Japanese Roman Catholic Physician and Spiritual Writer
The “Saint of Urakami”
Also known as Takashi Nagai
Baptismal name = Paul
Nagai Takashi (to follow the Japanese custom of placing the family name first) comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via Robert Ellsberg, All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time. Nagai is a Servant of God in the Roman Catholic Church. He may, in time, become Venerable then Blessed then Saint Nagai Takashi.
Nagai was an adult convert to Christianity. He, born in rural Mitoya, Japan, on February 3, 1908, was a son of physician Nagai Noboru. Our saint began to study medicine at the Nagasaki Medical College in 1928. After his mother, Tsune, died of a brain hemorrhage, Nagai began to read the Pensées of Blaise Pascal (1623-1662). At the time, our saint, still an atheist, boarded with the Moriyama family, Roman Catholics. The relationship with that family remained important to Nagai for the rest of his life. By the time our saint graduated in 1932, meningitis had caused him to become partially deaf. He, unable to practice medicine yet, went to work as a radiologist instead. Moriyama Sadakichi’s invitation to attend Midnight Mass at the cathedral in Nagasaki in 1932proved to be a turning point. Our saint attended that Mass, another milestone on his road to conversion. During military service in Manchuria (starting in 1933), Nagai witnessed Japanese military brutality toward civilians. This troubled his conscience. He, after returning from Manchuria, converted to Roman Catholicism and accepted baptism on June 4, 1934. His baptismal name was Paul. Pascal’s quote which sealed the deal was:
There is enough light for those who only desire to see, and enough obscurity for those who have a contrary disposition.
In late December 1932, Moriyama Midori, daughter of Sadakichi, had suffered from acute appendicitis. Nagai had carried her on his back through the snow to the hospital. In August 1934, our saint married Midori. The couple had a son (Makato, 1935-2001) and three daughters: Ikuko (1937-1939), Sasano (who died shortly after birth), and Kayano (1941-2008). Nagai, confirmed in December 1934, joined the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, visited patients, and delivered food to the poor. He also met St. Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941), who lived in a suburb of Nagasaki from 1931-1936, and who founded a monastery at Nagasaki.
The Sino-Japanese War (later the Pacific Theater of World War II) changed Nagai’s life. He, mobilized as an army surgeon in 1937, served in China through 1940. In 1939, he learned of the death of his father and first daughter. Nagai returned to Nagasaki and continued his medical studies in 1940. Our saint worked at the Nagasaki Medical College Hospital. In that capacity, he tended to civilian victims of the Allied air raid of April 26, 1945. In June of that year, Nagai received his diagnosis of leukemia, with the prediction that he would die within three years. The apparent cause of the disease was conditions of working in radiology. Midori, upon hearing of this diagnosis, counseled her husband:
Whether you live or die, it is for God’s glory.
For years, Nagai had understood that, sometime during the war, the destruction of Nagasaki would occur. Upon hearing of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima (August 6, 1945), he planned to evacuate his family six kilometers (nearly four miles away) to Matsuyama. Unfortunately, our saint had no time to evacuate them before August 9. That day, Nagai was working in the radiology department of the Nagasaki Medical College Hospital when the second atomic bomb fell in the Urakami district of the city. He suffered severe injuries. Two days later, Nagai found his home destroyed and his beloved Midori dead. After being confined to bed for a month, our saint returned to the Urakami district and constructed a hut out of the ruins of his home. He shared that hut with his two surviving children, Midori’s mother, and two other kinsfolk.
Above: Nagasaki in Ruins, 1945
Image in the Public Domain
The local chapter of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul built a new home for Nagai and his family in 1947. He named the new home “Nyokodo,” or “As-Yourself Hall,” after the Golden Rule. He had finished writing a book, The Bells of Nagasaki, by August 9, 1946. By then, Nagai was confined to bed. Yet he could still write, and he did. Our saint wrote of spiritual issues, especially those related to the aftermath of World War II in Japan.
Nagai, aged 43 years, died in the Nagasaki Medical College Hospital on May 1, 1951.
His epitaph reads:
We are merely servants; we have done no more than our duty.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 21, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE TWENTY-FOURTH DAY OF LENT
THE FEAST OF JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL BACH, AND JOHANN CHRISTIAN BACH, COMPOSERS
THE FEAST OF SAINT LUCIA OF VERONA, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC TERTIARY AND MARTYR, 1574
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARK GJANI, ALBANIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1947
THE FEAST OF SAINT NICHOLAS OF FLÜE AND HIS GRANDSON, SAINT CONRAD SCHEUBER, SWISS HERMITS
THE FEAST OF SAINT SERAPION OF THMUIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
Also known as Hubert Unzeitig and the “Angel of Dachau”
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Even behind the hardest sacrifices and worst suffering stands God with his Fatherly love, who is satisfied with the good will of his children and gives them and others happiness.
–Blessed Engelmar Unzeitig, writing to his sister from Dachau
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The Good is undying and victory must remain with God, even if it sometimes seems useless for us to spread love in the world. Nevertheless, one sees again and again that the human heart is attuned to love, and [the heart] cannot withstand [love’s] power in the long run, if [the heart] is truly based on God and not on creatures. We want to continue to do and offer everything so that love and peace may soon reign again.
–Blessed Engelmar Unzeitig, writing a few days before his death
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Blessed Engelmar Unzeitig comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via the Roman Catholic Church as well as Robert Ellsberg, All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (1998).
Hubert Unzeitig was originally a subject of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He entered the world at Greifendorf (now Hradec nad Svitavou, Czech Republic) on March 1, 1911.
Our saint commenced his religious life when he was 18 years old. He traveled to Reimlingen, Germany, to join the Mariannhill Missionaries and to start his studies for the priesthood in 1929. While engaging in theological studies, Unzeitig lived in Würzburg, Germany. He made his final vows in May 1938 and received the name “Engelmar.” Ordination to the priesthood occurred on August 6, 1939, shortly prior to the beginning of the European Theater of World War II. Unzeitig, who celebrated his first Mass on August 15, 1939, commenced his parish ministry at Glöckelberg, Austria (now Zadni Zvonková, Czech Republic) the following year.
Our saint’s ministry in Glöckelberg was brief. His practice of defending the Jews in sermons attracted the attention of the Gestapo. Unzeitig, arrested on April 21, 1941, arrived at Dachau concentration camp on June 8 that year.
Unzeitig earned his nickname, the “Angel of Dachau.” He regarded all prisoners as his flock. Our saint learned Russian so that he could minister to prisoners from Eastern Europe. He and twenty-six other priests volunteered to care for victims of typhoid fever in the autumn of 1944. That disease claimed our saint’s life on March 2, 1945. He was 34 years old.
Holy Mother Church has formally recognized Unzeitig. Pope Benedict XVI declared him a Venerable in 2009. Pope Francis made our saint a beatus in 2016.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 25, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MICHAEL FARADAY, ENGLISH SCIENTIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT ANDREA BORDINO, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC LAY BROTHER
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIA DEL TRÁNSITO DE JESÚS SACRAMENTADO, FOUNDER OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE FRANCISCAN TERTIARY MISSIONARIES OF ARGENTINA
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIA TRONCATTI, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM JOHN COPELAND, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the Blessed Sacrament.
–Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection; quoted in Robert Ellsberg, All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (1997), 24
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Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection comes to this, A GREAT CLOUD OF WITNESSES: AN ECUMENICAL CALENDAR OF SAINTS’ DAYS AND HOLY DAYS, via Ellsberg, All Saints (1997).
Nicholas Herman, born in Hériménil, near Lunéville, France, circa 1614, was a peasant. By the time our saint was 16 years old, he was a soldier in Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648). The 16-year-old Herman reported a mystical vision. Later in the war, he was briefly a prisoner and an alleged spy. Herman’s exit from the war came via combat-related injuries that rendered him permanently crippled. After his military service, our saint was a footman to Guillaume de Fuibert, the royal treasurer. Our saint recalled being clumsy, breaking items.
Herman, no longer a footman, entered the religious life. He was a hermit for a while. Finally, our saint, 26 years old, joined the Order of Discaled Carmelites in Paris, as a lay brother. On August 14, 1642, Herman made his solemn vows and became Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection.
Brother Lawrence had found his niche. He worked in the kitchen for years. Later, he repaired sandals. Our saint learned how to live in continuous prayer. He lived this way by performing his duties with a consciousness of the presence of God that hallows them. Brother Lawrence also became a respected spiritual counselor. François Fénelon (1651-1715), the Archbishop of Cambrai (1695f), was one of his admirers.
Brother Lawrence died on February 12, 1691.
After Brother Lawrence died, Abbé Joseph de Beaufort compiled a book, The Practice of the Presence of God. This volume of our saint’s wisdom has influenced devout Christians from a variety of communions for centuries.
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Loving God, thank you for the gifts of spiritual insight you bestowed
upon your servant Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection.
May the Church never be bereft of these gifts.
May we perform our duties, no matter how mundane,
with a consciousness of your sanctifying presence.
In the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-16
Psalm 119:33-40
1 Thessalonians 5:12-28
Matthew 11:25-30
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 12, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOSAPHAT KUNTSEVYCH, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF POLOTSK, AND MARTYR, 1623
THE FEAST OF JOHN TAVENER, ENGLISH PRESBYTERIAN THEN ORTHODOX COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF JUANA INÉS DE LA CRUZ, MEXICAN ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN, COMPOSER, WRITER, PHILOSOPHER, FEMINIST, AND ALLEGED HERETIC
THE FEAST OF RAY PALMER, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM ARTHUR DUNKERLEY, BRITISH NOVELIST, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
Father Alessandro Valignano comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via Robert Ellsberg, All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (1997).
I, as a Christian, respect properly-done missionary work. On the other hand, improperly-done missionary work makes me cringe and proves to be counter-productive. It turns people off. The historical record of Christianity is replete with examples of missionaries whose cultural and political imperialism hindered their effectiveness for God. I recall easily, for example, that, in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), rejecting Christianity became part of the struggle for political independence. (Christianity was the religion of the Dutch imperial overlords.)
Some of the many holy people I have added to this Ecumenical Calendar have been culturally-sensitive missionaries. They respected the people to whom they went. These missionaries’ effectiveness (or lack thereof) depended largely on how much ecclesiastical support they had. Their cultural sensitivity aided their effectiveness by not alienating the people they were trying to convert.
Now I add another great missionary, a man ahead of his time.
BIOGRAPHY
Alessandro Valignano, born in Chieti, Kingdom of Naples, on February 15, 1539, came from nobility. Our saint studied at the University of Padua, from which he graduated with a doctorate in law when only 19 years old. He spent a few years in Rome then studied theology in Padua. Valignano, who joined the Society of Jesus in 1566, rose to become the Visitor of Missions in the Indies in 1573. Macao was his base of operations when he was not traveling.
Valignano had much in common with a more famous missionary and a contemporary, Matteo Ricci (1552-1610). Valignano and Ricci practiced adaptionism, a missionary method that caused much controversy. As long as nobody violated any matter crucial to Christianity–Roman Catholicism, in particular–adapting to the local culture was necessary and proper. Adaptionism proved to be controversial; many European purists condemned it.
Valignano became a scholar and a master of Chinese language and culture; he was fluent in both. This was crucial to the intended success of the Jesuit mission in China, he understood.
Our saint visited Japan (1579-1583, 1590-1592, and 1598-1603). He brought the message of adaptionism to the Jesuit mission in those islands. Valignano condemned the racism certain missionaries exhibited. He also criticized the poor Japanese language skills some Jesuit missionaries had, even after spending years in Japan. Offending Japanese people was no way to convert any of them, our saint understood. He imposed strict rules regarding linguistic study for Jesuits in Japan. Valignano also required that Jesuit missionaries in Japan learn Japanese customs. Furthermore, he founded seminaries. Valignano’s reform of the Jesuit mission in Japan coincided with official persecution during the Tokugawa Shogunate. The government associated Christianity with European imperialism.
Valignano never got to make the mission to China. Ricci did that. Ecclesiastical infighting undercut their work. The Vatican suppressed adaptionism in the 1600s.
Valignano, aged 66 years, died in Macao on January 20, 1606. At the time, he was planning to visit Ricci in China.
CONCLUSION
The Tokugawa Shogunate martyred hundreds of missionaries and Japanese converts from 1597 to 1639. Yet Christianity survived underground until the late 1800s, when more missionaries arrived. Valignano had much to do with the survival of Christianity in Japan.
Eventually, the Vatican realized that Valignano had been wise.
My late grandmother Taylor, a Presbyterian, told me a story about Southern Presbyterian missionaries in a remote part of Peru earlier in the twentieth century. They were translating the New Testament into the local dialect. The missionaries encountered a minor difficulty when they got to the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem; nobody in the area had ever seen a donkey. Remaining consistent with the theme of Jesus riding a beast of burden, the missionaries translated “donkey” as “llama.”
Back in northwestern Georgia, opinion regarding this translation choice was divided. My grandmother and many others understood and approved of the adaptation to the local culture. Purists, however, disapproved. Jesus had to ride a donkey, not a llama. Period. End of discussion.
Some people had not learned what Valignano knew well, centuries prior.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 3, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JEDEDIAH WEISS, U.S. MORAVIAN CRAFTSMAN, MERCHANT, AND MUSICIAN
THE FEAST OF ARTHUR CARL LICHTENBERGER, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, AND WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
THE FEAST OF F. CRAWFORD BURKITT, ANGLICAN SCHOLAR, THEOLOGIAN, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF JAMES BOLAN LAWRENCE, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND MISSONARY IN SOUTHWESTERN GEORGIA, U.S.A.
THE FEAST OF SUNDAR SINGH, INDIAN CHRISTIAN EVANGELIST
THOMAS MERTON (JANUARY 31, 1915-DECEMBER 10, 1968)
U.S. Roman Catholic Priest, Monk, and Spiritual Writer
Also known as Father Louis Merton
His feast transferred from December 10
Thomas Merton comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via three sources: Robert Ellsberg, All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (1997); G. Scott Cady and Christopher L. Webber, A Year With American Saints (2006); and The Episcopal Church.
Instead of composing a brief biography of Merton, I refer you, O reader, to the biography available at the website of the Merton Center at Bellarmine University. I choose to spend most of this post pondering one defining principle in our saint’s life.
One day, Merton, a monk, stood on the corner of South Fourth Street and East Walnut Street in Louisville, Kentucky. He had an epiphany there. Later, our saint wrote:
I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It was like waking from a dream of separateness, of spurious self-isolation in a special world, the world of renunciation and supposed holiness.
How much better would the world be if more people loved as Merton did? He grasped mutuality, a principle embedded in the Law of Moses and the New Testament. Our saint understood that all people bore the image of God, as he did. So, he loved them. This love compelled him to follow a radical path, one that entailed embracing interfaith dialogue and opposing the Vietnam War.
I do not pretend to be a spiritual giant. Compared to Merton, I am a spiritual dust mite, actually. I grasp certain high spiritual principles more in the intellectual sense than in the visceral sense. I accept, for example, that all people bear the image of God. I do not, however, love all people. I know that I should love all people. I struggle to approach Merton’s spiritual peak.
In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people–some of them professing Christians–reject responsible, morally defensible measures (such as wearing face masks and getting fully vaccinated), in violation of mutuality and love of neighbors. They need a dose of Mertonian ethics.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 7, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF COLBERT S. CARTWRIGHT, U.S. DISCIPLES OF CHRIST MINISTER, LITURGIST, AND WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
THE FEAST OF SAINT GUGLIELMO MASSAIA, ITALIAN CARDINAL, MISSIONARY, AND CAPUCHIN FRIAR
THE FEAST OF JOHN SCRIMGER, CANADIAN PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, ECUMENIST, AND LITURGIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT MAXIM SANDOVICH, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1914
THE FEAST OF SAINT VICTRICIUS OF ROUEN, ROMAN CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR AND ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
SAINT ROQUE GONZÂLEZ DE LA CRUZ (NOVEMBER 17, 1576-NOVEMBER 15, 1628)
Spanish Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1628
Alternative feast day = November 15
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SAINT ALPHONSUS RODRÍGUEZ OLMEDO (MARCH 10, 1595-NOVEMBER 15, 1628)
Spanish Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1628
Alternative feast day = November 15
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SAINT JUAN DE CASTILLO (SEPTEMBER 14, 1595-NOVEMBER 17, 1628)
Spanish Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1628
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Collective alternative feast day = November 17
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God does not command the Gospel of Our Lord to be preached with the noise of arms and with pillage. What He rather commands is the example of a good life and teaching.
–St. Roque González de la Cruz, quoted in Robert Ellsberg, All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (1997), 497
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The Jesuit Martyrs of Paraguay come to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via the Roman Catholic Church, as well as Elllsberg, All Saints (1997).
The Jesuit missions in South American proclaimed the Gospel of Christ and shielded part of the indigenous population from slavery. Many European colonists enjoyed exploiting the native people of South America for financial gain. Therefore, powerful political forces in Europe in the Spanish colonies in the New World pushed back against the Jesuits’ missionary efforts. Also, some indigenous people did not differentiate between the Jesuits shielding them from slavers and the European slavers.
These three saints lived, worked, and died in this perilous context.
St. Roque González, a son of Spanish colonists, entered the world at Asunción, Paraguay, on November 17, 1576. His parents, Bartholomé González y de Villaverde and María de Santa Cruz, were from noble families. Our saint grew up bilingual in Spanish and Guariní. He, ordained a priest in 1598, became a Jesuit in 1609. The Jesuits sent him to serve as a missionary in what is now Brazil, but was then within the borders of the Spanish Province of Paraguay. González was the first person of European ancestry to enter what is now the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. He founded the missions of San Ignacio Mani (1613), Itapúa (1615). Concepción de la Siena Candelaria (1619), San Javier, San Nicolás, Asunción del Ijui, and Todos los Santos de Caaró (1628).
Above: The Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul
Scanned from Hammond’s World Atlas–Classics Edition (1957)
Scanned by Kenneth Randolph Taylor
González worked with St. Juan de Castillo. Castillo, born in Belmonte, Toledo, Spain, on September 14, 1595. He studied law at the University of Alcalá then became a lawyer. Yet Castillo found that career unfulfilling. Therefore, he joined the Society of Jesus on March 21, 1614, with the intention of becoming a priest. Castillo and St. Alphonsus Rodríguez Olmedo traveled to South America together in November 1616.
St. Alphonsus Rodríguez Olmedo, born in Zamora, Spain, on March 10, 1598, joined the Society of Jesus in Villagarcía de Campos, Valladolid.
Castillo, ordained a priest, spent the rest of his life as a missionary. He joined González at Ijui. González left there to found another mission while Castillo ministered at Ijui (now in Brazil).
Rodríguez served in the missions of Paraná and Itapuá in 1628. Later that year, he helped González found Todos los Santos de Caaró. On November 15, 1628, González was preparing to supervise the installation of the new bell at the mission church. However, local chieftain Nheçu had ordered the deaths of the Jesuits there. González and Rodríguez died via tomahawks. Hostile tribesmen dragged the corpses into the church and burned it.
Two days later, at Ijui, Castillo also became a martyr, on the orders of Nheçu.
The Jesuit missions in South America continued until 1773, when Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Society of Jesus. That shameful incident is the backdrop for The Mission (1986).
Holy Mother Church formally recognized these three martyrs. Pope Pius XI declared them Venerables in 1933 then Beati in 1934. Pope John Paul II canonized them in 1988.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 30, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JAMES MONTGOMERY, ANGLICAN AND MORAVIAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF DIET EMAN; HER FIANCÉ, HEIN SIETSMA, MARTYR, 1945; AND HIS BROTHER, HENDRIK “HENK” SIETSMA; RIGHTEOUS AMONG THE NATIONS
THE FEAST OF JAMES RUSSELL WOODFORD, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF ELY, HYMN TRANSLATOR, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHN ROSS MACDUFF AND GEORGE MATHESON, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTERS AND AUTHORS
THE FEAST OF SARAH JOSEPHA BUELL HALE, U.S. POET, AUTHOR, EDITOR, AND PROPHETIC WITNESS
JUANA INÉS DE LA CRUZ (NOVEMBER 1648/1651-APRIL 17, 1694/1695)
Mexican Roman Catholic Nun, Composer, Writer, Philosopher, Feminist, and Alleged Heretic
Born Juana Inés de Asbaje y Ramirez de Santillana
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Well-behaved women seldom make history.
–Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
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You foolish men, accusing women for lacking reason when you yourselves are the reason for the lack.
–Juana Inés de la Cruz, quoted in Robert Ellsberg, All Saints: Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (1997), 493
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Juana Inés de la Cruz comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via Ellsberg, All Saints (1997).
Juana Inés de Asbaje y Ramirez de Santillana made history and was not by the standards of her time and place, well-behaved. She was an intellectual, a scientist, a mathematician, a philosopher, a musical composer, a poet, and a playwright. Our saint was also a theologian. She was the first great Latin American poet, too. Our saint challenged the patriarchy and earned her bona fides as a feminist. She was ahead of her time.
Juana was a Criolla, a mixed-race person mostly of Spanish ancestry. She entered the world at San Miguel, Nepantia, near Mexico City, on November 12, 1648 or 1651. Our saint’s father was Captain Pedro Manuel de Asbaje, a Spaniard. Her mother was Isabel Ramirez, a Criolla. The couple was unmarried. Juana and Isabel lied on Isabel’s father’s hacienda. Juana’s grandfather had a profound influence on her. Our saint grew up devout and bookish. She had an insatiable appetite for knowledge at a very young age. Given that Juana’s culture forbade the formal education of girls and women, her education was entirely informal. It began with her grandfather’s library.
Juana was an intelligent and well-educated young woman. She read and wrote Latin when three years old. She wrote a poem about the Eucharist when eight years old. Our saint, who taught Latin at the tender age of thirteen years, also mastered Nahuati, the language of the Aztecs. The sixteen-year-old Juana became a lady-in-waiting in the court of the Viceroy of New Spain. When she was seventeen years old, she matched wits and intellects with the leading minds, theologians, and poets in New Spain, and astounded them. Yet Juana, as a female, could not matriculate at the local university.
Juana needed to study, write, and think. The prospect of marriage and motherhood did not appeal to her. Therefore, the 19-year-old became a nun. She left the Convent of Saint Joseph, of the Discaled Carmelites, after a few months. Yet our saint found that she could maintain her library, keep her scientific instruments, and write to her content at the Convent of Saint Jerome, Mexico City. She did, and the Viceroy and his wife ensured the publication of he writings in Spain.
Juana was not shy about expressing herself. She confronted the patriarchy that denied women and girls access to formal education. Neither was she reluctant to challenge male authority figures and question their orthodoxy. In 1690. our saint critiqued a 40-year-old sermon by a famous preacher. He was an idiot, she was certain. So, she composed a scathing, detailed critique, probably the first theological work by a woman in the New World. The Bishop of Puebla replied by affirming Juana’s orthodoxy yet arguing that theology was not women’s work.
Toward the end of her life, Juana went quiet in the face of the threat of the Inquisition. In 1693, she ceased writing, sold her 4000-volume library and her scientific instruments, and gave the proceeds to the poor. On April 17, 1694 or 1695, Juana died of plague at the convent. She had contracted the plague while tending to other nuns, afflicted with it.
To keep a portion of the population “in its place” is to harm society. Keeping others in “in their place” holds them back. It also holds back those who keep them “in their place.” Therefore, enlightened self-interest (if not the Golden Rule–imagine that!) leads to lifting up everyone and granting equality of access to formal education, et cetera. Mutuality leads to each person having the opportunity to become the person God wants him or her to be. This may not be the person social norms dictate him or her to become. So be it.
Discrimination is insidious. It harms everybody–the intended targets, these who commit it and consent to it passively, and all other members of society. Where discrimination exists, there are only victims, some of whom double as victimizers. Whatever one does to another, one does to oneself.
Some accused Juana Inés de la Cruz of being uppity and presumptuous. They were wrong. She was bold. She was of her time and ahead of it. And she deserved encouragement, not intimidation.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 23, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF TOYOHIKO KAGAWA, RENEWER OF SOCIETY AND PROPHETIC WITNESS IN JAPAN
THE FEAST OF JAKOB BÖHME, GERMAN LUTHERAN MYSTIC
THE FEAST OF MARTIN RINCKART, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT TERESA MARIA OF THE CROSS, FOUNDRESS OF THE CARMELITE SISTERS OF SAINT TERESA OF FLORENCE
THE FEAST OF WALTER RUSSELL BOWIE, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, SEMINARY PROFESSOR, AND HYMN WRITER
SAINT RENÉ GOUPIL (MAY 16, 1608-SEPTEMBER 29, 1642)
French Roman Catholic Missionary and Martyr in New France, 1642
First Roman Catholic Martyr in North America
Solo feast day = September 29
lay assistant to
SAINT ISAAC JOGUES (JANUARY 10, 1607-OCTOBER 18, 1646)
French Roman Catholic Priest, Missionary, and Martyr in New France, 1646
Solo feast day = October 18
colleague of
SAINT JEAN DE LA LA LANDE (DIED OCTOBER 19, 1646)
French Roman Catholic Missionary and Martyr in New France, 1646
Also known as Saint Jean Lalande
Solo feast day = October 19
colleague of
SAINT ANTOINE DANIEL (MAY 27, 1601-JULY 4, 1648)
French Roman Catholic Priest, Missionary, and Martyr in New France, 1648
Solo feast day = July 4
colleague of
SAINT JEAN DE BRÉBEUF (MARCH 25, 1593-MARCH 16, 1649)
French Roman Catholic Priest, Missionary, and Martyr in New France, 1649
Solo feast day = March 16
colleague of
SAINT GABRIEL LALEMANT (OCTOBER 10, 1610-MARCH 17, 1649)
French Roman Catholic Missionary and Martyr in New France, 1649
Solo feast day = March 17
colleague of
SAINT CHARLES GARNIER (BAPTIZED MAY 25, 1606-DIED DECEMBER 7, 1649)
French Roman Catholic Priest, Missionary, and Martyr in New France, 1649
Solo feast day = December 7
lay colleague of
SAINT NOËL CHABANEL (FEBRUARY 2, 1613-DECEMBER 8, 1649)
French Roman Catholic Missionary and Martyr in New France, 1649
Solo feast day = December 8
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Missionaries and Martyrs in New France, 1642-1649
Also known as the Canadian Martyrs
Alternative feast days = March 16 and September 26
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I. INTRODUCTION
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The Martyrs of North America, 1642-1649, come to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via the Roman Catholic Church and The Anglican Church of Canada. St. Isaac Jogues (1607-1646), by himself, is a profiled saint in Robert Ellsberg, All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (1997).
The label “Canadian Martyrs,” accurate in 1642-1649, is a contemporary misnomer, for not all eight martyrs died in what we now call Canada. Some died in what is now upstate New York.
With eight saints, we–you, O reader, and I, have some proverbial bouncing balls to follow. Telling their stories together is logical, however.
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II. ENTER THE “BLACK ROBES”
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GOUPIL
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St. René Goupil offered himself to the service of God. Goupil, born in Saint-Martin-du-Bois, Anjou, France, was a son of Hippliite Goupil and Luce (Provost) Goupil. Our saint, a surgeon, became a Jesuit novice in Paris on March 16, 1639. However, deafness forced him to leave the Society of Jesus. Nevertheless, Goupil volunteered as a lay missionary. He, having arrived in New France in 1640, served at the Saint-Joseph de Sillery Mission, Québec. There he worked in the hospital though 1642.
Goupil and about 40 other people visited Huron missions in 1642. One of the other missionaries was St. Isaac Jogues.
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JOGUES (I)
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St. Isaac Jogues was a Jesuit priest. He, born in Orléans, France, on January 10, 1607, was the fifth of nine children of Laurent Jogues and Françoise de Sainte-Mesmin. Jogues, educated first at his bourgeois home then at Jesuit schools, became Jesuit novice at Rouen in 1624. He was seventeen years old at the time. The Jesuit missions to New France started in 1625. Those early missionaries inspired Jogues, who decided to become a missionary to New France, too. Our saint professed his vows in 1626, studied philosophy at La Flèche for a few years, taught humanities at a boys’s school in Rouen (1629-1633), studied theology at Paris (1633-1636), and joined the ranks of priests (1636).
In 1636, Jogues, not yet a priest, met three of his heroes. They were St. Jean de Brébeuf, Charles Lalemant, and Ènemond Massé, missionaries who had recently returned from New France.
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BRÉBEUF
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St. Jean de Brébeuf was another Jesuit missionary priest. He, born in Condé-sur-Vire, France, on March 25, 1593, joined he Society of Jesus in 1617, at the age of twenty-four years. Brébeuf, a teacher at Rouen (1619-1621), joined the ranks of priests in February 1622. Then he served three years as the Steward of the College of Rouen. In 1625, our saint became a missionary to New France. The group of five missionaries arrived in Québec in June 1625.
Brébeuf, who had a talent for learning languages, ministered mostly among Hurons. Due to international politics (Anglo-French) tensions, the missionaries returned to France in 1629. They returned in 1633. Missionary work was challenging and not always successful. The deaths of many indigenous people from European diseases complicated the matter. But the missionaries were faithful.
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DANIEL (I)
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St. Antoine Daniel was one of the other Jesuit missionaries with Brébeuf in New France. Daniel, born in Dieppe, Normandy, France, on May 27, 1601, studied philosophy for two years and law for for one year before joining the Society of Jesus at Rouen on October 1, 1621, Our saint taught at Rouen (1623-1627), studied theology at Paris (1627-1630), joined the ranks of priests (1630) and taught at the College of Eu (1630-1632).
Daniel began to minister in New France in 1632. At first, he tended to a flock of colonists at St. Anne’s Bay, Cape Breton (-1633). Then he joined Brébeuf’s mission. In 1634, Brébeuf and Daniel were two of the tree missionaries who traveled to Wendake. Daniel learned the language of the Hurons. He translated the Lord’s Prayer and the Nicene Creed, and set them to music. For two yeas, Daniel also ran a school for indigenous boys. In 1638, when Brébeuf moved onto a different assignment, and Daniel relieved him.
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JOGUES (II)
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In 1636, Brébeuf and company, back in France, told the other Jesuits of the great dangers of the mission in New France. Jogues, not discouraged, became more determined to serve as a missionary in New France. Shortly after ordination to the priesthood (1636), he and St. Charles Garnier sailed for New France.
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GARNIER
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St. Charles Garnier was a priest. He, baptized in Paris, France, as an infant on May 25, 1606, was a son of of a secretary to King Henry III. Garnier became a Jesuit novice in September 1624. In time, our saint served as the Prefect of the College of Clermont, completed his studies in philosophy and rhetoric, and taught at the College of Eu for two years. Next, Garnier finished his studies in theology, culture, and language. Then, in 1635, he joined the ranks of priests.
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BRÉBEUF, GARNIER, AND JOGUES
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Garnier, Jogues, and company arrived in New France in June 1636. Immediately, he traveled to the Huron mission. Brébeuf was a strong influence on our saint.
Jogues arrived at his assigned mission station in Québec in September 1636. He joined Brébeuf, the Superior of that Jesuit mission, at Saint-Joseph, on Lake Huron. Immediately, an epidemic struck the Jesuits and the Hurons. (This happened repeatedly.) Fearful natives accused the “Black Robes” of trying to kill them. Jogues caught a fever, but recovered. He ministered to the Hurons at Saint-Joseph for six years.
In the winter of 1639-1640, Jogues and Garnier visited the Petun, a tribe in what is now southern Ontario. That mission proved fruitless. For two months, the Jesuit missionaries traveled from village to village, to a chilly reception.
In September 1641, however, Jogues and Charles Raymbaut found a receptive population of Ojibwe. Jogues ministered at the new Saint-Marie Mission for a while.
Garnier worked at the Saint-Joseph Mission from 1641 to 1646.
Brébeuf also wrote hymns. Perhaps the most popular one was the Huron Carol, which Jesse Edgar Middleton (1872-1960) translated into English as “Twas the Moon of Winter Time.”
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III. GOUPIL AND JOGUES, 1642
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Goupil and about 40 other people visited Huron missions in 1642, Jogues was part of this team, which included Christian Hurons. On August 3, some Mohawk warriors attacked these Christians near present-day Auriesville, New York. The Mohawk warriors tortured their victims. Goupil, by this time a Jesuit lay brother, taught a Mohawk boy the sign of the cross. For this, Goupil died via tomahawk to the head. Jogues gave him last rites on September 29, 1642.
The Mohawk warriors also slowly tortured then killed the Huron converts. (Hurons and Mohawks were traditional enemies.)
The Anglican Church of Canada, in its brief summary of this feast, states that Brébeuf, in 1649, suffered
atrocities which defy description.
Applying this statement to Jogues (in 1642) and Brebeuf and St. Gabriel Lalemant (in 1649), that statement is objectively inaccurate. Finding descriptions is as easy as using Google. I choose do describe the sufferings of these saints in general terms only.
Jogues emerged his captivity a mutilated man. He returned to France for medical treatment. Pope Urban VIII called Jogues a “living martyr.” That “living martyr” returned to New France voluntarily in 1644.
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IV. TO 1646
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CHABANEL AND GARNIER (I)
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St. Noël Chabanel was a Jesuit missionary. He, born in Saughes, France, on February 2, 1613, became a Jesuit novice when he was 17 years old. Chabanel taught at Jesuit colleges and earned a sterling reputation. Our saint arrived in New France in 1643. What he lacked in Algonquin linguistic acumen for a while he made up for with piety. Chabanel, assigned to Sainte-Marie Mission, worked with Garnier.
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LALEMANT
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St. Gabriel Lalemant was a priest. He came from an extended family (including Charles Lalemant) deeply involved in the Society of Jesus and the mission to New France. Our saint, born in Paris, France, on October 31, 1610, was the third of six children of an attorney. Lalemant joined the Society of Jesus in 1630. He tried to get sent to New France years before he succeeded; ill health stood in the way for years. Finally, in 1646, uncle Jerome Lalemant, the Vicar-General of Québec, interceded. In the meantime, our saint had taught at the college in Moulins (1632-1635), studied theology at Bourges (1635-1639), became a priest (1638), and taught at various schools (1639-1646).
Lalemant arrived in Québec in September 1646. He spent months studying the languages and customs of the Hurons.
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LA LANDE
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St. Jean de la Lande (a.k.a. St. Jean Lalande) was a Jesuit lay brother. He, a native of Dieppe, Normandy, France, was just 19 years old when he arrived in New France.
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V. 1646: JOGUES AND LA LANDE
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St. Isaac Jogues became the French envoy to the Mohawk Nation in the Spring of 1646. (The Huron and Mohawk Nations had forged a fragile peace the previous year.) Jogues arrived with de la Lande and other members of the diplomatic party in September 1646. Mohawk warriors captured the Jesuits and took them to the village of Ossermenon (the site of Auriesville, New York, today). Jogues died of a tomahawk to the head on October 18, 1646. The following day, la Lande attempted to recover the corpse. He also died of a tomahawk to the head.
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VI. TO 1649
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DANIEL (II)
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St. Antonie Daniel returned to the main Huron town, Teanaostaye, on July 4, 1648. While the majority of Huron men were away, trading in Quêbec, Iroquois warriors attacked the town. Daniel tended to his flock in the chapel as best he could. Then he absolved them of their sins, baptized catechumens, and confronted the attackers. The priest, vested, carried a cross toward the Iroquois warriors. They killed him, placed his body in the chapel, and burned the chapel. By then, many of the Hurons who had been in the chapel had escaped.
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BRÉBEUF, LALEMANT, AND CHABANEL
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St. Jean de Brébeuf, master of languages, had done much to help the Jesuit mission in New France. His translated works included a catechism and a collection of Biblical prayers, proved invaluable for a long time. Yet he met a gory end, too.
St. Gabriel Lalemant ministered in the area of the Three Rivers trading center through September 1648. He, having been Brébeuf’s assistant at Wendake (September 1648-Feburary 1649), had gone to Saint-Louis Mission. Lalemant replaced Chabanel. Meanwhile, Brébeuf had transferred to Saint-Ignace Mission, near Saint-Louis Mission.
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VII. 1649
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BRÉBEUF AND LALEMANT
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In March 1649, when most of the Huron warriors were away, Iroquois warriors attacked Saint-Ignace. Huron warriors from Saint-Louis delayed the attackers, thereby allowing women, children, and elderly people to escape Saint-Ignace. Iroquois warriors captured Brébeuf and Lalemant. Both saints suffered terrible tortures. They received the crown of martyrdom–Brébeuf on March 16 and Lalemant on the following day.
The Society of Jesus closed and burned Sainte-Marie Mission, rather than permit the Iroquois to desecrate the site.
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CHABANEL AND GARNIER (II)
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St. Noël Chabanel, transferred from Saint-Louis Mission, went to Saint-Joseph Mission.
St. Charles Garnier, living in a Petun village, died during an Iroquois raid on December 7, 1649.
The following day, a “renegade Huron” killed Chabanel, apparently for being French. According to “alternative facts”–lies–the French had betrayed the Hurons and entered into an alliance with the Iroquois.
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VIII. CONCLUSION
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Pope Pius XI declared these martyrs Beati in 1925 then full saints five years later.
Writing hagiographies can lead to a sense of spiritual inadequacy. One may think of oneself as a good person. Perhaps one is a good person. But is one as good as, for example, these eight martyrs? I am not.
Consider St. Isaac Jogues, for example, O reader. Imagine yourself in his position. Knowing the risks, would you have done what he did? And having suffered as he did, would you have remained so dedicated?
The North American Martyrs acted out of the love of Christ. Each one took up his cross and followed Jesus to his individual Golgotha.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 21, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT ROMAN ADAME ROSALES, MEXICAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1927
THE FEAST OF SAINT CONRAD OF PARZHAM, CAPUCHIN FRIAR
THE FEAST OF GEORGE B. CAIRD, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST THEN UNITED REFORMED MINISTER, BIBLICAL SCHOLAR, AND HYMN WRITER AND TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF GEORGIA HARKNESS, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, ETHICIST, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT SIMEON BARSABAE, BISHOP; AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS, 341
CHARLES LEE MATTHEI (FEBRUARY 14, 1948-OCTOBER 1, 2002)
Founder and Director of the Equity Trust, Inc.
Chuck Matthei comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via Jim Wallis and Joyce Hollyday, editors, Cloud of Witnesses, Revised Edition (2005).
Matthei’s Roman Catholic faith compelled him to devote most of his life to social justice. Why not? He understood that, in the Bible, justice and righteousness are the same.
Matthei, born in Chicago, Illinois, on February 14, 1948, learned the Christian ethic of social justice at home. He, a son of Robert L. Matthei and Nancy Horne Matthei, had two sisters, Nancy and Patty. Our saint, active in the Civil Rights Movement as an adolescent, drew inspiration from Jesus and Mohandas Gandhi. The Hebrew Prophets’ message of economic justice also informed Matthei’s life.
This mission manifested itself in various ways. Matthei, as the Executive Director of the Institute for Community Economics, Greenfield, Massachusetts (1980-1990), accomplished much. He created many affordable housing units. Matthei also increased the number of community land trusts from 12 to more than 100 in 23 states. Furthermore, our saint helped to organize the National Association of Community Development Loan Funds (now the National Community Capital Association). He was the founding Chairman (1985-1990). As if that were not enough, Matthei also sat on the board of the Social Investment Forum from 1983 to 1988. He affirmed socially responsible investment.
Matthei, associated with the Catholic Worker movement of Dorothy Day (1897-1980), practiced his socially-conscious faith. He practiced Gandhian nonviolence; our saint was a pacifist. Matthei also supported the Catholic Worker movement’s shelters and soup kitchens financially. And he criticized social institutions and systems that harmed poor people.
Matthei founded the Equity Trust, Inc., in 1991, then served as its Director. In this capacity, he engaged in useful and essential work in the United States of America, Central America, and Kenya. Our saint, for example, assisted the Gullah/Geechee community on Sapelo, Island, Georgia, in preserving their culture and community. He also acquired and preserved 140 acres of land in the Hudson Valley, for agricultural use, to feed people. Matthei, furthermore, traveled, spoke, and consulted on the topics that defined his life’s work.
Matthei, aged 54 years, died in Voluntown, Connecticut, on October 1, 2002. The immediate cause of death was pneumonia, a complication of thyroid cancer, in our saint’s case.
Robert Ellsberg wrote of his final visit to Matthei, a few days before our saint’s death. Thyroid cancer had robbed Matthei of the ability to speak; he dictated requests on a laptop computer. Our saint requested that Ellsberg bring prints by Fritz Eichenberg (1901-1990), as well as photographs of his (Ellsberg’s) children. Matthei was at peace, Ellsberg recalled after that meeting with his friend of 28 years.
Matthei, sitting in a wheelchair, typed a wonderful piece of advice on the laptop computer:
Every age has need of a few fools.
If understanding that justice and righteousness are identical, then acting accordingly, seems foolish, every age needs many fools.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 10, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, SCIENTIST, AND THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT FULBERT OF CHARTRES, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF HENRY VAN DYKE, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND LITURGIST
THE FEAST OF HOWARD THURMAN, U.S. PROTESTANT THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM LAW, ANGLICAN PRIEST, MYSTIC, AND SPIRITUAL WRITER
ELIZABETH GURNEY FRY (MAY 21, 1780-OCTOBER 12, 1845)
English Quaker Social Reformer and “Angel of Prisons”
Elizabeth Fry comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via four sources. The first is Robert Ellsberg, All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (1997). The other three sources are The Church of England; the Scottish Episcopal Church; and the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.
Elizabeth Gurney, born in Norwich, England, on May 31 1780, grew up in a prosperous Quaker family. Both parents, John Gurney and Catherine Barclay Gurney, had ties to banking. John was a partner in Gurney’s Bank. Catherine belonged to the family that founded Barclays Bank. Our saint’s family was relatively lax, by Quaker standards. They (gasp!) sang and danced. The family also (horrors!) wore bright clothing to the meeting house. Catherine died when Elizabeth was 12 years old. Therefore, our saint subsequently helped to raise her younger siblings. She also felt the calling to godly social service and greater personal austerity.
Elizabeth married Joseph Fry, a banker and a Quaker of Bristol, on August 19, 1800, when she was 20 years old. The couple moved to London. They raised twelve children (ten of whom lived to adulthood), born between August 1801 and October 1822. Our saint eventually felt that her life, full of domestic duties, was distracting her from a higher calling. Twelve years into married life, she wrote in her diary:
I feel that my life is slipping away to little purpose.
In 1813, our saint began her efforts in prison reform. She visited Newgate Prison, where the inhumane conditions appalled her. Women and their children shared cells and wore rags. Some slept on old straw. Others did not have even straw on which to sleep. The next day, Fry returned with clothing and fresh straw for inmates. Guards told her that the prisoners and children were savages who did not deserve such alleged luxuries. After helping female prisoners and their children in these ways for years, Fry began to help them in another way in 1816; she founded a prison school for the mostly illiterate prisoners and their children.
Above: Newgate Prison
Image in the Public Domain
Fry’s prison reforms were controversial at the time. Many conservatives accused her of being soft on crime. If conditions in prisons were humane, what deterrent value would prisons have? Our saint founded the Association for the Reformation of Female Prisoners in Newgate in 1817. Female inmates learned skills they could use to support themselves and their children financially in the outside world. This approach led to the founding of the British Ladies’ Society for Promoting the Reformation of Female Prisoners in 1821. Our saint’s emphasis on rehabilitation was allegedly soft on crime. Fry, who visited various prisons, worked to provide jailers and provide sufficient food as well as Bibles and care packages for long transport journeys on ships. She also visited prisoner transport vessels, in use even after they became illegal in 1837. Fry also lobbied for human conditions for prisoners throughout the realm.
Fry engaged in other humanitarian work, too. In 1824, she founded the Brighton District Visiting Society. Volunteers visited the homes of the poor, to assist them. Across the island, this model of social work duplicated. Our saint also campaigned for the abolition of the slave trade. The school for nurses Fry founded in 1840 provided nurses to Florence Nightingale’s humanitarian effort during the Crimean War.
Despite much criticism from the right, our saint had prominent admirers and supporters. Among these were King Frederick William IV of Prussia (reigned 1840-1861) and Queen Victoria (reigned 1837-1901). Queen Victoria contributed financially, too. Also, Fry’s work inspired prison reform legislation in Europe.
Fry cared deeply about the poor and sought to address that perpetual poverty. She started a nightly homeless shelter in London in 1820. She and brother Joseph John Gurney (her business manager, and her financial benefactor after husband Joseph Fry went bankrupt in 1828) studied systemic and widespread poverty in Ireland. Brother and sister wrote a report then published it.
Fry helped other populations, too. Mental asylums have long been cruel and notorious places. Fry worked to reform and improve the treatment of the insane and the mentally ill in Britain, too. Our saint also helped seamen. In 1836, she helped to provide libraries in Coast Guard stations and some naval hospitals.
Fry’s main literary legacy may be her Texts for Every Day in the Year, Principally Practical and Devotional (1831).
Our saint, aged 65 years, died in Ramsgate, England, on October 12, 1845. Seamen at Ramsgate flew their flag at half-staff in her honor. This showed great respect, for, to that point, they had only honored deceased British sovereigns in this way.
For further reading, I refer you, O reader, to archive.org, from which books about Fry are available for free.
Do we see the image of God in the poor, vulnerable, and despised? Elizabeth Gurney Fry did. Do we care enough about others to reach out to them? Elizabeth Gurney Fry did. Her faith found expression in her actions. She, being a Quaker, affirmed that the “Inner Light” of God exists in each human being.
The challenge the legacy of Elizabeth Gurney Fry poses to the rest of us is great and morally proper. This is the challenge to believe–really believe–that each human being bears the image of God and contains the divine Inner Light. Those who really believe this act accordingly. They make political enemies, create controversy, and improve lives. They challenge exploitative social attitudes, structures, and institutions. They live the Golden Rule. How this looks varies according to circumstances, such as time and place. The principle is constant, though.
The Baptismal Covenant in The Book of Common Prayer (1979) includes the following text:
Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor
May we–you, O reader, and I–do so, with God’s help.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 9, 2021 COMMON ERA
FRIDAY IN EASTER WEEK
THE FEAST OF DIETRICH BONHOEFFER, GERMAN LUTHERAN MARTYR, 1945
THE FEAST OF JOHANN CRUGER, GERMAN LUTHERAN ORGANIST, COMPOSER, AND HYMNAL EDITOR
THE FEAST OF JOHN SAMUEL BEWLEY MONSELL, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND POET; AND RICHARD MANT, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF DOWN, CONNOR, AND DROMORE
THE FEAST OF LYDIA EMILIE GRUCHY, FIRST FEMALE MINISTER IN THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
THE FEAST OF MIKAEL AGRICOLA, FINNISH LUTHERAN LITURGIST, BISHOP OF TURKU, AND “FATHER OF FINNISH LITERARY LANGUAGE”
SUNDRY THOUGHTS 
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