Above:  The Old Seal of the Commonwealth of Kentucky

Image in the Public Domain

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GUY IGNATIUS CHABRAT (DECEMBER 27, 1787-NOVEMBER 21, 1868)

Roman Catholic Bishop Coadjutor of Bardstown then of Louisville, Kentucky

cousin of

PIERRE JOSEPH LAVIALLE (JULY 15, 1820-MAY 11, 1867)

Roman Catholic Bishop of Louisville, Kentucky

Also known as Peter Joseph Lavialle

Bishop Guy Ignatius Chabrat comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget (1763-1850).  Bishop Pierre (Peter) Joseph Lavialle comes here via his cousin, Bishop Chabrat.

Guy Ignatius Chabrat was French.  He, born in La Chambre, Savoie, on December 28, 1787, was a son of Pierre Chabrat and Louise (Lavialle) Chabrat.  Our saint matriculated at the Sulpician seminary in Clermont.  Ordained a subdeacon in 1809, Chabrat accepted the newly-appointed Bishop Flaget‘s invitation to come to the new Diocese of Bardstown, Kentucky.  Chabrat sailed with Flaget in 1810 and arrived with him in Bardstown on June 9, 1811.  Flaget ordained him a priest on Christmas Day, 11, making Chabrat the first Roman Catholic priest ordained west of the Allegheny Mountains.

Chabrat ministered in Kentucky.  He served at, in order:

1. St. Michael’s Church, Fairfield;
2. St. Clare’s Church, Colesburg; and
3. St. Pius Church, Georgetown.

In 1824, Father Charles Nerinckx (b. 1761), founder of the Sisters of Loretto, a teaching order, died.  Chabrat succeeded him as the superior of that order.

Pope Gregory XVI appointed Chabrat the Bishop Coadjutor of Bardstown and the Titular Bishop of Bolina on March 21, 1834.  Consecrated on July 20, our saint served for more than a decade.  He functioned as the chief administrator in lieu of the aged Flaget.  The Diocese of Bardstown became the Diocese of Louisville in 1837, so Chabrat became the Bishop Coadjutor of Louisville.

In 1842, Chabrat invited his maternal cousin, Pierre (Peter) Joseph Lavialle, to join the Diocese of Louisville.  Lavialle, born in Mauriac, Cantal, on July 15, 1820, was a Sulpician seminarian in 1842.  He completed his theological education at St. Thomas Seminary, Bardstown, Kentucky.  Lavialle, ordained to the priesthood on February 2, 1844, served as the Curate of the Cathedral of the Assumption, Louisville, until 1849.

Meanwhile, Chabrat’s eyesight was failing.  He resigned in 1847, returned to France, and lived on a generous pension.

Above:  The Basilica of St. Joseph and the Former St. Thomas Seminary, Bardstown, Kentucky

Image Source = Google Earth

Lavialle remained in the United States of America.  He taught theology at St. Thomas Seminary, Bardstown (next to the Basilica of St. Joseph) from 1849 to 1856,  Then our saint was the President of St. Mary’s College, St. Mary, Kentucky (1856f).  He refused an appointment as Archbishop of New Orleans in 1860.

Above:  The Cathedral of the Assumption, Louisville, Kentucky (Completed in 1852)

Image Source = Google Earth

However, on September 24, 1865, Lavialle received consecration as the Bishop of Louisville.  He succeeded Martin John Spalding (1810-1872), who had transferred to become the Archbishop of Baltimore (1864-1872).  Lavialle’s tenure as the Bishop of Louisville was brief yet fruitful.  He did much to build up the diocese before he, aged 46 years, died on May 11, 1867,

Chabrat, aged 80 years, died in Mauriac, Cantal, France, on November 21, 1868.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 29, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA, ROMAN CATHOLIC MYSTIC AND RELIGIOUS

THE FEAST OF SAINTS BOSA OF YORK, JOHN OF BEVERLEY, WILFRID THE YOUNGER, AND ACCA OF HEXHAM, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS

THE FEAST OF JAMES EDWARD WALSH, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY BISHOP AND POLITICAL PRISONER IN CHINA

THE FEAST OF SIMON B. PARKER, UNITED METHODIST BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF TIMOTHY REES, WELSH ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER AND BISHOP OF LLANDAFF

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Almighty God, you have raised up faithful bishops and leaders of your Church.

May the memory of their lives be a source of joy for us and a bulwark of our faith,

so that we may serve you and confess your name before the world;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Ezekiel 34:11-16 or Acts 20:17-35

Psalm 84

1 Peter 5:1-4 or Ephesians 3:14-21

John 21:15-17 or Matthew 24:42-47

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 38

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We, the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, are called to extend the Kingdom of God’s love among ourselves and others by the living of the spirit of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, whose lives were centered in the love of God and one another. We witness to this love through dedicated service to the Church, especially in ministry to the family.

Above:  Blessed Maria Franciszka Siedliska

Image in the Public Domain

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BLESSED MARIA FRANCISZKA SIEDLISKA (NOVEMBER 12, 1842-NOVEMBER 21, 1902)

Foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth

Born Franciszka Siedliska

Also known as Mother Mary of Jesus the Good Shepherd

Blessed Maria Franciszka Siedliska comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via the Roman Catholic Church.

Franciszka Siedliska was a Polish subject of the Russian Empire.  She, born in Roszkowa, Wola Castle, Roszkowa Wola, Poland, Russia, on November 12, 1842, was a daughter of Adolf Adam Siedliska and Cecylia Marianna Morawska.  The family was nominally Roman Catholic.  Our saint, like her parents, was indifferent to religion.

That changed when Siedliska was an adolescent.  Father Leander Lendzian, who prepared her for First Communion (May 1, 1855), sparked religious zeal within our saint.  Siedliska, who dedicated herself to God at her First Communion, decided by 1860 that she wanted to become a nun.  Her parents vigorously opposed this plan.  They prevented her from entering religious life until 1870.  Our saint moved with her parents to Switzerland in 1860, then to Prussia, then to France.  Siedliska and her family returned to their homeland in 1865.  Her father died in 1870.

Our saint finally had an opportunity to enter religious life in 1870, and she availed herself of it.  In 1870, she became a Franciscan tertiary in Lublin.  With the encouragement of Father Lendzian, Siedliska founded a new monastic order, in obedience to the will of God, as she understood it.  Pope Pius IX granted his permission in person on October 1, 1873.  Siedliska founded the Sisters of the the Holy Family of Nazareth at the start of Advent 1875, in Rome.

Our saint led the new order.  On May 1, 1884, she became a nun, as Mary of Jesus the Good Shepherd.  She spent the next years traveling across Europe and in the United States of America, founding schools and communities.  She did his until she, aged 60 years, died in Rome, on November 21, 1902.

Pope John Paul II declared our saint a Venerable in 1980 then beatified her nine years later.

The website of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth reads, in part:

That is a high calling.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 24, 2021 COMMON ERA

GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE

THE FEAST OF SAINT EGBERT OF LINDISFARNE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK; AND SAINT ADALBERT OF EGMONT, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY

THE FEAST OF SAINT FIDELIS OF SIGMARINGEN, CAPUCHIN FRIAR AND MARTYR, 1622

THE FEAST OF JOHANN WALTER, “FIRST CANTOR OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH”

THE FEAST OF SAINT MELLITUS, BISHOP OF LONDON, AND ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

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O God, whose blessed Son became poor that we through his poverty might be rich:

Deliver us from an inordinate love of this world, that we, inspired

by the devotion of your servant Blessed Maria Franciszka Siedliska,

may serve you with singleness of heart, and attain to the riches of the age to come;

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

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

Song of Songs 8:6-7

Psalm 34

Philippians 3:7-15

Luke 12:33-37 or Luke 9:57-62

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 722

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Above:  The Choir of Westminster Abbey (1893), by Henry Crickmore

Image Source = Library of Congress

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HENRY PURCELL (JR.) (SEPTEMBER 10, 1659-NOVEMBER 21, 1695)

brother of

DANIEL PURCELL (CIRCA 1664-NOVEMBER 1717)

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ENGLISH COMPOSERS

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Henry Purcell (Jr.) comes to this, my Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via The Episcopal Church, in which he shares a feast with Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frederick Handel on July 28.  Each of the other composers has a separate feast day on this, my Ecumenical Calendar.  Daniel Purcell joins his esteemed brother as part of my effort to emphasize relationships and influences.

Much information about the Purcell brothers is lacking.  We know enough, I suppose.

Henry Purcell (Sr.) had three sons –Edward, Henry (Jr.), and Daniel.  The family lived within the shadow of Westminster Abbey.  After Henry (Sr.) died in 1664, his brother Timothy, an attentive uncle, raised the sons.  Uncle Timothy was a musician and a gentleman of the Chapel Royal.  He supervised the educations of his three nephews dutifully and well.  Henry (Jr.) and Daniel began their musical paths as choristers at Westminster Abbey.  In 1673, Henry, already studying privately under composers, as well as at the Westminster School, became the assistant to organ-builder and composer John Hingston (1612-1683).  Henry was a copyist at Westminster Abbey in 1676.  Meanwhile, he had begun composing by 1670.  Perhaps his earliest work was in honor of King Charles II, on the monarch’s birthday, in 1670.

Henry composed many sacred and secular works.  He also wrote instrumental works and compositions for the human voice.  He, married to Frances in 1682, had six children, two of whom survived him.  Our saint supported his family via composing and by working as the organist at both Westminster Abbey (1679f) and the Chapel Royal (1682f).

I refer you, O reader, to the following links for musical samples:

1. Sonatas
2. Ten Sonatas in Four Parts
3. Twelve Sonatas of Three Parts
4. Anthems and Hymns
5. Abdelazer Suite
6. King Arthur
7. Dido and Aeneas
8. Evening Prayer
9. Funeral of Queen Mary
10. Harpsichord Works
11. Chaconne in G Minor
12. Come, Come, Ye Sons of Art
13. Sacred Music

Henry, aged 36 years, died at home in London on November 21, 1695.  He left one incomplete work, The Indian Queen, which Daniel completed.  “Sound, Sound the Trumpet,” from Act V of The Indian Queen, was one of Daniel’s earliest works.

Daniel, having begun to compose while working as the organist of Magdalen College, Oxford, moved to London in 1695.  He composed much incidental music, as well as sonatas and works for violin.  Some of his sacred music–a setting of the Magnificat and one of the Nunc Dimittis–have remained in use in The Church of England.  Circa 1713 Daniel became the organist at St. Andrew’s, Holbern; he remained in that post until he died in November 1717.  The date of the funeral was November 26, 1717.

The Purcell brothers’ legacy continues to enrich the lives of many people, fortunately.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 17, 2019 COMMON ERA

WEDNESDAY IN HOLY WEEK

THE FEAST OF DANIEL SYLVESTER TUTTLE, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

THE FEAST OF EMILY COOPER, EPISCOPAL DEACONESS

THE FEAST OF MAX JOSEF METZGER, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR

THE FEAST OF WILBUR KENNETH HOWARD, MODERATOR OF THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA

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Almighty God, beautiful and majesty and majestic in holiness,

who teaches us in Holy Scripture to sing your praises

and who gave your musicians Henry and Daniel Purcell

grace to show forth your glory in their music:

Be with all those who write or make music for your people,

that we on earth may glimpse your beauty and know the inexhaustible riches

of your new creation in Jesus Christ our Savior:

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

2 Chronicles 7:1-6

Psalm 150

Colossians 2:206

Luke 2:8-14

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 491

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Above:  The Flag of England

Image in the Public Domain

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THOMAS TALLIS (CIRCA 1505-NOVEMBER 21 OR 23, 1585)

English Composer and Organist

teacher and colleague of

WILLIAM BYRD (1543-JULY 4, 1623)

English Composer and Organist

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JOHN MERBECKE (CIRCA 1505-1585)

English Composer, Organist, and Theologian

Also known as John Marbeck

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The Episcopal Church commemorates the lives of these three composers, two of them lifelong Roman Catholics and the other a Calvinist at the end of his life, on November 21, one of two possible dates for the death of Thomas Tallis.  These facts demonstrate one of the most positive features of the calendar of saints of The Episcopal Church.  I refer to the fact that the main two qualifications for consideration for admission to it are being both Christian and dead.  Those are also the main qualifications for consideration for addition to my Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days.

Thomas Tallis (born circa 1505) was the most important English composer prior to William Byrd (1543-1623), his student.  Both men were lifelong Roman Catholics who navigated the treacherous waters of English religious politics.  Most of the details of the early years of their lives have proven inaccessible to historians, unfortunately.

The account of their lives must therefore begin in the adulthood of each composer.

Tallis worked as an organist at various places.  In 1532 he was at Dover Priory.  Five years later his place of employment was St. Mary-at-Hill, London.  In 1540 Tallis received wages and rewards for services rendered upon the dissolution of Waltham Abbey, Essex.  From Essex he moved along to Canterbury then to the Chapel Royal, London.  Byrd, the organist at the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lincoln from 1563 to 1572, became co-organist (with Tallis) at the Chapel Royal in 1572.  Three years later Queen Elizabeth I granted them a monopoly on the importing of music paper as well as the printing, publishing, and sale of music.  Among the first volumes Tallis and Byrd published after receiving the monopoly was Cantiones Sacrae (1575), or Sacred Song, dedicated to the Virgin Queen.  The book contained 34 motets by Tallis and Byrd.

[Aside:  I consulted the Encyclopedia Britannica of 1968.  The article on Byrd informed me that Tallis composed 16 of the motets and Byrd the remaining 18.  However, the article of Tallis contradicted this, indicating an even 17-17 split.]

The Tallis motets in Cantiones Sacrae (1575) were the only ones of his published during his lifetime.

Tallis composed both instrumental and vocal works.  His catalog included the following:

1. Mass for Four Voices;
2. Magnificat (I);
3. Magnificat (II);
4. The Lamentations of Jeremiah (I);
5. The Lamentations of Jeremiah (II);
6. Salve Intemerata;
7. Miserere Nostri;
8. Spem in Alium, arguably his magnum opus, with its 40 parts;
9. Settings of services from The Book of Common Prayer (1549),
10. A series of anthems, including the great If Ye Love Me; and
11. Nine tunes (1567) for the Psalter by Archbishop of Canterbury Matthew Parker (in office 1559-1575).

Especially notable among the Psalm tunes were the third (the basis for the Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, by Ralph Vaughan Williams), eighth (Tallis’s Canon), and ninth (Tallis’s Ordinal) ones.

Tallis, who married his wife Joan in 1552, spent his final years in Greenwich.  She died in 1589.

Byrd and his family relocated to Harlington, Middlesex, 1577.  Juliana, his first wife, died nine years later.  Afterward the composer increased the pace of the publication of his own music, including:

1. Psalmes, Sonnets, and Songs of Sadnes and Pietie (1588);
2. Songs of Sundrie Natures (1589);
3. Cantiones Sacrae (II) (1589);
4. Cantiones Sacrae (III) (1591);
5. Three Settings of the Mass, including the Mass for Four Voices and the Mass for Five Voices;
6. Gradualia (I) (1605);
7. Gradualia (II) (1607); and
8. Psalmes, Songs, and Sonnets (1611).

Byrd remained eventually.  In 1592 or 1593 he and his family moved to Stondon Massey, Essex.  He spent the rest of his life there.

Byrd was the greatest composer of the Shakespearean age.  He wrote for every instrument (except the lute) available, composed the best English organ music of the time, and played an important role in the development of music for the viol consort.  He was also crucial to the development of the freely composed fantasia.

John Merbecke, or, as the 1968 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica listed him, John Marbeck, entered the world circa 1505.  Details of his early life have faded from the historical record, unfortunately.  By 1531 he came to live at Windsor; there he remained for the rest of his life.  He became the organist at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, no later than 1541 and served in that capacity until the following year.  He endured a heresy trial and conviction on that charge in 1543 and nearly burned at the stake the following year.  Fortunately, Stephen Gardiner, the Bishop of Winchester, saved his life.  Nevertheless, authorities did seize and burn Merbecke’s “great work,” a concordance of the Bible.  He resumed work on that project and published the result in 1550, however.  That year he also published The Book of Common Prayer Noted, a musical setting of The Book of Common Prayer (1549).  Merbecke’s work fell into a long period of disuse after the publication of The Book of Common Prayer (1552), but Tractarians revived his settings of the 1549 Prayer Book in the 1800s.

Few of Merbecke’s compositions have survived, unfortunately.  Aside from The Book of Common Prayer Noted (1550), three works have survived fully.  There is a Mass, Missa Per Arma Justiael; as well as a carol, the title of which in Latin translates into English as “A Virgin and a Mother.”  There are also two antiphons, Ave Dei Patris Filia and Domine Jesu Christe, one of which is complete and the other of which lacks a tenor part.

Merbecke was also a theological and devotional writer.  Based on his writings from the last decade of his life, he died a Calvinist in 1585.

Fortunately, one can find performances of many of the works I have mentioned in this post, as well as other compositions of these composers, easily and legally on the Internet.  Listening to them will enrich one’s spiritual life.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 12, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THADDEUS STEVENS, U.S. ABOLITIONIST, CONGRESSMAN, AND WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS

THE FEAST OF SARAH FLOWER ADAMS, ENGLISH UNITARIAN HYMN WRITER; AND HER SISTER, ELIZA FLOWER, ENGLISH UNITARIAN COMPOSER

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O God most glorious, whose praises are sung night and day by your saints and angels in heaven:

We give you thanks for William Byrd, John Merbecke, and Thomas Tallis,

whose music has enriched the praise that your Church offers you here on earth.

Grant, we pray, to all who are touched by the power of music such glimpses of eternity

that we may be made ready to join your saints in heaven and behold your glory unveiled for evermore;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

1 Chronicles 15:16, 19-25, 28

Psalm 47

Revelation 15:1-4

John 15:1-8

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 693

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Above:  Second Coming Icon

Christ the King

The Sunday Closest to November 23

Last Sunday After Pentecost:  Christ the King Sunday

NOVEMBER 21, 2021

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FIRST READING AND PSALM:  OPTION #1

2 Samuel 23:1-7 (New Revised Standard Version):

Now these are the last words of David:  The oracle of David, son of Jesse, the oracle of the man whom God exalted, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the favorite of the Strong One of Israel:

The spirit of the LORD speaks through me,

his word is upon my tongue.

The God of Israel has spoken,

the Rock of Israel has said to me:

One who rules over people justly,

ruling in the fear of God,

is like the light of morning,

like the sun rising on a cloudless morning,

gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.

Is not my house like this with God?

For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,

ordered in all things and secure.

Will he not cause to prosper

all my help and my desire?

But the godless are all like thorns that are thrown away;

for they cannot be picked up with the hand;

to touch them one uses an iron bar

or the shaft of a spear.

And they are entirely consumed in fire on the spot.

Psalm 132:1-3, (14-19) (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1  LORD, remember David,

and all the hardships endured;

2  How he swore an oath to the LORD

and vowed a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:

3  ”I will not come under the roof of my house,

nor climb up into my bed….”

14  For the LORD has chosen Zion;

he has desired her for his habitation:

15  ”This shall be my resting-place for ever;

here will I dwell, for I delight in her.

16  I will surely bless her provisions,

and satisfy her poor with bread.

17  I will clothe her priests with salvation,

and her faithful people will rejoice and sing.

18  There will I make the horn of David flourish;

I have prepared a lamp for my Anointed.

19  As for his enemies, I will clothe them with shame;

but as for him, his crown will shine.”

FIRST READING AND PSALM:  OPTION #2

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 (Revised English Bible):

As I was looking,

thrones were set in place

and the Ancient in Years took his seat;

his robe was white as snow,

his hair like lamb’s wool.

His throne was flames of fire

and its wheels were blazing fire;

a river of fire flowed from his presence.

Thousands upon thousands served him

and myriads upon myriads were in attendance.

The court sat, and the books were opened.

…

I was watching in visions of the night and I saw one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven; he approached the Ancient in Years and was presented to him.  Sovereignty and glory and kingly power were given to him, so that all people and nations of every language should serve him; his sovereignty was to be an everlasting sovereignty which was not to pass away; and his kingly power was never to be destroyed.

Psalm 93 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1 The LORD is King;

he has put on splendid apparel;

the LORD has put on his apparel

and girded himself with strength.

2 He has made the whole world so sure

that it cannot be moved;

3 Ever since the world began, your throne has been estabished;

you are from everlasting.

4 The waters have lifted up, O LORD,

the waters have lifted up their voice;

the waters have lifted up their pounding waves.

5 Mightier than the sound of many waters,

mightier than the breakers of the sea,

mightier is the LORD who dwells on high.

6 Your testimonies are very sure,

and holiness adorns your house, O LORD,

SECOND READING

Revelation 1:4b-8 (New Revised Standard Version):

Grace to you and peace from him who is and was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.  Amen.

Look!  He is coming with the clouds;

every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him;

and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wait.

So it is to be.   Amen.

I am the Alpha and the Omega,

says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

GOSPEL READING

John 18:33-37 (New Revised Standard Version):

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him,

Are you the King of the Jews?

Jesus answered,

Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?

Pilate replied,

I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?

Jesus answered,

My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.

Pilate asked him,

So you are a king?

Jesus answered,

You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.

The Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Some Related Posts:

Proper 29, Year A:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/29/proper-29-year-a/

Proper 29, Year B:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/11/17/proper-29-year-b/

John 18:

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/thirty-ninth-day-of-lent-good-friday/

A Prayer for Humility:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/a-prayer-for-humility/

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God’s ways and those dominant in many societies contradict each other.  Look around.  Listen.  Pay attention.  Then consider the following:

1. The first will be last and the last will be first.
2. The person who serves is the greatest of all.
3. The Beatitudes in the Gospel of Matthew
4. The Beatitudes and Woes in the Gospel of Luke
5. This Sunday’s readings from Revelation and John

This is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday in the Western Church year.  The next Sunday will inaugurate Advent, the time of preparation for Christmas.  Already we read of the return of Christ, which is par for the course at this time in the Western Church year.  Only God knows the details of the parousia, so do not believe anyone who claims to have worked them out.  Unfortunately, such alleged experts have given books such as Daniel and Revelation a bad name among many Christians and others.

I have no obsession with matters eschatological, but neither do I find Daniel and Revelation frightening or intimidating.  They are dense, but that fact creates a challenge.  I can deal effectively with a challenge, or at least try to do so.  My main task as a Christian, however, is to follow Jesus, not to fixate on the seven seals or the four horsemen of the apocalypse.  I do not look forward to the end of the world.  Rather, I seek to leave my corner of the world better than I found it.  How can I function as a divine agent so that God’s order will become more evident in the world, or at least my corner of it?  How can I, for example, help those who mourn to laugh, those who hunger to have their fill, those who weep to rejoice, and those who seek God to find God?  How may I serve God most effectively and show Jesus to those whom I encounter?  These are my responsibilities; prophesy conferences are irrelevant.

KRT

Published originally at ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

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.