Above:  St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINT FRANCES XAVIER CABRINI (JULY 15, 1850-DECEMBER 22, 1917)

Founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart

Francesca Savierio Cabrini, born at Sant’Angelo, Lodigiano, Italy, on July 15, 1850, became a great champion of emigrants and immigrants.  She, the youngest of thirteen children, grew up on a farm and trained at a convent to become a teacher.  At the age of 18 years she tried to become a nun, but her health prevented that effort from succeeding.  Our saint taught at the House of Providence Orphanage for girls (closed in 1880) at Cadogono, Italy, for six years.  Finally, in 1877, she was able to take her monastic vows.  Three years later Cabrini founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, dedicated to the care of poor children in schools and hospitals.

Our saint aspired to become a missionary to Asia, as St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552) had done.  Pope Leo XIII (reigned 1878-1903) had another idea, however.  He sent her and six other members of the order to the United States, where an influx of Italian immigrants had led U.S. Roman Catholic bishops to request priests and religious from Italy.  Italian immigrants were a despised population for a set of reasons:

1. Most of them were Roman Catholics.  The United States was a predominantly Protestant nation-state in which anti-Roman Catholicism was endemic and accepted.  In various states in the late 1800s Blaine Amendments to constitutions prohibited the granting of public funds to parochial schools.  The real target was Catholic schools, although the wording of the amendments applied to institutions of other denominations, ironically.  And in 1884, at a rally for James G. Blaine, the Republican presidential nominee, a Presbyterian minister stated that Blaine would save the United States from the Democrats, the party of “Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion,” a reference to, in order, alcohol, Roman Catholicism, and the Civil War.  Blaine was almost certainly unaware of that remark in real time, but his support for the failed federal constitutional Blaine Amendment that inspired state constitutional amendments made criticisms of him for being anti-Roman Catholic seem not unreasonable.
2. Most of Italian immigrants were also poor.  They competed with others, including many native-born Americans, for low-paying jobs.  Economic insecurity has frequently contributed to opposition to immigration.
3. They spoke Italian and needed to learn English.  This was easier for some than it was for others.  With the issue of language came the related issue of the culture the tongue from the old country carried.  This was a point of controversy with regard to more than one ethnic group (i.e, Danes, Norwegians, Germans, Swedes) in the United States in previous generations.  [Aside:  It remains one today, mostly with regard to Hispanics.  The other groups assimilated, as many Hispanics are doing.  This year, for example, I have heard news stories about politicians having to appeal to Hispanic voters who do not speak Spanish.]
4. Nativism and xenophobia have never ceased to exist in the United States, a country of immigrants and descendants thereof, since the founding of the republic.  They have fed off the fact that immigration alters the country’s demographics, a reality that has proven frightening in the U.S.A. since the late 1700s.  This has been evident in, for example, the Alien and Sedition Acts (1798), the existence of the American Party (1843-1856), and the federal immigration law of 1924.  [Aside:  One can find evidence of nativism and xenophobia in contemporary social media and politics in many nation-states quite easily in 2016.]

Cabrini and her six companions arrived in New York City in 1889.  Their first convent, if one could call it that, was a tenement unfit for human habitation.  Archbishop Michael Corrigan, who initially thought this mission to slum-dwelling immigrants unsafe for the women, ordered them to return to Italy.  Cabrini replied that Pope Leo XIII outranked him.  In time the archbishop an advocate for and benefactor of the sisters’ work among the slum-dwelling immigrants.  Cabrini remained in the United States for the rest of her life and became a naturalized citizen.  She died of malaria at Chicago, Illinois, on December 22, 1917.  She was 67 years old.  Our saint was responsible for the existence of 67 institutions–schools, hospitals, and orphanages–in Europe, North America, and South America.

The Roman Catholic Church moved relatively rapidly to recognize Cabrini formally.  Pope Pius XI declared her a Venerable in 1937 and a Blessed the following year.  Then, in 1946, Pope Pius XII canonized her.

Cabrini is the patron of emigrants, immigrants, orphans, hospital administrators, and victims of malaria.  Her life invites to consider those who are vulnerable and those who are foreign to us.  They bear the image of God also, her life reminds us.  Will we act accordingly?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 14, 2016 COMMON ERA

PROPER 15:  THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM CROFT, ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF JONATHAN MYRICK DANIELS, EPISCOPAL SEMINARIAN AND MARTYR

THE FEAST OF MATTHIAS CLAUDIUS, GERMAN LUTHERAN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT MAXIMILIAN KOLBE, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR

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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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God our Father,

you called Frances Xavier Cabrini from Italy

to serve the immigrants of America.

By her example teach us concern for the stranger,

the sick, and the frustrated.

By her prayers help us to see Christ

in all the men and women we meet.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—Christian Prayer:  The Liturgy of the Hours (1976), page 1318

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Above:  The Flag of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Image in the Public Domain

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HENRY MARTYN DEXTER (AUGUST 13, 1821-NOVEMBER 13, 1890)

U.S. Congregationalist Minister and Historian

I, as a bookish person, like scholars, generally.  Anti-intellectualism is among the most undesirable features of certain varieties of religion.  Even Roman Catholicism, with its admirable tradition of Thomism, has also contained a strong strain of anti-intellectualism.  The rational aspect of the Anglican Three-Legged Stool (really a tricycle) is one of the theological realities which keeps me an Episcopalian.

Henry Martyn Dexter (1821-1890) was an intellectual and a scholar par excellence.  He was also a minister of the Gospel.  That union of religiosity and intellectualism warrants my respect.  That said, nobody should assume that I agree with all or many of Dexter’s opinions, especially when he quoted the Bible to criticize extending voting rights to women.  He was godly yet mistaken about a great many topics.

Our saint entered the world at Plympton, Massachusetts.  His parents were Elijah Dexter, a Congregationalist minister, and Mary Morton.  Henry graduated from Yale College (B.A., 1840) and Andover Theological Seminary (B.D., 1844).  He, ordained, served at Franklin Street Congregational Church, Manchester, New Hampshire (1844-1849), and at Berkeley Street Congregational Church, Boston, Massachusetts (1849-1867).

Dexter was an editor of publications.  He edited The Congregationalist (1849-1866) from 1851 to 1866.  From 1859 to 1875 he was one of the editors of The Congregational Quarterly (1859-1878):  1859, 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865, 1866, 1867, 1868, 1869, 1870, 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1876, 1877, and 1878.  Our saint also edited the successors of The Congregationalist:

1. The Congregationalist and Recorder (1867), and
2. The Congregationalist and Boston Recorder (1867-1901), a.k.a. The Congregationalist.

Dexter was the foremost historian of American Congregationalism.  He was a prolific author, as my research about him at archive .org revealed:

1. Our National Condition, and Its Remedy:  A Sermon, Preached in the Pine Street Church, Boston, on Sunday, June 22, 1856;
2. Christian Pamphlets (1858), as one of the authors;
3. Street Thoughts (1859);
4. Twelve Discourses (1860);
5. The History of King Philip’s War by Benjamin Church (1865), as editor;
6. The Verdict of Reason Upon the Question of the Future Punishment of Those Who Die Impenitent (1865);
7. Mourt’s Relation or Journal of the Plantation at Plymouth (1865), as editor;
8. What Ought to Be Done with the Freedmen and with the Rebels?  A Sermon Preached in the Berkeley-Street Church, Boston, on Sunday, April 23, 1865 (1865);
9. The History of the Eastern Expeditions of 1689, 1690, 1692, 1696, and 1704 Against the Indians and French by Benjamin Church (1867), as editor;
10. The Church Polity of the Pilgrims:  The Polity of the New Testament (1870);
11. Pilgrim Memoranda (1870);
12. Memoranda, Historical, Chronological, Etc., Prepared with the Hope to Aid Those Whose Interest in Pilgrim Memorials, and History, is Freshened by This Jubilee Year, and Who May Not Have a Large Historical Library at Hand (1870);
13. Congregationalism:  What It Is, Whence It Is, How It Works; Why It is Better Than Any Other Form of Church Government; and Its Consequent Demands (1874);
14. As to Roger Williams, and His “Banishment” from the Massachusetts Plantation; with a Few Further Words Concerning the Baptists, the Quakers, and Religious Liberty:  A Monograph (1876);
15. A Hand-Book of Congregationalism (1880);
16. The Congregationalism of the Last Three Hundred Years, As Seen in Its Literature (1880);
17. The True Story of John Smyth, the Se-Baptist, As Told by Himself and His Contemporaries (1881);
18. Common Sense as to Women Suffrage (1885);
19. Sketch of the Life of Increase Niles Tarbox (1890); and
20. The England and Holland of the Pilgrims (1905), completed by his son, Morton Dexter.

Our saint specialized in prose.  As his son, Morton Dexter (1846-1910), son of Emmeline Palmer, indicated, our saint

never regarded himself as a poet and never gave much attention to versifying.

Nevertheless, our saint wrote some ballads, at least one hymn, and at least one hymn translation (“Shepherd of Tender Youth”).  “Shepherd of Tender Youth” debuted in the December 21, 1849 issue of The Congregationalist.

Dexter, who received the LL.D. degree from Yale in 1890, died at New Bedford, Massachusetts, on November 13 of that year.  Yale received his library of Congregational Church history–1,850 volumes.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 23, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT DESIDERIUS/DIDIER OF VIENNE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF SAINT GUIBERT OF GORZE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN BAPTIST ROSSI, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST

THE FEAST OF NICOLAUS COPERNICUS, SCIENTIST

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

We thank you for the faithful legacy of [Henry Martyn Dexter and all others]

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

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

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

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Psalm 103

Philippians 4:8-9

Mark 12:28-34

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 6, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT CHRODEGANG OF METZ, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF EDMUND KING, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF LINCOLN

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Above:  The Compass Rose Flag of the Anglican Communion

Image Source = Alekjds

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WILLIAM ROMANIS (APRIL 30, 1824-NOVEMBER 13, 1899)

Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer

To read or sing the words of a hymn attentively is a healthy practice.  To do so with the author’s life and/or the circumstances of the writing of the text in mind is better.  Thus I bring your attention, O reader, to the life of William Romanis (1824-1899.).  I found scant information about him, but here it is:

1. Romanis came into this world at Westminster, Middlesex, England, on April 30, 1824.
2. Romanis attended Emmanuel College, Cambridge, graduating with highest honors and his B.A. in 1846 and his M.A. three years later.
3. Romanis took Anglican Holy Orders in 1847.
4. Romanis belonged to the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church.
5. Romanis was an assistant master in the classical department of Cheltenham College from 1846 to 1856.
6. Romanis served as the Curate at Axminster then at St. Mary’s, Reading.  He published two volumes of Sermons Preached at St. Mary’s, Reading (1862 and 1864).
7. Romanis served as the Vicar of Wigston Magna, Leicester, from 1863 to 1888.  In 1878 he published thirty-five texts in Hymns Written for Wigston Magna Church School.  Among these was “Round Me Falls the Night.”
8. Romanis served as the Vicar of Twyford from 1888 to 1895.  He retired from there.
9. Romanis died at Southsea, Port Sea, Hampshire, England, on November 13, 1899.

Much of the life of our saint consisted of mundane pastoral responsibilities which do not jump off the page or screen to impress many readers.  Yet “mundane” is a word which describes a great deal of daily holy living, is it not?  Our saint’s literary talent was not mundane, however, and we of today are fortunate to have access to that legacy of William Romanis.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ANNA E. B. ALEXANDER, EPISCOPAL DEACONESS

THE FEAST OF CHRISTIAN X OF DENMARK AND HAAKON VII OF NORWAY, KINGS

THE FEAST OF PAULINE SPERRY, POLITICAL ACTIVIST

THE FEAST OF ROBERT MCAFEE BROWN, ECUMENIST

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Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

William Romanis 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 Sword of Orion

Image Source = Jet Propulsion Library

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SAINT ABBO OF FLEURY (CIRCA 945-NOVEMBER 13, 1004)

Roman Catholic Abbot

St. Abbo of Fleury was a great Christian intellectual, a scholar of philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy.  He also wrote a biography of St. Edmund , martyred King of East Anglia.

The saint, born at Orleans, studied there and at Reims before becoming a Benedictine monk at Fleury-sur-Loire.  From 986 to 987 he served as abbot at the new monastery at Ramsey, England, serving also as head of the school there.  In 988 he was elected Abbot of Fleury.  A political dispute followed, for another monk, one with royal connections, claimed the post.  Yet Gerbert (the future Pope Sylvester II, 999-1004) settled the dispute in St. Abbo’s favor.

As abbot St. Abbo became caught up in the difficult church-state politics of his time; there was no way for him to stay out of it.  In 991 he attended the Synod of Basel, which deposed Arnoul as Archbishop of Reims, a vacancy which Gerbert filled for a few years.  This deposition was political, and St. Abbo helped to reinstate Arnoul in 999.  The saint also stood with Pope Gregory V (reigned 996-999) against Antipope John XVI (reigned 997-998) and tried to make peace between the Pontiff and King Robert II of France (reigned 996-1031), who wound up being excommunicated for marrying this cousin Bertha.

End-of-the-world hysteria is not new.

There was a wave of it across Europe in 999.  St. Abbo worked to calm fears at that time.

Unfortunately, the scholar-saint died violently of wounds suffered during a violent confrontation at the monastery at LaReole, in Gascony, in November 1004. He was trying to reform the monastic life there.  The fact that two groups of monks were attacking each other indicated the need for such reform.  The saint tried to end the confrontation and got stabbed for his trouble.

The more I know about St. Abbo, the  more I like him.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 1, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS

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Almighty God, beautiful in majesty, majestic in holiness:

You have shown us the splendor of creation in the work of your servant Saint Abbo of Fleury.

Teach us to drive from the world all chaos and disorder,

that our eyes may behold your glory,

and that at last everyone may know the inexhaustible richness of your new creation in Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Isaiah 28:5-6 or Hosea 14:5-8 or 2 Chronicles 20:20-21

Psalm 96

Philippians 4:8-9 or Ephesians 5:18b-20

Matthew 13:44-52

–Adapted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006),  61

Above:  A U-Turn

Image Source = Smurrayinchester

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SAINT BRICE OF TOURS (CIRCA 370-444)

Roman Catholic Bishop

Also known as Saint Britius of Tours

Sometimes I hear or a comment about how someone with obvious character flaws was or is “not a saint.”  Such a statement of what qualifies one as a saint indicates a major misunderstanding.  The New Testament definition of a saint is a Christian.  And those whom church authorities have recognized as saints have been among the first to acknowledge their sins.  The official saints were not as different from the rest of us who profess to follow Jesus and struggle with our sins as some think.  We sin, we confess our sins, we repent–“turn around,” literally–and we repeat the cycle.  What matters most is that we keep returning to the proper path.

The life of St. Brice (or Britius) of Tours (circa 370-444) is an excellent example of this principle.  He, the ward of St. Martin of Tours, tried his guardian’s patience.  St. Brice was a juvenile delinquent who heaped contempt upon the very patient St. Martin.  St. Brice reformed and became a priest, but he slipped back into unholy patterns of living.  Yet St. Martin refused to give up on him.  Of St. Brice the elder saint said,

If Christ could tolerate Judas, surely I can put up with Brice.

St. Martin succeeded in reforming St. Brice, who succeeded him as Bishop of Tours in 397.  But the younger saint demonstrated what one source called a “disagreeable character.”   For years many people tried to have him removed.  They succeeded after some accused him of having carried on an affair.  This may have been a false charge, but he was unfit for his office.  The initial phase of St. Brice’s episcopate had lasted for thirty-three years.  For seven years St. Brice insisted upon his innocence.  Finally, restored as Bishop of Tours, he was a changed man, one whose lived holiness was impossible not to notice.  He died in 444, beloved.

I wonder:  How might St. Brice have turned out without human and divine patience?  And how will the example of his life influence how you, O reader, treat others?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 22, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF FREDERICK PRATT GREEN, BRITISH METHODIST MINISTER, POET, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF BARTHOLOMEW ZOUBERBUHLER, ANGLICAN PRIEST

THE FEAST OF PAUL TILLICH, LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN

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Good Shepherd, king of love,

accept our thanks and praise

for all the love and care we have received;

and for your servant Saint Brice of Tours.

May our care for each other grow constantly

more reverent and more discerning.  Amen.

Jeremiah 1:4-10 or Ezekiel 3:16-21 or Ezekiel 34:11-16

Psalm 15 or 99

Acts 20:28-35 or 2 Corinthians 4:1-10 or 1 Peter 5:1-4

Matthew 24:42-47 or John 10:11-16 0r John 21:15-19

–Adapted from A New Zealand Prayer Book (1989), 681-682

Topaz

Image Source = Didier Descouens

1 (ALL SAINTS)

2 (ALL SOULS/COMMEMORATION OF ALL FAITHFUL DEPARTED)

3 (Richard Hooker, Anglican Priest and Theologian)

• Daniel Payne, African Methodist Episcopal Bishop
• John Worthington, British Moravian Minister and Composer; John Antes, U.S. Moravian Instrument Maker, Composer, and Missionary; Benjamin Henry LaTrobe, Sr., British Moravian Bishop and Hymn Writer; Christian Ignatius LaTrobe, British Moravian Composer; Peter LaTrobe, British Moravian Bishop and Composer; Johann Christopher Pyrlaeus, Moravian Missionary and Musician; and Augustus Gottlieb Spangenberg, Moravian Bishop and Hymn Writer
• Pierre-François Néron, French Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr in Vietnam, 1860

4 (Ludolph Ernst Schlicht, Moravian Minister, Musician, and Hymn Writer; John Gambold, Sr., British Moravian Bishop, Hymn Writer, and Translator of Hymns; and John Gambold, Jr., Moravian Composer)

• Augustus Montague Toplady, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer
• Léon Bloy, French Roman Catholic Novelist and Social Critic; his godson, Jacques Maritain, French Roman Catholic Philosopher; and his wife, Raïssa Maritain, French Roman Catholic Contemplative
• Theodore Weld, U.S. Congregationalist then Quaker Abolitionist and Educator; his wife, Angelina Grimké, U.S. Presbyterian then Quaker Abolitionist, Educator, and Feminist; her sister, Sarah Grimké, U.S. Episcopalian then Quaker Abolitionist and Feminist; her nephew, Francis Grimké, African-American Presbyterian Minister and Civil Rights Activist; and his wife, Charlotte Grimké, African-American Abolitionist and Educator

5 (Bernard Lichtenberg, German Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1943)

• Guido Maria Conforti, Founder of the Xavierian Missionaries
• Hryhorii Lakota, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1950

6 (Christian Gregor, Father of Moravian Church Music)

• Arthur Tappan and Lewis Tappan, U.S. Congregationalist Businessmen and Abolitionists; colleagues and financial backers of Samuel Eli Cornish and Theodore S. Wright, African-American Ministers and Abolitionists
• Giovanni Gabrieli and Hans Leo Hassler, Composers and Organists; and Claudio Monteverdi and Heinrich Schutz, Composers and Musicians
• Halford E. Luccock, U.S. Methodist Minister and Biblical Scholar
• Magdeleine of Jesus, Founder of the Little Sisters of Jesus

7 (Willibrord, Apostle to the Frisians; and Boniface of Mainz, Apostle to the Germans)

• Benedict Joseph Flaget, Roman Catholic Bishop of Bardstown then of Louisville, Kentucky
• Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States, and Civil Rights Activist
• Eugene Carson Blake, U.S. Presbyterian Minister, Ecumenist, and Moral Critic
• John Cawood, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer
• John Christian Frederick Heyer, Lutheran Missionary in the United States and India; Bartholomeaus Ziegenbalg, Jr., Lutheran Minister to the Tamils; and Ludwig Nommensen, Lutheran Missionary to Sumatra and Apostle to the Batak

8 (John Duns Scotus, Scottish Roman Catholic Priest and Theologian)

• Elizabeth of the Trinity, French Roman Catholic Nun, Mystic, and Religious Writer
• Johann von Staupitz, Martin Luther’s Spiritual Mentor
• John Caspar Mattes, U.S. Lutheran Minister and Liturgist
• Pambo of Nitria, Ammonius of Skete, Palladius of Galatia, Macarius of Egypt, Macarius of Alexandria, and Pishoy, Desert Fathers; Evagrius of Pontus, Monk and Scholar; Melania the Elder, Desert Mother; Rufinus of Aquileia, Monk and Theologian; Didymus the Blind, Biblical Scholar; John II, Bishop of Jerusalem; Melania the Younger, Desert Mother; and her husband, Pinian, Monk

9 (Martin Chemnitz, German Lutheran Theologian, and the “Second Martin”)

• Andreas Peter Berggreen, Danish Lutheran Musicologist, Organist, Music Educator, and Composer
• Elijah P. Lovejoy, U.S. Journalist, Abolitionist, Presbyterian Minister, and Martyr, 1837; his brother, Owen Lovejoy, U.S. Abolitionist, Lawmaker, and Congregationalist Minister; and William Wells Brown, African-American Abolitionist, Novelist, Historian, and Physician
• Johann(es) Matthaus Meyfart, German Lutheran Educator and Devotional Writer
• Margery Kempe, English Roman Catholic Mystic and Pilgrim
• William Croswell, Episcopal Priest and Hymn Writer

10 (Leo I “the Great,” Bishop of Rome)

• Lott Cary, African-American Baptist Minister and Missionary to Liberia; and Melville B. Cox, U.S. Methodist Minister and Missionary to Liberia
• Odette Prévost, French Roman Catholic Nun, and Martyr in Algeria, 1995

11 (Anne Steele, First Important English Female Hymn Writer)

• Alijca Maria Jadwiga Kotowska, Polish Roman Catholic Nun and Martyr, 1939
• Edwin Hatch, Anglican Priest, Scholar, and Hymn Writer
• Martha Coffin Pelham Wright; her sister, Lucretia Coffin Mott; her husband, James Mott; his sister, Abigail Lydia Mott Moore; and her husband, Lindley Murray Moore; U.S. Quaker Abolitionists and Feminists
• Peter Taylor Forsyth, Scottish Congregationalist Minister and Theologian

12 (Josaphat Kuntsevych, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Polotsk, and Martyr, 1623)

• John Tavener, English Presbyterian then Orthodox Composer
• Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican Roman Catholic Nun, Composer, Writer, Philosopher, Feminist, and Alleged Heretic
• Ray Palmer, U.S. Congregationalist Minister and Hymn Writer
• William Arthur Dunkerley, British Novelist, Poet, and Hymn Writer

13 (Henry Martyn Dexter, U.S. Congregationalist Minister and Historian)

• Abbo of Fleury, Roman Catholic Abbot
• Brice of Tours, Roman Catholic Bishop
• Frances Xavier Cabrini, Founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart
• William Romanis, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer

14 (Samuel Seabury, Episcopal Bishop of Connecticut, and Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church)

• Maria Luiza Merkert, Co-Founder of the Sisters of Saint Elizabeth
• Nicholas Tavelic and His Companions, Roman Catholic Martyrs, 1391
• Peter Wolle, U.S. Moravian Bishop, Organist, and Composer; Theodore Francis Wolle, U.S. Moravian Organist and Composer; and John Frederick “J. Fred” Wolle, U.S. Moravian Organist, Composer, and Choir Director

15 (John Amos Comenius, Father of Modern Education)

• Gustaf Aulén and his protégé and colleague, Anders Nygren, Swedish Lutheran Bishops and Theologians
• Jane Montgomery Campbell, Anglican Hymn Translator and Music Educator
• Johann Gottlob Klemm, Instrument Maker; David Tannenberg, Sr., German-American Moravian Organ Builder; Johann Philip Bachmann, German-American Moravian Instrument Maker; Joseph Ferdinand Bulitschek, Bohemian-American Organ Builder; and Tobias Friedrich, German Moravian Composer and Musician
• Johannes Kepler, German Lutheran Astronomer and Mathematician
• Joseph Pignatelli, Restorer of the Jesuits

16 (Margaret of Scotland, Queen, Humanitarian, and Ecclesiastical Reformer)

• Giuseppe Moscati, Italian Roman Catholic Physician
• Ignacio Ellacuria and His Companions, Martyrs in El Salvador, November 15, 1989
• Jesuit Martyrs of Paraguay, 1628

17 (Henriette DeLille, Founder of the Sisters of the Holy Family)

• Hugh of Lincoln, Roman Catholic Bishop and Abbot

18 (Hilda of Whitby, Roman Catholic Abbess)

• Arthur Tozer Russell, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer
• Isabel Alice Hartley Crawford, Baptist Missionary to the Kiowa Nation
• Jane Eliza(beth) Leeson, English Hymn Writer

19 (Elizabeth of Hungary, Princess of Hungary, and Humanitarian)

• Alice Nevin, U.S. German Reformed Liturgist and Composer of Hymn Texts
• Arthur Henry Mann, Anglican Organist, Choir Director, Hymnodist, and Hymn Tune Composer
• Johann Christian Till, U.S. Moravian Organist, Composer, and Piano Builder; and his son, Jacob Christian Till, U.S. Moravian Piano Builder
• Johann Hermann Schein, German Lutheran Composer
• Samuel John Stone, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer

20 (F. Bland Tucker, Episcopal Priest and Hymnodist; “The Dean of American Hymn Writers”)

• Henry Francis Lyte, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer
• Priscilla Lydia Sellon, a Restorer of Religious Life in The Church of England
• Richard Watson Gilder, U.S. Poet, Journalist, and Social Reformer
• Theodore Claudius Pease, U.S. Congregationalist Minister and Hymn Writer

21 (Thomas Tallis and his student and colleague, William Byrd, English Composers and Organists; and John Merbecke, English Composer, Organist, and Theologian)

• Guy Ignatius Chabrat, Roman Catholic Bishop Coadjutor of Bardstown then of Louisville, Kentucky; and his cousin, Peter Joseph Lavialle, Roman Catholic Bishop of Louisville, Kentucky
• Henry Purcell and his brother, Daniel Purcell, English Composers
• Maria Franciszka Siedliska, Founder of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth

22 (Robert Seagrave, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer)

• Anna Kolesárová, Slovak Roman Catholic Martyr, 1944
• Ditlef Georgson Ristad, Norwegian-American Lutheran Minister, Hymn Translator, Liturgist, and Educator

23 (Clement I, Bishop of Rome)

• Caspar Friedrich Nachtenhofer, German Lutheran Minister, Liturgist, and Hymn Writer
• Columban, Roman Catholic Monk, Abbot, and Missionary
• Enrichetta Alfieri, Italian Roman Catholic Nun and “Angel of San Vittore”
• John Kenneth Pfohl, Sr., U.S. Moravian Bishop; his wife, Harriet Elizabeth “Bessie” Whittington Pfohl, U.S. Moravian Musician; and their son, James Christian Pfohl, Sr., U.S. Moravian Musician

24 (Andrew Dung-Lac and Peter Thi, Roman Catholic Priests and Martyrs in Vietnam, 1839)

• Lucy Menzies, Scottish Presbyterian then Anglican Scholar and Mystic
• Theophane Venard, Roman Catholic Priest, Missionary, and Martyr in Vietnam, 1861
• Vincent Liem, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr in Vietnam, 1773

25 (William Hiley Bathurst, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer)

• Isaac Watts, English Congregationalist Minister and Hymn Writer
• James Otis Sargent Huntington, Founder of the Order of the Holy Cross
• John LaFarge, Jr., U.S. Roman Catholic Priest and Renewer of Society
• Petrus Nigidius, German Lutheran Educator and Composer; and Georg Nigidius, German Lutheran Composer and Hymn Writer

26 (Siricius, Bishop of Rome)

• H. Baxter Liebler, Episcopal Priest and Missionary to the Navajo Nation
• John Berchmans, Roman Catholic Seminarian
• Sojourner Truth, U.S. Abolitionist, Mystic, and Feminist
• Theodore P. Ferris, Episcopal Priest and Author

27 (James Intercisus, Roman Catholic Martyr)

• William Cooke and Benjamin Webb, Anglican Priests and Translators of Hymns

28 (Stephen the Younger, Defender of Icons)

• Albert George Butzer, Sr., U.S. Presbyterian Minister and Educator
• Kamehameha IV and Emma Rooke, King and Queen of Hawai’i
• James Mills Thoburn, Isabella Thoburn, and Clara Swain, U.S. Methodist Missionaries to India
• Joseph Hofer and Michael Hofer, U.S. Hutterite Conscientious Objectors and Martyrs, 1918

29 (Day of Intercession and Thanksgiving for the Missionary Work of the Church)

• Frederick Cook Atkinson, Anglican Church Organist and Composer
• Jennette Threlfall, English Hymn Writer

30 (ANDREW THE APOSTLE, MARTYR)

Floating

• Thanksgiving Day

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