There are many legends but little known history regarding Kentigern. All the sources are from the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Most are from the northern part of Britain, where Kentigern’s evangelistic and pastoral ministry took place. The sources contain various folkloric elements which are considerably older than the eleventh century, but which have no clear historical value (including in one source a confrontation with the druid Merlin). From these traditions we may with some assurance of historicity assume that Kentigern was the son of a British prince (perhaps Owain of Rheged) and of illegitimate birth. Under his nickname Mungo (meaning “darling”) was educated by Bishop Serf at Culross and became a monk in the austere Irish tradition. He later traveled to the northern British kingdom of Strathclyde (Stratclut), in what is now southwestern Scotland, where he was ordained bishop by another Irish missionary bishop. He continued the work of Saint Ninian in preaching the Gospel to the people in the vicinity of Dumbarton, the capital of the kingdom of Strathclyde, and established a religious foundation near Dumbarton, around which the city of Glasgow later grew. Persecuted by the pagan king Morcant Mwynfawr, Kentigern fled to Cumbria (in the kingdom of Rheged) for some time. On the accession of Morcant’s brother, king Riderch Hael the Generous, he was summoned back by the already-baptized king to continue his work of evangelism among the Britons of Strathclyde. Kentigern likely lived to the age of 85, and he died and was buried at his religious foundation at Glasgow. His relics are claimed by Glasgow Cathedral.

The Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your servant Kentigern, whom you called to preach the Gospel to the people of northwestern Britain. Raise up in this and every land evangelists and heralds of your kingdom, that your Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Kentigern, Missionary Bishop, is commemorated on his traditional feast day of January 13 in the Calendars of the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal Church. He is commemorated on January 14 in the Calendar of the Church in Wales. January 14 has been chosen for this sanctoral diary so as not to conflict with the commemoration of Hilary of Poitiers on January 13.

The icon of Saint Kentigern is from Aidan Hart’s gallery of Western Orthodox saints and is reproduced here with his generous permission.

Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, was a prolific writer on Scripture and doctrine, an orator, and a poet to whom some of the earliest Latin hymns have been attributed. Augustine called him “the illustrious doctor of the Churches”. Jerome considered him “the trumpet of the Latins against the Arians”. For his defense of the Nicene faith, he is also known as “the Athanasius of the West”.

Hilary (Hilarius) was born in Pectavus (later Poitiers) in Gaul, about 315, into a pagan family of wealth and power. In his writings, he describes the stages of the journey that led him to the Christian faith. He was baptized when he was about thirty years old.

In 350, Hilary was made Bishop of Poitiers. Although he demurred at first, he was finally persuaded by the people’s acclamations. He proved to be a bishop of skill and courage. His orthodoxy was shown when, in 355, the Emperor Constantius ordered all bishops to sign a condemnation of Athanasius (the bishop of Alexandria, champion of Nicene trinitarianism against the Arians), under pain of exile. Hilary wrote to Constantius, pleading for peace and unity. His plea accomplished nothing, and, when he dissociated himself from three Arian bishops in the West, Constantius ordered Julian (later surnamed the Apostate for his conversion to Neoplatonic paganism) to exile Hilary to Phrygia. There Hilary remained for three years, without complaining, writing scriptural commentaries and his principal work, De Trinitate (On the Trinity).

Hilary was then invited by a party of the semi-Arians, who hoped for his support, to a council at Seleucia in Asia, largely attended by Arians; but with remarkable courage, in the midst of a hostile gathering, Hilary defended the Council of Nicaea and its definition of the Trinity, giving no aid to the semi-Arians. He wrote again to Constantius, offering to debate Saturninus, the Western bishop largely responsible for his exile. The Arians feared for the outcome of the debate and persuaded Constantius to return Hilary to Poitiers.

In 360, Hilary was welcomed back to his see with great demonstrations of joy and affection. He continued his battle against Arianism, but he never neglected the needs of his people. Angry in controversy with heretical bishops, he was always a loving and compassionate pastor to his diocese. Among his disciples was Martin, later bishop of Tours, whom Hilary encouraged in his endeavors to promote the monastic life.

from Lesser Feasts and Fasts, with additions

The Collect

O Lord our God, you raised up your servant Hilary to be a champion of the catholic faith: Keep us steadfast in that true faith which we professed at our baptism, that we may rejoice in having you for our Father, and may abide in your Son, in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit; who live and reign for ever and ever.Amen.

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The propers for the commemoration of Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, are published on the Lectionary Page website.

William Laud, born in 1573, became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633, having been King Charles’ principal ecclesiastical adviser for several years before. He was the most prominent of a new generation of churchmen who disliked many of the ritual practices which had developed during the reign of Elizabeth the First (many of which began during the reign of her younger brother, Edward VI), and who were bitterly opposed by the Puritan party in the Church of England.

Laud believed the Church of England to be in direct continuity with the medieval Church, and he stressed the unity of the Church and State, exalting the role of the king as Supreme Governor of the Church. He emphasized the ministerial priesthood and the Sacraments, particularly the Eucharist, and caused consternation by insisting on the reverencing of the altar, returning it to its pre-Reformation position against the east wall of the church, and hedging it about with rails. (During Edward’s reign, and Elizabeth’s, altars had been removed, and simpler communion Tables set lengthwise – long axis oriented east-west – in the chancel of the church. Those who intended to take communion would move from the nave into the chancel at the offertory, and the priest or bishop would preside at the eucharist, standing on the north side of the Table.)

As head of the courts of High Commission and the Star Chamber, Laud persecuted Puritans and was abhorred for the harsh sentencing of some of the prominent members of the party. His identification with the unpopular policies of King Charles, his support of the Bishops’ War against Scotland in 1640 (triggered, in part, by Charles’ and Laud’s attempt to impose an English prayerbook on the Church of Scotland), and his efforts to make the Church independent of Parliament, made him widely disliked. He was impeached for treason by the Long Parliament in 1640, and finally beheaded on January 10, 1645.

Laud’s reputation remains controversial to this day. Honored as a martyr and condemned as an intolerant bigot, he was compassionate in his defense of the rights of the common people against the landowners. He was honest, devout, loyal to the king and to the rights and privileges of the Church of England. He tried to reform and protect the Church in accordance with his convictions – though these attempts at reform were marred by his treatment of those who strenuously disagreed with him theologically and liturgically. In many ways he was out of step with the views of the majority of his countrymen, especially in his espousal of royal Stuart views of the “Divine Rights of Kings”. The historian Nicholas Tyacke rates Laud as one of the greatest of the Archbishops of Canterbury, not giving him complete approval, but recognizing that his contribution to the future of the English Church was of major importance.

Writing in the Church Quarterly Review in 1945, A.W. Ballard stated that

As far as doctrine was concerned Laud carried on the teaching of Cranmer and Hooker. He held that the basis of belief was the Bible, but that the Bible was to be interpreted by the tradition of the early Church, and that all doubtful points were to be subjected, not to heated arguments in the pulpits, but to sober discussion by learned men. His mind, in short, like those of the earlier English reformers, combined the Protestant reliance on the Scriptures with reverence for ancient tradition and with the critical spirit of the Ranascence.

Laud made a noble end, praying on the scaffold: “The Lord receive my soul, and have mercy on me, and bless this kingdom with peace and charity, that there may not be this effusion of Christian blood amongst them.”

The prayer for the Church on page 816 in the Book of Common Prayer (1979), added to the American Prayer Book in 1928, was written by Archbishop Laud. It was first published in A Summarie of Devotions (1677), adapted from his manuscripts. The original version of the prayer reads:

Gracious Father, I humbly beseech Thee for Thy holy Catholic Church, fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purge it; where it is in error, direct it; where it is superstitious, rectify it; where anything is amiss, reform it; where it is right, strengthen and confirm it; where it is in want, furnish it; where it is divided and rent asunder, make up the breaches of it; O Thou Holy One of Israel. Amen.

taken from Lesser Feasts and Fasts, with additions, including from
Fathers and Anglicans: The Limits of Orthodoxy (Arthur Middleton, Gracewing 2001) and Commentary on the American Prayer Book (Marion J. Hatchett, Harper San Francisco 1995)

The Collect

Keep us, O Lord, constant in faith and zealous in witness, that, like your servant William Laud, we may live in your fear, die in your favor, and rest in your peace; for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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The propers for William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, are published on the Lectionary Page website.

Born at Samosata in Syria, Lucian became a presbyter of the Church at Antioch, where he was especially interested in amending the corrupt texts of the Holy Scriptures then current and in teaching their literal (plainest) sense. He founded an important theological school in Antioch, one of whose members was Arius, later known for his heresy regarding the deity of Jesus, whose followers sometimes called themselves Lucianists. Although Lucian was involved in the schism in the Church of Antioch and although his orthodoxy was highly suspect, he made his peace with the Church in 285 and died a martyr in full communion with the Church at Nicomedia, the eastern capital of the Roman Empire, in 312. It is said that on his way to Nicomedia, to be brought before the emperor, he converted forty soldiers to the faith. Following interrogation and flogging, he was cast into prison, where he suffered death by starvation.

His body was taken to Drepanum, later renamed Helenopolis by the emperor Constantine in memory of his mother. Evidence of his veneration is provided by Eusebius, the fourth century historian and bishop of Caesarea and by John Chrystostom, late fourth century bishop of Constantinople.

St John Chrysostom writes of him, “He scorned hunger: let us also scorn luxury and destroy the power of the stomach that we may, when the time that requires such courage comes for us, be prepared in advance by the help of a lesser ascesis, to show ourselves glorious at the time of battle.”

Lucian is commemorated on January 7, the date of his martyrdom, in the West, and on October 15 in the East. While he is not commemorated in later Anglican calendars, he is listed in the Calendar of the 1662 Prayer Book.

adapted from The Oxford Dictionary of Saints

Collect

Almighty God, by your Holy Spirit you have made us one with your saints in heaven and on earth: Grant that in our earthly pilgrimage we may always be supported by this fellowship of love and prayer, and know ourselves to be surrounded by their witness to your power and mercy. We ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, in whom all our intercessions are acceptable through the Spirit, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

The name of this Feast of our Lord is derived from a Greek word meaning manifestation or appearing. Historically, Anglican Prayer Books have interpreted the name with a subtitle, “The Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles”. The last phrase is, of course, a reference to the narrative of the Wise Men, the Magi, who appeared in Judaea from the East in order to worship the newborn King of the Jews.

A Christian observance on January 6 is found as early as the end of the second century in Egypt. This feast combined the commemorations of the visit of the Magi, the baptism of Jesus in the waters of the River Jordan, and Jesus’ first recorded miracle at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, all of which are manifestations of the deity of the incarnate Lord.

The Epiphany is still the primary Feast of the Incarnation in Eastern Churches, and the three-fold emphasis is prominent. In the West, however, including Anglican Churches, the feast has emphasized the narrative of the Magi nearly to the exclusion of the other two events. Modern lectionary revision, reflected in such lectionaries as that of the 1979 Prayer Book and the Revised Common Lectionary, has recovered the primitive trilogy by setting the Baptism of our Lord as the theme of the First Sunday after the Epiphany in all three years of the lectionary cycle, and by providing the narrative of the miracle at the wedding at Cana as the Gospel for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany in Year C.

adapted from Lesser Feasts and Fasts (1980)

The Collect

O God, by the leading of a star you manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Lesson
Isaiah 60:1-6, 9

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will be seen upon you.
And nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Lift up your eyes all around, and see;
they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from afar,
and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.
Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and exult,
because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.

For the coastlands shall hope for me,
the ships of Tarshish first,
to bring your children from afar,
their silver and gold with them,
for the name of the Lord your God,
and for the Holy One of Israel,
because he has made you beautiful.

Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14
Deus judicium

Give the King your justice, O God, *
and your righteousness to the King’s Son;

That he may rule your people righteously *
and the poor with justice;

That the mountains may bring prosperity to the people, *
and the little hills bring righteousness.

He shall defend the needy among the people; *
he shall rescue the poor and crush the oppressor.

He shall live as long as the sun and moon endure, *
from one generation to another.

He shall come down like rain upon the mown field, *
like showers that water the earth.

In his time shall the righteous flourish; *
there shall be abundance of peace till the moon shall be no more.

The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall pay tribute, *
and the kings of Arabia and Saba offer gifts.

All kings shall bow down before him, *
and all the nations do him service.

For he shall deliver the poor who cries out in distress, *
and the oppressed who has no helper.

He shall have pity on the lowly and poor; *
he shall preserve the lives of the needy.

He shall redeem their lives from oppression and violence, *
and dear shall their blood be in his sight.

The Epistle
Ephesians 3:1-12

For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

The Gospel
Matthew 2:1-12

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
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The scripture texts for the Lesson, the Epistle, and Gospel are taken from the English Standard Version Bible. The Collect and Psalm are taken from the Book of Common Prayer (1979).

Apart from their inclusion in the apostolic lists of the Twelve in the Synoptic Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, nothing more is known from the Scriptures about the apostles Simon and Jude. As with many of the Twelve, their names are recorded, but the details of their work after Pentecost is not given. We are simply given to know that they, along with the rest of the apostolic band, are the foundation on which the Church is built, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone.

Simon, sometimes given the epithet “the Less” to distinguish him from Simon Peter, is known in the Gospels either as Simon the Canaanite or Simon the Zealot. The latter may mean simply that he was zealous in keeping the Law, or that he was a member of the Zealot party, fanatical opponents of Roman rule in Judaea and Galilee. The Monology of Basil the Great tells us that Simon died a peaceful death at Edessa, but Western tradition, as represented by the Roman Martyrology and dating back to the sixth century, holds that he first preached in Egypt and then joined Jude (who had been in Mesopotamia), and that together they went to preach the Gospel in Persia, where they suffered martyrdom at Sufian (or at Siani).

Jude, called “Judas not Iscariot” in John’s Gospel, is referred to in Luke as “Judas of James”. In more modern translations, this is taken to mean “son of James”, but older translations (such as the Authorized Version) render it “brother of James”, so that in the West at least, Jude has tradtionally been understood to have been the brother of James, the brother of the Lord (and thus the brother, step-brother, or cousin of Jesus – see Matthew 13 and Mark 6). (If so, this would make Jude the first of Jesus’ brothers known to have become one of his followers.) He is also traditionally held to be the author of the Epistle of Jude. Jude is also generally understood to be the same person as Thaddaeus (or Lebbaeus) in the Gospels according to Matthew and Mark, names perhaps given to him to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot.

In the West, following the tradition of the apocryphal Passion of Simon and Jude, the two have been commemorated together in the calendar, on the twenty-eighth of October. The Armenian Church regards Saint Thaddaeus and Saint Bartholomew as the first to preach the Gospel among the Armenians and so commemorate those two apostles together. In the Orthodox Churches, Saint Simon and Saint Jude (“the brother of the Lord”) are commemorated separately. The relics of Saint Simon and Saint Jude are held to have been translated to Saint Peter’s in Rome in the seventh or eighth century. There are at least three ancient dedications of English churches to Saint Simon and Saint Jude together, but none to either of them alone.

The Collect

O God, we thank you for the glorious company of the apostles, and especially on this day for Simon and Jude; and we pray that, as they were faithful and zealous in their mission, so we may with ardent devotion make known the love and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Lesson
Deuteronomy 32:1-4

“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak,
and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
May my teaching drop as the rain,
my speech distill as the dew,
like gentle rain upon the tender grass,
and like showers upon the herb.
For I will proclaim the name of the Lord;
ascribe greatness to our God!
“The Rock, his work is perfect,
for all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
just and upright is he.

Psalm 119:89-96
In aeternum, Domine

O LORD, your word is everlasting; *
it stands firm in the heavens.

Your faithfulness remains from one generation to another; *
you established the earth, and it abides.

By your decree these continue to this day, *
for all things are your servants.

If my delight had not been in your law, *
I should have perished in my affliction.

I will never forget your commandments, *
because by them you give me life.

I am yours; oh, that you would save me! *
for I study your commandments.

Though the wicked lie in wait for me to destroy me, *
I will apply my mind to your decrees.

I see that all things come to an end, *
but your commandment has no bounds.

The Epistle
Ephesians 2:13-22

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

The Gospel
John 15:17-27

[Jesus said to his disciples] “These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
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The icons of Saint Simon and Saint Jude are from the workshop of Simone Martini, c. 1320. My thanks to the website of Christ Church, Windsor, Nova Scotia, for the image.

The Collect and Psalm are taken from the Book of Common Prayer (1979). The Lesson, Epistle, and Gospel are taken from the English Standard Version Bible.

In Matthew 13 and Mark 6, James is listed first among the brothers of Jesus: James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. The Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 1 that he met James, “the Lord’s brother”, at Jerusalem on his first visit to the city after becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. From the second century, there has been some uncertainty about the exact relationship between Jesus and his brothers. In the second century, Epiphanius suggested that the “brothers” were sons of Joseph by a former marriage (Joseph being a widower at his marriage to Mary), which remains the view of the Eastern Church. Helvidius, a fourth century writer who opposed belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary, the mother of Jesus, claiming the support of Tertullian wrote that Jesus was Mary’s first child and that the brothers (and sisters) noted in the Gospels were children of Mary and Joseph, born after Jesus. In response to Helvidius, Saint Jerome stated that the “brothers and sisters” of Jesus were either older children of Joseph’s former marriage, and thus step-siblings of the Lord (following Epiphanius), or that they were actually the children of the Virgin Mary’s sister, and thus Jesus’ cousins (the word in the Gospels translated “brothers” can also be used of cousins). Jerome’s view prevailed in the West until most post-Reformation Protestants and Anglicans adopted Helvidius’ view.

Whatever his relationship to Jesus – younger brother, older step-brother, or cousin – James became a follower of Jesus after the Resurrection, when Jesus appeared specially to him. From early on, James was recognized as a leader in the church at Jerusalem. Although not one of the Twelve, he was regarded as an apostle (see Galatians 1). Saint Paul recognized James, along with the apostles Peter and John, as pillars of the church at Jerusalem. During the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15), which resolved the deeply divisive issue of whether Gentile converts should be circumcized before baptism, James defended the position argued by Paul and Barnabas against requiring circumcision and summarized the council’s decision: “Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God”, thus establishing the Church’s policy toward Gentile converts from that time forward.

The fourth century historian Eusebius, quoting from an earlier church history by Hegesippus, writes that James was surnamed “the Just” (the Righteous) on account of his great piety and ascetical life. He went frequently into the Temple alone to pray and knelt so often, interceding for the forgiveness of the people, that his knees became as callused as a camel’s. Eusebius recounts that James was so persuasive in leading people to faith in Jesus that the scribes and Pharisees entreated him to “restrain the people, who are led astray after Jesus, as if he were the Messiah.” Refusing to do so, James was then thrown from the pinnacle of the Temple, where he had been placed to denounce Jesus to the people, and once he was upon the pavement was cudgeled to death. Toward the end of the first century, the Jewish historian Josephus recounted that James “with certain others” was stoned to death in the year 62 at the instigation of the high priest Annas.

prepared from The New Book of Festivals and Commemorations,
Lesser Feasts and Fasts (1980), and Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History

The Collect

Grant, O God, that, following the example of your servant James the Just, brother of our Lord, your Church may give itself continually to prayer and to the reconciliation of all who are at variance and enmity; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Lesson
Acts 15:12-22a

And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul fas they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,

“‘After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
and I will restore it,
that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,
says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’

Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”

Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.

Psalm 1
Beatus vir qui non abiit

Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, *
nor lingered in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the seats of the scornful!

Their delight is in the law of the LORD, *
and they meditate on his law day and night.

They are like trees planted by streams of water,
bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; *
everything they do shall prosper.

It is not so with the wicked; *
they are like chaff which the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes, *
nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, *
but the way of the wicked is doomed.

The Epistle
1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you — unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

The Gospel
Matthew 13:54-58

Coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.

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Saint James of Jerusalem is commemorated by the Eastern Churches and by several Anglican Churches on October 23.

The icon of Saint James of Jerusalem was written by Tobias Stanislas Haller, BSG and is reproduced here with his generous permission.

Luke was a Gentile, a physician, and one of Paul’s disciples and fellow missionaries in the early spread of the Gospel through the Roman world. He is the author both of the Gospel that bears his name and its sequel, the Acts of the Apostles. He apparently did not know Jesus, writing that he compiled his narrative from the report of “those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses” (Luke 1). A tradition attested by Eusebius holds that he was one of the first members of the Christian community at Antioch.

Much can be gleaned about his character from his writings. In his Gospel the elements particular to him include much of the account of the virgin birth of Jesus, some of the most moving parables such as those of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son, and the words of Jesus during his passion to the women of Jerusalem and the penitent malefactor who was crucified alongside Jesus. All of these elements emphasize the compassion of Christ, which together with Luke’s emphasis on poverty, prayer, and purity of heart make up much of his specific appeal to the Gentiles, for whom he wrote this Gospel of the Savior of the world. Women figure more prominently in Luke’s Gospel than in any other, including Mary, Elizabeth, the widow of Nain, and the woman who was a sinner. Luke also emphasizes Jesus’ deity, from the angelic announcement of “a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” that applies the Roman imperial titles of soter (savior) andkyrios (lord) not to Caesar in Rome, but to the newborn child in the backwater town of Bethlehem; to the subtlety of the Greek words used to address Jesus by different persons (or angels) at different times through his Gospel. In the first part of his Gospel, up through the passion and death of Jesus, human beings address Jesus as “master”, while angels refer to him as “Lord” (the Greek kyriosechoing the Hebrew adonai, a term applied to God). After his Resurrection, through the witness of God’s vindication of him, Jesus is called “Lord” by his disciples.

In the Acts of the Apostles Luke shows himself a remarkably accurate observer, concerned with making necessary links between the history of the early Church and the contemporary history of the Roman Empire. As noted about his Gospel, above, Luke showed himself an artist with words, which is perhaps the basis for the tradition that he was a painter and that he made the first icon of the Blessed Virgin. For this reason, Luke has become the patron not only of physicians and surgeons, but also of artists. When he is represented with the other Evangelists, his symbol is an ox, derived from Ezekiel’s vision (Ezekiel 1) and sometimes explained by reference to sacrifice in the Temple in the early chapters of his Gospel.

Luke was with Paul until the apostle’s martyrdom in Rome. What became of Luke after this is unknown. Early tradition holds that he wrote his Gospel in Achaia, and that he died at the age of eight-four in Boetia. In 357 the emperor Constantinus the Second had the presumed relics of Saint Luke translated from Thebes in Boetia to Constantinople, where they were placed with the relics of Saint Andrew in Church of the Holy Apostles. The observance of his feast day on the eighteenth of October is quite old in the East, but it appears on Western calendars only in the eighth century. The date itself is universal, and may be based on the actual date of his death.

prepared from The Oxford Dictionary of Saints
and Lesser Feasts and Fasts (1980)

The Collect

Almighty God, who inspired your servant Luke the physician to set forth in the Gospel the love and healing power of your Son: Graciously continue in your Church this love and power to heal, to the praise and glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Lesson
Sirach 38:1-4,6-10,12-14

Honor the physician according to your need of him,
for the Lord created him;
for healing comes from the Most High,
and he will receive a gift from the king.
The skill of the physician lifts up his head,
and in the presence of the great he is admired.
The Lord created medicines from the earth,
and a sensible man will not despise them.

He gave skill to human beings
that he might be glorified in his marvelous works.
By them he heals and takes away pain;
the pharmacist makes of them a compound.
His works will never be finished;
and from him health is upon the face of the earth.
My child, when you are sick do not be negligent,
but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you.
Give up your faults and direct your hands aright
and cleanse your heart from all sin.

Give the physician his place, for the Lord created him;
let him not leave you, for there is need of him.
There is a time when success lies in the hands of physicians,
for they too will pray to the Lord
that he should grant them success in diagnosis
and in healing, for the sake of preserving life.

Psalm 147:1-7
Laudate dominum

Hallelujah!
How good it is to sing praises to our God! *
how pleasant it is to honor him with praise!

The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem; *
he gathers the exiles of Israel.

He heals the brokenhearted *
and binds up their wounds.

He counts the number of the stars *
and calls them all by their names.

Great is our LORD and mighty in power; *
there is no limit to his wisdom.

The LORD lifts up the lowly, *
but casts the wicked to the ground.

Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; *
make music to our God upon the harp.

The Epistle
2 Timothy 4:5-13

As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.

The Gospel
Luke 4:14-21

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, vhe went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

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The icon of Saint Luke the Evangelist is from the hand of Master Theodoric, the fourteenth century Prague court painter of the Holy Roman emperor Charles the Fourth.

Presumably of Syrian origin, nothing is known of the early life of Ignatius of Antioch or even of his episcopate before his last journey from Antioch to Rome, during which he was under military guard because he had been condemned to death for being a Christian in Trajan’s persecution of the Church. In the course of this journey, while still in Asia Minor, he wrote seven letters which make him one of the most important witnesses to the faith and order of the subapostolic Church. Four of the letters were written at Smyrna, where he had been received with great honor by Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, and many others of the faithful. These letters were addressed to the churches at Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, and Rome. The remaining three letters to Polycarp and to the churches at Philadelphia and Smyrna were written while he was at Troas.

The letters reveal Ignatius to be ardently devoted to Jesus Christ, whose deity and resurrection from the dead they clearly affirm. Against the docetic teaching that exalted the deity of Jesus against his humanity, Ignatius writes: “Stop your ears therefore when anyone speaks to you that stands apart from Jesus Christ, from David’s scion and Mary’s Son, who was really born and ate and drank, really persecuted by Pontius Pilate, really crucified and died while heaven and earth and the underworld looked on; who also really rose from the dead” (To the Trallians, 9). The letters also urge unity in and through the Eucharist and the local bishop, who presides at the Eucharist: “Take care, then, to partake of one Eucharist; for, one is the Flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one the cup to unite us with his Blood, and one altar, just as there is one bishop assisted by the presbyters and the deacons, my fellows servants. Thus you will conform in all your actions to the will of God” (To the Philadelphians, 4). Against those who object that a teaching is not in the “official records”, that is, in the Old Testament Scriptures, he insists that Jesus Christ is himself the content of the Scriptures: “When I heard some say, ‘Unless I find it in the official records – in the Gospel I do not believe’; and when I answered them, ‘It is in the Scriptures,’ they retorted: ‘That is just the point at issue.’ But to me the official record is Jesus Christ; the inviolable record is his Cross and his death and his Resurrection and the faith of which he is the Author” (To the Philadelphians, 8).

Ignatius believed the Church to be God’s holy order in the world, so he shows great concern for the proper ordering of the Church’s teaching, worship, and common life. He writes: “You must all follow the lead of the bishop, as Jesus Christ followed that of the Father; follow the presbyters as your would the Apostles; reverence the deacons as your would God’s commandment. Let no one do anything touching the Church, apart from the bishop. Let that celebration of the Eucharist be considered valid which is held under the bishop or anyone to whom he has committed it. Where the bishop appears, there let the people be, just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the catholic Church” (To the Smyrnaeans, 8). Of note, this is the first occurrence of the word “catholic” as a description of the Church. Ignatius describes the church at Rome as the one founded by the Apostles Peter and Paul, and therefore worthy of special reverence.

Ignatius describes himself as a servant, a disciple, and the “bearer of God” (theophoros), convinced of Christ’s presence within him. On his way to Rome for execution, he called himself “God’s wheat…and by the teeth of wild beasts I am to be ground that I may prove Christ’s pure bread.” He was thrown to the lions in the Colosseum and died almost at once. His letters were soon translated into Latin and several Eastern languages. One of his letters was cited by the sixth century British cleric, Gildas the Wise.

The Church at Antioch has kept his feast on the seventeenth of October from very early, as the Roman Church has done since 1969, and since that time, many Anglican Churches as well. The Book of Common Prayer (1662) keeps his feast day on the seventeenth of December, the date of the translation of his relics.

prepared with material from The Oxford Dictionary of Saints
and Ancient Christian Fathers: The Epistles of St Clement of Rome and St Ignatius of Antioch (trans. James Kleist)

The Collect

Almighty God, we praise your Name for your bishop and martyr Ignatius of Antioch, who offered himself as grain to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts that he might present to you the pure bread of sacrifice. Accept, we pray, the willing tribute of our lives and give us a share in the pure and spotless offering of your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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The propers for the commemoration of Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch and Martyr, are published on the Lectionary Page website.

Nicholas Ridley was born around 1500 at Willemotewicke, Northumberland, and received his education at Pembroke College, Cambridge, with which he was connected for many years. After studying at Cambridge, he furthered his studies at the Sorbonne and at Louvain, returning to become a Fellow of Pembroke Hall around 1530. A close friend of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and a supporter of the archbishop’s reforming views, Ridley became Cranmer’s chaplain in 1537, and vicar of Herne, Kent, in 1538. He was chosen Master of Pembroke Hall in 1540 and chaplain to King Henry the Eighth and Canon of Canterbury in 1541.

A member of the circle of Cambridge academics attracted to the Continental Reformation, from around 1535 he had definite leanings towards the teachings of the Reformers, partly through a study of Ratramnus’ book on the Eucharist.

Early in the reign of King Edward the Sixth, Ridley was made Bishop of Rochester and a member of the commission that prepared the first Book of Common Prayer (1549). In 1550 he was transferred to the See of London, where he showed himself a diligent advocate and thorough administrator of the principles of the Reformation. Like fellow reforming bishop Hugh Latimer, he preached against the social injustices of his age. In 1553 he supported the claims of Lady Jane Grey to the Crown, and on Queen Mary’s accession he was deprived of his see and imprisoned. With Cranmer and Latimer, he participated in 1554 in the Oxford disputations against a group of Roman Catholic theologians and would not recant his reformed theology, leading to his excommuncation. He was sentenced to death and burned at the stake with Latimer at Oxford on October 16, 1555.

Born the son of a yeoman farmer around 1485 at Thucaston, Leicestershire, Hugh Latimer was graduated from Clare College, Cambridge, and became a Fellow of the college in 1510. After ordination to the priesthood, in 1522 his eloquence and zeal in reforming abuses and defending social justice led the University to license him as one of the twelves preachers commissioned to preach anywhere in England. Though of a conservative bent, from around 1523 his opinions began to become suspect to the ecclesiastical authorities, and according to his own account, he was dramatically converted to the doctrines of the Reformers by Thomas Bilney, a Cambridge scholar who was later burned at the stake (in 1531) as a heretic. When in 1525 Ridley declined the request of his bishop, West of Ely, to preach a sermon against Martin Luther, he was forbidden to preach anywhere in the diocese. After skillfully defending himself before Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, he was again allowed to preach throughout England. Latimer’s directness of method, his understanding of human character, his homely style and ready wit won his sermons greater influence, and a sermon preached before King Henry the Eighth in Lent of 1530 won him royal favor. This same homiletical character, his passionate devotion to the reform of Church and society, and his zeal for the moral life of Christian clergy and people made him one of the outstanding preachers of the English Reformation.

After Cranmer’s appointment to the See of Canterbury in 1533, Latimer’s position further improved, and when, in 1534, Henry formally broke with Rome, Latimer was appointed a royal chaplain. Appointment to the See of Worcester followed in 1535, and in his sermons as bishop he continued to denounce social injustices and other contemporary corruptions, attacking also Catholic teaching on purgatory, images, and other points. He supported the King in the dissolution of the monasteries. But in 1539, when in accordance with his Protestant beliefs he opposed the Act of the Six Articles (Henry’s statement of conservative Catholic doctrine), he resigned his see on hearing that this was the King’s wish. Taken into custody, he was freed in 1540, but was ordered to leave London and was forbidden to preach. Little is known of the intervening years, but in 1546 he was confined to the Tower of London, to be released the following year on the accession of Edward the Sixth. He became very popular as a court preacher, continuing to denounce abuses in Church and society. On Queen Mary’s accession he was arrested and imprisoned, refusing to flee the country. After the Oxford disputations, he was excommunicated. Refusing to recant, he was condemned as a heretic to be burned at the stake with Nicholas Ridley at Oxford on October 16, 1555. His last words to Ridley are famous: “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace in England as (I trust) shall never be put out.”

from The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
and Lesser Feasts and Fasts (1980)

The Collect

Keep us, O Lord, constant in faith and zealous in witness, that, like your servants, Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, we may live in your fear, die in your favor, and rest in your peace; for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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The propers for the commemoration of Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmer, Bishops and Archbishop, are published at the Lectionary Page website. This sanctoral calendar, in keeping with that of the Church of England, commemorates Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury and Martyr, on March 21.

One of the second group of monks sent to England by Pope Gregory the Great in 601, Paulinus became the first bishop of York through a favorable political opening. Edwin, the king of Northumbria, of which kingdom York (Roman Eboracum, then British Ebrauc) was the chief city, sent a request to Eadbald the king of Kent, to marry his sister Ethelburga. Eadbald’s first answer was that a Christian woman could not be given in marriage to a pagan husband. But when Edwin answered that Ethelburga and her entire household should have complete freedom of conscience, and that he might even become a Christian himself, consent was given to the marriage. Paulinus was consecrated a bishop by Archbishop Justus on the 1st of July, 625, and traveled north with Ethelburga and her household as her chaplain, with the hope that the conversion of the Northumbrian people to the Gospel would soon follow.

The first baptisms were of Edwin and Ethelburga’s infant daughter and twelve others of the royal household on the feast of Pentecost in the following year. After papal epistolary pleadings with both the king and his queen to influence her husband, Edwin himself converted to the Christian faith after a vision during a period of exile from his kingdom. Having called together a council of the chief nobles of his kingdom in 627, Edwin was counseled by the pagan high priest, Coifi, to give careful consideration to the new teaching, frankly admitting that, “in my experience, the religion that we have hitherto professed seems valueless and powerless”. He further counseled the king that, “if on examination you perceive that these new teachings are better and more effectual, let us not hesitate to accept them.” The other councilors gave similar advice. Edwin then granted Paulinus permission to preach, renounced idolatry, and professed his acceptance of the faith of Christ. On Easter Day, the 12th of April, 627, the king was baptized in the timber Church of Saint Peter the Apostle in York. The king’s baptism was preceded by Coifi’s desecration of the pagan shrines where once he had presided as high priest and followed by the baptisms of many of his nobility “and a large number of humbler folk” (Bede, Ecclesiastical History). Paulinus, with the assistance of his deacon, James, administered these baptisms in various places in what would become Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. For the next six years, Paulinus preached throughout the kingdom of Northumbria.

Paulinus’ ministry in Northumbria was cut short by the death of Edwin in battle with the pagan king Penda of Mercia and his Christian ally, Cadwallon of Gwynedd, in the year 633. Ethelburga returned to Kent, and Paulinus, thinking that there was no future for Christianity in Northumbria without the king, returned south with her. He was appointed Bishop of Rochester, where he served for the rest of his life.

With the later succession of Edwin’s nephew, Oswald, to the rulership of Northumbria, Christian missions returned to that northern kingdom with the coming of Aidan and his monks from Iona, where Oswald had been converted to the Christian faith and educated in exile during Edwin’s reign. What seed was planted by Paulinus’ Romano-Kentish mission to Northumbria was saved and brought to full flower by the Irish mission.

In his Ecclesiastical History, the Venerable Bede gives a report of Paulinus’ appearance which had been told to him by an abbot who heard the description from an elderly man who had been baptized, many years before, by the saint: “a tall man having a slight stoop, with black hair, an ascetic face, a thin hooked nose, and a venerable and awe-inspiring presence”.

Paulinus died on the 10th of October, 644. The day has been observed as his feast in northern England and in English monasteries from shortly after his death.

prepared from The Oxford Dictionary of Saints
and Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People

The Collect

God our Saviour, who sent Paulinus to preach and baptize, and so to build up your Church in England: Grant that, inspired by his example, we may tell all the world of your truth, that with him we may receive the reward you prepare for all your faithful servants; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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The icon of Saint Paulinus of York (and Rochester) is taken from the website of the Angelus Workshop.

The sparrow appears in the icon in recollection of a parable or simile in Bede’sEcclesiastical History. Bede puts the parable in the mouth of one of Edwin’s councilors, though it has also been attributed to Paulinus himself (perhaps the councilor had heard the parable from Paulinus).

“When we compare the present life of man on earth with that time of which we have no knowledge, it seems to me like the swift flight of a single sparrow thorugh the banqueting-hall where you are sitting at dinner on a winter’s day with your thegns and counsellors. In the midst there is a comforting fire to warm the hall; outside, the storms of winter rain or snow are raging. This sparrow flies swiftly in through one door of the hall, and out through another. While he is inside, he is safe form the winter storms; but after a few moments of comfort, he vanishes from sight into the wintry world from which he came. Even so, man appears on earth for a little while; but of what went before this life or of what follows, we know nothing. Therefore, if this new teaching has brought any more certain knowledge, it seems only right that we should follow it.”