To serve God is to seek a way to human hearts. To serve God is to speak about evil as a sickness which should be brought to light so that it can be cured. To serve God is to condemn all its manifestations.

Above:  Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko

Image in the Public Domain

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

BLESSED JERZY POPIELUSZKO (SEPTEMBER 14, 1947-OCTOBER 19-20, 1984)

Polish Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1984

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

–Father Jerzy Popieluszko, quoted in Robert Ellsberg, All Saints:  Daily Refections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (New York:  The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1997), 457

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Father Jerzy Popieluszko, born to peasant farmers in Okopy, Podlaskie, Poland, on September 14, 1947, became a martyr.

Our saint, ordained a priest in the Archdiocese of Warsaw on May 28, 1972, became affiliated with the Solidarity Movement, as a chaplain, in 1980.  The champion of non-violent resistance and a friend of Lech Walesa preached against the Communist government even during martial law (December 13, 1981-July 22, 1983).  His political activism made him an enemy of the state and the object of repeated assassination attempts, as well as arrests and interrogations.  This harassment continued after the end of martial law and the declaration of the general amnesty (July 22, 1984).  Finally, secret police abducted Popieluszko on October 19, 1984.  They beat him to death.  After the discovery of our saint’s body in the Vistula Water Reservoir, on October 30, 1984, more than 250,000 people attended the priest’s funeral as in excess of 1,000,000 people stood outside the church.  Death did not silence our saint.

Pope Benedict XVI declared Popieluszko a Venerable in 2009 then a Blessed the following year.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 12, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE ELEVENTH DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF SAINT JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE VISITATION

THE FEAST OF ALICIA DOMON AND HER COMPANIONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS IN ARGENTINA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS BARTHOLOMEW BUONPEDONI AND VIVALDUS, MINISTERS AMONG LEPERS

THE FEAST OF SAINT LUDWIK BARTOSIK, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Almighty and everlasting God, who kindled the flame of your love

in the heart of your holy martyr Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko:

grant to us, your humble servants, a like faith and power of love,

that we who rejoice in his triumph may profit by his example;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with

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

Jeremiah 15:15-21

Psalm 124 or 31:1-5

1 Peter 4:12-19

Mark 8:34-38

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 715

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Advertisements

Above:  The Compass Rose Flag

Image Source = Alekjds

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

CLAUDIA FRANCES IBOTSON HERNAMAN (OCTOBER 19, 1838-OCTOBER 10, 1898)

Anglican Hymn Writer and Translator

Claudia Frances Ibotson, born at Addlestone, England, on October 19, 1838, was daughter of the Reverend W. H. Ibotson, a priest of the Church of England.  At a young age she wrote for church publications.  Thus began her literary career, which included short stories, but consisted mainly of religious texts for children.  Our saint, who married the Reverend J. W. D. Hernaman, also an Anglican priest, found her vocation:  religious education of the young.  Her publications included:

1. The Child’s Book of Praise (1873);
2. The Story of the Resurrection (1879);
3. Christmas Story (1881);
4. Christmas Carols for Children (1884 and 1885);
5. The Altar Hymnal (1884) (as a contributor and a co-compiler);
6. Hymns for the Seven Words from the Cross (1885);
7. The Crown of Life (1886); and
8. Lyra Consolationis from the Poets of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Centuries (1890).

Hernaman’s hymn output came to about 150 texts between translations and compositions.  She translated a Joseph Mohr hymn from German as “Holy Spirit, Hear Us.” Perhaps her most famous hymn was the great Lenten text, “Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days,” which debuted in print in 1873.  Less well known is the following Christmas hymn:

Chorus:

Haste we to greet Him lying today

In a poor stable all on the hay.

+++++

You who are wealthy, come worship him low,

Jesus the King in humility know;

He it is ruleth the city on high,

Prince of the angels and Lord of the sky!

Chorus

+++++

You who are poor, His deep poverty see,

Poorer than you would your Master be;

No cottage house now may shelter his head,

Only a manger for Him in a shed.

Chorus

+++++

Unto the wealthy is whispering the Child:

“Say would ye find Me so gentle and mild,

I am the poor, still in them I have need,

Naked and hungry, then clothe me and feed.”

Chorus

+++++

Unto the poor He so tenderly cries:

“Yours are the riches stored up in the skies;

In those bright mansions on high shall ye live,

Angels are waiting their welcome to give.”

Chorus

+++++

Both unto rich and poor, one is the call,

Worship and love Him who loveth us all;

So when He comes in His glory again,

We, made like Jesus, with Jesus shall reign.

Chorus

Our saint died at Brussels, Belgium, on October 10, 1898.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 18, 2014 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY, ANGLICAN DEAN OF WESTMINSTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF BARTHOLOME DE LAS CASAS, WITNESS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

Claudia Frances Ibotson Hernaman 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

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Calendula

Image Source = Alvesgaspar

1 (Anthony Ashley Cooper, Lord Shaftesbury, British Humanitarian and Social Reformer)

• Marie-Joseph Aubert, Foundress of the Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion
• Romanus the Melodist, Deacon and Hymnodist
• Thérèse of Lisieux, Roman Catholic Nun and Mystic

2 (Ralph W. Sockman, U.S. United Methodist Minister)

• Carl Doving, Norwegian-American Lutheran Minister and Hymn Translator
• James Allen, English Inghamite then Glasite/Sandemanian Hymn Writer; and his great-nephew, Oswald Allen, English Glasite/Sandemanian Hymn Writer

• Petrus Herbert, German Moravian Bishop and Hymnodist

3 (George Kennedy Allen Bell, Anglican Bishop of Chichester)

• Alberto Ramento, Prime Bishop of the Philippine Independent Church
• Gerard of Brogne, Roman Catholic Abbot
• John Raleigh Mott, U.S. Methodist Lay Evangelist, and Ecumenical Pioneer

4 (Francis of Assisi, Founder of the Order of Friars Minor)

• William Scarlett, Episcopal Bishop of Missouri, and Advocate for Social Justice

5 (David Nitschmann, Sr., “Father Nitschmann,” Moravian Missionary; Melchior Nitschmann, Moravian Missionary and Martyr; Johann Nitschmann, Jr., Moravian Missionary and Bishop; Anna Nitschman, Moravian Eldress; and David Nitschmann, Missionary and First Bishop of the Renewed Moravian Church)

• Cyriacus Schneegass, German Lutheran Minister, Musician, and Hymn Writer
• Francis Xavier Seelos, German-American Roman Catholic Priest
• Harry Emerson Fosdick, U. S. Northern Baptist Minister and Opponent of Fundamentalism

6 (George Edward Lynch Cotton, Anglican Bishop of Calcutta)

• Heinrich Albert, German Lutheran Composer and Poet
• John Ernest Bode, Anglican Priest, Poet, and Hymn Writer
• William Tyndale, English Reformer, Bible Translator, and Martyr; and Miles Coverdale, English Reformer, Bible Translator, and Bishop of Exeter

7 (Wilhelm Wexels, Norwegian Lutheran Minister, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator; his niece, Marie Wexelsen, Norwegian Lutheran Novelist and Hymn Writer; Ludwig Lindeman, Norwegian Lutheran Organist and Musicologist; and Magnus Landstad, Norwegian Lutheran Minister, Folklorist, Hymn Writer, and Hymnal Editor)

• Bradford Torrey, U.S. Ornithologist and Hymn Writer
• Johann Gottfried Weber, German Moravian Musician, Composer, and Minister
• John Woolman, Quaker Abolitionist

8 (Erik Routley, English Congregationalist Hymnodist)

• Abraham Ritter, U.S. Moravian Merchant, Historian, Musician, and Composer
• Richard Whately, Anglican Archbishop of Dublin, Ireland
• William Dwight Porter Bliss, Episcopal Priest; and Richard Theodore Ely, Economists

9 (Denis, Bishop of Paris, and His Companions, Roman Catholic Martyrs)

• John Leonardi, Founder of the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of Lucca; and Joseph Calasanctius, Founder of the Clerks Regular of Religious Schools
• Robert Grosseteste, English Roman Catholic Scholar, Philosopher, and Bishop of Lincoln
• Wilfred Thomason Grenfell, Medical Missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador

10 (Johann Nitschmann, Sr., Moravian Missionary and Bishop; David Nitschmann, Jr., the Syndic, Moravian Missionary and Bishop; and David Nitschmann, the Martyr, Moravian Missionary and Martyr)

• Christian Ludwig Brau, Norwegian Moravian Teacher and Poet
• Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury
• Louis FitzGerald Benson, U.S. Presbyterian Minister and Hymnodist

11 (PHILIP THE EVANGELIST, DEACON)

12 (Martin Dober, Moravian Bishop and Hymn Writer; Johann Leonhard Dober, Moravian Missionary and Bishop; and Anna Schindler Dober, Moravian Missionary and Hymn Writer)

• Cecil Frances Alexander, Irish Anglican Hymn Writer
• Edith Cavell, English Nurse and Martyr, 1915
• Nectarius of Constantinople, Archbishop

13 (Christian David, Moravian Missionary)

• Claus Westermann, German Lutheran Minister and Biblical Translator
• Herbert G. May, U.S. Biblical Scholar and Translator
• Vincent Taylor, British Methodist Minister and Biblical Scholar

14 (Callixtus I, Anterus, and Pontian, Bishops of Rome; and Hippolytus, Antipope)

• Roman Lysko, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1949
• Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky, Episcopal Bishop of Shanghai, and Biblical Translator
• Thomas Hansen Kingo, Danish Lutheran Bishop, Hymn Writer, and “Poet of Eastertide”

15 (Teresa of Avila, Spanish Roman Catholic Nun, Mystic, and Reformer)

16 (Albert E. R. Brauer, Australian Lutheran Minister and Hymn Translator)

• Augustine Thevarparampil, Indian Roman Catholic Priest and “Good Shepherd of the Dalits”
• Gaspar Contarini, Italian Roman Catholic Cardinal and Agent of Reconciliation
• Hedwig of Andechs, Roman Catholic Princess and Nun; and her daughter, Gertrude of Trzebnica, Roman Catholic Abbess

17 (Charles Gounod, French Roman Catholic Composer)

• Birgitte Katerine Boye, Danish Lutheran Poet, Playwright, Hymn Translator, and Hymn Writer
• John Bowring, English Unitarian Hymn Writer, Social Reformer, and Philanthropist

18 (LUKE THE EVANGELIST, PHYSICIAN)

19 (Jerzy Popieluszko, Polish Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1984)

• Claudia Frances Ibotson Hernaman, Anglican Hymn Writer and Translator
• Paul of the Cross, Founder of the Congregation of Discaled Clerks of the Most Holy Cross and Passion

20 (Philip Schaff and John Williamson Nevin, U.S. German Reformed Historians, Theologians, and Liturgists)

• Friedrich Funcke, German Lutheran Minister, Composer, and Hymn Writer
• Mary A. Lathbury, U.S. Methodist Hymn Writer
• Pavel Chesnokov, Russian Orthodox Composer

21 (George McGovern, U.S. Senator and Stateman; and his wife, Eleanor McGovern, Humanitarian)

• David Moritz Michael, German-American Moravian Musician and Composer
• James W. C. Pennington, African-American Congregationalist and Presbyterian Minister, Educator, and Abolitionist
• Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena, Foundress of the Works of the Indians and the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Immaculate Mary and of Saint Catherine of Siena

22 (Frederick Pratt Green, British Methodist Minister, Poet, and Hymn Writer)

• Emily Huntington Miller, U.S. Methodist Author and Hymn Writer
• Katharina von Schlegal, German Lutheran Hymn Writer
• Paul Tillich, German-American Lutheran Theologian

23 (JAMES OF JERUSALEM, BROTHER OF JESUS)

24 (Rosa Parks, African-American Civil Rights Activist)

• Fritz Eichenberg, German-American Quaker Wood Engraver
• Henry Clay Shuttleworth, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer

25 (Philipp Nicolai, German Lutheran Minister and Hymn Writer)

• Proclus, Archbishop of Constantinople; and Rusticus, Bishop of Narbonne

26 (Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons)

• Arthur Campbell Ainger, English Educator, Scholar, and Hymn Writer
• Francis Pott, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer and Translator
• Henry Stanley Oakeley, Composer

27 (James A. Walsh and Thomas Price, Cofounders of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers; and Mary Josephine Rogers, Foundress of the Maryknoll Sisters of Saint Dominic)

• Aedesius, Priest and Missionary; and Frumentius, First Bishop of Axum and Abuna of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
• Dmitry Bortniansky, Russian Orthodox Composer
• Harry Webb Farrington, U.S. Methodist Minister and Hymn Writer

28 (SIMON AND JUDE, APOSTLES AND MARTYRS)

29 (James Hannington, Anglican Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa; and His Companions, Martyrs)

• Bartholomaus Helder, German Lutheran Minister, Composer, and Hymn Writer
• Joseph Grigg, English Presbyterian Minister and Hymn Writer
• Paul Manz, Dean of Lutheran Church Music

30 (Hugh O’Flaherty, “Scarlet Pimperel of the Vatican”)

• Marcellus the Centurion and Cassian of Tangiers, Roman Catholic Martyrs, 298
• Oleksa Zarytsky, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1963
• Walter John Mathams, British Baptist then Presbyterian Minister, Author, and Hymn Writer

31 (Reformation Day)

• Daniel C. Roberts, Episcopal Priest and Hymn Writer
• Gerhard Von Rad, German Lutheran Biblical Scholar
• Paul Shinji Sasaki, Anglican Bishop of Mid-Japan, Bishop of Tokyo, and Primate of Nippon Sei Ko Kei; and Philip Lendel Tsen, Anglican Bishop of Honan and Presiding Bishop of Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui

 

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