Archive for the ‘Saints of 1890-1899’ Category
Above: St. Thomas Episcopal Church, New York, New York
Image Source = Google Earth
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THOMAS TERTIUS NOBLE (MAY 5, 1867-MAY 4, 1953)
Anglican then Episcopal Organist and Composer
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I am a great believer in tunes which are wholesome and masculine.
–T. Tertius Noble, to the committee for the The Hymnal (1941) of the old Evangelical and Reformed Church, July 18, 1938
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T. Tertius Noble comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via The Hymnal (1941) of the Evangelical and Reformed Church, The Hymnal 1940 (1943) of The Episcopal Church, and their companion volumes.
Thomas Tertius Noble, born in Bath, England, on May 5, 1867, was a son and the youngest of nine children of Sarah Jefferson Noble and silversmith Thomas Noble. Given that our saint was the third Thomas in his family, he received the middle name Tertius.
Our saint, known as “Tommy” during his youth, manifested musical talent, which he valued. He, shipped off to a boarding school when ten years old, complained that the curriculum provided no opportunities to develop this talent. Noble longed to return home. Eventually, he did return to his home. Noble found opportunities to develop his talent, starting in 1881. In 1881, he, an adolescent, by the standards of 2023, moved in with Charles Everitt, the retired Canon of Gloucester and the new Rector of All Saints’ Church, Colchester. Everitt needed a parish organist. On May 22, 1943, at a Hymn Society of America dinner held in his honor at The General Theological Seminary, New York, New York, Noble recalled:
I could not play the organ very well. It was an awful, old organ; it had four stops, and the mechanism rattled so loudly that you could not hear the music…. Learning on this organ was difficult, but it was good for me….
–Quoted in Amin Haeussler, The Story of Our Hymns: The Handbook to the Hymnal of the Evangelical and Reformed Church (1952), 827
Above: The Parish Church of All Saints, Colchester, England
Image Source = Google Earth
Noble had a more satisfactory musical experience from 1886 to 1889, when he studied at the Royal College of Music. He had won a scholarship in 1886. Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) was one of our saint’s mentors and teachers there. Noble, after graduating in 1889, served as Stanford’s assistant organist at Trinity College, Cambridge (1890-1892).
Other jobs as an organist followed. Noble served at the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Ely (1892-1898). While there, he began to compose his first anthems, including Souls of the Righteous. Noble also married Meriel Maude Stubbs 1897. She was a daughter of Charles Stubbs (1845-1912), the Dean of Ely (1893-1905) then the Bishop of Truro (1906-1912).
Above: The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Ely, England
Image Source = Google Earth
Then Noble worked at the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter (the York Minister), York (1898-1913). He and Meriel welcomed their son, Philip Raymond (1903-1979). Our saint also founded a symphony orchestra; conducted the York Pageant in 1909; and revived the York Musical Festival, dormant for three quarters of a century, in 1912.
Above: The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter, York, England
Image Source = Google Earth
Noble, speaking on May 22, 1943, recalled:
The strain on a cathedral organist is enormous. I had been responsible for fourteen services a week for twenty years, and looked forward, in England, to many more. This was the time to change, though the various canons at York could not see why I should exchange the Minister for just a parish church!
So, in 1913, Noble moved to New York, New York, to assume the duties of organist and choir director at St. Thomas Episcopal Church. Our saint brought the Anglican cathedral choir tradition to his new parish. Noble founded the choir school there in 1919 and served faithfully until he retired in 1943. Along the way, our saint received honorary degrees from Columbia University (1918); Trinity College (1926); and Cosmo Lang, the Archbishop of Canterbury (1932). St. Thomas Church unveiled a window in honor of Noble’s half-century as a church musician in 1932.
Noble composed sacred and secular music and edited editions of compositions by other composers. He edited the G. Schirmer edition of George Frederick Handel‘s The Messiah. Incidental music flowed from his pen. So did the following, among other masterpieces:
Noble’s hymn tunes included the following:
Noble also made his imprint in writing. He wrote The Training of the Boy Chorister (1943).
On the denominational level, Noble’s service extended to the committees for The Hymnal 1916 (1919) and The Hymnal 1940 (1943).
Above: St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Rockport, Massachusetts
Image Source = Google Earth
Noble retired to Rockport, Massachusetts, in 1943. He, one day shy of his eighty-sixth birthday, died there on May 4, 1953.
Noble’s legacy persists. The choir school at St. Thomas Church, New York, New York, still exists. And every time someone sings one of his hymn tunes, our saint’s legacy lives in that way, also.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 19, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOSEPH OF NAZARETH, HUSBAND OF SAINT MARY OF NAZARETH, MOTHER OF GOD
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Holy God, whose majesty surpasses all human definitions and capacity to grasp,
thank you for those (especially T. Tertius Noble)
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
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Above: St. Peter’s Church, Yoxford, England
Image Source = Google Earth
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HENRY PARR (AUGUST 16, 1815-MAY 4, 1905)
Anglican Priest and Hymn Tune Composer
Henry Parr comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via The Hymnal (1941) of the old Evangelical and Reformed Church as well as that hymn book’s companion volume.
Information about Parr is scarce.
- Parr, born in Lythwood, Hall, Shropshire, England, on August 16, 1815, took holy orders in The Church of England in 1845.
- His ministerial record, with some gaps, was: Vicar of Taunton (1849-1859); Curate of Tunbridge (1859-1861); Perpetual Curate of Ash Church, Gloucestershire (1861-1862); and Curate-in-Charge then Vicar of Yoxford, Suffolk (1867f).
- Parr composed chants and hymn tunes–chants, mainly. His hymn tunes included ST. QUINTON, NORTON, and WINMARLEIGH.
- He edited The Church of England Psalmody (First Edition, 1847; Eighth Edition, 1880).
- Parr, aged 89 years, died on May 4, 1905.
The paucity of information about Henry Parr disappoints yet does not surprise me. Compared to most of his contemporaries, a wealth of information about this faithful priest and liturgist survives. The most important factor is his legacy of fidelity, manifested in parish ministry and in liturgical contributions.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 18, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE TWENTY-SECOND DAY OF LENT
THE FEAST OF SAINT LEONIDES OF ALEXANDRIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR, 202; ORIGEN, ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN; SAINT DEMETRIUS OF ALEXANDRIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; AND SAINT ALEXANDER OF JERUSALEM, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF SAINT CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, BISHOP, THEOLOGIAN, AND LITURGIST
THE FEAST OF ELIZA SIBBALD ALDERSON, POET AND HYMN WRITER; AND JOHN BACCHUS DYKES, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT PAUL OF CYPRUS, EASTERN ORTHODOX MARTYR, 760
THE FEAST OF ROBERT WALMSLEY, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST HYMN WRITER
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Holy God, whose majesty surpasses all human definitions and capacity to grasp,
thank you for those (especially Henry Parr)
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
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Above: Antonín Dvorák
Image in the Public Domain
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ANTONÍN LEOPOLD DVORÁK (SEPTEMBER 8, 1841-MAY 1, 1904)
Czech Roman Catholic Composer
Antonín Dvorák comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via his faith and sacred music, not that I harbor any objection to his secular music, such as his symphonies and delightful Slavonic Dances.
Dvorák was a subject of the Austrian (later the Austro-Hungarian) Empire. He, born in Nelohozeves, near Prague, on September 8, 1841, was ethnically Bohemian. The family’s faith was Roman Catholicism. Our saint was the firstborn son of Frantisek Dvorák (1814-1894) and Anna, née Zdenková (1820-1882). The father was, at different times, an innkeeper, a professional zither player, and a butcher. Our saint’s parents married on November 17, 1840. They had fourteen children, eight of whom survived infancy.
Dvorák, a musical prodigy, studied singing as well as various instruments as a youth. These instruments included the violin, organ, viola, and piano. He also started composing as early as 1855. Our saint, as a young man, became a professional musician. He played in an orchestra and taught piano. Dvorák also fell in love with a piano student, Josefina Cermáková, who did not reciprocate. He did, however, find love with her younger sister, Anna (1854-1931), whom he married in 1873. The couple had nine children, the first three of whom died in infancy.
The young husband and father composed symphonies, works for stringed instruments, and pieces for piano while working as a church organist in Prague. He remained an obscure composer with a local reputation in the 1870s. Money was scarce in the Dvorák household, and our saint continued to teach piano students. Therefore, winning the Austrian State Prize for composition in 1876 helped greatly. It enabled him, for example, to resign his job as a church organist.
Dvorák’s reputation became international in 1879, with the help of composer Johannes Brahms and critic Louis Ehlert. The Slavonic Dances (1878) contributed to the making of our saint’s global reputation. By 1885, Dvorák was famous in England, where he premiered his Seventh Symphony and conducted another original work, The Spectre’s Bride, an oratorio. (Joseph Barnby had conducted a performance of Dvorák’s Stabat Mater, from 1880, at Royal Albert Hall in 1883.)
Despite Dvorák’s growing reputation and the quality of his compositions, anti-Czech attitudes in Vienna prevented more performances of his music in the imperial capital. Nevertheless, such attitudes were absent elsewhere, and the composer travelled internationally to conduct performances of his works when not teaching at the Prague Conservatory.
Dvorák worked as the director of the National Conservatory of Music, New York, New York, from 1892 to 1895. His initial salary was $15,000 (the equivalent of $2,771,168.48, received as compensation, as of the writing of this post). However, the Panic of 1893 affected the finances of the conservatory and its backers negatively, so our saint’s salary fell to $8,000 (the equivalent of $1,477,956.52, received as compensation, today). Dvorák, while in the United States, sought to discover and to engage with American music. He maintained that, just as he used Bohemian folk tunes in compositions, American composers should use Native American and African-American musical idioms in their works. Our saint composed while living and working in the United States. The most famous work from this period was his Ninth Symphony, subtitled From the New World.
Dvorák continued to benefit from the support of Brahms. The great bearded composer, regarding Dvorák as a worthy peer, corrected proofs of our saint’s compositions for publication in Europe while Dvorák was in the United States. Brahms volunteered to perform tedious work, to Dvorák’s amazement and gratitude.
The Dvoráks returned to their homeland in April 1895. The composer resumed his duties at the Prague Conservatory and continued to compose. Our saint also resumed traveling throughout Europe to conduct performances of his works. His social stature increased during the final years. Dvorák joined the imperial House of Lords in 1901. That September, his sixtieth birthday was a national celebration in Bohemia. And he assumed the duties of directing the Prague Conservatory that November.
Dvorák did not survive 1904. He fell severely ill on March 25. This illness prevented our saint from attending a concert consisting mostly of his compositions. Dvorák recovered briefly but fell ill from influenza on April 18. He, aged 62 years, died on May 1.
Dvorák’s oeuvre consists of both sacred and secular works: symphonies, chamber music, operas, songs, and other compositions which resist those categories. The choral works include the Stabat Mater, the Requiem, the Te Deum, and the Mass in D Major. The Stabat Mater, playing in the background as I have been writing this post, is a masterpiece. I defy anyone, informed that Dvorák was a devout Roman Catholic who had buried his first three children, to listen to the Stabat Mater and not detect his faith and paternal grief.
Dvorák’s legacy lives, fortunately. His music enriches my life and his faith enriches mine.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 17, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE TWENTY-FIRST DAY OF LENT
THE FEAST OF SAINT PATRICK, APOSTLE OF IRELAND
THE FEAST OF EBENEZER ELLIOTT, “THE CORN LAW RHYMER”
THE FEAST OF HENRY SCOTT HOLLAND, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER AND PRIEST
THE FEAST OF SAINT JAN SARKANDER, SILESIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND “MARTYR OF THE CONFESSIONAL,” 1620
THE FEAST OF JOSEF RHEINBERGER, GERMANIC ROMAN CATHOLIC COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIA BARBARA MAIX, FOUNDER OF THE SISTERS OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
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Eternal God, light of the world and Creator of all that is good and lovely:
We bless your name for inspiring Antonín Dvorák and all others
who with music have filled us with desire and love for you;
through Jesus Christ our Savior,
who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
1 Chronicles 29:14b-19
Psalm 90:14-17
2 Corinthians 3:1-3
John 21:15-17, 24-25
–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2010), 728
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Above: Old Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church, Baltimore, Maryland
Image Source = Google Earth
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JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH HODGES (1830-MAY 1, 1915)
Episcopal Priest, Liturgist, Organist, and Composer
Also known as J. S. B. Hodges, John Sebastian Bach Hodges, and J. Sebastian B. Hodges
Johann Sebastian Bach Hodges comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via The Hymnal 1940 (1943), The Methodist Hymnal/The Book of Hymns (1966), and their companion volumes.
Edward Hodges (1796-1867) and Margaret Robinson Hodges (d. 1863) presided over a musical family. Edward was an organist and a composer in The Church of England. Margaret, raised in the classical music tradition of the Moravian Church (Unitas Fratrum), was a talented vocalist. Edward married Margaret on her nineteenth birthday. The couple raised eight children–George Frederick Handel, Faustina Hasse, Miriam, Jubal, Johann Sebastian Bach, Deborah, Cecilia, and Asaph–four of whom lived past twenty years and became organists. Faustina Hasse Hodges (1822-1895), also a composer, wrote her father’s biography yet died prior to its publication. Johann Sebastian Bach Hodges edited the book for publication (1896). The other two children who survived past twenty years and became organists were Deborah (still alive in 1896) and Jubal (who died at the age of forty-two years).
Edward spent much of this life in North America. In 1838, he moved to Toronto to become the organist at the Anglican Cathedral of St. James. By the end of the next year, he had become the organist at Trinity Church, Wall Street, New York, New York. Edward served in that capacity until illness forced his retirement in 1859. At Trinity Church, Wall Street, Edward introduced the Anglican cathedral music tradition to The Episcopal Church. He also sent for his children, one by one. Johann arrived in New York City in 1845.
Johann remained in the United States even after his father, a new widower, returned to the mother country in 1863. Our saint studied at Columbia University (B.A., 1850; M.A., 1853) then at The General Theological Seminary (S.T.D., 1854). Hodges, ordained to the diaconate in 1854 then to the priesthood the following year: served on the staff of Trinity Church (now Cathedral), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1854-1856. Then our saint spent a few years in the Midwest; he served on the faculty of Nashotah House, Nashotah, Wisconsin. During this time, Hodges also served at the Church of the Holy Communion, Chicago, Illinois. In 1860, our saint returned to the East; he became the Rector of Grace Church, Newark, New Jersey, and served in that capacity through 1870. Next, Hodges served as the Rector of (Old) St. Paul’s Church, Baltimore, Maryland (1870-1906).
Hodges started making his greatest contributions to ecclesiastical life prior to arriving in Baltimore in 1870. He compiled The Book of Common Praise: Music for The Book of Common Prayer; For Use in Congregations and Sunday Schools (1868). Our saint continued his musical-liturgical contributions in Baltimore. In 1873, Hodges replaced the parish’s paid male-female quartet with a choir of men and boys. He also founded the first choir school in the United States. The choir, trained at this choir school, earned its reputation for excellence. Our saint’s work of facilitating The Episcopal Church’s transition from metrical psalms to hymns, begun in Newark, continued in Baltimore. He served on the committee to revise The Hymnal (1874) into The Hymnal (1892). Our saint, the composer of about a hundred anthems and hymn tunes (including EUCHARISTIC HYMN), completed Hymn Tunes, Being Further Contributions to the Hymnody of the Church (1903).
Hodges entered retirement in 1906. During this period, he published Christmas Carols and Hymns for Children Set to Music by the Rev. J. S. B. Hodges, S.T.D. (1908).
Our saint, aged about 85 years, died in Baltimore, Maryland, on May 1, 1915.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 16, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE TWENTIETH DAY OF LENT
THE FEAST OF SAINT ADALBALD OF OSTEVANT, SAINT RICTRUDIS OF MARCHIENNES, AND THEIR RELATIONS
THE FEAST OF SAINT ABRAHAM KIDUNAIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC HERMIT; AND SAINT MARY OF EDESSA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ANCHORESS
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN CACCIAFRONTE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, ABBOT, BISHOP, AND MARTYR, 1183
THE FEAST OF SAINT MEGINGAUD OF WURZBURG, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND BISHOP
THE FEAST OF THOMAS WYATT TURNER, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC SCIENTIST, EDUCATOR, AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST; FOUNDER OF FEDERATED COLORED CATHOLICS
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM HENRY MONK, ANGLICAN ORGANIST, HYMN TUNE COMPOSER, AND MUSIC EDUCATOR
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Holy God, whose majesty surpasses all human definitions and capacity to grasp,
thank you for those (especially Johann Sebastian Bach Hodges)
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
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Above: Blessed Ndoc Suma
Image in the Public Domain
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BLESSED NDOC SUMA (JULY 31, 1887-APRIL 22, 1958)
Albanian Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1958
Blessed Ndoc Suma comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via the Roman Catholic Church.
Suma, born in Nënphat, Lezhë, Albania, on July 31, 1887, was a subject of the Ottoman Empire until Albanian independence (1912). he studied theology at Skrodrë, Albania, then at the Jesuit Collegium Canisianum, Innsbruck, Austria, Austria-Hungary. Our saint returned to Albania, whwere he joined the ranks of priests in the Archdiocese of Skrodrë-Pult on September 21, 1911.
During the subsequent political changes and stages of his homeland, Suma served as a parish priest in seven towns. After the fascist occupation ended in 1944, the communist government came to power. That government cracked down on religion. Albanian authorities arrested Suma while he was saying Mass in Laçu on December 8, 1946. The charge was being a spy.
The verdict was guilty, of course. Our saint, sentenced to thirty years in prison, as well as hard labor, was near death when freed on November 25, 1957. He, aged seventy years, died in the village of Pistull on April 22, 1958.
Holy Mother Church has formally recognized Suma. Pope Francis declared him a Venerable in 2016 then a beatus later that year.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 30, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT HONORIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
THE FEAST OF MARY RAMABAI, PROPHETIC WITNESS AND EVANGELIST IN INDIA
THE FEAST OF RICHARD CHALLONER, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOLAR, RELIGIOUS WRITER, TRANSLATOR, CONTROVERSIALIST, PRIEST, AND TITULAR BISHOP OF DOBERUS
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Almighty God, who gave to your servant Blessed Ndoc Suma boldness
to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world,
and courage to die for this faith:
Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us,
and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2 Esdras 2:42-48
Psalm 126 or 121
1 Peter 3:14-18, 22
Matthew 10:16-22
–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2010), 713
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Above: Blessed Symforian Ducki
Image in the Public Domain
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BLESSED SYMFORIAN DUCKI (MAY 10, 1888-APRIL 11, 1942)
Polish Roman Catholic Friar and Martyr, 1942
Also known as Felix Ducki and Antonio Ducki
Alternative feast day (as one of the 108 Martyrs of World War II) = June 12
Blessed Symforian Ducki comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via the Roman Catholic Church.
Felix Ducki was originally a subject of the Russian Empire. He, born in Warsaw on May 10, 1888, was a son of Julian Ducki (a locksmith) and Marianna (Lenardt) Ducki. Our saint joined the Franciscan Capuchins at Warsaw on January 3, 1918, during revolutionary times in Russia, as well as prior to the reestablishment of independent Poland. His first monastic name was Antonio. That name became Symforian on May 19, 1921.
Ducki lived and served mostly in Warsaw through 1941. He, as a friar, collected funds for the poor. Our saint served his brother friars as a cook. Ducki, who made his final vows on May 22, 1925, led this holy life until the Third Reich intervened.
Agents of the Gestapo arrested the Franciscan Capuchin friars of Warsaw on June 27, 1941, and initially incarcerated them at Pawiak. Ducki, sent to Auschwitz on September 23, 1941, spent the rest of his life performing hard labor. He, aged 53 years, died on April 11, 1942.
Holy Mother Church has formally recognized our saint. Pope John Paul II declared Ducki a Venerable in 1999 then a beatus later that year.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT PAUL VI, BISHOP OF ROME
THE FEAST OF FREDERICK WILLIAM FABER, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHN BRIGHT, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF JOHN BYROM, ANGLICAN THEN QUAKER POET AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH A. SITTLER, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND ECUMENIST
THE FEAST OF LANCELOT ANDREWES, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF CHICHESTER THEN OF ELY THEN OF WINCHESTER
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Almighty and everlasting God, who kindled the flame of your love
in the heart of your holy martyr Blessed Symforian Ducki:
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
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Above: St. Gaetano Catanoso
Image in the Public Domain
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SAINT GAETANO CATANOSO (FEBRUARY 14, 1879-APRIL 14, 1953)
Founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of Saint Veronica (the Missionaries of the Holy Face)
Alternative feast day = September 20
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The Holy Face is my life. He is my strength.
–St. Gaetano Catanoso
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St. Gaetano Catanoso comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via the Roman Catholic Church.
Catanoso came from a large, devout, and wealthy family of Chioro di San Lorenzo, Reggio Calabra, Italy. He, born on February 14, 1879, was one of eight children of Antonio and Antonia Catanoso. Our saint, who started his theological studies in October 1889, joined the ranks of priests on September 20, 1902, when he was twenty-three years old.
Catanoso spent most of his priestly career in parishes, with ministries in communities. After spending 1902-1904 as a prefect of seminarians, our saint became a parish priest. He encouraged priestly vocations, improved catechesis, revived Marian and Eucharistic devotions, encouraged the observance of liturgical feasts, and worked with other local priests to arrange for priests to hear confessions in each other’s parishes. Catanoso also served as a spiritual director at a seminary (1922-1949) and hospitals (1922-1933). Furthermore, he founded an orphanage for war orphans in 1943. In 1935, our saint founded the Congregation of the Daughters of Saint Veronica (the Missionaries of the Holy Face) to work with the poor and to offer perpetual prayers. The congregation received diocesan approval in 1958.
When Catanoso died, aged seventy-four years, on April 4, 1953, he was ill and blind. He was also justifiably beloved.
Holy Mother Church has formally recognized Catanoso. Pope John Paul II declared him a Venerable in 1990 then a beatus in 1997. Pope Benedict XVI canonized our saint in 2005.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 24, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ANNA ELLISON BUTLER ALEXANDER, AFRICAN-AMERICAN EPISCOPAL DEACONESS IN GEORGIA, AND EDUCATOR
THE FEAST OF HENRY HART MILMAN, ANGLICAN DEAN, TRANSLATOR, HISTORIAN, THEOLOGIAN, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT JUVENAL OF ALASKA, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX MARTYR IN ALASKA, AND FIRST ORTHODOX MARTYR IN THE AMERICAS, 1796
THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER THE ALEUT, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX MARTYR IN SAN FRANCISCO, 1815
THE FEAST OF SAINT SILOUAN OF MOUNT ATHOS, EASTERN ORTHODOX MONK AND POET
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Lord 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 your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hosea 2:18-23
Psalm 94:1-14
Romans 12:9-21
Luke 6:20-36
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 37
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Above: The Congregational Church of East Hampton (United Church of Christ), East Hampton, Connecticut
Image Source = Google Earth
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CARL FOWLER PRICE (MAY 16, 1881-APRIL 12, 1948)
U.S. Methodist Hymnologist and Composer
Carl F. Price comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via many hymnals. Price also comes to my Ecumenical Calendar via his avocation, not his vocation. Working in the insurance business is not wrong, of course. However, I list Price as a hymnologist and a composer, not as an insurance broker.
Price was a life-long Methodist. He belonged to the old Methodist Episcopal Church (1784-1939) then to The Methodist Church (1939-1968). Our saint, a son of the Reverend Doctor J. Embry Price and Annie Bacon (Ware) Price, entered the world at New Brunswick, New Jersey, on May 16, 1881. Our saint served as the organist and choirmaster at the Congregational Church of East Hampton, Connecticut (1899-1905). He also graduated with an A. B. degree from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, in 1902.
Price, an insurance broker in New York City, was an active layman. He served as the Secretary of the New York City Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church for thirty-four years, the Secretary of the National Board of the Epworth League for twelve years, the President of the Methodist Historical Society, and the President of the Methodist Social Union.
Beyond the denominational level, our saint helped to found the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada in 1922. Then he served as its first president (1922-1926).
Price may have had so much time for work and his work and other activities because he was usually single. Our saint married Leila Alberta Field (1877-1906) on April 25, 1905. Price’s second wife was Flora Draper Treat (1883-1919), whom he married on June 19, 1913. He did not remarry after Flora’s death.
Price wrote twelve books and more than a hundred articles, mostly about hymnology. These included:
- Music and Hymnody of the Methodist Hymnal (1911);
- A Year of Hymn Stories: A Primer of Hymnology (1914);
- Who’s Who in American Methodism (1916), as compiler and editor;
- One Hundred and One Hymn Stories (1923);
- Curiosities of the Hymnal (1926);
- More Hymn Stories (1929);
- “The Cosmopolitan Hymnal,” in Worship in Music (1929);
- Wesleyan’s First Century (1932);
- One Hundred and One Methodist Stories (1938);
- Translating Hymns for Other Tongues (1945); and
- Hymn Patterns (1947).
Price (M.A., Wesleyan University, 1932) did more than write about hymnody; he contributed to it. Our saint promoted an improved hymnody as he lectured and taught at Drew Theological Seminary, Madison, New Jersey (1929-1945). Price also composed more than two hundred hymn tunes, including FERREE, MILBURN, and THE MORNING WATCH. Furthermore, our saint wrote six anthems, three cantatas, and some piano pieces. Price also composed a hymn text, “Our Fathers Raised These Walls to Crown.”
Price, aged sixty-six years, died in New York City on April 12, 1948.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 15, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, SEPTEMBER 15, 1963
THE FEAST OF CHARLES EDWARD OAKLEY, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF GEORGE HENRY TRABERT, U.S. LUTHERAN MINIISTER, MISSIONARY, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR AND AUTHOR
THE FEAST OF JAMES CHISHOLM, EPISCOPAL PRIEST
THE FEAST OF SAINTS PHILIBERT AND AICARDUS OF JUMIEGES, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOTS
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God of grace and glory,
you have given a rich variety of interests and talents to us;
thank you.
Thank you for those who have served you and helped their fellow human beings
in their daily lives habitually via their vocations yet most memorably their avocations,
and for those who do so.
May we, reminded of and encouraged
in our responsibilities to you and each other by their examples,
continue faithfully in the endeavors you assign us.
In the name of Jesus, who came to serve, not to be served. Amen.
Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 38:24-34a
Psalm 33
Romans 14:7-8
Matthew 5:13-16
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 14, 2013 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM CROFT, ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF JONATHAN MYRICK DANIELS, EPISCOPAL SEMINARIAN AND MARTYR
THE FEAST OF SAINT MAXIMILLIAN KOLBE, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR
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Above: Blessed Mykolai Charnetskyi
Fair Use
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BLESSED MYKOLAI CHARNETSKYI (SEPTEMBER 14, 1884-APRIL 2, 1959)
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Titular Bishop of Lebed, and Martyr, 1959
Also known as Blessed Nicholas Charnetsky
Alternative feast day (as one of the Martyrs of Ukraine) = January 6
Alternative feast day (as one of the Martyrs Killed Under Communist Regimes in Eastern Europe) = June 27
Blessed Mykolai Charnetskyi comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via the Roman Catholic Church.
Charnetskyi was originally a subject of the Russian Empire. He, born in Semakivitsia, Ukraine, on September 14, 1884, came from a large family; Alexander and Parasceva Charnetskyi had nine children. The family belonged to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, in communion with the Bishop of Rome. Our saint, when eighteen years old, commenced his theological studies at the Ukrainian College, Rome. He, ordained a priest in 1909, completed his doctorate in theology, in Rome, in 1910.
Charnetskyi lived during revolutionary and tumultuous times. Empires fell, new countries came into existence, and borders shifted more than once. He taught philosophy and dogmatic theology at the Seminary in Stanislavov (now Ivan-Frankivsk), Ukraine, as well as provided spiritual direction to students, from 1910 to 1919.
Yet Charnetskyi discerned a change in his vocation. He became a Redemptorist novice in 1919 then made his first profession the following year. From 1920 to 1926, our saint served as a teacher at a minor seminary as well as a parish priest. The Redemptorist order opened a mission to Roman Catholic-Eastern Orthodox reconciliation in 1926. Charnetskyi, as part of that mission, became the Apostolic Visitor in the Volhynia region of Poland (now Ukraine) that year. In 1931, our saint received a more elevated title–Titular Bishop of Lebed.
World War II disrupted Chanetskyi’s work. He fled to Lviv in 1939, after the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland. Germany occupied the area of Lviv in 1941-1944. Our saint taught at the Lviv Theological Academy from 1941 to 1945.
After World War II, the Soviet government persecuted the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The Soviet government arrested all bishops and turned church property over to the Russian Orthodox Church. Agents of the NKVD arrested Charnetskyi, sixty years old, on April 11, 1945, on the charge of treason. The verdict was guilty, of course. Our saint spent the next eleven years suffering tortures and performing hard labor in thirty prisons. Upon release in 1956, he seemed to be near death. Our saint’s health was broken.
Nevertheless, Charnetskyi rallied. He spent the rest of this life ministering to the underground Ukrainian Greek Catholic community. Our saint, aged seventy-four years, died in Lviv, Ukraine, on April 2, 1959.
Holy Mother Church has formally recognized our saint. Pope John Paul II declared him a Venerable in 2001. Later that year, the same Supreme Pontiff made our saint one of the beati.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 14, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE HOLY CROSS
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Almighty God, by whose grace and power
your holy martyr Blessed Mykolai Charnetskyi
triumphed over suffering and was faithful even to death:
Grant us, who now remember him in thanksgiving,
to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world,
that we may receive with him the crown of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 51:1-12
Psalm 116 or 116:1-8
Revelation 7:13-17
Luke 2:2-12
–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2010), 714
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Above: The Flag of The Episcopal Church
Photographer = Kenneth Randolph Taylor
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PETER CHRISTIAN LUTKIN (JR.) (MARCH 27, 1858-DECEMBER 27, 1931)
Episcopal Composer, Liturgist, and Music Educator
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Dean Lutkin’s attitude to music was that of a high priest in the temple of a divine revealing art. He considered himself a steward of the mysteries of God and communicated to his pupils that high sense of a spiritual vocation which alone gives dignity and nobility to life.
–The Right Reverend George Craig Stewart, Bishop of Chicago, on Peter Lutkin; quoted in Robert Guy McCutchan, Our Hymnody: A Manual to The Methodist Church, 2nd. ed. (1937), 167
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Peter Lutkin comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via a plethora of hymnals.
Peter Christian Lutkin (Jr.), born in Thompsonville, Wisconsin, on March 27, 1858, came from a Danish-American family. The family moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1869. Shortly thereafter, both parents–Peter Christian Lutkin (Sr.) and Hannah (Olivarious) Lutkin–died.
Our young saint made his way to fulfilling his potential with the help of many people, some of them related to him. Lutkin attended public schools in Chicago as well as the choir school at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul. At the age of 14 years, he became the first boy contralto soloist in the Midwest. Lutkin worked as an instructor in piano at Northwestern University, which lacked a music department, in 1879-1881. He spent 1881-1884 studying music in Europe; a group of Chicago musicians had raised the funds to make those studies possible.
Lutkin, back in Chicago, made the most of his talents. He held overlapping portfolios:
- Organist and choirmaster, St. Clement’s Episcopal Church (1884-1891);
- Director of the Department of Theory, the American Conservatory of Music (1885-1895);
- Organist and choirmaster, St. James’s Episcopal Church (1891-1896);
- Founder and first Dean of the School of Music, Northwestern University (1896-1928);
- Musical Editor, The Methodist Hymnal (1905);
- Founder and Director of the North Shore Festivals (1908-1930);
- President, the Music Teachers’ National Association (1911, 1920); and
- Musical Editor, The (Episcopal) Hymnal 1916 (1918).
Our saint, a pioneer in college music education in the United States and a champion of choral a cappella music, also helped to found the American Guild of Organists in 1896. Syracuse University awarded Lutkin the Mus.D. degree in 1900.
Lutkin composed canticles, anthems, hymn tunes, and instrumental works. His hymn tunes included LANIER, THEODORE, PATTEN, and CARMAN. Perhaps his most anthem was The Lord Bless You and Keep You.
Lutkin, aged 73 years, died in Evanston, Illinois, on December 27, 1931. His widow was Nancy Leiah Carmen Lutkin (1861-1949), whom he married on October 27, 1885.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 1, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT DIONYSIUS EXIGUUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND REFORMER OF THE CALENDAR
THE FEAST OF DAVID PENDLETON OAKERHATER, CHEYENNE WARRIOR, CHIEF, HOLY MAN, AND EPISCOPAL DEACON AND MISSIONARY IN OKLAHOMA
THE FEAST OF SAINT FIACRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC HERMIT
THE FEAST OF FRANÇOIS MAURIAC, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC NOVELIST, CHRISTIAN HUMANIST, AND SOCIAL CRITIC
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Holy God, whose majesty surpasses all human definitions and capacity to grasp,
thank you for those (especially Peter Lutkin)
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
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SUNDRY THOUGHTS 
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