Above:  Roman Cyprus

Image in the Public Domain

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SAINT SPYRIDON OF CYPRUS (270-CIRCA 348)

Bishop of Tremithus, Cyprus

His feast transferred from December 12

Alternative feast days = August 11 and December 14

converted

SAINT TRYPHILLIUS OF LEUCOSIA (DIED 370)

Bishop of Leucosia, Cyprus

His feast day = June 13

Alternative feast days = June 11 and 12

Sts. Spyridon of Cyprus and Tryphillius of Leucosia argued forcefully against Arianism, the heresy that Jesus had only one nature–divine.

St. Spyridon, a native Cypriot born in 270, grew up a pious youth in a devout Christian family.  He, a shepherd, married and fathered a daughter.  His wife and daughter became nuns.  St. Spyridon became a monk at Mount Carmel, near Acre.  Eventually, our saint became the Bishop of Tremithius, on Cyprus.  During the reign (305-311) of Emperor Galerus, our saint suffered severely for his faith.  During a period of persecution, St. Spyridon’s faith cost him his right eye, his left calf, and his freedom.  He spent a few years doing hard labor in a Spanish mine until the Edict of Milan (313) freed him.  Our saint then resumed his episcopal duties in Tremithus.  St. Spyridon also participated in the First Council of Nicaea (325) and the Council of Sardica (343).  He died circa 348.

St. Tryphillius was part of St. Spyridon’s legacy.  St. Tryphillius, a native of Rome, studied in Constantinople and became an attorney.  St. Spyridon converted the lawyer to Christianity.  In time, St. Tryphillius became the Bishop of Leucosia (now Nicosia), Cyprus.  He, like St. Spyridon and St. Athanasius of Alexandria (295/298-373), opposed Arianism and, for his efforts, became a target of Arian antipathy.  St. Tryphillius lived simply.  He also preached eloquently and daily.  Furthermore, our saint composed a commentary on the Song of Songs.  He died in 370.

The canonization of these two saints occurred pre-Congregation.  All Roman Catholic canonizations were pre-Congregation until 993, the year of the canonization of St. Ulric of Augsburg (890-973), Bishop of Augsburg.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 2, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT ALEXANDER OF ALEXANDRIA, PATRIARCH; AND SAINT ATHANASIUS OF ALEXANDRIA, PATRIARCH AND “FATHER OF ORTHODOXY”

THE FEAST OF CHARLES SILVESTER HORNE, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF CHARLES FRIEDRICH HASSE, GERMAN-BRITISH MORAVIAN COMPOSER AND EDUCATOR

THE FEAST OF JULIA BULKLEY CADY CORY, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT SIGISMUND OF BURGUNDY, KING; SAINT CLOTILDA, FRANKISH QUEEN; AND SAINT CLODOALD, FRANKISH PRINCE AND ABBOT

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Lord Jesus Christ, fully human and fully divine,

thank you for the glorious mystery of your Incarnation,

essential to the Atonement, and therefore, our salvation.

May we, affirming your full humanity and full divinity without necessarily understanding them,

grow, by grace, into our full stature as human beings and achieve our full potential in God.

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

Genesis 1:26-31

Psalm 110

Hebrews 1:1-14

John 1:1-18

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 25, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARK THE EVANGELIST, MARTYR, 68

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Above:  Southern Germany in 919 C.E.

SAINT ADALBERO OF AUGSBURG (DIED 909)

Roman Catholic Monk, Abbot, and Bishop

His feast transferred from April 28

uncle of 

SAINT ULRIC OF AUGSBURG (890-973)

Roman Catholic Bishop

His feast = July 4

Our story begins with his uncle, St. Adalbero of Augsburg (died 909).  St. Adalbero, who had become a Benedictine at Dillengen in 850, served as Abbot of Ellswangen then as Abbot of Lorsch; he restored the latter abbey.  Sometime after 887 St. Adalbero became Bishop of Augsburg.  Aside from his episcopal tasks, St. Adalbero functioned as an adviser to German King and Holy Roman Emperor Arnulf (reigned 887-899), as tutor to Arnulf’s son and successor, Louis III the Child (born 893; reigned 899-911), the last Carolingian ruler, and functioned as Louis III’s regent for a few years.

St. Adalbero also educated his nephew, St. Ulric of Augsburg (890-973), a native of Augsburg.  St. Ulric, as Bishop of Augsburg form 923 until his retirement, led the populace of the city in rebuilding the city and the cathedral after Magyars raided and plundered Augsburg.  He retired to St. Gall Abbey in modern-day Switzerland, having named his nephew, Henry I of Augsburg (died 982), to succeed him.  This seems to have been a bad choice, but some realities become clear only after the fact.  Pope John XV canonized St. Ulric in 993.  This was the first recorded canonization by a Bishop of Rome.

Each of us faces a unique set of challenges.  You have yours, O reader, as I have mine.  They overlap yet the sets of challenges are not identical.  And Sts. Adalbero and Ulric of Augsburg had their unique sets of challenges.  What matters is how each of us meets then.  Do we, trusting in God, do our best?  We are fallible, of course.  We will have some good intentions and undesirable consequences of actions.  Yet God knows this about us and works through us anyway.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 5, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ROBERT FRANCIS KENNEDY, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL AND SENATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT BONIFACE OF MAINZ, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

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Almighty God, you have raised up faithful bishops of your church,

including your servants Saints Adalbero and Ulric of Augsburg.

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

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

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

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

Psalm 84

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

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

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 60