In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The November issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Calendar - Charles Simeon:

Today is the commemoration of a 19th Century evangelical Church of England priest, Charles Simeon. A biographical essay about Simeon at Paul Mizzi’s Truth for Today website includes these words of praise:

Many since his demise have yearned to imitate this rare servant of Christ and have found inspiration in the way he conducted himself as herald and steward of God’s mysteries. But it is only those who, like him, show a consistent loyalty to Holy Writ, can truly claim that they follow in his footsteps. His recorded conversations with Wesley, his correspondence, and most of all his sermons and Bible teaching give him credit to be known as a great evangelical spokesman, or rather, as he desired to be known, a herald of Him who is “all in all.”

Born at Reading on the twenty-fourth of September, 1759, Simeon is not thus cut from our life. He belongs to that “cloud of witnesses” who passed on the torch of faith to their own and to succeeding generations. Whether we recognise it or not, we benefit from his faithful service: he is a source and root of much that is best in present-day evangelicalism both in the Church of England, which he loved, and outsides its confines. He was not ashamed to call himself a loyal son of that Church; he laboured for its blessing and increase and made good use of its assets, the Prayer-Book first and foremost.

Simeon influences us, though long departed, by his godly, sober and challenging life. Through sheer dint of courage in Simeon’s soul, God worked a change of climate in town and university as he won over the rebels who resisted his preaching.(Read the entire biographical note here.)

A prayer for today:

The collect for commemoration of Charles Simeon is found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts - 2006:

O loving God, we know that all things are ordered by your unerring wisdom and unbounded love: Grant us in all things to see your hand; that, following the example and teaching of your servant Charles Simeon, we may walk with Christ in all simplicity, and serve you with a quiet and contented mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The November issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Calendar -
St. Martin of Tours and Veterans’ Day:

Today is the commemoration of a Fourth Century bishop and theologian, St. Martin of Tours, patron saint of soldiers. The Feast of Martin, a soldier who fought bravely and faithfully in the service of an earthly sovereign, and then enlisted in the service of Christ, is also the day of the Armistice which marked the end of the First World War. Now known as Veterans’ Day, we remember those who have risked or lost their lives in the armed forces of our nation. James Kiefer’s hagiography of St. Martin states:

Martin was born around 330 of pagan parents. His father was a soldier, who enlisted Martin in the army at the age of fifteen. One winter day he saw an ill-clad beggar at the gate of the city of Amiens. Martin had no money to give, but he cut his cloak in half and gave half to the beggar. (Paintings of the scene, such as that by El Greco, show Martin, even without the cloak, more warmly clad than the beggar, which rather misses the point.) In a dream that night, Martin saw Christ wearing the half-cloak. He had for some time considered becoming a Christian, and this ended his wavering. He was promptly baptized. At the end of his next military campaign, he asked to be released from the army, saying: “Hitherto I have faithfully served Caesar. Let me now serve Christ.” He was accused of cowardice, and offered to stand unarmed between the contending armies. He was imprisoned, but released when peace was signed. (Read the entire biographical note here.)

Prayers for today:

The collect for commemoration of Martin of Tours is found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts - 2006:

Lord God of hosts, you clothed your servant Martin the soldier with the spirit of sacrifice, and set him as a bishop in your Church to be a defender of the catholic faith: Give us grace to follow in his holy steps, that at the last we may be found clothed with righteousness in the dwellings of peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

A prayer for commemoration of Veterans’ Day is offered by the Lutheran Church (Wisconsin Evangelical Synod):

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the selfless service of those who gave their lives to protect our nation, preserve our freedoms, and restore peace in the face of brutal aggressors. Grant relief to those who continue to experience emotional or physical agony from their days of combat. Give us a sense of responsibility for their welfare. Comfort those who mourn for loved ones who died while performing their duty to our country. Enlist all who are in our military forces into your church militant, that they may pledge eternal loyalty to Christ, our King, and know his peace. Amen

In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The November issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Calendar - St. Leo the Great:

Today is the commemoration of a Fifth Century pope, St. Leo the Great, who has been given the title “Doctor of the Church.” James Kiefer’s hagiography of Leo states:

Leo I (440-461) and Gregory I (590-604) are the only two bishops of Rome commonly called “the Great.” Leo, at a time when the capital of the Empire had been moved to Constantinople, and the government even in Italy no longer had its headquarters at Rome, was the most important official in the city. To him fell such prosaic tasks as supervising the distribution of grain imports and reorganizing the municipal fire department. When Attila and the Huns invaded Italy in 452, he negotiated their withdrawal, and when Gaiseric (or Genseric) the Vandal captured Rome three years later, it was Leo who prevented the total destruction of the city. It is perhaps not surprising that the theory of papal supremacy gained much ground in his day.

In his day there were disgreements about the correct way to state the truth that Jesus Christ is both God and man. In 449 Leo wrote a letter (known as the Tome of Leo) to Bishop Flavian of Constantinople, in which he affirmed that Christ has two Natures in one Person. The letter was read in 451 by the Council of Chalcedon (the fourth Ecumenical Council), and judged by them to be sound doctrine. It contributed much to the creedal statements of that council.

Leo’s influence on church government will naturally get mixed reviews. But for his defense of the belief that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, all Christians may thank God.

A prayer for today:

The collect for remembering St. Leo is found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts - 2006:

O Lord our God, grant that your Church, following the teaching of your servant Leo of Rome, may hold fast the great mystery of our redemption, and adore the one Christ, true God and true Man, neither divided from our human nature nor separate from your divine Being; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The November issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Calendar -
Saints & Martyrs of England:

Today in the Episcopal Church is a feria. Yesterday, November 8, 0ur brothers and sisters in the Church of England commemorated the Saints and Martyrs of England. A similar feast has been recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church as the Feast of the Saints of the Isles. The Russian Church’s feast honors of the Saints who lived in Great Britain and Ireland before the Great Schism of 1054; it is celebrated on the third Sunday after Pentecost. The illustration here is from the Russian commemoration. Exciting Holiness - 2007 tells us:

The date when Christianity first came to England is not known, but there were British bishops at the Council of Arles in the year 314, indicating a Church with order and worship. Since those days, Christians from England have shared the message of the good news at home and around the world. As the world-wide fellowship of the Anglican Communion developed, incorporating peoples of many nations and cultures, individual Christian men and women have shone as beacons, heroically bearing witness to their Lord, some through a simple life of holiness, others by giving their lives for the sake of Christ.

A prayer for today:

The collect for remembering the English martyrs is found in Exciting Holiness - 2007:

God, whom the glorious company of the redeemed adore, assembled from all times and places of your dominion: we praise you for the saints of our own land and for the many lamps their holiness has lit; and we pray that we also may be numbered at last with those who have done your will and declared your righteousness; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The November issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Liturgical Calendar - 23rd Sunday after Pentecost:

Today is the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost. In the Gospel lesson appointed in the Revised Common Lectionary (Proper 27, Year B), the Evangelist Mark tells of the “widow’s mite”:

Teaching in the temple, Jesus said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:38-44)

Lutheran Pastor Mary W. Anderson in an article entiled Widow’s Walk in The Christian Century (November 1, 2003, p. 18) offers these comments on this passage:

The two little coins in the woman’s hand were probably all she had. The truth is — and the extremely poor know this well — those coins weren’t going to change her life. When you’ve got so little, a penny or two isn’t going to move you from welfare to work. She could be at peace and joyful in knowing she was able to give to the temple treasury, because with the coins or without them, she was still a dependent person.

Rich people, like most of us readers, can’t say the same. My money gives me independence and freedom from living like a poor widow. I like it that way and my family likes it that way, so I will not be putting my entire paycheck in the offering plate on Sunday. But I’ve also seen poor homeless people in worship who are anxious to find an offering envelope so they can give the only dollar in their pocket toward God’s work. When you’re that low on the economic scale, giving isn’t the problem, getting is.

The widow wasn’t dependent on her money or her status in life; she had none of these. She was dependent on God and her neighbor for everything. She didn’t have two feet to stand on, she didn’t have bootstraps to pull up. She was totally dependent — and that’s what Jesus pulls out of her story like a pearl of great price. This is what we are to be like before God — dependent on nothing but the grace of God. We are to be people without any resources except the riches of God’s mercy. (Read Pastor Anderson’s article in full here.)

A prayer for today:

The collect for this Sunday is found in The Book of Common Prayer - 1979:

O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The November issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Calendar -
St. Willibrord of Utrecht:

Today in the Episcopal Church we commemorate St. Willibrord of Utrecht. Hagiographer James Kiefer writes:

Willibrord, first Archbishop of Utrecht, is one of the missionaries sent out by the Anglo-Saxon Christians about a century after they had themselves been Christianized by missionaries in the south and east of England from Rome and the Continent, and in the north and west from the Celtic peoples of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.

Our information about Willibrord comes to us from the Venerable Bede (History of the English Church and People, v. 10-11) and from a biography by his younger kinsman Alcuin (20 May), Minister of Education under the Emperor Charlemagne. Willibrord was born in Northumbria in England about 658, and studied in France and Ireland. In 690 he set out with 12 companions to preach to the pagans of Frisia (a region roughly coextensive with the province of Friesland in the Netherlands, including some adjacent territories and the Frisian islands in the North Sea). His work was interrupted several times by wars, and he left for a while to preach to the Danes instead. He died 7 November 739.

Willibrord is a symbol of ties between the Christians of England and those of Holland. Today the historic See of Utrecht is in full communion with the Church of England.

A prayer for today:

The collect for today is found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts - 2006:

O Lord our God, you call whom you will and send them where you choose: We thank you for sending your servant Willibrord to be an apostle to the Low Countries, to turn them from the worship of idols to serve you, the living God; and we entreat you to preserve us from the temptation to exchange the perfect freedom of your service for servitude to false gods and to idols of our own devising; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The November issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Calendar -
Abp. William Temple:

Today in the Episcopal Church we commemorate one of the great Archbishops of Canterbury, William Temple. The Society of Archbishop Justus offers a biography by James Kiefer at its collection of biographical sketches of memorable Christians of the past. It begins with this introduction:

Temple’s admirers have called him “a philosopher, theologian, social teacher, educational reformer, and the leader of the ecumenical movement of his generation,” “the most significant Anglican churchman of the twentieth century,” “the most renowned Primate in the Church of England since the English Reformation,” “Anglican’s most creative and comprehensive contribution to the theological enterprise of the West.” One of his biographers lists him (along with Richard Hooker, Joseph Butler, and Frederick Dennison Maurice) as one of the Four Great Doctors of the (post-Reformation) Anglican Communion.

Ronald Knox, in a satiric poem, described him thus:

A man so broad, to some he seem’d to be
Not one, but all Mankind in Effigy.
Who, brisk in Term, a Whirlwind in the Long,
Did everything by turns, and nothing wrong.
Bill’d at each Lecture-Hall from Thames to Tyne,
As Thinker, Usher, Statesman, or Divine.

George Bernard Shaw called him, “a realized impossibility.”

(Read the entire biography here.)

A prayer for today:

The collect for today is found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts - 2006:

O God of light and love, you illumined your Church through the witness of your servant William Temple: Inspire us, we pray, by his teaching and example, that we may rejoice with courage, confidence, and faith in the Word made flesh, and may be led to establish that city which has justice for its foundation and love for its law; through Jeus Christ, the light of the world, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The November issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Calendar -
St. Leonard the Hermit:

Today is a feria in the Episcopal Church. Tomorrow, on November 6, our brothers and sisters in the Church of England, together with the Roman Catholic Church, commemorate St. Leonard the Hermit, also called Leonard of Limoges or Leonard of Noblac, who died in 599 a.d. Exciting Holiness - 2007 tells us that “Leonard was a sixth- century Frankish nobleman who refused a bishopric to become first a monk, then a hermit, at Noblac (now Saint-Léonard) near Limoges. The miracles attributed to him, both during his lifetime and after his death, caused a widespread cultus throughout Europe and, in England alone, over a hundred and seventy churches are dedicated to him.” The Catholic Saints information website expands on this data:

Leonard of Limoges was a wealthy noble who lived during the rule of Clovis I (c. 466 – 511) who was the first King of the Franks. The Frankish people were West Germanic tribes who worshipped the pagan gods introduced by the Romans. Clovis I was converted to Christianity at Christmas 496 by Saint Remigius (c. 437–533) the Bishop of Rheims and Apostle of the Franks after the help of God was invoked to repel an invading army. Leonard was converted to Christianity at the same time as Clovis. He made the decision to adopt a life devoted to God and was offered the position of a bishop which de declined. The highest dignity that Leonard would accept was that of a deacon. King Clovis promised that any worthy prisoner converted to Christianity by Leonard would be released and Leonard was given the right to liberate worthy prisoners on behalf of King Clovis. Leonard entered the monastery at Micy near Orleans and then became a hermit in the forest of Limousin attracting many followers. Leonard was granted royal lands at Noblac, near Limoges, where he founded the abbey of Noblac. (Read the entire entry here).

A prayer for today:

The collect for today is found in Exciting Holiness - 2007:

Almighty God, by whose grace N., kindled with the fire of your love, became a burning and a shining light in the Church: inflame us with the same spirit of discipline and love, that we may ever walk before you as children of light; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The November issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Calendar -
St. Malachy of Armagh:

Today is a feria in the Episcopal Church. Yesterday, on November 3, our brothers and sisters in the Church of Ireland commemorated St. Malachy. Exciting Holiness - 2007 tells us:

To Malachy is due the restoration, re-organisation and re-unification of the Church in Ireland after the ravages of the Norsemen. In his time the dioceses of Ireland were first organized as we know them. Under his leadership the arrival of the Anglo-Normans was less of a disaster than it might have been. He co-operated with John de Courcy in the assimilation of the Norman influence in Ulster, including the re-formation of the Abbey of Down under the Benedictine order. He also undertook the rebuilding of the Cathedral of Armagh and gained the recognition of Armagh as the Primatial See.

A prayer for today:

The collect for today is found in Exciting Holiness - 2007:

God, you called Malachy to be a re-builder and restorer of the Irish Church: Look upon your Church in this land today, correct what is amiss and supply what is lacking; that we may more and more bring forth fruit to your glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In Church News:

Find news of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion at Episcopal Life Online.

The November issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

On the Calendar -
Richard Hooker:

Today is the commemoration of the Elizabethan scholar and priest Richard Hooker. Luminarium, a renaissance literature website with a good deal of information by and about Mr. Hooker, provides this brief biography:

Richard Hooker was born in March 1554 in Exeter. He was educated in Exeter until he was sent, with Bishop Jewel as his patron, to Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He graduated MA in 1577, and became a fellow of the college in the same year. He became assistant professor of Hebrew at the University, and took holy orders, becoming a clergyman in the Church of England in 1581. Hooker was Master of the Temple (i.e. Dean of the Law School) in 1585-1591. Thereafter he lived in London and then at Boscombe, Wiltshire. He died at Bishopsbourne, in Kent, where he had become vicar.

Hooker’s masterpiece is a long work in eight books called Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity. The first four books were published together in 1593, the fifth was published in 1597, and the rest appeared after his death. Although the last three volumes were Hooker’s work, they seem to have been heavily edited. The work represents one of the most distinguished examples of Elizabethan literature. King James I is quoted by Izaak Walton, Hooker’s biographer, as saying, “I observe there is in Mr. Hooker no affected language; but a grave, comprehensive, clear manifestation of reason, and that backed with the authority of the Scriptures, the fathers and schoolmen, and with all law both sacred and civil.” (Visit Luminarium.)

A prayer for today:

The collect for today can be found in Lesser Feasts and Fasts - 2006:

O God of truth and peace, you raised up your servant Richard Hooker in a day of bitter controversy to defend with sound reasoning and great charity the catholic and reformed religion: Grant that we may maintain that middle way, not as a compromise for the sake of peace, but as a comprehension for the sake of truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.