ARTHUR HENRY MANN (MAY 16, 1850-NOVEMBER 19, 1929)
Anglican Organist and Hymn Tune Composer
Arthur Henry Mann comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via The Methodist Hymnal (1966). This post relies primarily on various hymnal companion volumes.
Mann, born in Norwich, England, on May 16, 1850, became a superb musician. He, a boy chorister and an organist at the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Norwich, was a prodigy. Our saint, when eight years old, could play the full cathedral service on the organ. After Mann’s voice changed, he ceased to be a chorister. He remained an organist, though. The graduate of New College, Oxford (B.Mus., 1874; D.Mus., 1882) served as organist at the following:
St. Peter’s Church, Wolverhampton (1870-1871);
St. Michael and All Angels’ Church, Tettenhall, Wolverhampton (1871-1875);
Beverley Minster, Beverley (1875-1876);
King’s College, Cambridge (1876-1910); and
Cambridge University (1897f).
Mann, a choir director, as well as the music master of Ley’s School, Cambridge University, applied his musical talents in other ways, too. Our saint, from 1871 a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, was the music editor of The Church of England Hymnal (1895). Mann, a musicologist, collected early hymnals and was an expert on the music of George Frederick Handel (1685-1759). Our saint put Handel’s manuscripts in order. Mann also edited an edition of Spem in Alium, by Thomas Tallis (1505-1585).
Mann was also a composer. He wrote music for voice and organ. His most enduring compositions were probably hymn tunes, though. These included the following:
ANGEL’S STORY (frequently attached to “O Jesus, I Have Promised”),
ARISTIDES,
BENEDICTION,
BERNO,
CLAUDIUS,
SILESIUS,
THE NEW YEAR,
VALOUR,
WATERMOUTH, and
WILTON.
Mann, aged 79 years, died in Cambridge, England, on November 19, 1929.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 26, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM COWPER, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT ADELARD OF CORBIE, FRANKISH ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND ABBOT; AND HIS PROTÉGÉ, SAINT PASCHASIUS RADBERTUS, FRANKISH ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, ABBOT, AND THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF ROBERT HUNT, FIRST ANGLICAN CHAPLAIN AT JAMESTOWN, VIRGINIA
THE FEAST OF RUTH BYLLESBY, EPISCOPAL DEACONESS IN GEORGIA
THE FEAST OF SAINT STANISLAW KUBISTA, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1940; AND SAINT WLADYSLAW GORAL, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP AND MARTYR, 1945
SAINT ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY (JULY 7, 1207-NOVEMBER 17, 1231)
Princess of Hungary and Humanitarian
Also known as St. Elizabeth of Thuringia
St. Elizabeth of Hungary has three feast days. Since Advent 1969 her feast has fallen on November 17 in the Roman Catholic Church. The Book of Catholic Worship (1966), reflecting the calendar current that year, lists her feast day as November 19. Common Worship (The Church of England, 2000) lists her feast day as November 18. Her feast day in The Episcopal Church is November 19. Evangelical Lutheran Worship (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, 2006) and its predecessor, the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), list her feast day as November 17, however.
St. Elizabeth was royalty. Her father was Andrew II, King of Hungary (reigned 1205-1235). Her mother was Queen Gertrude of Merania (1185-1213), sister of St. Hedwig of Andechs/of Silesia(feast day = October 16), Duchess of Silesia (1201-1238) and of Greater Poland (1231-1238). St. Hedwig, who became a lay sister (without monastic vows) after her husband died, was extravagant in her generosity to the poor, especially widows, orphans, the ill, and lepers. She founded hospitals for them, in fact. Her generosity found an echo in the good works of her famous niece. St. Elizabeth, born at Pozsony, Hungary (now Bratislava, Slovakia), on July 7, 1207, grew up (from the age of four years) in the court of Thuringia (now Hesse, Germany), where she prepared for an arranged marriage to the future Louis/Ludwig IV, Landgrave of Thuringia (reigned 1217-1227). They married in 1221; he was 20 years old; she was 14. The couple had three children:
Hermann II (1222-1241; never reigned as landgrave);
Sophie of Thuringia (1224-1275); and
Gertrude (1227-1297), also known as Blessed Gertrude of Aldenberg, Abbess of Aldenberg from 1248 to 1297. Her feast day is August 13.
Louis/Ludwig, also known as Blessed Louis/Ludwig IV of Thuringia (feast day = September 11), died of fever in Italy in 1227, en route to join the Sixth Crusade (1228-1229). He was 26 years old. The Landgrave had approved of his wife’s extravagant generosity to the poor. She gave state robes to the poor, fed them from the royal granaries, spun wool cloth for clothing for them, sold her jewels to finance a hospital for the poor, and visited the patients daily. Certain relatives, however, objected strongly to such generosity. In 1228 she and her children left the court of Thuringia and moved to Marburg. She might have left involuntarily. (Sources disagree on that point.)
St. Elizabeth, as a widow (1227-1231), had a difficult life. She took monastic vows, including celibacy (which proved politically useful for her, preventing a loveless marriage) and obedience to her confessor, Konrad von Marburg (1180-1233), in the Third Order of Franciscans. Konrad was a cruel man, unfortunately. He, for example, ordered her beaten and commanded her to send her children away. She did, however, regain her dowry, which she used to help the poor. One of the ways she did this was to finance a hospital for the poor at Marburg.
St. Elizabeth died at Marburg on November 17, 1231. She was 24 years old. Pope Gregory IX canonized her in 1235.
May we find the most effective way to help those vulnerable people to whom God sends us and whom God sends to us. Not all of us can afford to finance hospitals, for example, but we can do something, even if it is just to donate food to a local food bank.
Our saint, born at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on August 1, 1837, when her father taught at Western Theological Seminary, spent most of her life in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Professor Nevin transferred to Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, in 1840 then to Lancaster 11 years later. Alice walked with a limp, albeit not a debilitating one, because a nurse dropped her when she was a baby. Our saint, who never married, served as an organist and choir director at both Franklin and Marshall College and First Reformed Church, Lancaster, for many years. She also helped to found St. Luke’s Reformed Church, Lancaster, in 1879.
[Aside: First Reformed Church has become First Reformed United Church Christ. St. Luke’s Reformed Church became St. Luke’s United Church of Christ. St. Luke’s, like many urban congregations, lost most of its membership to suburban churches. It closed on May 31, 2015, and remaining members transferred to Trinity United Church of Christ.]
Nevin cared deeply about the quality of hymns and songs for children. She edited Hymns and Carols for Church and Sunday School (1879), a volume more formalistic congregations of the Reformed Church in the United States used. In the preface our saint criticized many hymns and songs for children for being childish when they should be childlike. She also condemned many of them for featuring
meaningless, jingling rhymes and melodies.
–page 3
The hymnal included five of her hymn tunes and three of her arrangements. Two of these tunes were nameless, but the other three were RESURRECTION, CECIL, and ELSIE. The arrangements were WILLIAMSON, COBLENTZ, and CORNISH MELODY. The Hymnal of the Reformed Church in the United States (1890), The Hymnal of the Reformed Church (1920, with the Reformed Church in America, which barely used it), and The Hymnal (1941, Evangelical and Reformed Church, immediate successor to the Reformed Church in the United States) contained RESURRECTION and WILLIAMSON. The committees for The Hymnal of the United Church of Christ (1974) and The New Century Hymnal (1995) omitted all tunes and arrangements by our saint.
Nevin was also active in the civil life of Lancaster. She helped to found the Visiting Nurses’ Association. Furthermore, she was one of the organizers of the Cliosophic Society, a literary society, in 1879. And, in 1895, she founded the Iris Club, an organization for women, which she led for six years.
In 1922, toward the end of her life, Nevin published Poems, a slim volume she distributed only among her friends. She died at home on November 19, 1925, aged 88 years.
Her insistence upon quality in hymns and songs for children remains relevant.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 4, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ALFRED TENNYSON, ENGLISH POET
THE FEAST OF FREDERICK WILLIAM FOSTER, ENGLISH MORAVIAN BISHOP, LITURGIST, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF JOHN BROWNLIE, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND TRANSLATOR OF HYMNS
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Holy God, whose majesty surpasses all human definitions and capacity to grasp,
thank you for those (especially Alice Nevin)
who have nurtured and encouraged the reverent worship of you.
May their work inspire us to worship you in knowledge, truth, and beauty.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
1 Chronicles 25:1-8
Psalm 145
Revelation 15:1-4
John 4:19-26
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 27, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JAMES INTERCISUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR
THE FEAST OF HENRY SLOANE COFFIN, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGIAN
One may not recognize the name of Samuel John Stone (1839-1900), but one might know “The Church’s One Foundation,” his most famous hymn. Yet one may be aware that there are three versions of that hymn:
A hymn writer does have the right to revise, abbreviate, and extend his own lyrics, does he not?
Stone, born at Whitmore, Staffordshire, England, was a son of a priest of the Church of England. Our saint studied at the Charterhouse, London, and at Pembroke College, Oxford University. From the latter he graduated with an A.B. in 1862 and an A.M. ten years later. Stone took Anglican Holy Orders and served congregations from 1862 to his death in 1900.
His first position was Curate of Windsor (1862-1870). While there Stone wrote and published Lyra Fidelium (1866), a collection of twelve hymns explaining articles of the Nicene Creed. Among these texts was the original form of “The Church’s One Foundation,” with seven stanzas. The impetus for the composition of Lyra Fidelium was the controversy regarding the theology and deposition of John Colenso (1814-1883), Anglican Bishop of Natal from 1853 to 1863. The bishop’s preference for higher criticism of the Bible, even questioning the historicity of much of the Old Testament, upset many people. Stone was among his critics. Colenso’s higher criticism has not disturbed me, however, for I have engaged in higher criticism and continue to do so. Nevertheless, Colenso was not entirely above reproach, given his Universalism and his defenses of polygamists.
Our saint succeeded his father as the Curate of St. Paul’s, Haggerston, London, in 1870. He remained at the poorest Anglican church in London, building it up, for twenty years and serving as Vicar from 1874. During Stone’s tenure he published the following volumes:
Order of the Consecutive Church Service for Children, with Original Hymns (1883); and
Hymns (Original and Translated) (1886).
In 1890 Stone became the Rector of All-Hallows-on-the-Walls, London. He remained there for about ten years, until he died. Our saint, recognizing human needs on the doorstep of his parish, transformed its facilities into a haven for urban commuters who would have had to wander the sidewalks until their places of employment opened otherwise. While at All Hallows Stone also published another book, Lays of Iona, and Other Poems (1897), and served on the committee which produced the 1909 version of Hymns, Ancient and Modern.
Stone died at the Charterhouse, London, on November 19, 1900. Posthumous tributes included Poems and Hymns (1903) and a chapter in In Good Company (1917).
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 6, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ALL CHRISTIAN BIBLE TRANSLATORS
THE FEAST OF SAINT BRUNO, FOUNDER OF THE CARTHUSIANS
THE FEAST OF HEINRICH ALBERT, GERMAN LUTHERAN COMPOSER AND POET
Before I write about the Tills I choose to note that I could have added at least two other people to this post. Johann Christian Till’s life intersected with those of the Peter brothers—Simon (1743-1819) and Johann Friedrich (1746-1813)–talented composers. The simplest and best plan, I have concluded, is to write about them in a Simon brothers post, which I will link into this entry. The focus here belongs on the Tills.
The Tills’ story began with the birth of Johann Christian Till at Gnadenthal, near Nazareth, Pennsylvania, on May 18, 1762. He spent his entire life in the Nazareth-Bethlehem area, yet his musical influence spread as far as Herrnhut, in Saxony. Till copied choral works for use in church and composed others for the same purpose. One of his compositions was “Kindhearted and Gracious is the Lord.” Moravian congregations worldwide performed his music.
Till attended Nazareth Hall, a boys’ school, where he studied under Simon Peter (1743-1819), pastor, composer, and church administrator. Till supported himself as an adult primarily as a woodworker, with the notable exception of 1793-1808, when he worked as an organist and schoolmaster at Hope, New Jersey. Then the school closed. Music remained vital to his life, for he supplemented his income by working as an organist. He also composed musical settings for Liturgical Hymns (1823).
From 1810 to 1834 Till and his son, Jacob Christian Till (1799-1882), derived most of their income from the family business of building pianos. When this partnership started Jacob was eleven years old! The father build the piano cabinet and the son constructed the mechanisms. They were skilled craftsmen. Unfortunately, only two of their pianos have survived to 2014. Both are in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania–one at the Moravian Museum and the other at Moravian College. Jacob moved to nearby Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1834. Whether he continued building pianos is uncertain.
For much of the time that Till the elder was building pianos with his son he (the elder) supplemented his income by playing the organ at Central Moravian Church, Bethlehem. He succeeded Johann Friedrich Peter (1746-1813)in that post in 1811. Two of Till’s successors in that position were Theodore Francis Wolle (1832-1885) and John Frederick “J. Fred” Wolle (1863-1933), of whom I have written recently.
Johann Christian Till died on November 19, 1844.
Good music has an everlasting aspect to it. As long as people can, for example, acquire and read musical scores then perform the music properly the composer’s legacy continues. Unless the composition is a cappella an instrument is, by design, properly part of the performance. That is where the builders of instruments fulfill their function.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 5, 2014 COMMON ERA
PROPER 22: THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF THE SAINTS AND MARTYRS OF ASIA
THE FEAST OF BRADFORD TORREY, U.S. ORNITHOLOGIST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF HARRY EMERSON FOSDICK, NORTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR AND OPPONENT OF FUNDAMENTALISM
THE FEAST OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH, 1972
JOHANN HERMANN SCHEIN (JANUARY 20, 1586-NOVEMBER 19, 1630)
German Lutheran Composer
Johann Hermann Schein, born at Grunnhaim, Saxony, was the son of a Lutheran pastor. Our saint studied music, theology, and philosophy. He sang in the choir at the Elector of Saxony’s chapel for four years. Then our saint took private tutoring for years. Then, from 1613 to 1615, he served as Music Director for the court of Duke Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar. Finally, in 1615, our saint became the Cantor of St. Thomas Church, Leipzig. He, among the greatest composers of his age, wrote much beautiful music, including church chorales and motets. And he edited a great and famous hymnal, Cantional (1627).
The public worship of God is a matter to take seriously and to do as well as one can. Johann Hermann Schein understood this well and acted accordingly.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 25, 2013 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST, 1957
THE FEAST OF JAMES WELDON JOHNSON, POET AND NOVELIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT WILLIAM OF VERCELLI, ROMAN CATHOLIC HERMIT; AND SAINT JOHN OF MATERA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, after Ehud died. So the LORD sold them into the hand of King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-ha-goiim. Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD for help; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and had oppressed the Israelites cruelly twenty years.
At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him,
The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you, “Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.”
Psalm 123 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 To you I lift up my eyes,
to you enthroned in the heavens.
2 As the eyes of the servants look to the hand of their masters,
and the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
3 So our eyes look to the LORD our God,
until he show us his mercy.
4 Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy,
for we have had more than enough of contempt,
5 Too much of the scorn of the indolent rich,
and of the derision of the proud.
FIRST READING AND PSALM: OPTION #2
Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18 (New Revised Standard Version):
Be silent before the Lord GOD!
For the day of the LORD is at hand;
the LORD has prepared a sacrifice,
he has consecrated his guests.
…
At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the people
who rest complacently on their dregs,
those who say in their hearts,
“The LORD wil not do good,
nor will he do harm.”
Their wealth shall be plundered,
and their houses laid waste.
Though they build houses,
they shall not inhabit them;
though they plant vineyards,
they shall not drink wine from them.
The great day of the LORD is near,
near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter,
the warrior cries aloud there.
That day will be a day of wrath,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and devastation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,
a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
against the fortified cities
and against the lofty battlements.
I shall bring such distress upon people
that they shall walk like the blind,
because they have sinned against the LORD,
that blood shall be poured out like the dust,
and their flesh like dung.
Neither shall their silver nor their gold
will be able to save them
on the day of the LORD’s wrath;
in the fire of his passion
the whole earth shall be consumed;
for a full, a terrible end
he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.
SECOND READING
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 (New Revised Standard Version):
Concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say,”There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.
GOSPEL READING
Matthew 25:14-30 (New Revised Standard Version):
Jesus said,
For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, “Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, “Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, “Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” But his master replied, “You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
The Collect:
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Today I choose to leave the Gospel reading to a related post while I pursue another track.
Proper 28 is the penultimate Sunday in the Church year; Advent is nearly upon us. So the lectionary readings have turned toward the apocalyptic, as they are prone to do in November. Nevertheless, I write these words in late May 2011, just a few days after the predicted rapture that never occurred. This was no surprise for me. To state the case simply, Harold Camping does not know more than Jesus:
But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Matthew 24:36, New Revised Standard Version)
It is customary that, in The Episcopal Church, to read an assigned text then say, “The word of the Lord,” to which the congregation responds reflexively, “Thanks be to God.” If the reading comes from Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, the priest or deacon concludes the lesson then says “The Gospel of the Lord,” to which the people say, “Praise be to you, Lord Christ.” Yet I recall one 6:00 P.M. Sunday service at my parish, St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church, Athens, Georgia, when our Rector, Beth Long, read the designated Gospel text, which was rather grim. An awkward silence followed before we said with hesitation, “Praise be to you, Lord Christ.” What else were we supposed to say?
That is the sense I take away from Zephaniah. My fellow liturgy enthusiasts might know that the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass used to include the “Dies Irae” (“Day of wrath and doom impending”) section. More than one composer set it to music gloriously, with Verdi’s version being the one that plays inside my cranium most often. The lesson from Zephaniah was the basis of that Latin text. Anyhow, am I supposed to say “Thanks be to God” after the reading from Zephaniah?
It is vital to remember that we are looking at just a portion of the sacred story; the tone is quite different on Easter Sunday, for example. There is a time and a season for everything, if not every verse, within a well-constructed lectionary. There is a time to rejoice. And there is a time, as we read in 1 Thessalonians, to be serious. Yet there is never a bad time to put on the breastplate of faith and love.
May we wear it always.
KRT
Published originally at ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR on May 24, 2011
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
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.
SUNDRY THOUGHTS 
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