empire, 117 C.E.

Scanned by Kenneth Randolph Taylor from Hammond’s World Atlas–Classics Edition (1957)

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SAINT QUADRATUS THE APOLOGIST (SECOND CENTURY C.E.)

Early Christian Apologist

Eusebius of Caesarea (circa 260-339) mentioned one Quadratus in his Ecclesiastical History.  The great historian, without explaining who Quadratus was, wrote that Quadratus had written a defense of Christian faith and sent it to the Roman Emperor Hadrian (reigned 117-138) because, as Eusebius explained,

—Eusebius–The Church History:  A New Translation with Commentary, translated by Paul L. Maier (Grand Rapids, MI:  Kregel Publications, 1999), page 136

Eusebius also wrote that copies of that document were commonplace among Christians then praised the intelligence and orthodoxy of Quadratus.  Next the great historian quoted that apologia:

Our Savior’s deeds were always there to see, for they were true:  those who were cured or those who rose from the dead were seen not only when they were cured or raised but were constantly there to see, not only while the Savior was living among us, but also for some time after his departure.  Some of them, in fact, survived right up to our time.

–Maier, page 136

Copies of the apologia of Quadratus were commonplace in the lifetime of Eusebius, but the document has not survived the ravages of time.  We would not have the opportunity to read any part of it except for the fact that Eusebius included an excerpt.

St. Jerome (347-419) understood the apologist to have been St. Quadratus of Athens, the Bishop of Athens, Greece, in the 120s.  Many subsequent scholars have disagreed with that conclusion, though.  On one hand, the apologia dated to 124 or 125, so the timeframe fit.  On the other hand, how many Quadratuses were contemporaries of each other?

Regardless of who St. Quadratus the Apologist was, we can be certain of one fact:  he was the earliest known Christian apologist.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 7, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF PHILIP AND DANIEL BERRIGAN, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND SOCIAL ACTIVISTS

THE FEAST OF ANNE ROSS COUSIN, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF GERALD THOMAS NOEL, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER; BROTHER OF BAPTIST WRIOTHESLEY NOEL, ANGLICAN PRIEST, ENGLISH BAPTIST EVANGELIST, AND HYMN WRITER; AND HIS NIECE, CAROLINE MARIA NOEL, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF MARIA JOSEPHA ROSSELLO, COFOUNDER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF OUR LADY OF PITY

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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 servant Saint Quadratus the Apologist,

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:  Kingdom of France, 1140

Scanned by Kenneth Randolph Taylor from the Rand McNally World Atlas–Imperial Edition (1968)

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BLESSED LAMBERT PÉLOGUIN OF VENCE (1084-1154)

Roman Catholic Monk and Bishop

Blessed Lambert Péloguin was a humble and pious monk.  Our saint, born in Bauduen, France, grew up without his mother; she had died while giving birth to him.  At the age of 12 years Blessed Lambert began to live among the Benedictine monks at Lérins.  After two years he joined that order.  Being a monk satisfied our saint, who left that life behind only reluctantly in 1114 to become the Bishop of Vence.  For the rest of his life Blessed Lambert, as a bishop, earned his reputation for piety, humility, and Christian charity.  His charitable acts included overseeing the construction of hospitals and the functioning of programs to support widows and orphans.  Our saint’s reputation for probity was such that he was in demand as an arbiter.

Accounts of people who have been guilty of serial perfidy and who have cloaked themselves in self-righteousness, therefore in the stench of hypocrisy, are as old as antiquity and as recent as current events.  In such a context to ponder the life of a man of integrity and humility is a great pleasure.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 7, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF PHILIP AND DANIEL BERRIGAN, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND SOCIAL ACTIVISTS

THE FEAST OF ANNE ROSS COUSIN, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF GERALD THOMAS NOEL, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER; BROTHER OF BAPTIST WRIOTHESLEY NOEL, ANGLICAN PRIEST, ENGLISH BAPTIST EVANGELIST, AND HYMN WRITER; AND HIS NIECE, CAROLINE MARIA NOEL, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF MARIA JOSEPHA ROSSELLO, COFOUNDER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF OUR LADY OF PITY

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

and to give his life for the life of 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,

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

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Above:  Shadow Vessels from Babylon 5:  Shadow Dancing (1996)

(Image courtesy of PowerDVD and a legal DVD)

What Do You Want?

MAY 1, 2016

MAY 26, 2019

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THE FIRST READING

Acts 16:9-15 (Revised English Bible):

During the night a vision came to Paul: a Macedonian stood there appealing to him,

Cross over to Macedonia and help us.

As soon as he had seen this vision, we set about getting a passage to Macedonia, convinced that God had called us to take the good news there.

We sailed from Troas and made a straight run to Samothrace, the next day a Neapolis, and there to Philippi, a leading city in that district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.  Here we stayed for some days, and on the sabbath we went outside the city gate by the riverside, where we thought there would be a place of prayer; we sat down and talked to the women who had gathered there.  One of those listening was called Lydia, a dealer in purple fabric, who came from the city of Thyatira; she was a worshipper of God, and the Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul said.  She was baptized, and her household with her, and then she urged us,

Now that you have accepted me as a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.

And she insisted on our going.

THE RESPONSE

Psalm 67 (Revised English Bible):

May God be gracious to us and bless us,

may he cause his face to shine on us,

that your purpose may be known on earth,

your saving power among all nations.

Let the peoples praise you, God;

let all peoples praise you.

Let nations rejoice and shout in triumph;

for you judge the peoples with equity

and guide the nations of the earth.

Let all the peoples praise you, God;

let all the peoples praise you.

The earth has yielded its harvest.

May God, our God, bless us.

God grant us his blessing,

that all the ends of the earth may fear him.

THE SECOND READING

Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5 (New Revised Standard Version):

In the spirit the angel carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.

I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day– and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

THE GOSPEL READING:  FIRST OPTION

John 14:23-29 (New Revised Standard Version):

Jesus said to Judas (not Iscariot),

Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.

I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I am coming to you.” If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.

THE GOSPEL READING:  SECOND OPTION

John 5:1-9 (The New Testament in Modern English–Revised Edition):

Some time later came one of the Jewish feast-days and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  There in in Jerusalem near the sheep-pens a pool surrounded by five arches, which has the Hebrew name of Bethzatha.  Under these arches a great many sick people were in the habit of lying; some of them were blind, some lame, an some had withered limbs.  (They used to wait there for the “moving of the water,” for a certain times an angel used to come down into the pool and disturb the water, and then the first person who stepped into the water after the disturbance would be healed of whatever he was suffering from.)  One particular man had been there ill for thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there on his back–knowing that he had been like that for a long time, he said to him,

Do you want to get well again?

The sick man replied,

Sir, I haven’t got anybody to put me into the pool when the water is all stirred up.  While I’m trying to get there somebody else gets into it first.

Jesus said,

Get up, pick up your bed and walk!

At once the man recovered, picked up his bed and began to walk.

This happened on a Sabbath day….

The Collect:

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Some Related Posts:

Prayer of Praise and Adoration:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/03/04/prayer-of-praise-and-adoration-for-the-sixth-sunday-of-easter/

Prayer of Dedication:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/03/04/prayer-of-dedication-for-the-sixth-sunday-of-easter/

 Babylon 5:  Shadow Dancing (1996):

https://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2010/07/30/babylon-5-shadow-dancing-1996/

Feast of Sts. Lydia, Dorcas, and Phoebe, Holy Women (January 29):

https://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2010/06/15/feast-of-sts-lydia-dorcas-and-phoebe-holy-wome-january-29/

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In the 1994-1998 science fiction series Babylon 5, set from 2258 to 2262, there are two ancient and rival species:  The Vorlons and the Shadows.  The Vorlons, lords of order, ask

Who are you?

The Shadows, agents of destruction, ask

What do you want?

As series creator J. Michael Straczynski has said during episode commentaries of DVD,

You have to know who you are before you can know what you want.

Also, what one wants says much about who one is.

What do we want?  Do we want to be well after having been ill for a long time?  Being well would change daily life.  Are we prepared for those new challenges?  At least being ill is familiar.

What do we want?  Do we want to be faithful to God?  If this leads to persecution, even martyrdom, are we prepared to pay the cost of discipleship?

What do we want?  Do we want God’s rule on earth?  Or do we benefit from the messed-up, human-created reality?

What does what we want reveal about who we are?  And we cannot not decide, as a poster says.  So we will make decisions, which will have consequences for ourselves and others.  Who we are matters greatly, as does what we want.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 16, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF RUFUS JONES, QUAKER THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN FRANCIS REGIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST

THE FEAST OF JOSEPH BUTLER, ANGLICAN BISHOP

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Above:  Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury

THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER (1549)

Effective on the Day of Pentecost, June 9, 1549, During the Reign of King Edward VI

The Episcopal Church specifies that one observes this feast properly on a weekday after the Day of Pentecost.

The 1549 Book of Common Prayer, which, along with many of its successors, is available at http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/, was mainly the product of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury and poet extraordinaire.  He translated texts from various sources, ranging from Greek liturgies to German Lutheran rites to the Roman Catholic missal and the Liturgy of the Hours.  Along the way Cranmer quoted the Bible extensively.  Thus it is a common Anglican and Episcopal joke to say that the Bible quotes the Prayer Book.

My first encounter with the Book of Common Prayer was indirect, so indirect in fact that I was not aware of it.  I grew up United Methodist in the era of the 1966 Methodist Hymnal, which is far superior to the 1989 United Methodist Hymnal.  The ritual in the 1966 Hymnal was that of its 1935 and 1905 predecessors, that is, based on the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.   So, when I saw the 1979 Prayer Book and read Holy Eucharist Rite I, I recognized it immediately, down to the Prayer of Humble Access.

Now I an Episcopalian.  As someone told me early this year, I left the church that John Wesley made and joined the church that made John Wesley.  The rhythms of the 1979 Prayer Book have sunk into my synapses and my soul.  I also use A New Zealand Prayer Book (1989), of  The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, which breaks out from parts of tradition creatively and beautifully while standing within the Prayer Book tradition.

I have become a person of the Prayer Book, thankfully.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 24, 2011 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT BARTHOLOMEW, APOSTLE AND MARTYR

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Almighty and everliving God, whose servant Thomas Cranmer, with others, restored the language of the people in the prayers of your Church:  Make us always thankful for this heritage; and help us to pray in the Spirit and with the understanding, that we may worthily magnify your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

1 Kings 8:54-61

Psalm 33:1-5, 20-21

Acts 2:38-42

John 4:21-24

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010)

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.