The Hanscom Family Weblog

1739 English founder of Methodism John Wesley stated in his journal: ‘I look upon all the world as my parish.’
1799 Richard Allen (1760-1831), first African- American bishop in the U.S., was ordained a deacon of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia.
1850 Birth of David C. Cook, pioneer developer of Sunday School curriculum. In 1875, Cook founded the David C. Cook Publishing Co., headquartered today in Elgin, Illinois.
1918 Brazil’s first Pentecostal Church was established by missionaries Daniel Berg and Adolf Gunnar Vingren. The new congregation was registered as an ‘Assembly of God’ church.
1936 The Presbyterian Church of America (PCA) was organized in Philadelphia. In 1938 the denomination changed its name to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
1944 1st Serbian Orthodox cathedral in US, Cathedral of St Sava, NYC
1963 JFK says segregation is morally wrong & that it is “time to act”

June 11

On this day in 1888, Maxwell J. Blacker, Anglican priest and hymn translator, died in Westminster, England.

June 11

Barnabas, apostle, martyr [common; PCP (Paris), WTS (Bruges), 6082, in red]

Onuphrius, hermit, confessor [GTZ: Basel, Freising, Worms]
Reimbert, bishop (of Bremen), confessor [GTZ: Bremen]
Tochumra, virgin [BLS: Kilmore, Ireland]
Tochumra, virgin [BLS: Tochumra in Munster]

On This Day

Barnabas the Apostle

Bartholomew the Apostle

In History

1345 - Revolt against Byzantine Emperor by political prisoners
1880 - Birth of Jeanette Rankin, pacifist and first US Congresswoman
1936 - International Surrealist Exhibition opens in London
1988 - 100,000 march during 3rd UN Special Session on Disarmament
1963 - Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc burns himself over lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam
2008 Canadian PM Stephen Harper makes historic official apology to Canada’s First Nations for past child abuse

Jun 11 - Holy Apostles Bartholomew And Barnabas

http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/saintoftheday/jun_11_-_holy_apostles_bartholomew_and_barnabas#7564

ST. BARNABAS, APOSTLE
FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 2010

St. Barnabas was a Levite Jew from the island of Cyprus. Although his original name was Joseph, the Apostles gave him the name Barnabas, meaning “son of exhortation,” after his conversion.

Barnabas is traditionally believed to have been one of Christ’s 72 disciples, and lived among the Apostles as a successful preacher in the early Church. Luke describes him in the Acts of the Apostles as “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith” (Acts 11:24).

Barnabas acted as mediator between St. Paul and the Apostles after Paul’s conversion, helping the early Church to see the authenticity of his conversion and accept him despite his past as a persecutor of Christians.

Later, Barnabas was sent to Antioch to investigate the conversions of the Gentiles there. He and Paul spent a year instructing the Church in Antioch. After this, he travelled with Paul to preach the Gospel in many cities including Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. Although faced with opposition and even persecution, they succeeded in converting many more on this journey, and organized churches in these areas.

At the Council of Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul testified on their work of converting Gentiles and the experience of the new converts, as the early Church debated whether it was necessary for Gentile converts to first become Jewish and be circumcised before being accepted as Christians. The Council ultimately agreed that such measures were not imperative.

When Paul and Barnabas decided to revisit their missions, they strongly disagreed on whether John Mark, another disciple and previous deserter, should be allowed to accompany them. As a result of their disagreement, Paul and Barnabas separated. Barnabas travelled with John Mark to preach in Cyprus.

Little is known about the later life of Barnabas. He is believed to have been stoned to death in Salamis in the year 61.

Barnabas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnabas

BARNABAS THE APOSTLE
(11 JUNE NT)

“Joseph, a Levite, born in Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (son of encouragement), sold a field he owned, brought the money, and turned it over to the apostles.” (Acts 4:36f). This is the first mention we have of Barnabas.

His new name fits what we know of his actions. When Saul (or Paul) came to Jerusalem after his conversion, most of the Christians there wanted nothing to do with him. They had known him as a persecutor and an enemy of the Church. But Barnabas was willing to give him a second chance. He looked him up, spoke with him, and brought him to see the other Christians, vouching for him. Later, Paul and Barnabas went on a missionary journey together, taking Mark with them. Part way, Mark turned back and went home. When Paul and Barnabas were about to set out on another such journey, Barnabas proposed to take Mark along, and Paul was against it, saying that Mark had shown himself undependable. Barnabas wanted to give Mark a second chance, and so he and Mark went off on one journey, while Paul took Silas and went on another. Apparently Mark responded well to the trust given him by the “son of encouragement,” since we find that Paul later speaks of him as a valuable assistant (2 Tim 4:11; see also Col 4:10 and Phil 24).

Readings:

Psalm 112
Isaiah 42:5-12
Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-3
Matthew 10:7-16

Preface of Apostles

PRAYER (traditional language)

Grant, O God, that we may follow the example of thy faithful servant Barnabas, who, seeking not his own renown but the well-being of thy Church, gave generously of his life and substance for the relief of the poor and the spread of the Gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

PRAYER (contemporary language)

Grant, O God, that we may follow the example of your faithful servant Barnabas, who, seeking not his own renown but the well-being of your Church, gave generously of his life and substance for the relief of the poor and the spread of the Gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

St. Barnabas

Barnabas, a Jew of Cyprus, comes as close as anyone outside the Twelve to being a full-fledged apostle. He was closely associated with St. Paul (he introduced Paul to Peter and the other apostles) and served as a kind of mediator between the former persecutor and the still suspicious Jewish Christians.

When a Christian community developed at Antioch, Barnabas was sent as the official representative of the Church of Jerusalem to incorporate them into the fold. He and Paul instructed in Antioch for a year, after which they took relief contributions to Jerusalem.

Later, Paul and Barnabas, now clearly seen as charismatic leaders, were sent by Antioch officials to preach to the Gentiles. Enormous success crowned their efforts. After a miracle at Lystra, the people wanted to offer sacrifice to them as gods—Barnabas being Zeus, and Paul, Hermes—but the two said, “We are of the same nature as you, human beings. We proclaim to you good news that you should turn from these idols to the living God” (see Acts 14:8-18).

But all was not peaceful. They were expelled from one town, they had to go to Jerusalem to clear up the ever-recurring controversy about circumcision and even the best of friends can have differences. When Paul wanted to revisit the places they had evangelized, Barnabas wanted to take along John Mark, his cousin, author of the Gospel, but Paul insisted that, since Mark had deserted them once, he was not fit to take along now. The disagreement that followed was so sharp that Barnabas and Paul separated, Barnabas taking Mark to Cyprus, Paul taking Silas to Syria. Later, they were reconciled—Paul, Barnabas and Mark.

When Paul stood up to Peter for not eating with Gentiles for fear of his Jewish friends, we learn that “even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy” (see Galatians 2:1-13).

King Kamehameha Day (Hawaii)

Hug Holiday Day

When : Always June 29th

Hug Holiday Day encourages us to give hugs to those who need them. On this day, people go out and give hugs at senior citizen centers, hospitals, and other places. The focus is upon elderly, sick and invalid, lonely people and anyone who needs the warmth, cheer, and love that a hug provides.

This very special day was created by the “Hugs for Health Foundation”. According to the Foundation:

” Hug Holiday is founded on the premise that hugs, friendship and volunteer support are vital components to the overall senior care plan.”

Celebrate Hug Holiday Day today by:

Giving hugs to those who need one
Joining Hugs for Heath
Making a donation to this or another group

1692 Bridget Bishop became the first person hanged for witchcraft, during the ordeal known to history as the ‘Salem Witch Trials.’ In all, 20 people died before theological jurisprudence was restored in this isolated Puritan community in Massachusetts.
1850 The American Bible Union was founded, organized by church leaders who had broken from the American and Foreign Bible Society.
1854 Eventually to become the first African- American Roman Catholic bishop, James Augustine Healy, 24, was ordained a priest in Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris.
1925 The United Church of Canada was formed, uniting both the Methodist and Presbyterian denominations of Canada. The merger also took in 3,000 independent Canadian Congregational churches.
1983 The Presbyterian Church (USA) was formed in Atlanta, through a reunification of the United Presbyterian Church (UPCUSA) and the Southern Presbyterian Church (PCUS).
1979 Pope John Paul II visits Poland

June 10

On this day in 869 Patriarch Photius I of Constantinople was condemned by a Roman synod and later by a general council at Constantinople. But the various rulers of the area began choosing up sides, leading toward the split of the Eastern and Western churches within the next two hundred years.

Feast Day:

Saints Getulius and companions, martyrs, 2nd century.
St. Landry, or Landericus, Bishop of Paris, confessor, 7th century.
St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland, 1093.
Blessed Henry, or Rigo of Treviso, confessor, 1315.

June 10

Amantius, martyr [GTZ: Metz]
Anianus, bishop (of Chartres) [GTZ: Chartres]
Censurius, bishop (of Auxerre) [GTZ: Auxerre]
Evremundus, abbot [GTZ: Senlis]
Fortunatus, bishop (of Trier), confessor [GTZ: Trier]
Getulius, (Amancius, and Cerealus), martyrs [BLS; GTZ: Trier]
Henry (of Treviso), confessor [BLS]
Jodocus, abbot, confessor [GTZ: Liège]
Landericus, bishop (of Paris), confessor [BLS; GTZ: Paris; PCP (Paris)]
Landoald, bishop [WTS (Bruges)]
Margaret, queen (of Scotland) [BLS; PRI: England]
Maurinus, abbot, martyr [GTZ: Cologne]
Onuphrius, hermit, confessor [GTZ: Augsburg]

On This Day

Getulius, Amancius and Cerealus,
John of Tobolsk,
Landry of Paris,
Olivia

In History

1917 - Women’s Peace Crusade launched, Glasgow
2001 - Pope John Paul II canonizes Lebanon’s first female saint Saint Rafqa

Ephrem the Syrian

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephrem_the_Syrian

EPHREM OF EDESSA
DEACON AND HYMN-WRITER (10 JUNE 373)

Ephrem (or Ephren or Ephraim or Ephrain) of Edessa was a teacher, poet, orator, and defender of the Faith. (To English-speakers, the most familiar form of his name will be “Ephraim.” It is the name of the younger son of Joseph, son of Jacob (see Genesis 41:52), and is thus the name of one of the largest of the twelve tribes of Israel.) Edessa (now Urfa), a city in modern Turkey about 100 kilometers from Antioch (now Antakya), was a an early center for the spread of Christian teaching in the East. It is said that in 325 he accompanied his bishop, James of Nisibis, to the Council of Nicea. Certainly his writings are an eloquent defense of the Nicene faith in the Deity of Jesus Christ. He countered the Gnostics’ practice of spreading their message through popular songs by composing Christian songs and hymns of his own, with great effect. He is known to the Syrian church as “the harp of the Holy Spirit.”

Ephrem retired to a cave outside Edessa, where he lived in great simplicity and devoted himself to writing. He frequently went into the city to preach. During a famine in 372-3 he worked distributing food to the hungry, and organizing a sort of ambulance service for the sick. He worked long hours at this, and became exhausted and sick, and so died.

Of his writings there remain 72 hymns, commentaries on the Old and New Testaments, and numerous sermons.

Several hymns are available at:

http://www.voskrese.info/spl/XefremSyria.html

Among Orthodox he is best known for a fasting prayer:

THE PRAYER OF ST EPHRAIM THE SYRIAN

O Lord and Master of my life, do not give me the spirit of laziness, meddling, self-importance and idle talk. (prostration)
Instead, grace me, Your servant, with the spirit of modesty, humility, patience, and love. (prostration)
Indeed, my Lord and King, grant that I may see my own faults, and not condemn my brothers and sisters, for You are blessed unto ages of ages. Amen. (prostration)
(Twelve deep bows, saying each time: O God, be gracious to me, a sinner.)
[Translation by Fr James Silver, Drew University; recently posted on the Orthodox list]

Readings:

Psalm 98:5-10
Proverbs 3:1-7
Ephesians 3:8-12
Matthew 13:4-52

Preface of a Saint (1)

PRAYER (traditional language)

Pour out upon us, O Lord, that same Spirit by which thy deacon Ephrem rejoiced to proclaim in sacred song the mysteries of faith; and so gladden our hearts that we, like him, may be devoted to thee alone; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

PRAYER (contemporary language)

Pour out on us, O Lord, that same Spirit by which your deacon Ephrem rejoiced to proclaim in sacred song the mysteries of faith; and so gladden our hearts that we, like him, may be devoted to you alone; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

BLESSED EDWARD POPPE
THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2010

Blessed Edward Poppe is a contemporary saint. He died at the young age of 33. He was one of 11 children born to a modest, pious family in Belgium. One of his brothers had become a priest, and five of his sisters became nuns. He felt a call to the priesthood at a young age, but he only entered the seminary on his mother’s insistence. His father had died when he was 16 years old and Edward thought he should take on the family business.

He was drafted to the military in 1910 and served as a battlefield nurse during World War I. His prayers to St. Joseph during that time led to the miraculous freeing of several prisoners of war.

He was finally ordained in 1916 at the age of 25 and served as associate pastor, focusing his ministry to the poor, children and the dying. He also taught catechism and founded Eucharistic associations.

Always a man with a weak constitution, he was transferred to rural Belgium. In 1919, he suffered a heart attack. During his convalescence, he spent most of his time studying, praying and producing thousands of writings against Marxism and secularization.

He also developed a devotion to St. Therese of Lisieux and adopted her spirituality. He had another heart attack in January 1924, and died of a stroke only six months later. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1999.

Blessed Joachima
(1783-1854)

Born into an aristocratic family in Barcelona, Spain, Joachima was 12 when she expressed a desire to become a Carmelite nun. But her life took an altogether different turn at 16 with her marriage to a young lawyer, Theodore de Mas. Both deeply devout, they became secular Franciscans. During their 17 years of married life they raised eight children.

The normalcy of their family life was interrupted when Napoleon invaded Spain. Joachima had to flee with the children; Theodore, remaining behind, died. Though Joachima reexperienced a desire to enter a religious community, she attended to her duties as a mother. At the same time, the young widow led a life of austerity and chose to wear the habit of the Third Order of St. Francis as her ordinary dress. She spent much time in prayer and visiting the sick.

Four years later, with some of her children now married and younger ones under their care, Joachima confessed her desire to a priest to join a religious order. With his encouragement she established the Carmelite Sisters of Charity. In the midst of the fratricidal wars occurring at the time, Joachima was briefly imprisoned and, later, exiled to France for several years.

Sickness ultimately compelled her to resign as superior of her order. Over the next four years she slowly succumbed to paralysis, which caused her to die by inches. At her death in 1854 at the age of 71, Joachima was known and admired for her high degree of prayer, deep trust in God and selfless charity.

Jun 10 - Hieromartyr Metrophanes, First Chinese priest

0597 Death of St. Columba (born 521), pioneer missionary to Scotland. From the Isle of Iona, Columba evangelized the mainland of Scotland and Northumbria.

1549 In England, Parliament established a uniformity of religious services and the first Book of Common Prayer, as Anglicanism became the newly established national faith.
1732 Englishman James Oglethorpe received a royal charter to form the American colony of Georgia. It was to be a place of refuge for sectarian Protestant believers, persecuted in England.
1772 1st Protestant church west of Penn (in Ohio) holds communion
1784 John Carroll appointed supervisor of US Catholic Missions. In the first step toward formal organization of the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S., Father John Carroll was appointed superior of the American missions by Pius VI.
1834 English Baptist missionary pioneer William Carey died at 73. Having translated portions of Scripture into as many as 25 languages, he is known by some today as the ‘father of modern missions.’
1978 Gutenberg Bible (1 of 21) sells for $2.4 million, London
1978 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) strikes
down 148 year policy of excluding black men from priesthood

June 9

On this day in 1536, the clergy of England agreed to petition for the right to read the Bible.

June 9

On this day in 1549, England’s first Act of Uniformity, passed by Parliament in January, took effect. The act ordered that religious services be consistent throughout the country, using Thomas Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer.

Feast Day:

St. Vincent, martyr, 2nd or 3rd century;
Saints Primus and Felicianus, martyrs, 286;
St. Pelagia, virgin and martyr, 311;
St. Columba, or Columkille, Abbot and Apostle of the Picts, 597;

St. Richard, Bishop of Andria, confessor, about 8th century.

June 9

Alexander, martyr [GTZ: Russia]
Columba, abbot, confessor [BLS; GTZ: Scotland]

Edmund, bishop (of Canturbury), confessor (Translation) [GTZ: England]
Ephraim, deacon, Doctor of the Church [MR]
Liborius, bishop (of LeMans), confessor [GTZ: LeMans]
Pelagia, virgin, martyr [BLS]
Primus and Felicianus, martyrs [common]
Richard, bishop (of Andria, Apulia) [BLS]
Vincent, deacon, martyr [BLS
]
On This Day

Aidan of Lindisfarne (Lutheranism),
Columba,

Ephrem the Syrian (Roman Catholic Church and Church of England),
Primus and Felician

In History

1856 - Five hundred Mormons leave Iowa City for Salt Lake City
1984 - 150,000 march in London for nuclear disarmament, protest Cruise missiles

Jun 09 - St. Columba Of Iona

http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/saintoftheday/jun_09_-_st._columba_of_iona#7566

ST. COLUMBA

A short distance from one of the wildest districts of the western coast of Scotland, opposite the mountains of Mull, only three miles to the south of Staffa, so famous for its stately caverns, lies a little island, which is celebrated as the centre from which the knowledge of the Gospel spread over Scotland, and indeed over all the North, and which, rocky and solitary, and now insignificant as it may be, was a seat of what was felt as marvellous learning in the earliest period of mediaeval civilization. Its original name appears to have been Hi or I, which was Latinized into the, perhaps, more poetical form of Iona, but it is now commonly called I-com-kill, or I of Columba of the Cells, from the saint who once possessed it, and from the numerous cells or monastic establishments which he founded.

Columba was an Irish priest and monk of the sixth century, who was earnest in his desire to spread among the ignorant pagans of the North that ascetic form of Christianity which had already taken root in Ireland. According to Bede, from whom we gather nearly all we know of this remarkable man, it was in the year 565 that Columba left his native island to preach to the Picts, the inhabitants of the Scottish Highlands. Encouraged by their chieftain, his mission was attended with success. The chieftain gave him, as a place to establish himself and his companions, the island of I, which Bede describes as in size, ‘only of about five families, according to the calculation of the English,’ or, as this is explained by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, five hides of land. It is now three miles in length, and not quite a mile broad. Here Columba built a church and a monastery, of which he became abbot, and collected round him a body of monks, under a rule which was remark-able chiefly for the strict enforcement of self-denial and asceticism. Their hours each day were divided between prayer, reading or hearing the Scriptures, and the labours required for producing the necessaries of life, chiefly cultivating the land, and fishing. Others were employed in writing copies of the books of the church service, which were wanted for their own use, or for the religious missions sent out amongst the neighbouring barbarians. The art most cultivated among the early Irish monks appears to have been caligraphy, and Columba himself is said to have been a very skilful penman, and, we may no doubt add, illuminator; and copies of the Psalter and Gospel, still pre-erved in Ireland, are attributed to him.

Such of Columba’s monks at I as were capable, were employed in instructing others, and this employment seems to have best suited their tastes, and education became the great object to which Columba’s successors devoted themselves. For ages youths of noble, and even of royal blood, flocked hither from all parts, not only of Scotland, England, and Ireland, but from Scandinavia, to profit by the teaching of the monks; at the same time, colonies of Columba’s monks went forth to establish themselves in various parts of the Scottish Highlands, and the neighbouring islands, in Iceland, and even in Norway. Bede tells us that, about thirty-two years after he settled in I, or Iona, which would carry us, according to his dates, to the year 597, St. Columba died and was buried in his island monastery, being then seventy-seven years old. The 9th of June is usually assigned as the day of his death. The reputation of Iona as a seat of learning, and as a place of extraordinary sanctity, continued to increase after the death of the founder of its religious establishment, and his memory was held in the most affectionate love. His disciples, or we may say the monks of his order, who formed the Pictish church, became known by the name of Culdees, a Celtic word meaning simply monks.

Their first religious house of any importance on the mainland was Abernethy, the church of which is said to have been built in Columba’s lifetime, and which became the principal seat of royalty and episcopacy in the Pictish kingdom. St. Andrew’s, also, was a foundation of the Culdees, as well as Dunkeld, Dunblane, Brechin, and many other important churches. From the particular position held by Columba towards his disciples in all parts, when Culdee bishoprics were established, all the bishops were considered as placed under the authority of the abbots of Iona, so that these abbots were virtually the Metropolitans of the Scottish church. In the ninth century the Danes, who ravaged with great ferocity the Scottish coasts, repeatedly visited Iona, and so completely destroyed its monks and their monastery, that the island itself disappears from history, until the twelfth century, when, in the reign of William the Lion, it was re-occupied by a convent of Cluniac monks. Long before this the Culdees had lost their character for sanctity and purity of life, and they were now so much degenerated that the Scottish King David I. (who reigned from 1124 to 1153), after an ineffectual attempt to reform them, suppressed the Culdees altogether, and supplied their place with monks and canons of other orders, but chiefly of that of St. Augustine.

Columba

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columba

COLUMBA
ABBOT OF IONA AND MISSIONARY (9 JUNE 597)

In the troubled and violent Dark Ages in Northern Europe, monasteries served as inns, orphanages, centers of learning, and even as fortresses. The light of civilization flickered dimly and might have gone out altogether if it had not been for these convent-shelters.

Columba, a stern and strong monk from Ireland, founded three such establishments. He founded the monasteries of Derry and Durrow in his native Ireland, and the island monastery of Iona on the coast of Scotland. Iona was the center of operations for the conversion of the Scots and Picts, and became the most famous religious house in Scotland. There Columba baptized Brude, King of the Picts, and later a King of the Scots came to this Abbot of the “Holy Isle” for baptism.

[Geographic note: If you look at a map of Scotland, you will see a huge gash across the country from northeast to southwest. This has been slightly augmented by artificial digging to make a shipping canal. As you emerge from the southwest end of the gash, the large island of Mull is on your right. At the southwest tip of Mull lies the tiny island of Iona. [56:19N 6:25W]]

The historian Bede tells us that Columba led many to Christianity by his “preaching and example.” He was much admired for his physical as well as spiritual prowess. He was a strict ascetic and remained physically vigorous and unflagging in his missionary and pastoral journeys throughout his seventy-six years of life. The memory of Columba lives on in Scotland, and Iona, though desecrated during the Reformation, today houses a flourishing ecumenical religious community.
Readings:

Psalm 97:1-2,7-12
Isaiah 61:1-3
1 Corinthians 3:11-23
Luke 10:17-20

Preface of Apostles

PRAYER (traditional language)

O God, who by the preaching of thy blessed servant Columba didst cause the light of the Gospel to shine in Scotland: Grant, we beseech thee, that, having his life and labors in remembrance, we may show forth our thankfulness to thee by following the example of his zeal and patience; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

PRAYER (contemporary language)

O God, who by the preaching of your blessed servant Columba caused the light of the Gospel to shine in Scotland: Grant, we pray, that, having his life and labors in remembrance, we may show our thankfulness to you by following the example of his zeal and patience; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

9 Jun 1549
The First Book of Common Prayer

In 1549, under the reign of Edward VI, successor to Henry VIII, the primary language of public worship in England and other areas ruled by Edward was changed from Latin to English, and the first Book of Common Prayer came into use. It was first used on Pentecost Sunday, 9 June 1549, and the occasion is now commemorated “on the first convenient day following Pentecost.” The Book was the work of a commission of scholars, but primarily of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. It was based primarily upon the Latin worship tradition of the Use of Sarum (similar to, but not identical with, the Roman rite used by most Roman Catholics between 1600 and 1950), with some elements taken from the Greek liturgies of the Eastern Church, from ancient Gallican (French) rites, from the new Lutheran order of service, and from the Latin rite of Cologne.

The older usage had grown haphazardly through the centuries, and had added so many complications that it was difficult to follow (the priest often needed to juggle up to a dozen books to get through a single service). The new order pruned and simplified so that only one book other than the Bible was necessary, and so that even the laity could follow the service and participate without difficulty. Moreover, the quality of the English was outstanding. All Christians who worship in English, from Roman Catholics to Southern Baptists and beyond, are in some measure influenced by it, and all to whom it is important that the people of God understand the worship of the Church and take an active part therein have cause to be grateful for the Book of Common Prayer.

At the time, it had its drawbacks. It was resented in non-English-speaking areas ruled from London, such as Ireland, Wales, and Cornwall. If an Erse version had been produced simultaneously, the religious history of Ireland might have been radically different. As it was, the Prayer Book and the English Bible were viewed as part of an attempt to impose the English language upon Ireland. Similar sentiments were common in Wales and Cornwall, but with less drastic consequences.

PRAYER (traditional language)

Almighty and everliving God, whose servant Thomas Cranmer, with Others, did restore the language of the people in the prayers of thy Church: Make us always thankful for this heritage; and help us so to pray in the Spirit and with the understanding, that we may worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

PRAYER (contemporary language)

Almighty and everliving God, whose servant Thomas Cranmer, with Others, restored the language of the people in the prayers of your Church: Make us always thankful for this heritage; and help us so to pray in the Spirit and with the understanding, that we may worthily magnify your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Psalm 96:1-9 or 33:1-5,20-21
Acts 2:38-42
John 4:21-24

ST. EPHREM
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 09, 2010

St. Ephrem is a Doctor of the Church. He was a great writer of homilies, hymns and poems and helped to fight Gnosticism and Arianism by his writings.

Not much is known about his early life. He was born in the fourth century in Mesopotamia (modern-day Syria). Scholars speculate that he may have been the son of a pagan priest. He was brought to the faith by Saint James of Nisibis and was baptized at age 18. He served as a deacon and a preacher and helped to evangelize his city.

In 363, Nisibis fell toPersia and a time of Christian persecution began. Ephrem led an Christian exodus to Edessa, where he founded a theological school. He died there June 9, 373. He is the patron of spiritual directors and spiritual leaders.
June 9, 2010
St. Ephrem
(306?-373)

Poet, teacher, orator and defender of the faith, Ephrem is the only Syrian recognized as a doctor of the Church. He took upon himself the special task of opposing the many false doctrines rampant at his time, always remaining a true and forceful defender of the Catholic Church.

Born in Nisibis, Mesopotamia, he was baptized as a young man and became famous as a teacher in his native city. When the Christian emperor had to cede Nisibis to the Persians, Ephrem, along with many Christians, fled as a refugee to Edessa. He is credited with attracting great glory to the biblical school there. He was ordained a deacon but declined becoming a priest (and was said to have avoided episcopal consecration by feigning madness!).

He had a prolific pen and his writings best illumine his holiness. Although he was not a man of great scholarship, his works reflect deep insight and knowledge of the Scriptures. In writing about the mysteries of humanity’s redemption, Ephrem reveals a realistic and humanly sympathetic spirit and a great devotion to the humanity of Jesus. It is said that his poetic account of the Last Judgment inspired Dante.

It is surprising to read that he wrote hymns against the heretics of his day. He would take the popular songs of the heretical groups and, using their melodies, compose beautiful hymns embodying orthodox doctrine. Ephrem became one of the first to introduce song into the Church’s public worship as a means of instruction for the faithful. His many hymns have earned him the title “Harp of the Holy Spirit.”

He preferred a simple, austere life, living in a small cave overlooking the city of Edessa. It was here he died around 373.

Donald Duck Day

When : Always June 9th

Happy Birthday, Donald. We hope that Daisy Duck bakes you your favorite cake!

Donald Duck Day in honor of Donald Duck’s cartoon debut. Donald first appeared in “The Wise Hen” on June 9, 1934. While Donald is over 70 years old, he doesn’t act a day over 20. Donald is one of Disney’s most famous and popular characters.

Did you Know? Donald has a middle name. Donald F. Duck’s middle name is “Fauntleroy”.

Enjoy Donald Duck Day in front of the television watching Donald, along with all of his family and friends.

The Origin of Donald Duck Day:

0536 St Silverius begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0570 Relgion of Islam (submission) founded in Mecca
0632: Muhammad, the founder of the religion of Islam and of the Muslim community, died in Medina.
1191: At the time of the Third Crusade, Richard I joined the Crusaders in Acre, having conquered Cyprus on his way there.
1504: Michelangelo’s David installed in Florence
Believed to have been installed this day in 1504 in the cathedral of Florence was Michelangelo’s statue of David, commissioned in 1501 and considered the prime statement of the Renaissance ideal of perfect humanity.
1536 Ten Articles of Religion were published by the English clergy, in support of Henry VIII’s Declaration of Supremacy. The Anglican Church had begun defining its doctrinal distinctions, after breaking with Roman Catholicism.
1810 Birth of German composer Robert A. Schumann, who composed the sacred tune CANONBURY, to which is commonly sung the hymn, ‘Lord Speak to Me That I May Speak.’
1942 Unevangelized Fields Mission (UFM) was incorporated in Philadelphia. Today this interdenominational mission agency works in a dozen countries in Latin America, Europe and Africa.
1973 The American Society of Missiology was founded in St. Louis. The ecumenical organization seeks to stimulate an academic interest in Christian missions, and publishes the journal ‘Missiology: An International Review.’
1978 Through the voice of its president Spencer W. Kimball, the Mormon Church reversed a 148-year- long policy of spiritual discrimination against African-American leadership within the denomination.

June 8

On this day in 1536, following Henry VIII’s Declaration of Supremacy, English clergy drew up the Ten Articles of Religion, the first articles of the Anglican Church since its break from Roman Catholicism.

Feast Day:

St. Maximinus, first. Archbishop of Aix, confessor, end of 1st or beginning of 2nd century;
St. Gildard, or Godard, Bishop of Rouen, confessor, 6th century;
St. Medard, Bishop of Noyon, confessor, 6th century;
St. Syra, virgin, of Ireland, 7th century;
St. Clou, or Clodulphus, Bishop of Metz, confessor, 696;
St. William, Archbishop of York, confessor, 1154.

June 8

Audomar, bishop (of Thérouanne), confessor (Translation) [GTZ: St. Omer]
Chlodulph, bishop (of Metz) [BLS]
Elphege, bishop, martyr (Translation) [GTZ: England]
Gildard, bishop (of Rouen), confessor [BLS; GTZ: Metz, France, England; PCP (Paris)]
Marius, hermit [GTZ: Clermont]
Maximinus, bishop (of Aix en Provence) [BLS]
Medard, bishop (of Noyon), confessor [common]
Sabinianus, abbot, confessor [GTZ: Puy]
Syra (of Ireland), virgin [BLS]
Syria, virgin (at Troyes) [GTZ: Troyes]
Trojecia, virgin (at Rodez) [GTZ: Rodez]
William, bishop (of York), confessor [BLS; GTZ: England; PRI: England]

On This Day

Saint Audomar, Bishop of Thérouanne, confessor (Translation day)
Chlodulf of Metz,
Medard,
William of York

In History

793 - Vikings raid abbey at Lindisfarne in Northumbria

Roland Allen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Allen

ROLAND ALLEN
MISSION STRATEGIST

Roland Allen (December 29, 1868 – June 9, 1947) was born in Bristol, England, Allen was the son of an Anglican priest but was orphaned early in life. He trained for ministry at Oxford and became a priest in 1893. Allen spent two periods in Northern China working for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. The first from 1895 to 1900 ended due to the Boxer Rebellion, during which Allen was forced to flee to the British Legation in Beijing. He was chaplain to community throughout much of the siege. After a period back in England, he returned to North China in 1902, but was forced home due to illness. These ‘early experiences led him to a radical reassessment of his own vocation and the theology and missionary methods of the Western churches’.

Allen became an early advocate of establishing Churches which from the beginning would be self-supporting, self-propagating, and self-governing, adapted to local conditions and not merely imitations of Western Christianity. These views were confirmed by a trip to India in 1910 and by later research in Canada and East Africa. It is with this background that Allen wrote his book Missionary Methods which was first published in 1912.

Allen’s approach to Mission strategy for indigenous Churches is based on the study of Saint Paul’s missionary methods as he is convinced that in them can be found the solution to most of the difficulties of the day. He believed it was the recognition of the church as a local entity and trust in the Holy Spirit’s indwelling within the converts and churches which was the mark of Paul’s success. In contrast was Allen’s belief that the people of his day were unable to entrust their converts to the Holy Spirit and instead relied in His work through them.

His views became increasingly influential, though Allen himself became disillusioned with the established churches. He spent the last years of his life in Kenya, establishing a reclusive church of his own devising, centred on an idiosyncratic family rite. Allen died in Nairobi.

Readings:

Psalm 119:145-152
Numbers 11:26-29
2 Corinthians 9:8-15
Luke 8:4-15

Preface of Baptism

PRAYER (traditional language)

Almighty God, by whose Spirit the Scriptures were opened to thy servant Roland Allen, so that he might lead many to know, live and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ: Give us grace to follow his example, that the variety of those to whom we reach out in love may receive thy saving Word and witness in their own languages and cultures to thy glorious Name; through Jesus Christ, thy Word made flesh, who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

PRAYER (contemporary language)

Almighty God, by your Spirit you opened the Scriptures to your servant Roland Allen, so that he might lead many to know, live and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ: Give us grace to follow his example, that the variety of those to whom we reach out in love may receive your saving Word and witness in their own languages and cultures to your glorious Name; through Jesus Christ, your Word made flesh, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Jun 08 - Holy Mother Melania The Elder and St. Zosimas Of Phoenicia

http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/saintoftheday/jun_08_-_holy_mother_melania_the_elder_and_st._zosimas_of_phoenicia#7565

ST. MEDARD, BISHOP
TUESDAY, JUNE 08, 2010

Born about 456 in Salency, France; died June 8, 545 in Noyon, France. Bishop of Noyon.

From his youth St. Medard was known for his piety and learning, quenching his deep hunger for knowledge by studying Sacred Scripture as well as philosophy and the sciences.

His practice of Christian virtue was evident as a youth and his commitment to the poor so pronounced that he had difficulty in walking by a poor man in the street and not giving him what he had, either his cloak or shoes, and one time even his horse.

He was ordained a priest in about 490 and was consecrated bishop of Vermand in 530. He moved the see of Vermand to Noyons a year later because it was a city better defended against invasion, the Huns and Vandals being the threats in that epoch.

Pope Hormisdas appointed Medard to the See of Tournai which he presided over along with that of Vermand, and had great success in converting the remaining pagans in the area to Christ.

Medard died of an illness in 545 at the age of 89 and his cult has been very popular historically in northern France.

St. William of York
(d. 1154)

A disputed election as archbishop of York and a mysterious death. Those are the headlines from the tragic life of today’s saint.

Born into a powerful family in 12th-century England, William seemed destined for great things. His uncle was next in line for the English throne—though a nasty dynastic struggle complicated things. William himself faced an internal Church feud.

Despite these roadblocks, he was nominated as archbishop of York in 1140. Local clergymen were less enthusiastic, however, and the archbishop of Canterbury refused to consecrate William. Three years later a neighboring bishop performed the consecration, but it lacked the approval of Pope Innocent II, whose successors likewise withheld approval. William was deposed and a new election was ordered.

It was not until 1154—14 years after he was first nominated—that William became archbishop of York. When he entered the city that spring after years of exile, he received an enthusiastic welcome. Within two months he was dead, probably from poisoning. His administrative assistant was a suspect, though no formal ruling was ever made.

Despite all that happened to him, William did not show resentment toward his opponents. Following his death, many miracles were attributed to him. He was canonized 73 years later.

CANONIZATION OF THE JAPANESE MARTYRS

The canonization of saints has only been accepted as a dogma of faith by the Church of Rome since the twelfth century, and it was then confined to those who had suffered martyrdom for their religious principles. So rapid, however, was the increase of saints, that it was soon found necessary to place a limit to their admission to the canon: at first bishops were permitted to make them; this privilege was taken away, and the Pope alone had the power; another prudent regulation was that the holy man should have departed this life one hundred years at least before he was canonized, which no doubt prevented many a man, popular in his day, from attaining the honour, when his character was judged by a future generation.

We have in our own day (1862) seen a remarkable example of this ceremony. Pius the Ninth determined to add to the list of saints twenty-three missionaries who had been martyred in Japan during the seventeenth century. Great preparations were made for the event; letters of invitation were written, not only to the Bishops of the Romish church, but also to those of the Eastern churches, and, in spite of the marked repugnance of some of the governments—who feared a political demonstration—the attendance was very large. These ecclesiastics formed the most interesting part of the procession to St. Peter’s. Wearing the dresses of those early Syrian and Armenian churches which had been founded by the Apostles themselves, and the symbols which created so warm a discussion among the Fathers—the stole, the alb, the mitre with crosses, Greek and Latin, the forms of which were heretic or orthodox, according to the judgment of the observer. The procession was similar to the one already described under Easter Day; the only difference, perhaps, was that St. Peter’s was entirely lighted up with wax lights; a mistake, as was generally agreed, there not being sufficient brilliancy to set off the gay colours of the cardinals, the bishops, the bearers of the flabelli, and guarda nobili.

World Ocean Day

Best Friend’s Day

When : Always June 8th

Best Friend Day is a time to enjoy and appreciate your best friend. It’s a day to honor and cherish the relationship.

If you’re lucky, you have a best friend. If you are real lucky, you have a number of best friends. Best friends are very, very special people. You spend countless hours with your best friend going to events and activities, or just hanging out. You share secrets, hopes, dreams, aspirations, and disappointments with your best friend.

Some folks say you can only have one best friend. This author disagrees. You can have a couple at the same time, or several over time. Friends come and go for a variety of reasons. It’s the result of many things, including moving, changing schools or jobs, and more. We hope that you are lucky enough to have a number of best friends over the years.

Celebrate Best Friend Day by:

0555 Vigilius ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1099 The armies of the First Crusade (1096-99) reached the walls of Jerusalem.
1839 Hawaiian Declaration of Rights is signed
1891 English Baptist clergyman Charles H. Spurgeon preached the last sermon of his 38-year-long ministry at London’s Metropolitan Tabernacle. He died the following January.
1912 St Pius X encyclical “On the Indians of South America”
1913 Ohio-born Methodist evangelist George Bennard introduced his new hymn, ‘The Old Rugged Cross,’ during a revival he was conducting at Pokagon, Michigan.
1929 Vatican City becomes a soverign state
1930 NY Times agrees to capitalize the n in “Negro”
1934 Wycliffe Bible Translators held its first study course in linguistics at Sulphur Springs, Arkansas. The training session lasted 3 months.
1938 1st play telecast with original Broadway cast, “Susan & God”
1959 English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter: ‘If we really think that home is elsewhere and that this life is a ‘wandering to find home,’ why should we not look forward to the arrival?’
1967 Israel captures Wailing Wall in East Jerusalem

June 7

On this day in 1881, David Pendleton Oakerhater, a Cheyenne warrior, was ordained to the diaconate.

Feast Day:

St. Paul, Bishop of Constantinople and martyr, 350.
St. Colman, Bishop of Dromore, confessor, about 610.
St. Godeschalc, Prince of the Western Vandals, and his companions, martyrs, 1066.
St. Robert, Abbot of Newminster, 1159.
St. Meriadec, Bishop of Vannes, confessor, 1302.

June 7

Colman, bishop (of Dromore) [BLS]
Fortunatus, bishop, confessor [GTZ: Trier]
Godeschalc, prince (of the Vandals), martyr [BLS]
Godoald, bishop, confessor [GTZ: Sens]
Luciana, virgin, martyr [WTS (Bruges)]
Maximinus, bishop (of Aix), confessor [GTZ: Aix]
Meriadec, bishop (of Vannes [BLS: Brittany]
Paul, bishop (of Constantinople), martyr [BLS; GTZ: Trier, Amiens, Tours]
Procopius [PCP (Paris), as Proces]
Robert, abbot (of Chichester) [PRI: England]
Robert, abbot (of Newminster, Northumberland) [BLS]
Servatius, bishop, confessor (sometimes martyr) (Translation) [GTZ: Liège, Utrecht]
Willibald [BLS]
Wulstan, bishop (of Worcester), confessor (Translation) [GTZ: England]

On This Day

Colmán of Dromore,
Paul I of Constantinople,
Robert of Newminster

In History

1099 - First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins
1893 - Gandhi’s first act of civil disobedience

Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglican_Episcopal_Church_of_Brazil

PIONEERS OF THE EPISCOPAL ANGLICAN CHURCH OF BRAZIL

In 1890, Lucien Lee Kinsolving and James Watson Morris were sent as Episcopal missionaries to Brazil. The following year, they were joined by three other American missionaries (William Cabell Brown, John Gaw Meem, and Mary Packard). These five, along with six Brazilians (Vicente Brande, Américo Vespúcio Cabral, Antônio Machado Fraga, Bonaventura de Souza Oliveira, Júlio de Almeida Coelho, and Carl Henry Clement Sergel), are now celebrated as the founders of the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil. In 1899, Kinsolving became its first bishop, and it was declared a missionary district of The Episcopal Church in 1907. In 1965, it became an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The Brazilian calendar commemorates this feast from June 1 to June 7 each year.

Readings:

Psalm 125
2 Esdras 2:42-48
1 Peter 1:18-25
Luke 4:14-21

Preface of All Saints

PRAYER (traditional language)

O God, who didst send thy Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: we bless thee for the missionaries from the Episcopal Church and those who first responded to their message, joining together to establish the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil; and we pray that we, like them, may be ready to preach Christ crucified and risen, and to encourage and support those who pioneer new missions in him; who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

PRAYER (contemporary language)

O God, who sent your Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: we bless you for the missionaries from the Episcopal Church and those who first responded to their message, joining together to establish the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil; and we pray that we, like them, may be ready to preach Christ crucified and risen, and to encourage and support those who pioneer new missions in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

ST. ANTHONY MARY GIANELLI
MONDAY, JUNE 07, 2010

Anthony grew up in a poor but pious family in a small farming village in Italy. A promising student, the landowner paid for his seminary education. He was ordained in 1812 and served as a parish priest. He was very young for ordination and required special dispensation. He eventually founded several religious communities, some of them short-lived.

In 1827, he founded the Missionaries of St. Alphonsus, which lasted until 1848. He also founded the Oblates of Saint Alphonsus in1828, which lasted only 20 years. The Sisters of Our Lady of the Garden, which he founded in 1829, still continue their ministry in education and among the sick in Europe, Asia and the United States.

He was made a bishop in1837 and was active in restoring devotions and instructing the faithful. He was a people’s bishop, visiting with his parishes and organizing two synods. He died only nine years later in June 7, 1846 due to a serious fever. He was canonized in 1951.

7 Jun 1866
Seattle, Chief of the Duwamish Confederacy

Noah Seattle was born about 1790 near Puget Sound, in the northwest corner of the contiguous United States. He was chief of his tribe and of the alliance of tribes in his area. Faced with the incursion of white settlers, he chose peace rather than war, and offered the settlers friendship and assistance. He became a Christian, and instituted in his tribe a practice of communal prayers morning and evening, a practice continued after his death. In 1855 (being then about 65 years old), he signed a treaty ceding most of his tribe’s ancestral lands to the settlers and moving his people north. On that occasion, he gave an eloquent and poignant speech in his native tongue on justice, and on love of and respect for the land. Portions of the speech are often quoted by environmentalists, though the translations vary and some of them may have been embroidered.

A listmember writes:

The oft quoted ‘green’ version (written by Ted Perry) is at

http://magna.com.au/%7Eprfbrown/thechief.html

A more likely ‘correct’ version is at

http://magna.com.au/%7Eprfbrown/thechief2.html

PRAYER (traditional language)

Almighty God, who in giving us dominion over things on earth Hast made us fellow workers in thy creation: Grant unto us such wisdom and reverence toward thee that, following the counsel and example of thy servant Noah Seattle, we may so use the resources of nature that no one may suffer from our abuse of them, and that generations yet to come may continue to praise thee for thy bounty; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever.

PRAYER (contemporary language)

Almighty God, who in giving us dominion over things on earth Have made us fellow workers in your creation: Grant us such wisdom and reverence toward you that, following the counsel and example of your servant Noah Seattle, we may so use the resources of nature that no one may suffer from our abuse of them, and that generations yet to come may continue to praise you for your bounty; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.

Servant of God Joseph Perez
(1890-1928)

“The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church,” said Tertullian in the third century. Joseph Perez carried on that tradition.

Joseph was born in Coroneo, Mexico, and joined the Franciscans when he was 17. Because of Mexico’s civil unrest at that time (the forces of Pancho Villa had crossed into New Mexico on a raid the previous year), he was forced to take his philosophy and theology studies in California.

After ordination at Mission Santa Barbara, he returned to Mexico and served at Jerecuaro from 1922 on. The persecution under the presidency of Plutarco Calles (1924-28) forced Joseph to wear various disguises as he traveled around to visit the Catholics. In 1927 Church property was nationalized, Catholic schools were closed, and foreign priests and nuns were deported.

One day Joseph and several others were captured while returning from a secretly held Mass. Father Perez was stabbed to death by soldiers a few miles from Celaya on June 2, 1928.

When Joseph’s body was later brought in procession to Salvatierra, it was buried there amid cries of “Viva, Cristo Rey!” (Long live Christ the King!).

Jun 07 - Hieromartyr Marcellinus, Pope Of Rome

http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/saintoftheday/jun_07_-_hieromartyr_marcellinus_pope_of_rome

BISHOP WARBURTON

A much less familiar name to our generation is Warburton than Johnson; but, had any one in the last century predicted such a freak of fame in the blaze of the Bishop’s learning and rhetoric, he would certainly have been listened to with incredulity. Johnson and Warburton were contemporaries; Warburton by eleven years was Johnson’s senior, but their lives flowed together for three score and ten, and five years alone divided the death of the great Bishop from the great Doctor. Strange to say, they only once met, as Boswell records; namely, at the house of Mrs. French, in London, well known for her elegant assemblies and bringing eminent characters together; and the interview proved mutually agreeable. On one occasion it was told the Doctor that Warburton had said, ‘I admire Johnson, but I cannot bear his style;’ to which he replied, ‘That is exactly my case as to him.’

William Warburton was born on the 24th December 1698, at Newark, where his father was town-clerk, and died when William was in his eighth year. His mother had him educated for an attorney, and when he was twenty-one he commenced business in Newark. Finding little to do, he threw up law and entered the church, and was fortunate enough to find a patron in Sir Robert Sutton, who, after various favours, presented him to the living of Brant Broughton, in Nottingham-shire. There, in the quiet of the country, he sedulously devoted himself to those literary pursuits, by which he raised himself to fame and fortune. In a visit to London, in 1726, he identified himself with the party which hated Pope, and, considering what followed in after years, was unfortunate enough to write a letter in which he said that Dryden borrowed for want of leisure and Pope for want of genius. Twelve years afterwards, in 1739, the orthodoxy of Pope’s Essay on Man having been attacked, Warburton published a series of letters in its defence, which led to an introduction and a very intimate friendship between the divine and the poet. When Pope died in 1744, it was found that he had left Warburton half his library and the copyrights of all his works, valued by Johnson at £4000. Pope’s attachment to Warburton had driven Boling-broke from his side, and after his death some sparring ensued between the old friend and the new, in the course of which Bolingbroke ad-dressed Warburton in a pamphlet entitled A Familiar Epistle to the most Impudent Man Living. By Pope he was introduced to Ralph Allen, of Prior Park, Bath—Fielding’s Squire Allworthy—whose niece he married in 1745, and through her inherited Allen’s extensive property.

In the years intervening between these events Warburton had made even greater progress in an ecclesiastical sense. In 1736, he published his celebrated defence of The Alliance between Church and State, and, in 1738, the first volume of his great work, The Divine Legation of Moses demonstrated on the Principles of a Religious Deist, from the Omission of the Doctrine of a Future State of Rewards and Punishments in the Jewish Dispensation. It had often been brought as a reproach against Moses that his code contained no reference to heaven or hell, and theologians had ineffectually resisted it with a variety of apologies. Warburton, on the other hand, boldly allowing the charge, went on to argue that therein lay an infallible proof of the divine mission of the Hebrew lawgiver, for, unless he had been miraculously assisted, it was impossible that he could have dispensed with the armoury of hopes and terrors supplied by the doctrine of immortality. As might be expected, a violent storm of controversy broke out over this novel and audacious defence. The large and varied stores of learning with which he illustrated the course of his argument won the admiration of readers who cordially disliked his conclusion. In allusion to Warburton’s abundant and well applied reading, Johnson observed: ‘His table is always full. He brings things from the north, and the south, and from every quarter. In his Divine Legation you are always entertained. He carries you round and round, without carrying you forward to the point; but then you have no wish to be carried forward.’ Honours and promotion now flowed on Warburton, culminating, in 1759, in his elevation to the bishopric of Gloucester, which he held for twenty years, until his death in 1779.

A powerful and daring, if not unscrupulous reasoner, Warburton reaped the full measure of his fame in his own generation. A brilliant intellect, whose highest effort was a paradox like the Divine Legation, may astonish for a season, but can never command enduring regard. His lack of earnest faith in his opinions inevitably produced in his writings a shallowness of tone, causing the discerning reader to query whether Warburton, had he chosen, might not have pleaded with equal effect on the other side. His antagonists, who were many and respectable, he treated with a supercilious contempt, passable, perhaps, in a Dunciad, but inexcusable in a clergyman dealing with clergymen. Warburton had never been trained to bridle his tongue when his anger was roused. What should we nowadays think of a bishop saying, as he did of Wilkes in the House of Lords, that ‘the blackest fiends in hell will not keep company with him when he arrives there?’

Boone Day

1622 Gregory XV published the bull ‘Inscrutabili Divinae,’ which reminded the Church of its mission to the newly discovered native populations in the recently discovered Americas.
1799 Birth of Alexis F. Lvov, Russian church musician who composed the tune to the hymn, ‘God, the Almighty One! Wisely Ordaining.’
1844 Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) founded in London
1882 Blind Scottish Presbyterian clergyman George Matheson penned the words to the hymn, ‘O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go.’
1907 Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning, a graduate school for biblical and rabbinical studies, was chartered in Philadelphia.
1966 Activist James Meredith shot in Mississippi
1977 Joseph Lason was installed as Bishop of Biloxi, Mississippi, becoming the first African- American Roman Catholic bishop consecrated since the 19th century.

June 6

On this day in 1998, Jack Croneberger was elected bishop coadjutor on the fourth ballot to succeed Bishop John Spong.

Feast Day:

St. Philip the Deacon, 1st century;
St. Gudwall, Bishop of St. Maloi, confessor, end of 6th or beginning of 7th century;
St. Claude, Archbishop of Besancon, confessor, 696 or 703;
St. Norbert, Archbishop of Magdeburg, and founder of’ the Premonstratensian Order, confessor, 1134.

June 6

Agobard, bishop (of Lyon), martyr [GTZ: Lyon]
Aldric, bishop (of Sens), confessor [GTZ: Sens]
Artemius and family, martyrs [GTZ: Trier, Aix, Amiens]
Bertrand, bishop (of LeMans) (Translation) [GTZ: LeMans]
Bonitus, bishop (of Auvergne), confessor (Translation) [GTZ: Clermont]
Claudius, bishop (of Besançon), confessor [BLS; GTZ: Switzerland, Metz, southern France]
Colmoc, bishop, confessor [GTZ: Scotland]
Gudwal, bishop (of St. Malo), confessor [BLS; GTZ: St. Malo]
Jarlath [BLS: Tuam, Ireland]
Norbert, bishop (of Magdeburg), confessor [common]
Philip (the Deacon) [BLS; GTZ: Teutonic Knights, Langres]
Pontius [PCP (Paris)]
Vincent, bishop, martyr (sometimes only confessor) [GTZ: Gnesen, Magdeburg]

INI KOPURIA

FOUNDER OF THE MELANESIAN BROTHERHOOD, 1945

Ini Kopuria (died 1945), a police officer from Maravovo, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands formed the Melanesian Brotherhood in 1925. He and the Bishop of Melanesia, the Right Reverend John Manwaring Steward, realised Ini’s dream by forming a band of brothers (known in the Mota language as ‘Ira Reta Tasiu’) to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the non-Christian areas of Melanesia. He is commemorated in the calendars of the Church of the Province of Melanesia and of the Church of England.

Readings:

Psalm 31:19-24
Zechariah 1:7-11
Revelation 14:13-16
Matthew 8:5-13

Preface of a Saint (3)

PRAYER (traditional language)

Loving God, may thy Name be blest for the witness of Ini Kopuria, police officer and founder of the Melanesian Brotherhood, whose members saved many American pilots in a time of war, and who continue to minister courageously to the islanders of Melanesia. Open our eyes that we, with these Anglican brothers, may establish peace and hope in service to others, for the sake of Jesus Christ; who with thee and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

PRAYER (contemporary language)

Loving God, we bless your Name for the witness of Ini Kopuria, police officer and founder of the Melanesian Brotherhood, whose members saved many American pilots in a time of war, and who continue to minister courageously to the islanders of Melanesia. Open our eyes that we, with these Anglican brothers, may establish peace and hope in service to others, for the sake of Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Ini Kopuria

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ini_Kopuria

ST. NORBERT
SUNDAY, JUNE 06, 2010

St. Norbert was born into a noble family in 1080, and he became a priest as a career move. However, he lived a conversion after narrowly escaping death and spent the rest of his life trying to reform the clergy and religious life.

With the new zeal of his conversion, Norbert tried to reform his local religious community. Without much success, he became a wandering preacher, which led him to France. There he founded a community of Augustinian canons, the Norbertines, and began a reform movement of religious life that swept through Europe.

He was eventually named bishop of Magdeburg, Germany, and continued his work of reforming the clergy in his diocese. He died in Magdeburg June 6, 1134.

June 6, 2010

St. Norbert
(1080?-1134)

Friends sometimes jokingly mangle the name of the Premonstratensians into “Monstrous Pretensions,” just as the Franciscan O.F.M. is said to mean “Out For Money.” The name actually derives from Premontre, the region of France where Norbert established this Order in the 12th century.

Recalling the nickname, Norbert’s founding of the Order was in truth a monstrous task: combating rampant heresies (particularly regarding the Blessed Sacrament), revitalizing many of the faithful who had grown indifferent and dissolute, plus effecting peace and reconciliation among enemies.

Norbert entertained no pretensions about his own ability to accomplish this multiple task. Even with the aid of a goodly number of men who joined his Order, he realized that nothing could be effectively done without God’s power. Finding this help especially in devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, he and his Norbertines praised God for success in converting heretics, reconciling numerous enemies and rebuilding faith in indifferent believers.

Reluctantly, Norbert became archbishop of Magdeburg in central Germany, a territory half pagan and half Christian. In this position he zealously and courageously continued his work for the Church until his death on June 6, 1134.

D-Day

Child Health Day

Yo-Yo Day

When : Always June 6th

Yo-Yo day is here…hooray! Not that you need an excuse to play with your Yo-Yo. Wherever you are today, get out your Yo-Yo and impress your friends, family, and co-workers with your Yo-Yo skills. And, do it at work today! If you don’t think it’s appropriate at work, consider the fact that three U.S. presidents (Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon) showed off their Yo-Yo expertise while in office!

It’s origin is hard to factually prove. Many believe that the Yo-Yo originated in China as early as 500-1000 B.C. However, their is some evidence that it was first used in Greece even before this time. Over the centuries the Yo-Yo has had it’s ups and downs (tee,hee).

The Yo-Yo was made wildly popular in America by businessman Donald F. Duncan Sr. He manufactured the “Duncan Yo-Yo” in the early 1900’s.

Celebrate the Yo-Yo today by “walking the dog” or “shooting the moon”, the most popular Yo-Yo tricks.

Origin of Yo-Yo Day:

National Yo-Yo Day was established as June 6th in honor of the birthday of Donald F. Duncan Sr.

While June 6th is recognized as Yo-Yo day, there is some unsubstantiated reference to June 10th.

Yo-Yo Trivia

The worlds largest Yo-Yo weighs 256 pounds, and is on display at the National Yo-Yo museum.

1855 Anti-foreign anti-Roman Catholic Know-Nothing Party’s 1st convention
1860 The Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augsburg Synod in North America was founded in Wisconsin. In 1962, the Augsburg Synod became one of four branches in American Lutheranism that merged to form the Lutheran Church in America (LCA).
1944 German Lutheran theologian and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in a letter from prison: ‘Certainly one must try everything, but only to become more certain what God’s way is.’
1960 John XXIII published his motu proprio, ‘Superno Dei Nutu,’ which created the necessary committees and organizational structure for the upcoming Vatican II Ecumenical Council (1962-65).
1961 English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter: ‘Any fixing of the mind on old evils beyond what is absolutely necessary for repenting of our own sins and forgiving those of others is…usually bad for us.’
1967 The Arab-Israeli Six-Day War began, during which Israel took control of the Sinai Desert, the city of Jerusalem and the west bank of the Jordan River. A cease-fire arranged by the U.N. ended the conflict on June 10th.

June 5

On this day in 1991, Bishop Ronald Haines of Washington (D.C.) ordained Elizabeth Carl, an open lesbian, to the priesthood at the Church of the Epiphany in downtown Washington.

Feast Day:

St. Dorotheus, of Tyre, martyr, 4th century;
St. Doro theus the Theban, abbot, 4th century.;
Other Saints named Dorotheus;
St. Illidius, Bishop of Auvergne, confessor, about 385;
St. Boniface, Archbishop of Mentz, Apostle of Germany, and martyr, 755.

June 5

Boniface, bishop (of Mayence), and companions, martyrs [common; HCC, in red; PRI: England]

Dorotheus (of Tyre), martyr [BLS]
Dorotheus (the Theban) [BLS]
Illidius, bishop (of Clermont) [BLS; GTZ: Clermont]

ST. BONIFACE
SATURDAY, JUNE 05, 2010

St. Boniface was very bold in his faith and was known at being very good at using the local customs and culture of the day to bring people to Christ. He was born in Devonshire, England, in the seventh century. He was educated at a Benedictine monastery and became a monk. He was sent as a missionary to Germany in 719.

There, he destroyed idols and pagan temples, and built churches on the sites. He was eventually made archbishop of Mainz, where he reformed churches and built religious houses on those sites.

He was martyred June 5, 754 while on mission in Holland, where a troop of pagans attacked and killed him and his 52 companions.

One story about St. Boniface tells about when he met a tribe in Saxony that was worshipping a Norse deity in the form of a huge oak tree. Boniface walked up to the tree, removed his shirt, took an ax, and without a word, chopped it down. Then he stood on the trunk, and asked: “How stands your mighty god? My God is stronger than he.”

ST. BONIFACE, THE APOSTLE OF THE GERMANS

The true name of’ this saint was Winfrid, or Winfrith. He was the son of a West-Saxon chieftain, and was born at Crediton, in Devon-shire, about the year 680. Having shown from his infancy a remarkable seriousness of character, he was sent, when in his seventh year, to school in the monastery at Exeter. He made rapid and great proficiency in learning, and, having been ordained to the priesthood about the year 710, he was soon afterwards chosen by the West-Saxon clergy to represent them in an important mission to the Archbishop of Canterbury; and it was probably in the course of it that he formed the design of seeking to effect the conversion of the heathen Germans who occupied central Europe. Remaining firm in his design, he proceeded to Friesland in 716; but, on account of obstacles caused by the unsettled state of the country, he returned home and remained in England until 718, in the autumn of which year he went through France to Rome, where he formed a lasting friendship with the Anglo-Saxon princess-nun Eadburga, better known by her nickname of Bugga.

The pope approved of the designs of Winfrid, and, in May 719, he gave him authority to undertake the conversion of the Thuringians. After making some converts in Thuringia, where his success appears to have fallen short of his anticipations, Boniface visited France, and went thence to Utrecht, where his countryman Wilbrord was preaching the gospel with success; but he soon returned to the first scene of his own labours, where he made many converts among the Saxons and Hessians. In 723, the pope, Gregory II, invited him to Rome, and there signified his approval of his missionary labours by ordaining him a bishop, and formally renewing his commission to convert the Germans. The pope at the same time conferred upon him the name of Boniface, by which he was ever afterwards known. After visiting the court of Charles Martel, Boniface returned into Germany, and there established himself in the character of Bishop of the Hessians.

The favour shown by the pope to Boniface had another object besides the mere desire of converting pagans. The German tribes in the country entrusted to his care had already been partially converted—but it was by Irish monks, the followers of Columbanus and St. Gall, who, like most of the Frankish clergy, did not admit in its full extent the authority of the pope, and were in other respects looked upon as unorthodox and schismatical; and Gregory saw in the great zeal and orthodoxy of Boniface the means of drawing the German Christians from heterodoxy to Rome. Accordingly, we find him in the earlier period of his labours engaged more in contentions with the clergy already established in this part of Germany than with the pagans. In the course of these, the pope himself was obliged sometimes to check the zeal of his bishop. Still, in his excursions through the wilds of the Hercynian forest, the great resort of the pagan tribes, Boniface and his companions were often exposed to personal dangers. However, supported by the pope, and aided by the exertions of a crowd of zealous followers, the energetic missionary gradually overcame all obstacles.

In his choice of assistants he seemed always to prefer those from his native country, and he was joined by numerous Anglo-Saxon ecclesiastics of both sexes. Among his Anglo-Saxon nuns was St. Waltpurgis, so celebrated in German legend. A bold proceeding on the part of the bishop sealed the success of Christianity among the Hessians and Thuringians. One of the great objects of worship of the former was a venerable oak, of vast magnitude, which stood in the forest at Geismar, near Fritzlar, and which was looked upon, according to the Latin narrative, as dedicated to Jupiter, probably to Woden. Boniface resolved to destroy this tree; and the Hessians, in the full belief that their gods would come forward in its defence, seem to have accepted it as a trial of strength between these and what they looked upon merely as the gods of the Christians, so that a crowd of pagans, as well as a large number of the preachers of the gospel, were assembled to witness it. Boniface seized the axe in his own hands, and, after a few strokes, a violent wind which had arisen, and of which he had probably taken advantage to apply his axe to the side on which the wind came, threw the tree down with a tremendous crash, which split the trunk into four pieces. The pagans were struck with equal wonder and terror; and, acknowledging that their gods were conquered, they submitted without further opposition. Boniface caused the tree to be cut up, and built of it a wooden oratory dedicated to St. Peter.

In 732, a new pope, Gregory III, ordained Boniface Archbishop of the Germans, and he soon afterwards built two principal churches—that of Fritzlar, dedicated to St. Peter; and that of Amanaburg, where he had first established his head-quarters, dedicated to St. Michael. From this time the number of churches among the German tribes increased rapidly. In 740, he preached with great success among the Bagoarii, or people of Bavaria. He subsequently divided their territory into four dioceses, and ordained four bishops over them. About this time a new field was opening to his zeal. The throne of the Franks was nominally occupied by one of a race of insignificant princes whose name was hardly known out of his palace, while the sceptre was really wielded by Charles Martel; and, as it was in the power of the Church. of Rome to confirm the family of the latter in supplanting their feeble rivals, they naturally leaned towards the orthodox party, in opposition to the schismatical spirit of the French clergy.

In 741, Charles Martel died, and his sons, Karlomann and Pepin, were equally anxious to conciliate the pope. During the following years several councils were held, under the influence of Boniface, for the purpose of reforming the Frankish Church, while the conversion of the Germans also proceeded with activity. In 744, Boniface founded the celebrated monastery of Fulda, over which he placed one of his disciples, a Bavarian, named Sturm, in one of the wildest parts of the Thuringian forest. In 745, at the end of rather severe proceedings against some of the Saxon ecclesiastics, the arch-bishopric of Mentz, or Mayence, was created. Next year Karlomann retired to a monastery, and left the entire kingdom of the Franks to his brother Pepin. The design of changing the Frankish dynasty was, during the following year, a subject of anxious consultation between the pope and the bishops; and, the authority of the pope Zacharias having been obtained, King Childeric, the last of the Merovingian monarchs of the Franks, was deposed and condemned to a monastery, and Pepin received the reward of his zeal in enforcing the unity of the church. In 751, Boniface performed the coronation ceremonies at Soissons which made Pepin king of the Franks. Thus the Roman Catholic Church gradually usurped the right of deposing and creating sovereigns.

Boniface was now aged, and weak in bodily health; yet, so far from faltering in his exertions, he at this moment determined on undertaking the conversion of the Frieslanders, the object with which. especially he had started on his missionary labours in his youth. His first expedition, in 754, was very successful; and he built a monastery at a town named Trehet, and ordained a bishop there. He returned thence to Germany, well satisfied with his labours, and next year proceeded again into Friesland, accompanied by a considerable number of priests and other companions, to give permanence to what he had effected in the preceding year. On the 4th of June they encamped for the night on the river Bordau, at a spot where a number of converts were to assemble next day to be baptized; but that day brought the labours of the Anglo-Saxon missionary to an abrupt conclusion.

The country was still in a very wild and unsettled state, and many of the tribes lived entirely by plundering one another, and were scattered about in strong parties under their several chieftains. One of these had watched the movements of Boniface and his companions, under the impression that they carried with them great wealth. On the morning of the 5th of June, before the hour appointed for the ceremony of baptism, the pagans made their appearance, approaching in a threatening attitude. Boniface had a few armed attendants, who went forth from his encampment to meet the assailants; but the archbishop called them back, probably because they were evidently too weak to resist; and, exhorting his presbyters and deacons to resign themselves to their inevitable fate, went forth, carrying the relics of saints in his hands.

The pagans rushed upon them, and put them all to the sword.; and then, separating into two parties (they were probably two tribes who had joined together), they fought for the plunder, until a great number of one party was slain. The victorious party then entered the tents, and were disappointed at finding there nothing to satisfy their cupidity but a few books and relics, which they threw away in contempt. They were afterwards attacked and beaten by the Christians, who recovered the books and relics; and gathering together the bodies and limbs of the martyrs (for the pagans had hacked them to pieces, in the rage caused by their disappointment), carried them first to the church of Trehet, whence they were subsequently removed to Fulda, and they were at a later period transferred with great pomp to Mentz.

Such was the fate of one of the earliest of our English missionaries in his labours in central Europe. In reading his adventures we may almost think that we are following one of his successors in our own day in their perilous wanderings among the savages of Africa, or some other people equally ignorant and uncultivated. Boni-face was an extraordinary man in an extraordinary age; and few men, either in that age or any other, have left their impress more strongly marked on the course of European civilization, at a time when learning, amid a world which was beginning to open its eyes to its importance, exercised a sort of magic influence over society. He was a man of great learning as well as a man of energy, yet his literary remains are few, and consist chiefly of a collection of letters, most of them of a private and familiar character, which, rude enough in the style of the Latin in which they are written, form still a pleasing monument of the manners and sentiments of our forefathers in the earlier part of the eighth century. Boniface was an Englishman to the end of his life.

Saint Boniface

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Boniface

BONIFACE
BISHOP, MISSIONARY, MARTYR (5 JUNE 754)

Wynfrith, nicknamed Boniface (“good deeds”), was born around 680 near Crediton in Devonshire, England. When he was five, he listened to some monks who were staying at his father’s house. They had returned from a mission to the pagans on the continent, and Boniface was so impressed by them that he resolved to follow their example. Although his father had intended him for a secular career, he gave way to his son’s entreaties and sent him at the age of seven to a monastery school. He eventually became director of the school at Nursling, in Winchester, where he wrote the first Latin grammar in England, and gave lectures that were widely copied and circulated.

At thirty, he was ordained and set out to preach in Friesland (overlaps with modern Holland), whence he was soon expelled because of war between its heathen king and Charles Martel of France. Boniface, after a brief withdrawal, went into Hesse and Bavaria, having secured the support of the Pope and of Charles Martel for his work there. In Hesse, in the presence of a large crowd of pagans, he cut down the Sacred Oak of Geismar, a tree of immense age and girth, sacred to the god Thor. It is said that after only a few blows of his axe, the tree tottered and crashed to the ground, breaking into four pieces and revealing itself to be rotted away within. It was the beginning of a highly successful missionary effort, and the planting of a vigorous Christian church in Germany, where Boniface was eventually consecrated bishop. He asked the Christian Saxons of England to support his work among their kinsmen on the continent, and they responded with money, books, supplies, and above all, with a steady supply of monks to assist him in teaching and preaching.

Boniface felling the oak, from an old German book of Saints

Boniface did not confine his attentions to Germany. He worked to establish cooperation between the Pope and others in Italy on the one hand and Charles and his successors in France on the other. He persuaded Carloman and Pepin, the sons of Charles, to call synods for the reform of the church in their territories, where under previous rulers bishoprics had often been sold to the highest bidder. He never forgot his initial failure in Friesland, and in old age resigned his bishopric and returned to work there. Many Frisians had been converted earlier by Willibrord (another Saxon missionary from England—see 7 Nov), but had lapsed after his death. Boniface preached among them with considerable success. On June 5, the eve of Pentecost, 754, he was preparing a group of Frisians for confirmation when they were attacked and killed by heathen warriors.

The historian Christopher Dawson estimates that he has had a greater influence on the history of Europe than any other Englishman.

Readings:

Psalm 115:1-8
Micah 4:1-2
Acts 20:17-28
Luke 24:44-53

Preface of Apostles

PRAYER (traditional language)

Almighty God, who didst call thy faithful servant Boniface to be a witness and martyr in the lands of Germany and Friesland, and by his labor and suffering didst raise up a people for thine own possession: Pour forth thy Holy Spirit upon thy Church in every land, that by the service and sacrifice of many thy holy Name may be glorified and thy kingdom enlarged; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

PRAYER (contemporary language)

Almighty God, who called your faithful servant Boniface to be a witness and martyr in the lands of Germany and Friesland, and by his labor and suffering raised up a people for your own possession: Pour forth your Holy Spirit upon your Church in every land, that by the service and sacrifice of many your holy Name may be glorified and your kingdom enlarged; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

St. Boniface
(672?-754)

Boniface, known as the apostle of the Germans, was an English Benedictine monk who gave up being elected abbot to devote his life to the conversion of the Germanic tribes. Two characteristics stand out: his Christian orthodoxy and his fidelity to the pope of Rome.

How absolutely necessary this orthodoxy and fidelity were is borne out by the conditions he found on his first missionary journey in 719 at the request of Pope Gregory II. Paganism was a way of life. What Christianity he did find had either lapsed into paganism or was mixed with error. The clergy were mainly responsible for these latter conditions since they were in many instances uneducated, lax and questionably obedient to their bishops. In particular instances their very ordination was questionable.

These are the conditions that Boniface was to report in 722 on his first return visit to Rome. The Holy Father instructed him to reform the German Church. The pope sent letters of recommendation to religious and civil leaders. Boniface later admitted that his work would have been unsuccessful, from a human viewpoint, without a letter of safe-conduct from Charles Martel, the powerful Frankish ruler, grandfather of Charlemagne. Boniface was finally made a regional bishop and authorized to organize the whole German Church. He was eminently successful.

In the Frankish kingdom, he met great problems because of lay interference in bishops’ elections, the worldliness of the clergy and lack of papal control.

During a final mission to the Frisians, he and 53 companions were massacred while he was preparing converts for Confirmation.

In order to restore the Germanic Church to its fidelity to Rome and to convert the pagans, he had been guided by two principles. The first was to restore the obedience of the clergy to their bishops in union with the pope of Rome. The second was the establishment of many houses of prayer which took the form of Benedictine monasteries. A great number of Anglo-Saxon monks and nuns followed him to the continent. He introduced Benedictine nuns to the active apostolate of education.

World Environment Day

When : Always June 5th

World Environment Day focuses attention on important environmental issues. According to the United Nations “World Environment Day is commemorated each year on June 5th. It is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.”

Each year, a theme is selected, The theme for 2006 is “Deserts and Desertification”. The slogan is: “Don’t Desert Drylands!” Each year, a different city is selected to host World Environment Day celebrations. Algiers, Algeria was selected for 2006.

Celebrate World Environment Day by:

Learn more about the environmental topic selected for this year.
Participate in World Environment Day activities.
Help to create awareness of the issues
Contribute to organizations supporting environmental issues.

The Origin of World Environment:

1820 Birth of Elvina M. Hall, American Methodist poet who authored the hymn, ‘Jesus Paid It All’ (a.k.a. ‘I Hear the Savior Say’).
1873 Birth of Charles F. Parham, American charismatic church pioneer. In 1898 he founded a Bible training school in Topeka, Kansas, where the modern Pentecostal movement began in 1901.
1878 Birth of Frank N. Buchman, American exponent of the social gospel. He founded the First Century Christian Movement (1921), the Oxford Group (1929) and the Moral Re-Armament Movement (1938).
1900 Birth of Nelson Glueck, American Jewish archaeologist. Director of the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem between 1932 and 1947, he explored and dated over 1,000 ancient sites in Palestine and the Near East.
1919 Senate passes Women’s Suffrage bill
1948 In Manilla, the first missionary radio station built in the Philippines by the Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC) first went on the air.

June 4

On this day in 1996, Bishop Winston Njongonkulu Ndungane was chosen to succeed Desmond Tutu as Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town.

June 4

Afra, virgin, martyr (Translation) [GTZ: Augsburg]
Breaca (Breague), virgin [BLS: Ireland]
Burian [BLS]
Cyprian, bishop [WTS (Bruges)]
Ninnoc, virgin, abbess [BLS; GTZ: Vannes]
Optatus, bishop [BLS]
Panthalin [PCP (Paris)]
Petroc, hermit, abbot, confessor [BLS; GTZ: England]
Quirinus, bishop, martyr [BLS; GTZ: Amiens, Aquileia, Trier, Hungary]
Walter, abbot (of Fontenelle) [BLS]

On This Day

Francis Caracciolo,
Optatus,
Petroc of Cornwall,
Quirinus of Sescia,
Saturnina
Emancipation Day or Independence Day, Tonga (from British protectorate 1970)
International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression

In History

1039 - Henry III becomes Holy Roman Emperor
1939 - SS St. Louis, carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees from Germany, turned away from US. Many later died in Nazi concentration camps

JOHN XXIII (Angelo Guiseppe Roncalli)
BISHOP OF ROME, 1963

Pope John XXIII, born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (25 November 1881 – 3 June 1963), was elected as the 261st Pope of the Roman Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City on 28 October 1958.

He called the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) but did not live to see it to completion, dying on 3 June 1963, two months after the completion of his final encyclical, Pacem in Terris.

Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli, then Archishop of Venice, was elected Pope, to his great surprise. After the long pontificate of Pope Pius XII, the cardinals chose a man who, it was presumed because of his advanced age, would be a short-term or “stop-gap” pope. Upon his election, Cardinal Roncalli chose John as his regnal name. This was the first time in over 500 years that this name had been chosen. John XXIII’s personal warmth, good humor and kindness captured the world’s affections in a way his predecessor, for all his learning, had failed to do.

Far from being a mere “stop gap” Pope, to great excitement John called an ecumenical council fewer than ninety years after the Vatican Council. From the Second Vatican Council came changes that reshaped the face of Catholicism: a comprehensively revised liturgy, a stronger emphasis on ecumenism, and a new approach to the world.

Readings:

Psalm 50:1-6
Joel 2:26-29
1 Peter 5:1-4
John 21:15-17

Preface of a Saint (1)

PRAYER (traditional language)

Lord of all truth and peace, who didst raise up thy bishop John to be servant of the servants of God and bestowed on him wisdom to call for the work of renewing your Church: Grant that, following his example, we may reach out to other Christians to clasp them with the love of your Son, and labor throughout the nations of the world to kindle a desire for justice and peace; through Jesus Christ, who is alive and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

PRAYER (contemporary language)

Lord of all truth and peace, you raised up your bishop John to be servant of the servants of God and gave him wisdom to call for the work of renewing your Church: Grant that, following his example, we may reach out to other Christians to clasp them with the love of your Son, and labor throughout the nations of the world to kindle a desire for justice and peace; through Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Pope John XXIII

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_XXIII

4 Jun 1963 Angelo (John XXIII) Roncalli, Bishop

(The following is taken, with minor interpolations, from the Festivals and Commemorations of the Lutheran Church (Elca). The observance does not presently appear on the Roman calendars, but is beginning to appear on Anglican calendars (e.g. that of Canada). The observance is transferred from 3 June to 4 June because the Martyrs of Uganda are commemorated on 3 June. Note: a parish is a local congregation. A diocese is a group of parishes under the care of a single bishop. The Ecumenical Patriarch is the Bishop of Istanbul (formerly known as Constantinople or Byzantium) and is the leader of the Eastern Orthodox Churches.)

Angelo Roncalli, the third of thirteen children, was born to a family of farmers 25 November 1881 at Sotto il Monte in northern Italy. At the age of twelve he entered the diocesan seminary at Bergamo and came under the influence of progressive leaders of the Italian social movement. He then went to the seminary at Rome on a scholarship, interrupted his education there to serve for a year as a volunteer in the Italian army, and returned to the seminary to take a doctorate in theology. He was ordained 10 August 1904.

He was appointed the secretary to the new bishop of Bergamo and with him learned forms of social action and gained an understanding of the problems of the working classes. Meanwhile he taught at the diocesan seminary.

In 1915 he was recalled to the army in World War I and served in the medical and chaplaincy corps. After the war he was made the spiritual director of the seminary. In 1921 he was called to Rome by the pope and made director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in Italy.

He was consecrated archbishop in 1925 and sent to Bulgaria. At Sofia the capital he dealt with the problems of Eastern Rite Catholics in a troubled oriental land.

In 1934 he was sent to Turkey and Greece. There he fostered harmony among various national groups in Istanbul in a time of anti-religious fervor under Kemal Ataturk. Archbishop Roncalli introduced the use of the Turkish language in worship and in the official documents of the church and eventually won the esteem of some high Turkish statesmen. He made a series of conciliatory gestures toward the Orthodox and met with the Ecumenical Patriarch Benjamin in 1939. During World War II Istanbul was a center of intrigue and espionage, and the archbishop gathered information useful to Rome and helped Jews flee persecution. His work in Greece, which was occupied by the Nazis, was less successful.

When he was sixty-four years old (1944), an age when most men are thinking of retirement, Roncalli was chosen by Pius XII for the difficult post of nuncio to Paris, where he worked to heal the divisions caused by the war. He travelled widely.

[A nuncio, where they exist, has the rank of an ambassador. While in Paris, Roncalli once said: “You know, it’s rough being a papal nuncio. I get invited to these diplomatic parties where everyone stands around with a small plate of canapes trying not to look bored. Then, in walks a shapely woman in a low-cut, revealing gown, and everyone in the whole place turns around and looks — At Me!”]

At age seventy-two he was made cardinal and Patriarch of Venice and he had charge of a large diocese for the first time in his life. He quickly won the affection of his people, visiting parishes, caring for the working classes, establishing new parishes, and developing forms of social action.

In 1958, nearly seventy-seven years old, he was elected pope upon the death of Pius XII. He was expected by many to be a caretaker and transitional pope, but he astonished the church and the world with his energy and reforming spirit.

[Before the accession of John XXIII, when the official Vatican Newspaper, the Osservatore Romano, quoted any statement by the Pope, on any matter whatever, it had a standard introduction: “These are the words of the Holy Father, as we were able to gather them from his august lips:” Under Pope John, this was changed to “The Pope said:” This and similar changes, not in themselves significant, helped to set the tone for the new pontificate.]
He expanded and internationalized the college of cardinals, called the first diocesan synod of Rome in history, revised the code of canon law, and called the Second Vatican Council to revitalize the church. This council was the major achievement of his life [and undertook] to renew the life of the church and its teachings, with the ultimate goal of the reunification of Christianity.

[The council marked the beginning of a new spirit of openness On the part of Rome toward Christians not of the papal obedience. The story is told that, when it was announced that Protestant leaders would be invited to the council as observers, the conservative Cardinal Ottaviani was horrified. He said:
“But Your Holiness, Protestants are heretics!”
“Do not say, ‘heretics,’ my son. Say, ‘separated
Brethren.’”
“They are in league with the devil!”
“Do not say, ‘devil,’ my son. Say, ‘separated angel.’”]
Moreover, as Bishop of Rome, he was unremitting in his care of his diocese, visiting hospitals, prisons, and schools. When he died 3 June 1963, he had won the widespread affection of Christian and non-Christian alike.

PRAYER (traditional language)

Almighty God, whose will it is to heal all division and discord Among those who call upon the name of thy Son: We give thee thanks for the good will manifested in thy servant John, and we pray thee that we may always be ready to hear our fellow Christians with humility and a willingness to learn, and may also speak the truth in love, to the healing of faction and the renewed witness of thy people; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever.

PRAYER (contemporary language)

Almighty God, whose will it is to heal all division and discord Among those who call upon the name of your Son: We thank you for the good will shown in your servant John, and we pray that we may always be ready to hear our fellow Christians with humility and a willingness to learn, and may also speak the truth in love, to the healing of faction and the renewed witness of your people; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever.

Charles Lwanga and Companions
(d. 1886)

One of 22 Ugandan martyrs, Charles Lwanga is the patron of youth and Catholic action in most of tropical Africa. He protected his fellow pages (aged 13 to 30) from the homosexual demands of the Bagandan ruler, Mwanga, and encouraged and instructed them in the Catholic faith during their imprisonment for refusing the ruler’s demands.
For his own unwillingness to submit to the immoral acts and his efforts to safeguard the faith of his friends, Charles was burned to death at Namugongo on June 3, 1886, by Mwanga’s order.

Charles first learned of Christ’s teachings from two retainers in the court of Chief Mawulugungu. While a catechumen, he entered the royal household as assistant to Joseph Mukaso, head of the court pages.

On the night of Mukaso’s martyrdom for encouraging the African youths to resist Mwanga, Charles requested and received Baptism. Imprisoned with his friends, Charles’s courage and belief in God inspired them to remain chaste and faithful.

When Pope Paul VI canonized these 22 martyrs on October 18, 1964, he referred to the Anglican pages martyred for the same reason.

ST. FRANCIS CARACCIOLO
FRIDAY, JUNE 04, 2010

“Zeal for Thy house has consumed me!”

Born in Villa Santa Maria, Italy October 13, 1563; died in Agnone, June 4, 1608. Co-founder of the Congregation of the Minor Clerks Regular with John Adorno.

Francis Caracciolo was given the name Ascanio at his baptism. His mother was a relative of St. Thomas Aquinas. He lived a virtuous life as a youth and seemed inclined towards a religious vocation. When he was 22 he contracted a form of leprosy which he begged God to cure him of. He promised to follow what seemed clear to him as his calling to the priesthood immediately upon being cured.

He was cured instantly upon making the promise, and left immediately or Naples to study for the priesthood. On his ordination he joined the confraternity of The White Robes of Justice, who were devoted to helping condemned criminals to die a holy death, reconciled with God.

Five years after he went to Naples, A letter was delivered to him which was in fact addressed to another Ascanio Caracciolo, a distant relative. The letter was an appeal from Father Giovanni Agostino Adorno, of Genoa, to this other Ascanio to jon him in founding a religious order. Reading the lettter he realized that the vision of Fr. Adorno was in total compliance with his own ideas for a religious institute and he interpreted this as a sign of God’s plan.

He responded to the letter and the two men spent a few weeks together in retreat to draw up the institutions and rule. The congregation was approved by Pope Sixtus V on July 1, 1588.

The congregation lives both and active and contemplaive life, perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament being one of the pillars of their life. They work with the sick, poor, prisoners and as missionaries. In addition to the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, they have a fourth which forbids them to seek or accept ecclesiastical honors.

On making his profession, Caracciolo took the name Francis in honor of the saint of Assissi. He was noted for his ardent devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, often being found in ecstasy, and frequently repeating the words of the Psalm, “Zeal for Thy house has consumed me.” He died of a severe fever on the eve of Corpus Christi in 1608, with his oft-repeated words on his lips. Those same words were found burned into the flesh of his heart when his body was opened after his death.

He was canonized by Pope Pius VII on 24 May, 1807.

Jun 04 - Holy Myrrh-bearers Mary And Martha, Sisters Of St. Lazarus

http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/saintoftheday/jun_04_-_holy_myrrh-bearers_mary_and_martha_sisters_of_st._lazarus#7538

International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression