Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Apostles

The two great apostles whose ministry embrace the whole Jewish and Gentile worlds have been associated in Christian devotion since earliest times. The Feast of Saints Peter and Paul is one of the oldest of the saints’ days, having been observed at least since 258, and it was of such importance in the Middle Ages that it marked a turning point in the time after Pentecost, as also did the days of Saint Lawrence (August 10) and Saint Michael (September 29).

Simon, a son of Jonah, later called Cephas or Peter (Aramaic and Greek for “rock”), was probably born in Bethsaida of Galilee. He was a fisherman, working in partnership with the sons of Zebedee. He was married, and his mother-in-law, whom Jesus cured of a fever, lived with them; later he took his wife on his missionary travels. It is likely that he and his brother Andrew, as well as the apostle John, were among the followers of John the Baptist before they joined Jesus. Peter has a special place among the apostles. He was not only one of the inner circle with James and John, but he was often the speaker for the Twelve as a whole, and his name invariably was put at the head of the lists of the apostles. After the resurrection, Peter was the first of the Twelve to see the risen Lord, and he clearly acted as the leader, taking the initiative in the selection of Matthias, explaining the events of Pentecost to the assembled crowd, performing miracles, and making decisions.

Peter turned increasingly to missionary work, chiefly among the Jews [though it was he who baptized the first Gentile believers, Cornelius and his household], and the leadership of the church in Jerusalem passed to James the brother of Jesus. Peter was active in Samaria and in the towns of Lydda, Joppa, and Caesarea in Palestine. Of his later missionary travels, little is known in detail, but tradition has connected his name with Antioch, Corinth, and Rome, and his stay, at least in the first of these, is confirmed by the New Testament. Although the Scriptures are silent about the latter part of his life, the weight of tradition (Clement, Ignatius, Dionysus, Irenaeus, Origen, Tertullian, and others) makes it probable that Peter left Antioch about the year 55 and later went to Rome and suffered martyrdom there ca. 64.

Saul, later to be known by the Greek form of his name, Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, was born in the city of Tarsus in Cilicia, a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin. He probably attended a local synagogue school, and he studied with the rabbi Gamaliel in Jerusalem. He learned the trade of the tentmaker, and apparently at times supported himself by it. He was a Roman citizen and was “Hellenized” and cosmopolitan in outlook, but he was also a Pharisee and an ardent defender of the Jewish law and way of life. He persecuted the new and disruptive sect of Christians, and he was present at the stoning of Saint Stephen the deacon (see December 26).

After his conversion, perhaps about the year 34 or 35, he became a vigorous evangelist of the new faith. Because of the wealth of material in his preserved letters and in the Acts of the Apostles, probably more is known about the life of Paul that about the life of any other leader of the church in the apostolic period.

Paul began his missionary work in Syria and continued it in Asia Minor, Cyprus, Greece, and Macedonia. In some places he stayed only a short time; in others much longer. Ephesus was his home for two and a half years. On several occasions in his travels, he visited Jerusalem, and on his final visit there, perhaps about the year 55, he was arrested, tried before Felix the governor on the charge of provoking riots, and kept in prison for two years. He appealed his case to the emperor, and the account in Acts ends with Paul in the capital city of the empire, awaiting his hearing.

According to tradition, Paul made Rome his headquarters, traveled [west], possibly to Spain, and was killed in the imperial capital during the persecution under Nero. Paul’s traditional symbol is a sword, by which he was beheaded.

From the earliest days it has been believed that Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom on the same day, June 29, in the year 67, although some accounts give the year as 68 or the date as February 22. Traditions assert that Peter was crucified upside down on Vatican Hill (because he said that he was not worthy to die in the same way as his Lord) and that Paul, a Roman citizen, was beheaded near the Via Ostia, south of Rome. Saint Peter’s Basilica and Saint Paul’s Outside-the-Walls are said to contain the tombs of the two apostles; their skulls are said to be preserved in the church of Saint John Lateran, the cathedral of the city of Rome. The pope’s claim to primacy is in large measure based on his being the bishop of the city in which Peter and Paul died.

taken from the New Book of Festivals and Commemorations
(Dr Philip H. Pfatteicher)

The Collect

Almighty God, whose blessed apostles Peter and Paul glorified you by their martyrdom: Grant that your Church, instructed by their teaching and example, and knit together in unity by your Spirit, may ever stand firm upon the one foundation, which is Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

The Lesson
Ezekiel 34:11-16

“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.

Psalm 87
Fundamenta ejus

The Lord loves the foundation which he has laid upon the holy hills; *

         the gates of Zion are dearer to him than all the dwellings of Jacob.

Very excellent things are spoken of you, *

         O city of God.

I will consider Egypt and Babylon *

         among those who know me.

Behold Philistia also, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; *

         each one was born in her.

And of Zion it shall be reported that each one was born in her, *

         and the Most High shall establish her.

The Lord shall record it when he registers the people, *

         that each one was born there.

The singers and the dancers also shall say, *

         “All my fresh springs are in you.”

The Epistle
2 Timothy 4:1-8

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

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

The Gospel
John 21:15-19

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

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The icon of Saint Peter and Saint Paul is taken from Aidan Hart’s gallery of icons and is reproduced here with his generous permission.

The Lessons and Gospel are taken from the English Standard Version Bible. The Collect and Psalm are taken from the Book of Common Prayer (2019).

Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons and Teacher of the Faith, c. 200

There is some doubt as the year of Irenaeus’ birth, with estimates varying from the years 97 to 160. Most authorities settle on a year around 130. Born in Asia Minor, Irenaeus learned the Christian faith from Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, who was himself a disciple of the Apostle John. Irenaeus later studied at Rome and then became a presbyter in the church at Lyons, at the invitation of its first bishop, Pothinus. Lyons, then known as Lugdunum, was a flourishing trade center that soon became the most important of its kind in the West, and the principal see in Gaul. During a sudden persecution which caused the imprisonment of many of the members of the church in Lyons, Irenaeus was sent to Rome to mediate a dispute regarding Montanism, a sect of enthusiasts whose teachings Eleutherus, the bishop of Rome, appeared to have embraced. On his return to Lyons around 178, Irenaeus was elected bishop, as Pothinus had been killed during the persecution.

True to his name which means, “the peaceable one,” he acted as mediator again in a dispute in 190. Victor, the bishop of Rome, had excommunicated the Quartodecimans (the “Fourteenthers”) of Asia Minor, who celebrated Easter on the same day as the Jewish Passover, the fourteenth day of Nisan, instead of on the Sunday following the fourteenth day of Nisan, with all other Christians. Irenaeus urged patience and conciliation, and a result of his intervention, good relations were restored. Some centuries later the Quartodecimans conformed to the practice of the catholic Church of their own accord.

Irenaeus’ enduring significance rests on his writings as a theologian, in particular a large treatise entitled, The Refutation and Overthrow of Gnosis, Falsely So-Called, usually shorted to Against the Heresies. In it, Irenaeus describes the major Gnostic systems of thought, thoroughly, clearly, and often with biting sarcasm. This treatise is one of our chief sources of knowledge about second century Gnosticism. He also makes a case for teaching authority in Christianity that has deeply influenced subsequent thought, resting primarily on Scripture and emphasizing the interpretive authority in the continuity between the teaching of the apostles and the teaching of bishops and presbyters in the churches, generation after generation, in a visible and public succession (as opposed to the secret handing on of Gnostic doctrines from teacher to disciples). Against the Gnostics, who despised the material and exalted the spiritual, Irenaeus stressed the doctrines of the goodness of creation and of the resurrection of the body.

In his other major treatise, the Demonstration of Apostle Preaching (which was rediscovered only in 1904), he again sets out the case against Gnosticism. His principal points in this work are a clear reassertion of Christian monotheism, emphasizing the identity of the God of the Old Testament with the God of the New, and the unity of the Father and the Son in the work of revelation and redemption.

Irenaeus died at Lyons about the year 200 and was buried in the crypt of the church of Saint John (now Saint-Irenée). According to a late and uncertain tradition, he suffered martyrdom for the faith.

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

The Collect

Almighty God, you upheld your servant Irenaeus with strength to maintain the truth against every blast of vain doctrine: Keep us, we pray, steadfast in your true religion, that in constancy and peace we may walk in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Teacher of the Faith, 444

Little is known of Cyril’s early life. He was born at Alexandria and first became known as a young presbyter who was the nephew of the bishop of Alexandria, Theophilus, whom he succeeded in 412. Cyril’s intransigent vigor was soon expressed in attacks on the Novatianists, the Neoplatonists, the Jews, and the imperial governor Orestes. The Novationists were Christians who were doctrinally identical with the catholics, but whose ancestors in the faith had stood firm against persecution. The Novationists kept themselves separate ecclesiastically from Christian churches whose leaders had been less firm in their faith against Roman persecution. Nearly a century earlier, the emperor Constantine had exasperatedly told a leader of the Novationists to set up a ladder and climb to heaven by himself. The Neoplatonists were a school of mostly pagan philosophers. Historians disagree over the extent of Cyril’s involvement in the explusion of the Novationists and of the Jews from Alexandria. Some of the Alexandrian Christians believed that the imperial prefect Orestes had been influenced against Cyril by the mathematician and philosopher Hypatia, who was lynched by some of Cyril’s followers. The Orthodox historian John Anthony McGuckin writes, “At this time Cyril is revealed as at the head of dangerously volatile forces: at their head, but not always in command of them.”

Cyril’s controversy with Nestorius, the bishop of Constantinople, was the most important of his life. The different exegetical traditions of Antioch (where Nestorius received his education) and Alexandria, sharpened by the rivalry of the sees of Constantinople and Alexandria for preeminence, embittered the quarrel. Nestorius was believed to have taught that there were two distinct persons in Christ who were joined by a merely moral union. Consequently, Nestorius taught that the Blessed Virgin Mary should be called Christotokos (Christ-bearer), since she was the mother only of the humanity of Christ, but not Theotokos (God-bearer). Cyril taught that Christ’s two natures, divine and human, were intimately joined in a hypostatic union. Cyril certainly and Nestorius probably appealed to Celestine, the bishop of Rome, who after examining the question in a council at Rome, condemned Nestorius’ teaching, excommunicated and deposed him unless he retracted, and appointed Cyril to carry out the sentence. Nestorius refused, and the Council of Ephesus was summoned in 431.

Two hundred bishops took part in the council. Cyril presided and proceeded to the condemnation of Nestorius, who had refused to appear, before the arrival of the bishops of the patriarchate of Antioch. These bishops in turn condemned Cyril first but later (in 443) reached agreement with him. The emperor upheld the condemnation of Nestorius and the title Theotokos became a touchstone of orthodoxy as the Council of Ephesus was recognized as the third Ecumenical Council.

Whatever may be thought of his intransigence and misunderstanding of his opponents, Cyril’s ability and distinction as a theologian are beyond dispute. Traditionally he is regarded as the fearlessly outspoken defender of orthodox thought on the Person of Christ. In addition to this, his writings contain fine passages on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the place of Mary in the Incarnation. His writings, which are marked by precision in exposition, accuracy in thought, and skill in reasoning, include sermons and letters besides more formal theological treatises and biblical commentaries. He died at Alexandria in the year 444.

taken from The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, with amendments

The Collect

Heavenly Father, whose servant Cyril steadfastly proclaimed your Son Jesus Christ to be one person, fully God and fully man: Keep us, we pray, constant in this faith and worship; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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The Common Christological Declaration between the Roman Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East was signed in St. Peter’s Basilican on November 11, 1994 by Pope John Paul II and Patriarch Dinkha IV. In the document the Assyrian and Roman Churches confessed their agreement in doctrine concerning the deity and humanity of Jesus Christ. Participation in the declaration, as well as the writings of Assyrian Church bishops and theologians from ancient times to the present, indicate that the heretical teaching ascribed to Nestorius was not followed in the Eastern Church that informally bears his name (Nestorian) and who broke away (or were expelled) from the great Church at the Council of Ephesus. Indeed, there is some evidence that Nestorius himself did not hold exactly the view of the person and natures of Jesus Christ that was attributed to him by Cyril and Cyril’s supporters.

The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist

John the Baptist was born into a priestly Jewish family several months before the birth of Jesus. Events of his life and teaching are known from accounts in all four Gospels and in the writings of the first century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. John’s birth was predicted miraculously to Zechariah and Elizabeth, as is recorded in the Gospel according to Saint Luke. At his birth the aged Zechariah sang the hymn of praise, the Benedictus, the traditional Gospel canticle at Morning Prayer (at Lauds in the medieval Daily Office).

John lived in the wilderness of Judea, near the Jordan River, and about the year 29 John began to preach a call to repentance and baptismal washing to enact that repentance. He gathered a group of disciples about him, from whom Jesus drew his first disciples: Andrew, and probably Simon Peter and John.

In the course of his preaching, John the Baptist denounced the immoral life of the Herodian rulers, and Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee, had him arrested an imprisoned, perhaps in the huge fortress of Machaerus, which Herod the Great had built in the wilderness east of the Dead Sea. It was there that herod Antipas had John beheaded. The narrative of his death has been told many times over in music, art, and drama as well as in the lessons and devotions of the Church.

Saint John the Baptist was highly regarded by the early Christians, and the Eastern Churches especially have accorded him an important place in their prayers and worship. The Eastern Churches commemorate the Old Testament prophets, of whom John was the last and greatest. In the West, the preparatory proclamation of John is a focus of the Second and Third Sundays in Advent, and he is also honored on the First Sunday after the Epiphany as the baptizer of Jesus. The commemoration of his death is observed in many sanctoral calendars on August 29. At the time of the Reformation, the Lutheran churches and the Church of England retained the feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist in their sanctoral calendars, and a few (as also the 1662 Prayer Book) retained the day of his martyrdom.

Saint Augustine in the fourth century noted John’s declaration about himself and Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30) and related it to this midsummer feast after which the days decrease in length.

adapted from the New Book of Festivals and Commemorations

The Collect

Almighty God, by whose providence your servant John the Baptist was wonderfully born, and sent to prepare the way of your Son our Savior by preaching repentance: Make us so to follow his teaching and holy life, that we may truly repent, boldly rebuke vice, patiently suffer for the sake of truth, and proclaim the coming of Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The First Lesson
Isaiah 40:1-11

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.

A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.

Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.

Psalm 85
Benedixisti, Domine

Lord, you have been gracious to your land; *

         you have turned away the captivity of Jacob.

You have forgiven the offence of your people *

         and covered all their sins.

You have taken away all your displeasure *

         and turned yourself from your wrathful indignation.

Restore us then, O God our Savior, *

         and let your anger cease from us.

Will you be displeased at us for ever, *

         and will you stretch out your wrath from one generation to another?

Will you not turn again and quicken us, *

         that your people may rejoice in you?

Show us your mercy, O Lord, *

         and grant us your salvation.

I will hearken to what the Lord God will say, *

         for he shall speak peace unto his people, and to his saints, that they turn not again.

For his salvation is near to those who fear him, *

         that glory may dwell in our land.

Mercy and truth have met together; *

         righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Truth shall flourish out of the earth, *

         and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

Indeed, the Lord shall show goodness, *

         and our land shall give its increase.

Righteousness shall go before him, *

         and he shall direct his going in the way.

The Second Lesson
Acts 13:14b-26

On the Sabbath day [Paul and his companions] went into the synagogue and sat down. After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.” So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said:

“Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

“Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.

The Gospel
Luke 1:57-80

Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.

And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
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The Lessons and Gospel are taken from the English Standard Version Bible. The Collect and Psalm are taken from the Book of Common Prayer (2019).

The icon of Saint John the Baptist is taken from Aidan Hart’s gallery of icons and is reproduced here with his generous permission.

Alban, First Martyr of Britain, c. 250

Alban, the earliest Christian in Britain who is known to us by name, is according to tradition the first British martyr to the faith. He was a citizen of Verulamium, a city about twenty miles northeast of London, now known as St. Alban’s. (He may have been a soldier of the Roman army stationed at Verulamium, hence his iconographic depiction as a Roman soldier.) He gave shelter to a Christian presbyter who was fleeing persecution, hiding him in his house for several days. Influenced by the presbyter’s devotion in prayer, Alban was converted to faith in Christ. When the presbyter’s hiding place was discovered, Alban dressed himself in the presbyter’s cloak and was arrested in his place. Refusing to sacrifice to pagan gods, Alban was sentenced to death. After the conversion of one executioner, Alban was beheaded on the 22nd of June by another executioner, traditionally about the year 304, although later scholarship suggests a date of around 254, during the persecution under the emperor Decius.

Alban is the only saint in Britain whose veneration is continuous from Roman times. A church was built on the site of his martyrdom, and the shrine was frequented at least up to the time of Bede. The first mention of veneration at this shrine come in the late fifth-century Life of Germanus of Auxerre. This work recounts the visit to Alban’s tomb at Verulamium by the Gallic bishops Germanus and Lupus in 429, when they removed some dust from it and gave relics of apostles and martyrs in its place. King Offa of Mercia established a monastery at the shrine about the year 793, and by the thirteenth century St. Alban’s ranked as the greatest abbey in England. Alban’s relics were venerated there until the Reformation. The great Norman abbey church, begun in 1077, now serves as the cathedral of the diocese of St. Alban’s, created by act of Parliament in 1877. The remains of a fourteenth century marble shrine of Saint Alban are contained in a chapel within the cathedral.

taken from Lesser Feasts and Fasts (1980), Celebrating the Saints,
and The Oxford Dictionary of Saints

The Collect

Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyr Alban triumphed over suffering and was faithful even to death: Grant us, who now remember him in thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may receive with him the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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The icon of Saint Alban, Protomartyr of Britain, is taken from Aidan Hart’s gallery of icons and is reproduced here with his generous permission.

The Venerable Bede’s account of the martyrdom of Saint Alban and his companions is found in Chapter VII of Book I of the Ecclesiastical History of the English People.

Sundar Singh, Evangelist in India and Teacher of the Faith, 1929

Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889 – 1929), born in Patiala State, India, became an Indian Christian missionary whose life and message had a far ranging impact. Born into a Sikh family, Sundar grew up a faithful Sikh. When a boy, he converted to Christianity, incurring the rejection by his father. Sundar withdrew from a Christian seminary after refusing to cast off his Sikh clothing and wear Western clothing. That set the direction of his ministry, seeking to wear the clothing and speak the terminology of the Sikh while conveying the Christian message. Sundar’s impact went far and wide, influencing important spiritual leaders, such as Mohandas Ghandi and C.S. Lewis. He is believed to have died in the foothills of the Himalayas in 1929, although his body was never found.

His writings being widely published, the international Christian missionary press focused on Sundar Singh’s Christian message, even giving some attention to his Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist terminology. He preached a universalist message, believing that Hindus, Buddhists, and Sikhs will go to heaven as surely as a faithful Christian. Reflecting on an international trip he made to the West during the 1920s, Sundar shared his view that many more Indian and Asian people have profound faith than those in the West.

During Sundar’s lifetime, the United Kingdom ruled India, but he paid little attention to the political situation. He focused his mission on reaching Indian and Tibetan people with the life example and message of Jesus Christ. His way of life reflected his belief that if Jesus Christ could have sent his disciples to India during Jesus’ lifetime, they would have lived and worked as Sadhu Sundar Singh had. His life displayed how the lifestyle and message of the New Testament can integrate seamlessly into the life style of a Sikh, Hindu, Jain, or Buddhist holy person.

extract from “Sadhu Sunder Singh” (with slight amendments) in the New World Encyclopedia series on Protestantism in India

The Collect

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

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While Sundar Singh is commemorated in the sanctoral calendar of the Anglican Church in North America and in the calendars of some other Anglican Churches, there are some heterodox elements in his theology, including his universalism, his possible endorsement of reincarnation, and his claim to have spoken with and learned from the heterodox eighteenth-century Swedish mystic, religious writer, and scientist Emanuel Swedenborg in his visions. (For this reason, I have used the Collect of a Missionary or Evangelist from the 2019 Common of Commemorations rather than the Collect of a Teacher of the Faith.) There are also questions that scholars have raised about the reliability of his biography, particularly the details of his early life as recounted by Sundar and subsequently disseminated by reporters and biographers. Some of the controverted theology and biography is discussed in the New World Encyclopedia article to which I have linked above. All this being recognized, it is nevertheless arguably true, as that article summarizes, that Sundar Singh “had done more than any man in the first half of the twentieth century to establish that ‘Jesus belongs to India.’ He made it clear that Christianity constitutes not an imported, alien, foreign religion but is indigenous to Indian needs, aspirations, and faith. He remains one of the permanently significant figures of Indian Christianity.”

The image is a detail from a stained glass window entitled, Prophet Isaiah, Apostle St Peter, Sundar Singh, created in 1936 by Christian Waller (1894-1954) and now in the Art Gallery of South Australia.

Bernard Mizeki, Catechist and Martyr in Mashonaland, 1896

Bernard Mizeki was born about the year 1861 near Inhambane in Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique). His parents, who were of Shangaan origin, named him Mamiyeli Mitseki Gwambe. He received no formal education during the early part of his life, there being no local school. He left his native land in adolescence when he accompanied a European hunter to Cape Town as a servant, and he found employment as a domestic servant in a Cape Town suburb.

Mizeki attended a night school run by an Anglican mission when he was able, showing himself a quick learner. Befriended by Anglican missionaries, he was baptized on March 9, 1886, receiving the name Bernard. He later enrolled at Zonnebloem College to train as a catechist. In 1891 Bernard volunteered as a catechist for the pioneer mission in Mashonaland, and was stationed at Nhowe (in present-day Zimbabwe).

Five years later, in June 1896, during the Mashona rebellion led by priests of the Mwari religion against the British and their African friends and allies, Bernard was especially marked out, in part because he had offended the local witch doctor. On a Sunday that June the witch doctor ordered the people in Nhowe not to attend Bernard’s morning service, though Evensong that day was well attended. Upon hearing of this, the witch doctor threatened to kill Bernard and to punish the people who had attended the Christian service against his orders. Though warned to flee, Bernard would not desert his converts at the mission station.

On June 17, Bernard was dragged from his hut and mortally wounded by rebel warriors from the village. He managed to crawl to a nearby hillside, where his wife bathed his wounds. Leaving him for a short time to fetch blankets, she returned with another woman. They reported being frightened by an unearthly sound “like many wings of great birds” and by a dazzling light that moved toward the spot where Bernard lay. When the women had summoned the courage to go to the place where Bernard lay, his body had disappeared. His body was never found, and the exact site of his burial is unknown.

A shrine near the place of his martyrdom attracts pilgrims to this day. Every year, on the Saturday nearest June 18, a special liturgy of Holy Communion in held to commemorate the Anglican protomartyr of Central and Southern Africa.

prepared from Lesser Feasts and Fasts (1980) and other sources

The Collect

Almighty God, you gave your servant Bernard Mizeki boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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The tapestry depicted above was embroidered by the Marandellas Women’s Institute. The central panel depicts Bernard catechizing. The upper border depicts the scene of his martyrdom, while the lower border depicts pilgrims coming to the shrine later erected on the site of his hut. The motif to the left depicts the triumph of the Cross over the witch doctor’s divinatory bones. The image is taken from the Rhodesian Tapestry website.

Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea and Teacher of the Faith, 379

Basil was born about 329 in Caesarea of Cappadocia into a Christian family of wealth and distinction, seven of whose members (including Basil himself) are venerated as saints of the Church: his grandmother, Macrina (the Elder); his father Basil and his mother Emmelia; his older sister Macrina (the Younger); and his younger brothers, Gregory of Nyssa and Peter of Sebaste. Basil enjoyed the best education available, at Caesarea, Constantinople, and Athens. Here he became a close friend of Gregory Nazianzus, with whom Basil and his brother Gregory of Nyssa would later become known as the Cappadocian Fathers for their theological defense of the Nicene faith. Basil might have continued in the academic life, had it not been for the death of a beloved younger brother and the faith of his older sister, Macrina. Basil was baptized at the age of twenty-eight and was ordained a deacon soon after.

Macrina had founded the first monastic order for women at Annesi. Inspired by her example, Basil made a journey to study the life of anchorites in Egypt and Syria, and in 358 he returned to Cappadocia and founded the first monastery for men at Ibora. There he enjoyed the company of Gregory Nazianzus. Together they preached to the people and practiced a life of contemplation. Assisted by Gregory, Basil compiled The Longer and Shorter Rules, which transformed the solitary anchorites into a disciplined community of prayer and work. The Rules became the foundation for all Eastern monastic discipline.

The emperor Julian the Apostate, another friend from university days in Athens, invited Basil to the court, but he declined. Basil did not leave the isolation of the monastic life until 364, when his bishop, Eusebius of Caesarea, called him to defend the Church against the persecution of the Arian emperor Valens. In this same year he was ordained a presbyter. In the conflict with the Arians and Semi-Arians, Basil became convinced that he should become bishop of Caesarea, succeeding Eusebius. By a narrow margin he was elected to the see. As bishop of Caesarea, he was also the metropolitan of Cappadocia and exarch of Pontus, with fifty suffragan bishops. Basil was relentless in his efforts to restore the faith and discipline of the clergy and in defense of the Nicene faith. When the emperor Valens sought to undercut Basil’s power by dividing the see of Cappadocia, Basil forced his brother Gregory to become bishop of Nyssa.

In his treatise, On the Holy Spirit, Basil maintained that both the language of Scripture and the faith of the Church require that the same honor, glory, and worship are to be paid to the Spirit as to the Father and to the Son. It was entirely proper, he asserted, to adore God in liturgical prayer, not only with the traditional words, “Glory to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit”; but also with the formula, “Glory to the Father with the Son together with the Holy Spirit.”

Basil also showed concern for the poor and dispossessed, and when he died, he willed to Caesarea a complete new town, built on his own estate, with housing, a hospital and staff, a church for the poor, and a hospice for travelers.

He died at fifty in 379, just two years before the ecumenical Council of Constantinople, which authoritatively affirmed the Nicene faith for which he and many others (including Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory Nazianzus) had contended against the Arian and Semi-Arian heresies.

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

The Collect

Almighty God, you have revealed to your Church your eternal Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace that, like your bishop Basil of Caesarea, we may continue steadfast in the confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; for you live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.

Saint Barnabas the Apostle

“Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet” (Acts 4:36-37). Thus we are introduced in the New Testament to Barnabas, who missionary calling and work would lead him, like the Twelve and Paul, to be called an apostle. Like Paul, he was a Jew of the Diaspora, “a native of Cyprus.” When Paul came to Jerusalem after his conversion, the disciples were afraid to receive him. But Barnabas brought Paul to the Twelve and declared to them how, on the road to Damascus, Paul had seen the Lord, and how Paul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus (Acts 10:27). Later, having settled in Antioch, Barnabas sent for Paul to join him in leading the community of believers (where they were first called, Christians) in that city.

Barnabas and Paul were sent by the church in Antioch to carry famine relief to the church in Jerusalem. Upon their return, the church in Antioch commissioned and sent them on their first missionary journey, which began in Cyprus. At Lystra in Asia Minor, the superstitious inhabitants mistook them for gods, supposing Paul to be Hermes, the messenger of the gods, and Barnabas to be Zeus, the ruler of the gods, a testimony to what must have been his commanding presence. The missionary association between Paul and Barnabas was broken, after this first journey, by a disagreement over Mark, who had prematurely left the mission to return to Jerusalem. After attending the council of apostles and elders in Jerusalem with Barnabas, Paul made a return visit to the churches that he and Barnabas had founded in Asia Minor. Barnabas and Mark went to Cyprus, where Barnabas is traditionally honored as the founder of the Church in that place.

Judging from evidence in Paul’s letters to the Galatians, the Corinthians, and the Colossians, Barnabas continued his evangelistic journeys after the Cypriot mission. According to tradition, Barnabas was martyred at Salamis in Cyprus.

prepared from Lesser Feasts and Fasts (1980), with amendments

The Collect

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 went forth courageously in mission for 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.  Amen.

The First Lesson
Isaiah 42:5-12

Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
I am the Lord; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.
Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.”

Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,
the coastlands and their inhabitants.
Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,
the villages that Kedar inhabits;
let the habitants of Sela sing for joy,
let them shout from the top of the mountains.
Let them give glory to the Lord,
and declare his praise in the coastlands.

Psalm 112
Beatus vir

Praise the Lord! Blessed is the one who fears the Lord, * who has great delight in his commandments.

His seed shall be mighty in the land; * the generation of the faithful shall be blessed.

Riches and plenteousness shall be in his house, * and his righteousness shall endure for ever.

For the upright, there rises light in the darkness; * he is merciful, loving, and righteous.

It is good for him to be generous in lending * and to guide his words with discretion.

For he shall never be moved, * and the righteous shall be kept in everlasting remembrance.

He will not be afraid of any evil tidings, * for his heart is steadfast and trusts in the Lord.

His heart is established, and will not fear; * at the last he shall see his desire upon his enemies.

He has given freely to the poor, * and his righteousness endures for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honor.

The ungodly shall see it, and shall be angry; * he shall gnash his teeth, and waste away; the desire of the ungodly shall perish.

The Second Lesson
Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-3

Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). So the disciples determined, everyone according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

The Gospel
Matthew 10:7-16

And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold nor silver nor copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics nor sandals nor a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

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The Lessons and Gospel are taken from the English Standard Version Bible. The Collect and Psalm are taken from the Book of Common Prayer (2019).

The icon of Saint Barnabas is taken from the website of the Holy Transfiguration Monastery.

Ephrem of Edessa, Deacon and Hymnodist, Teacher of the Faith, 373

Ephrem of Edessa was a teacher, poet, orator, and defender of the faith. His was a voice of Aramaic Christianity, speaking the language Jesus spoke, using imagery that Jesus used. Edessa, a Syrian city, was a center for the spread of Christianity in the East long before the conversion of the western Roman empire.

The Syrians called Ephrem “the harp of the Holy Spirit,” and his hymns enriched the liturgy of the Syrian Church. Ephrem’s writings were influential in the development of Church doctrine. Jerome wrote that he had read in Greek of volume written by Ephrem on the Holy Spirit, and “though it was only a translation, I recognized therein the sublime genius of the man.”

Ephrem was born around 306 at Nisibis in Mesopotamia. At eighteen, he was baptized by James (Jacob), the bishop of Nisibis. It is thought that Ephrem accompanied Jacob to the first Council of Nicaea in 325. He lived at Nisibis until 363, when the Persians captured the city and drove out the Christians.

Ephrem thereafter retired to a cave in the hills above the city of Edessa, where he wrote most of his spiritual works. He lived an austere life, eating barley bread and dried herbs, a diet sometimes varied by the addition of greens. He drank only water. His clothing was a mass of patches. But despite this life he was not a recluse, and he frequently went into Edessa to preach. Discovering that hymns could be of great value in teaching the orthodox catholic faith, he opposed Gnostic hymns with his own, sung by a choir of women.

During a famine in 372 and 373, he distributed food and money to the poor and organized a sort of ambulance service for the sick. He died in 373 of exhaustion, brought on by his long hours of relief work.

Some seventy-two hymns, commentaries on the Old and New Testaments, and numerous homilies are among his extant writings. In his commentary on the Passion, he wrote: “No one has seen or shall see the things which you have seen. The Lord himself has become the altar, priest, and bread, and the chalice of salvation. He alone suffices for all, yet none suffices him. He is Altar and Lamb, victim and sacrifice, priest as well as food.”

from Lesser Feasts and Fasts (1980), with amendments

The Collect

Pour out upon 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, now and for ever. Amen.