Above:  Emperor John II Commenus and Empress Irene with the Madonna and Child

Image in the Public Domain

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BLESSED IRENE OF HUNGARY (1088-AUGUST 13, 1134)

Hungarian Princess and Byzantine Empress

Also known as Piroska

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

In the olden days, royal marriages were frequently political, sealing alliances between kingdoms and empires.  Thus, in 1105, the new alliance between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Byzantine Empire (which always called itself the Roman Empire) came into existence with the marriage of the Hungarian princess Piroska and the heir to the Byzantine (Roman) throne, the future Emperor John II Comnenus (reigned 1118-1143).  The immediate threat to the Byzantine (Roman) Empire in the west came from Normans, and the threat in the east came from the Seljuk Turks.

Above:  Map of Southeastern Europe in 1105

Image in the Public Domain

Piroska, born in Esztergom, Hungary, was a daughter of Queen Adelaide of Swabia and King St. Ladislaus I (reigned 1077-1095; feast days = June 27 and 30).  Piroska, as Irene, was the Byzantine (Roman) Empress from 1118 to 1134.  She gave birth to eight children, including the Emperor Manuel I Comnenus (reigned 1143-1180).  A grandson was Manuel I’s son, Emperor Alexius II Comnenus (reigned 1180-1183).  Andronicus I Comnenus (reigned 1183-1185), descended from Isaac, brother of John II.  Subsequent rulers of that dynasty descended from Theodora, sister of John II and Isaac.

(Aside:  My source for the family tree of Emperor John II Comnenus and Empress Irene, within the Comnenus Dynasty, is a dynastic family tree chart on page 232 of the sixth edition of The Encyclopedia of World History (2001), Peter N. Stearns, General Editor.   Certain sources on the internet disagree with the genealogical chart in this reference work.  They list other Byzantine (Roman) Emperors as being sons of our saint.  Not all sources are equal.)

Blessed Irene also gave generously to worthy causes.  She gave to help to poor, finance the construction of Christ Pantocrator Monastery in Constinople, and to fund the hospital (open to all) associated with that monastery.

Blessed Irene, aged about 46 years, died in Constantinople on August 13, 1134.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 4, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF CHARLES SIMEON, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND PROMOTER OF MISSIONS; HENRY MARTYN, ANGLICAN PRIEST, LINGUIST, TRANSLATOR, AND MISSIONARY; AND ABDUL MASIH, INDIAN CONVERT AND MISSIONARY

THE FEAST OF HENRY SUSO, GERMAN ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR, PREACHER, AND SPIRITUAL WRITER

THE FEAST OF JOHN EDGAR PARK, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN THEN CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF PAUL CUFFEE, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARY TO THE SHINNECOCK NATION

THE FEAST OF THOMAS HORNBLOWER GILL, ENGLISH UNITARIAN THEN ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER

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Almighty God, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses:

Grant that we, encouraged by the good example of your servant Blessed Irene of Hungary,

may persevere in running the race that is set before us,

until at last we may with her attain to your eternal joy;

through Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,

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

Micah 6:6-8

Psalm 15

Hebrews 12:1-2

Matthew 25:31-40

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 724

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Above:  Italy Circa 1050

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINT ARIALDUS OF MILAN (DIED IN 1066)

Italian Roman Catholic Deacon and Martyr, 1066

St. Arialdus became a martyr during a controversy over simony and lay investiture.  Our saint, a well-educated deacon in Milan, taught in the cathedral school.  He was a leader of Pataria, the ecclesiastical reform movement that started in 1057 and that continued after this death.  St. Arialdus sided with Pope Alexander II (reigned 1061-1073) against Guido da Valate, the Archbishop of Milan from 1045 to 1071.  Alexander II’s reform agenda included opposing simony, married priests, and lay ordination of priests without the permission of the local bishop ordinary.  Da Valate not only opposed the papal agenda but stirred up violence, too.  St. Arialdus left Milan and went into hiding.  After Alexander II excommunicated the archbishop, da Valate ordered the arrest, incarceration, and execution of St. Arialdus.

Pope Alexander II canonized St. Arialdus in 1067.

After da Valate died in 1071, the dispute over succession resulted in a schism.  Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV (reigned 1056-1106) favored Godfrey.  The Pataria and the pope favored Atto.  Functionally, Godfrey had the job through 1075.  His immediate successor in the archbishopric and in Henry IV’s favor was Tedald (1075-1085).

Pope St. Gregory VII (reigned 1073-1085) continued the struggle with Henry IV.  The Supreme Pontiff excommunicated the emperor in 1076 then absolved him a year later.  Then, in 1080, Henry IV defied St. Gregory VII and facilitated the election of antipope Clement III (1080, 1084-1100).  The emperor seized Rome and forced the Supreme Pontiff into exile.  St. Gregory VII died in Salerno the following year.

Frosty relations between the Holy Roman Emperors and the Bishops of Rome continued, off-and-on, for years.  The Concordat of Worms (September 23, 1122) resolved the dispute.  Emperors retained a role in the selection and consecration of bishops.  Both sides won something, but the pope-emperor struggle continued.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 19, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JACQUES ELLUL, FRENCH REFORMED THEOLOGIAN AND SOCIOLOGIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT CELESTINE V, BISHOP OF ROME

THE FEAST OF SAINT IVO OF KERMARTIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ATTORNEY, PRIEST, AND ADVOCATE FOR THE POOR

THE FEAST OF GEORG GOTTFRIED MULLER, GERMAN-AMERICAN MORAVIAN MINISTER AND COMPOSER

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Gracious Father, we pray for your holy Catholic Church.

Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace.

Where it is corrupt, purify it;

where it is in error, direct it;

where in anything it is amiss, reform it.

Where it is right, strengthen it;

where it is in want, provide for it;

where it is divided, reunite it;

for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son our Savior,

who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns,

one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Ezekiel 34:1-6, 20-22

Psalm 12:1-7

Acts 22:30-23:10

Matthew 21:12-16

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 735

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Above:  St. Walter of Pontoise

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINT WALTER OF PONTOISE (CIRCA 1030-APRIL 8, 1099)

French Roman Catholic Abbot and Ecclesiastical Reformer

Alternative feast days = February 17, April 8, and May 4

Recognition of the will of God does not necessarily translate into immediate acceptance of it.  This is a spiritual struggle many people know well.

St. Walter of Pontoise knew it well.

Our saint, born in Andainville, Picardy, France, circa 1030, really wanted to be a simple Benedictine monk.  He, after having been a professor of philosophy and rhetoric, had fled success-related temptations by becoming a Benedictine monk at Rebais-en-Brie.  He did not aspire to leadership.

Nevertheless, St. Walter became the first Abbot of Pontoise, via appointment by King Philip I (reigned 1060-1108).  From time to time our saint fled the abbey and his responsibilities.  Once he fled to Cluny.  Every time St. Walter fled, he had to return.  Pope Gregory VII (in office 1073-1085) refused our saint’s resignation and sent him back to Pontoise.  St. Walter never ran away gain.

He did suffer, however.  St. Walter opposed corruption (mainly simony), lax monastic discipline, and the morally dissolute lives of many Benedictine monks.  Our saint’s activism made powerful enemies, some of whom had him arrested, beaten, and incarcerated.  Yet St. Walter, released, continued his ecclesiastical reform efforts.

In 1094 St. Walter founded a convent at Bertaucourt-les-Dames.

St. Walter died of natural causes on Good Friday, April 8, 1099, at Pontoise Abbey.  He was about 69 years old.

St. Walter became the last Western saint canonized by someone other than the Bishop of Rome.  Hugh, Archbishop of Rouen, canonized our saint in 1153.

St. Walter is the patron saint of Pontoise, vintners, prisoners of war, and prisoners.  Some invoke him against job-related stress, not surprisingly.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 24, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE ORDINATION OF FLORENCE LI-TIM-OI, FIRST FEMALE PRIEST IN THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION

THE FEAST OF GEORGE A. BUTTRICK, ANGLO-AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR; AND HIS SON, DAVID G. BUTTRICK, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN THEN UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND LITURGIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIE POUSSEPIN, FOUNDRESS OF THE DOMINICAN SISTERS OF CHARITY OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE VIRGIN

THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF PODLASIE, 1874

THE FEAST OF SAINT SURANUS OF SORA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND MARTYR, 580

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O God, by whose grace your servant Saint Walter of Pontoise,

kindled with the flame of your love, became a burning and a shining light in your Church:

Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline,

and walk before you as children of light;

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.

Amos 2:42-47a

Psalm 133 or 34:1-8 or 119:161-168

2 Corinthians 6:1-10

Matthew 6:24-33

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 723

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Above:  St. Margaret of Scotland

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINT MARGARET OF SCOTLAND (CIRCA 1045-NOVEMBER 16, 1093)

Roman Catholic Queen, Humanitarian, and Ecclesiastical Reformer

Also known as Saint Margaret of Wessex

Alternative feast day = June 16

Former feast day = June 10

St. Margaret of Scotland, who began live as a political exile, became a prominent and historically important figure–a humanitarian, a queen, an ecclesiastical reformer, and the mother of several Kings of Alba/the Scots, as well as a great-grandmother of King Henry II of the Plantaganet Dynasty.

Image Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

St. Margaret was a member of the royal house of Wessex–Anglo-Saxon rulers.  Her grandfather was King Ethelred the Unready (reigned 978-1016), who was actually poorly advised, not unready.  Ethelred’s successor was Edmund II Ironside (reigned April 23-November 30, 1016), who preceded the reign (1016-1035) of King Canute of Denmark in England.  St. Margaret’s father was Edward the Exile (1016-1057).  Her mother was Agatha (before 1030-1057).  Our saint, born in Hungary circa 1045, was a great-niece of King St. Stephen I of Hungary I (reigned 1000-1038).  She spent her earliest years in the court of King Andrew I of Hungary (reigned 1046-1060).  The family returned to England in 1057, during the reign (1042-1066) of Edward the Confessor.  After the Norman Conquest (1066), the family found refuge in the Kingdom of Alba (now Scotland) in 1068.

St. Margaret was Queen of Alba from 1070 to 1093.  King Malcolm III Canmore (reigned 1058-1093) was a widower with children.  He was also illiterate, impious, and uncouth.  St. Margaret was devout and persuasive, however.  She and Malcolm had eight children, including several kings (one of them St. David I), St. Edith/Matilda (the mother of Holy Roman Empress then English Queen Matilda, the mother of King Henry II of England and France), and Blessed Edmund of Scotland (circa 1071-1100, a monk from 1097).  St. Margaret convinced her husband to found schools, orphanages, and hospitals.  She used her influence to have Iona Abbey rebuilt and to cause the founding of Dumferline Abbey.  Our saint urged her husband to improve the quality of life for the people of Alba.  She was less successful in her efforts to reduce interclan warfare, though.

St. Margaret encouraged greater piety at home and in the realm.  She was the spiritual director of her household and the royal court.  Our saint, dismayed with the custom of beginning Lent on the Monday after Ash Wednesday, insisted on starting the season on Ash Wednesday.  Furthermore, Eucharistic rites were to follow the Latin Rite, she said.  Sunday was to be a true sabbath, St. Margaret insisted.  She also encouraged frequent communion.

St. Margaret died at Edinburgh Castle on November 16, 1093, a few days after Malcolm and their son Edward died during civil conflict.

Pope Innocent IV canonized St. Margaret in 1251.

St. Margaret understood that temporal power is a great responsibility, never properly a tool for enriching oneself and feeding one’s ego.  She left Alba/Scotland better than she found it.

Wherever you are, O reader, may you leave it better than you found it.  And, to the extent you have any power or influence, may you use if for good, not selfish, purposes.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 29, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD, COMPOSER, ORGANIST, AND CONDUCTOR

THE FEAST OF DORA GREENWELL, POET AND DEVOTIONAL WRITER

THE FEAST OF JOHN KEBLE, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND POET

THE FEAST OF SAINTS JONAS AND BARACHISIUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS

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O God, you called your servant Margaret to an earthly throne that she might advance your heavenly kingdom,

and gave her zeal for your Church and love for your people:

Mercifully grant that we who commemorate her this day may be fruitful in good works,

and attain to the glorious crown of your saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord,

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

Deuteronomy 15:7-11

Psalm 112:1-9

2 John 1-9

Luke 4:16-22a

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 683

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Above:  Blessed Herman of Reichenau

Image in the Public Domain

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BLESSED HERMAN OF REICHENAU (FEBRUARY 18, 1013-SEPTEMBER 21, 1054)

Roman Catholic Monk, Liturgist, Poet, and Scholar

Also known as Blessed Hermianus Contractus, Blessed Herman the Lame, and Blessed Herman the Cripple

Living in 2018 is, in many ways, a great blessing.  For example, many surgeries and medical therapies that did not exist in much of the past have become available.

Blessed Herman of Reichenau, who lacked access to such surgeries and therapies, accomplished much, despite his circumstances, temporal and otherwise.  He, born in Altshausen, Swabia, on February 18, 1013, had spina bifida, cerebral palsy, and a cleft palate.  His parents, farmers, provided care for him until he was seven years old, when they left their son in the care of the Benedictine monks at Reichenau Abbey, Lake Constance.  There our saint spent the rest of his life.

Blessed Herman had a brilliant intellect and a brilliant, creative capacity.  He, a monk from the age of 20 years, wrote about astronomy, mathematics, theology, and several languages.  Our saint composed a chronicle of events, starting with the birth of Jesus and ending in 1054, the year of Blessed Herman’s death.  He also had the status of being the most famous living poet of his time.  Two of Blessed Herman’s compositions, incorporated into Roman Catholic liturgies, were the Alma Redemptoris Mater and the Salve Regina.  If that were not enough, Blessed Herman also built astronomical and musical instruments.

Blessed Herman, blind late in life, died at Reichenau Abbey, on September 21, 1054.  He was 41 years old.  His cultus existed without formal recognition until 1863, when Pope Pius IX confirmed the cultus.

Blessed Herman was fortunate to live in that monastery, where he had opportunities to contribute to society.  Many generations of Christians, especially those with a Roman Catholic piety, have benefited from at least two of the compositions of our saint.

This story also reminds us of the moral imperative never to warehouse those among us with physical disabilities.  Such disabilities are frequently difficult barriers, but they need not impair one’s ability to benefit society.  The extent to which that becomes reality depends largely on the decisions and actions of others, of course.

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Holy and loving God, you became incarnate in the form of Jesus of Nazareth,

thereby identifying with we mere mortals, with all our frailties.

We thank you for your faithful servant, Blessed Herman of Reichenau,

who, despite having to cope with physical conditions and disabilities

for which there were no treatments at the time,

made his great and lasting contributions to his society and to the Church.

May we act on our responsibilities to and for each other,

helping each other accomplish our potential, for your everlasting and eternal glory.

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

2 Esdras 2:20-24

Psalm 84

1 Corinthians 12:12-26

Luke 1:46-55

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 11, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT PAPHNUTIUS THE GREAT, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF UPPER THEBAID

THE FEAST OF ANNE HOULDITCH SHEPHERD, ANGLICAN NOVELIST AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF JOHN STAINER AND WALTER GALPIN ALCOCK, ANGLICAN CHURCH ORGANISTS AND COMPOSERS

THE FEAST OF SAINT PATIENS OF LYONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP

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Above:  St. Hildegard of Bingen

Image in the Public Domain

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BLESSED JUTTA OF DISIBODENBERG (CIRCA 1084-DECEMBER 22, 1136)

Roman Catholic Abbess

Her feast transferred from December 22

mentor of

SAINT HILDEGARD OF BINGEN (1098-SEPTEMBER 17, 1179)

Roman Catholic Abbess, Mystic, Theologian, Poet, Playwright, and Composer

One of my goals in renovating this, my Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, as I keep repeating, is to emphasize relationships and influences.  Therefore, I merge the feasts of St. Hildegard of Bingen (September 17) and her mentor, Blessed Jutta of Disibodenberg (December 22).

Blessed Jutta, born circa 1084 in Spanheim, was a German noblewoman.  Her brother was Meganhard, the Count of Spanheim.  She became a hermitess on November 1, 1106.  Blessed Jutta lived near the Abbey of Saint Disibod, Disibodenberg.  She taught children and became the center of a female community before beginning to serve as the first abbess of the new convent at Disibodenberg in 1116.  One member of that community then convent was St. Hildegard, born in Böckelheim, near Spanheim, in 1098, and also of German nobility.  She, raised and educated at Disibodenberg, succeeded Blessed Jutta as abbess in 1136.  St. Hildegard held that post until 1147.  That year she and eighteen nuns founded a new, independent convent near Bingen.  She served as the abbess there for the rest of her life.

St. Hildegard was a mystic; she had been one since childhood.  From 1141 to 1150 she published accounts of 26 of her visions in Scivas (Know the Ways).  Our saint’s visions were consistent with theological orthodoxy, according to the Archbishop of Mainz, a group of theologians, and Pope Eugenius III.  After 1150 St. Hildegard continued to report and write about her visions.

St. Hildegard was a remarkable person, especially by the standards of her time and place.  In 1152-1162 she made preaching tours in the Rhineland.  She corresponded with monarchs and popes, wrote at least one drama, composed religious texts and music, and wrote treatises on science and medicine.  She was, by the standards of her time and place, unusually scientifically astute.  St. Hildegard, as a theologian, belonged to the school of Creation Spirituality.  The Church has recognized her as a Doctor of the Church, a title it bestows on few saints.  The only other women so honored were St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), and St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897).

Despite St. Hildegard’s respected status in the Church during her lifetime, she ran afoul of ecclesiastical authorities toward the end of her life.  She permitted the burial of an excommunicated man in the convent’s cemetery.  Then our saint disobeyed an order to disinter the corpse; the deceased had reconciled with God before he died, she said in her defense.  St. Hildegard’s defiance led to the Archbishop of Mainz placing the convent under an interdict, a penalty she protested.  Eventually the archbishop lifted the interdict.

St. Hildegard died a few months later, on September 17, 1179.

Pope John XXII beatified St. Hildegard in 1326.  She was informally “St. Hildegard” for centuries until Pope Benedict XVI made it official in 2012.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 19, 2018 COMMON ERA

PROPER 15:  THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B

THE FEAST OF SAINT SIXTUS III, BISHOP OF ROME

THE FEAST OF BLAISE PASCAL, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC SCIENTIST, MATHEMATICIAN, AND THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINTS MAGNUS AND AGRICOLA OF AVIGNON, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF AVIGNON

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM HAMMOND, ENGLISH MORAVIAN HYMN WRITER

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God of all times and seasons:

Give us grace that we, after the example of your servant Hildegard, a student of Jutta,

may both know and make known the joy and jubilation of being part of your creation,

and show forth your glory not only with our lips but in our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with

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

Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 43:1-2, 6-7, 9-12, 27-28

Psalm 104:25-34

Colossians 3:14-17

John 3:16-21

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 589

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Above:  The Realm of King Canute the Great

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINT WILLIAM OF ROSKILDE (DIED 1067/1074)

English-Danish Roman Catholic Bishop

Danish kings used to rule Norway.  For a time a few of them also governed England.  In 1013 Sweyn I Forkbeard (reigned 985-1014) conquered England.  He died six weeks later. In the political chaos that ensued, Canute the Great (reigned 1014-1035) returned to Denmark, the Anglo-Saxon king Aethelred the Unready ( really poorly advised, not unready; reigned 978-1013, 1014-1016), and returned from exile to rule again, and Edmund II Ironside (reigned 1016) rebelled against his father Aethelred.  Meanwhile, Canute returned in force in 1015, and reconquered England the following year.  He gave England stability.  After Canute the Great died two sons claimed the English throne and caused chaos for seven years.  The legal heir, was Harthacanute, and Harold Harefoot was the son conceived out-of-wedlock.  Anglo-Saxon rule in England resumed with the reign of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066), whose death preceded the Norman Conquest (1066), after the brief usurpation of the throne by Harold II Godwineson.  Normans–Vikings by another name–took over England.

The rest is history.

St. William, an Anglo-Saxon, was a priest, and chaplain to Canute the Great.  Our saint, while visiting Denmark, recognized the need for Christian missionaries in that part of the kingdom, so he volunteered.  Starting in 1044 he served as the Bishop of Roskilde.

King Sweyn II Estridsson (reigned 1047-1076) was a troublesome and contradictory man.  He, one of St. William’s friends, was also a generous patron of the Church.  Unfortunately, he was also a violent man and the father children via his wife and a host of mistresses.  St. William issued an order forbidding all who had shed blood unjustly from receiving sacraments prior to performing public penance.  One New Year’s Eve Sweyn II noticed that some guests and hired men were mocking him behind his back or had done so.  He had them killed in church the following day.  That day, when the monarch and his guards attempted to enter Roskilde Cathedral, St. William, standing alone, risked his life to keep them out.  He confronted Sweyn II, whom he excommunicated on the spot.  The guards drew their weapons to strike down the bishop, but the monarch prevented them from harming him.  St. William proceeded with the liturgy.  Later he noticed that Sweyn II was performing public penance.  The bishop rescinded the excommunication immediately.  Sweyn II was a different man after that.

Pope Honorius III canonized St. William of Roskilde in 1224.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 18, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF BARTHOLOMÉ DE LAS CASAS, “APOSTLE TO THE INDIANS”

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

THE FEAST OF EDWARD WILLIAM LEINBACH, U.S. MORAVIAN MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH FERARD, FIRST DEACONESS IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

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Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your servant Saint William of Roskilde,

whom you called to preach the Gospel to the people of Denmark.

Raise up in this and every land evangelists and heralds of your kingdom,

that your Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ;

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

Isaiah 52:7-10

Psalm 96 or 96:1-7

Acts 1:1-9

Luke 10:1-9

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 716

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Above:  Bavaria, 919-1125

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINT ALTMAN OF PASSAU (CIRCA 1020-1091)

Roman Catholic Bishop of Passau

Also known as Saint Altmann of Passau and Saint Altmanno of Passau

St. Altman, born circa 1020 in Paderborn, Wesphalia, faced strong opposition for advocating for honesty in ecclesiastical matters.  He studied in Paris, became a priest, led the Paderborn cathedral school, and was chaplain to the Holy Roman Emperor Henry III (reigned 1039-1056), as well as a friend of Empress Agnes.  In 1064 our saint was part of a group of pilgrims to the Holy Land.  Sarencens captured the pilgrims, only about half of whom returned to their homes.

In 1065 St. Altman became the Bishop of Passau.  He advocated for aid to and education of the poor, and mentored St. Leopold the Good (1073-1136; feast day = November 15), grandson of Henry III.  St. Altman got into trouble in 1074 by trying to enforce the policies of Pope Gregory VII regarding celibacy and simony; many priests refused to obey.  Three years later our saint’s opposition to lay investiture led to his expulsion by supporters of Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV (reigned 1056-1106).  Subsequently the Pope appointed our saint the apostolic delegate to Germany.  St. Altman was briefly back in Passau in 1081 before a second exile started.  Henry IV deposed our saint as Bishop of Passau in 1085, although St. Altman remained the bishop of that diocese, according to the Church.

St. Altman, who founded monasteries, spent his final years in one of the abbeys he had started.  He died at Gottweig Abbey in 1091.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 14, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF CHARLES AUGUSTUS BRIGGS, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, AND ALLEGED HERETIC; AND HIS DAUGHTER, EMILIE GRACE BRIGGS, BIBLICAL SCHOLAR AND “HERETIC’S DAUGHTER”

THE FEAST OF SAINT METHODIUS I OF CONSTANTINOPLE, DEFENDER OF ICONS AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE; AND SAINT JOSEPH THE HYMNOGRAPHER, DEFENDER OF ICONS AND THE “SWEET-VOICED NIGHTINGALE OF THE CHURCH”

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM HIRAM FOULKES, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

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O God, our heavenly Father, who raised up your faithful servant Saint Altman of Passau

to be a bishop and pastor in your Church and to feed your flock:

Give abundantly to all pastors the gifts of your Holy Spirit,

that they may minister in your household as true servants of Christ

and stewards of your divine mysteries;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with

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

Acts 20:17-35

Psalm 84 or 84:7-11

Ephesians 3:14-21

Matthew 24:42-47

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 719

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Above:  Kingdom of France, 1140

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

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BLESSED LAMBERT PÉLOGUIN OF VENCE (1084-1154)

Roman Catholic Monk and Bishop

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

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

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 7, 2017 COMMON ERA

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

THE FEAST OF ANNE ROSS COUSIN, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

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

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

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

and to give his life for the life of the world.

Lead us by his love to serve all those to whom the world offers no comfort and little help.

Through us give hope to the hopeless,

love to the unloved,

peace to the troubled,

and rest to the weary,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Hosea 2:18-23

Psalm 94:1-15

Romans 12:9-21

Luke 6:20-36

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 60

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Above:  St. Ivo of Chartres

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINT IVO OF CHARTRES (CIRCA 1040-DECEMBER 23, 1115/1116)

Bishop of Chartres

Alternative feast day = December 23

St. Ivo, Bishop of Chartres, lived his faith during treacherous political times.  Our saint, born into French nobility in Beauvais circa 1040, studied in Paris then at the Abbey of Bec, Normandy.  In 1080 his Bishop appointed him to be the Prior of St. Quentin, Beauvais.  In that capacity St. Ivo became one of the best teachers in France.  He transferred to Chartres in 1090.  There our saint succeeded one Geoffrey, the previous Bishop of Chartres, deposed for committing simony.  St. Ivo, an opponent of simony, was also a consultant in the fields of theology and canon law.

Two great controversies confronted St. Ivo.  King Philip I (reigned 1059-1108) created one of these in 1092, when he married Bertrada de Montfort, wife of Fulk, the Count of Anjou.  Not only was Bertrada married, so so was Philip I.  His wife (until her death in 1094) was Queen Bertha.  Pope Urban II (in office 1088-1099) excommunicated the French monarch, lifted the order Bertha died, then reimposed it several times.  Pope Paschal II (in office 1099-1118) lifted the excommunication on the condition that Philip I have no more relations with Bertrada.  St. Ivo, like the Popes, opposed Philip I.  Our saint, unlike the Supreme Pontiffs, went to prison.

The other great controversy related to the lay investiture of bishops and abbots.  Popes and monarchs argued about this matter for a long time.  St. Ivo proposed a moderate position that presaged the Concordat of Worms (1122), concluded after his death.  In that agreement monarchs retained the right to attend consecrations and to invest bishops and abbots with symbols of temporal authority, but relinquished the right to invest bishops and abbots with symbols of spiritual authority.  Monarchs also agreed to guarantee free and canonical elections.

Pope Pius V beatified St. Ivo in 1570.

The status of St. Ivo’s canonization seems to be in doubt.  CatholicSaints.Info lists our saint as “Blessed Ivo of Chartres” and lists Pope Benedict XIV (in office 1740-1758) as having added him to the martyrology.  Omer Englebert, in The Lives of the Saints (1951), lists our saint as “St. Ivo of Chartres.”

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 22, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ROBERT SEAGRAVE, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER

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O God, our heavenly Father, who raised up your servant Saint Ivo of Chartres,

to be a bishop and pastor in your Church and to feed your flock:

Give abundantly to all pastors the gifts of your Holy Spirit,

that they may minister in your household as true servants of your divine mysteries;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with

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

Acts 20:17-35

Psalm 84 or 84:7-11

Ephesians 3:14-21

Matthew 24:42-47

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 719

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