Daily Reading for September 1 • David Pendleton Oakerhater, Deacon and Missionary, 1931

The end of the four day covered wagon journey brought the Missionaries to Darlington, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Agency, arriving on Tuesday, June 14, 1881. It was a homecoming of sorts for Oakerhater. Darlington was where he had been sentenced to prison by Lt. Col. Neill’s command of “strike off eighteen from the right.” He was a different man now.

Eager to return to their people, Paul Zotom, the Kiowa Deacon, and Henry Taawayite, the Comanche Deacon, resumed their journey, realizing their homecoming a few days later. Reverend Wicks stayed at Darlington hoping to start their mission immediately. Which they did. On the same day that Zotom and Taawayite left for the Kiowa and Comanche Agency in Anadarko, Oakerhater performed the first Christian funeral service by a Cheyenne ever known among the Cheyennes. The whole management of the service for the son of Big Horse was given over to him and the funeral was conducted after the forms of the Episcopal Church.

As irony would have it, at the time of Oakerhater’s arrival in the Indian Territory the Cheyenne were in the midst of their Sun Dance celebration. Oakerhater was well aware of the Sun-Dance and its meaning. He understood the significance of the event and its importance to his people. He fully understood what the Missionaries were up against introducing the white man’s “new road” at this particular moment in time. . . .

It had been decided that the first service would be held on the coming Sunday. . . . Wicks described this initial meeting as follows: “When I reached the place at the appointed hour I found some fifty young men and a few older ones assembled, with quite a number of women. These young men were the very ones whom David had led in war seven years ago, and were dressed in the gay attire appropriate to the great feast. Right below us a few hundred yards away, the medicine dance was going on, hundreds thronging every side of the great lodge, a striking contrast to our quiet Christian talk. David seated his people in a circle and led me to the center of it to open the talk. I told David to say first to them that we would look to God for His blessing. They all bowed their heads reverently in the prayer as though trained to it for years. David acted as interpreter, I began by telling them why I had come to them, who had sent me, and what we wished to do for them. Then one of the Chiefs, Sand Hill, stepped forward and thanked me, expressing the desire to be taught the good way; another Chief, Mad Wolf, followed in the same strain. David then addressed them briefly, and our first council closed. I invited them to service at the school-house on a Sunday morning and they promised to come.”

Oakerhater’s brief message to his people was delivered in Cheyenne. Oakerhater told them: “Men, you all know me. You remember me when I led you out to war I went first and what I told you was true. Now I have been away to the East and I have learned about another captain, the Lord Jesus Christ, and He is my leader. He goes first, and all He tells me is true. I come back to my people to tell you to go with me now in this new road, a war that makes all for peace, and where we never have only victory.”

From He Goes First: The Story of Episcopal Saint David Pendleton Oakerhater by K. B. Kueteman; found at http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Oakerhater/bio.html

Daily Reading for September 2 • The Martyrs of New Guinea, 1942

Whether on the battle front, or in desolate displacement camps, believers experience the numinous, healing, recreating presence of God. God is unreservedly the God of salvation revealed in the One who has passed through death and now abides among his people. The diversity of this Church is both its strength and its weakness, its hidden wealth, and its fragmentation. We close with an acclamation from one of Sudan’s most popular vernacular hymns:

Let us give thanks.
Let us give thanks to the Lord in the day of devastation;
and in the day of contentment.

Jesus has bound the world round
with the pure light of the word of his Father.

When we beseech the Lord and unite our hearts and have hope,
then the evil power has no strength.
God has not forgotten us.

Evil is departing and holiness is advancing,
these are the things that shake the earth.

From “Death has Come to Reveal the Faith: Spirituality in the Episcopal Church of the Sudan Amidst Civil Conflict” by Marc Nikkel, in Anglicanism: A Global Communion, edited by Andrew Wingate, Kevin Ward, Carrie Pemberton, and Wilson Sitshebo. Copyright © 1998. Used by permission of Church Publishing Incorporated, New York, NY.www.churchpublishing.org

Daily Reading for September 3 • Prudence Crandall, Teacher and Prophetic Witness, 1890

In 1833, many Americans still supported slavery. Many others hated both slavery and abolitionists. They thought slavery was evil but feared that giving immediate freedom to millions of poor, uneducated black slaves might hurt the U.S. economy, flood the country with beggars and criminals, and cause a serious break between the North and the South. So few white Americans supported the abolitionist cause that in 1831 only twenty-five of Garrison’s five hundred subscribers to the Liberator were white. Things were so bad that sometimes, in low moments, Garrison must have felt that he was trying to change the world single-handedly. When a friend urged him to “keep more cool,” the editor explained, “I . . . need to be all on fire, for I have mountains of ice . . . to melt.”

To melt those mountains, Garrison needed allies, and Prudence was ready, willing, and able to help. Besides, she was a teacher.

That was particularly important. If black people were ever going to win equal rights and good jobs in America, they needed education. Garrison and his supporters knew that. But African Americans found that learning was very hard to come by. So few U.S. schools and colleges were willing to teach black pupils that in 1865, when the Civil War ended, only one out of every twenty African Americans could read.

In the 1830s, southerners were so afraid that educated blacks might rebel against slavery that they passed laws against teaching African Americans. . . . In the North, where many feared that educated blacks might take jobs from white workers, black children were seldom allowed to enter white schools. White teachers rarely taught black pupils, and schools for African Americans were scarce. . . .

Prudence was planning to do something about this terrible problem. Not only was she planning to open a school for African-American girls, but she was offering to teach advanced grammar, math, and science—the sorts of subjects that would eventually allow her black students to teach other African-American pupils. It was like a dream come true. Garrison was enthusiastic. He wanted to help.

From Forbidden Schoolhouse by Suzanne Jurmain (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2005).

Daily Reading for September 4 • Paul Jones, Bishop and Peace Advocate, 1941

In the first place, let me say that I, as a loyal citizen, am whole-heartedly for this country of ours in which all my hopes and ideals and interests are bound up. I believe most sincerely that German brutality and aggression must be stopped, and I am willing, if need to be, to give my life and what I possess, to bring that about. I want to see the extension of real democracy in the world, and am ready to help that cause to the utmost; and finally, I want to see a sound and lasting peace brought to the world as a close to the terrible convulsion in which the nations are involved.

But the question is that of method. It is not enough to say that the majority have decided on war as the only means of attaining those things and therefore we must all co-operate. I believe it is not as easy as that, for the problem goes deeper.

We all feel that war is wrong, evil, and undesirable. Many even feel that war is unchristian but unavoidable as the world is now constituted, and that the present situation forces us to use it. Some contend that this is a righteous war, and that we must all fight the devil with fire, even at the danger of being scorched, or all the ideals which we hold dear will go by the board, and therefore we are solemnly, sadly, and earnestly taking that way. . . .

I have been led to feel that war is entirely incompatible with the Christian profession . . . because the deeper I study into it the more firmly I am convinced that the whole spirit of the gospel is not only opposed to all that is commonly understood by the word “war,” but offers another method capable of transforming the world and applicable to every situation which the individual or the nation is called to face. . . . I believe that it is always the church’s duty to hold up before men the way of the cross; the one way our Lord has given us for overcoming the world. . . .

Prayer is, I believe, the best test of the whole matter. If it is right and our honest duty to fight the war to a finish, then we should use the Church’s great weapon of prayer to that end; but the most ardent Christian supporter of the war, though he may use general terms, revolts against praying that our every bullet may find its mark, or that our embargoes may bring starvation to every German home. We know that those things would bring the war to a speedy, triumphant close, but the Church cannot pray that way. And a purpose that you cannot pray for is a poor one for Christians to be engaged in.

From a statement made to the House of Bishops by Bishop Paul Jones on October 18, 1917, quoted in Documents of Witness: A History of the Episcopal Church 1782-1985, edited by Don S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum. Copyright © 1984. Used by permission of Church Publishing Incorporated, New York, NY. www.churchpublishing.org

Daily Reading for September 5 • The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

I heard his holy voice speaking to all without distinction. “He who does not leave father and mother and brothers and all that he possesses and take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” I learned from Scripture and from experience itself that the cross comes at the end for no other reason than that we must endure trials and tribulations and finally voluntary death itself. In times past, when heresies prevailed, many chose death through martyrdom and various tortures. Now, when we through the grace of Christ live in a time of profound and perfect peace, we learn for sure that cross and death consist in nothing else than the complete putting to death of self-will. He who pursues his own will, however slightly, will never be able to observe the law of Christ the Savior.

From the Discourses of Symeon the New Theologian, quoted in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: New Testament III, Luke, edited by Arthur A. Just, Jr. (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2003).

Daily Reading for September 6 • Labor Day

It hangs in the window of one of the little cash-and-carry stores that now line a street where fashionable New Yorkers used to drive out in their carriages to shop at Tiffany’s and Constable’s. It is a “supper dress” of silk crepe in “the new red,” with medieval sleeves and graceful skirt. A cardboard tag on the shoulder reads: “Special $4.95.” Bargain basements and little ready-to-wear shops are filled with similar “specials.”

But the manufacturer who pays a living wage for a reasonable week’s work under decent conditions cannot turn out attractive silk frocks to retail at $5 or less. The real cost is borne by the workers in the sweatshops that are springing up in hard-pressed communities. Under today’s desperate need for work and wages, girls and women are found toiling overtime at power machines and worktables, some of them for paychecks that represent a wage of less than 10 cents a day.

The sweatshop employer is offending against industry’s standards, as well as against the standards of the community. The employer who, in order to pay fair wages for reasonable hours of work, produces dresses in his shop to retail at $9.50, finds himself in competition with the less conscientious manufacturer whose “sweated” garments are offered at $4.95. . . .

Working conditions, including safety provisions, sanitation, rest room facilities and so on, are, like standards of wages and hours, holding up well in responsible concerns. In the runaway shop conditions are usually far below standard and the picture of such a plant is a look back to the sweatshops that horrified caseworkers and visiting nurses at the turn of the century.

What is the way out for the conscientious consumer who does not want to buy garments, even at a bargain, made by exploited labor? Common sense will tell the purchaser that someone must pay the price of the well-cut silk dress offered at $4.95. The manufacturer is not producing these frocks for pleasure or for charity. If the purchaser does not pay a price that allows for a subsistence wage and reasonable hours and working conditions, then the cost of the “bargain” must be sweated out of the workers.

The red silk bargain dress in the shop window is a danger signal. It is a warning of the return of the sweatshop, a challenge to us all to reinforce the gains we have made in our long and difficult progress toward a civilized industrial order.

From “The Cost of a Five-Dollar Dress” by Frances Perkins, in the Survey Graphic (February 1933).

Daily Reading for September 7 • Elie Naud, Huguenot Witness to the Faith, 1722

The most effective work of the Society among Negroes of the Northern colonies was accomplished in New York. In that colony, the instruction of the Negro and Indian slaves to prepare them for conversion, baptism, and communion was a primary charge oft repeated to every missionary and schoolmaster of the Society. In addition to the general efforts put forth in the colonies, there was in New York a special provision for the employment of sixteen clergymen and thirteen lay teachers mainly for the evangelization of the slaves and the free Indians. For the Negro slaves a catechizing school was opened in New York City in 1704 under the charge of Elias Neau. This benevolent man, after several years’ imprisonment because of his Protestant faith, had come to New York to try his fortunes as a trader. As early as 1703 he called the attention of the Society to the great number, of slaves in New York “who were without God in the world, and of whose souls there was no manner of care taken” and proposed the appointment of a catechist to undertake their instruction. He himself finally being prevailed upon to accept this position, obtained a license from the Governor, resigned his position as elder in the French church and conformed to the Established Church of England, “not upon any worldly account but through a principle of conscience and hearty approbation of the English liturgy.” He was later licensed by the Bishop of London.

Neau’s task was not an easy one. At first he went from house to house, but afterwards arranged for some of the slaves to attend him. He succeeded, however, in obtaining gratifying results. He was commended to the Society by Rev. Mr. Vesey in 1706 as a “constant communicant of our church, and a most zealous and prudent servant of Christ, in proselyting the miserable Negroes and Indians among them to the Christian Religion, whereby he does great service to God and his church.” Further confidence in him was attested by an act of the Society in preparing at his request “a Bill to be offered to Parliament for the more effectual Conversion of the Negro and other Servants in the Plantations, to compell Owners of Slaves to cause children to be baptized within 3 months after their birth and to permit them when come to years of discretion to be instructed in the Christian Religion on our Lord’s day by the Missionaries under whose ministry they live.”

Neau’s school suffered greatly in 1712 because of the prejudice engendered by the declaration that instruction was the main cause of the Negro riot in that city. For some days Neau dared not show himself, so bitter was the feeling of the masters. Upon being assured, however, that only one Negro connected with the school had participated in the affair and that the most criminal belonged to the masters who were openly opposed to educating them, the institution was permitted to continue its endeavors, and the Governor extended to it his protection and recommended that masters have their slaves instructed. Yet Neau had still to complain thereafter of the struggle and opposition of the generality of the inhabitants, who were strongly prejudiced with a horrid motive thinking that Christian knowledge “would be a means to make the slave more cunning and apter to wickedness.” Not so long thereafter, however, the support of the best people and officials of the community made his task easier. Neau could say in 1714 that “if the slaves and domestics in New York were not instructed it was not his fault.” The Governor, the Council, Mayor, the Recorder and the Chief Justice informed the Society that Neau had performed his work “to the great advancement of religion in general and the particular benefit of the free Indians, Negro slaves, and other Heathens in those parts, with indefatigable zeal and application.”

From “The Work of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts among the Negroes in the Colonies” by C. E. Pierre, in Journal of Negro History 1 (October 1916); found at http://www.dinsdoc.com/pierre-1.htm

Daily Reading for September 8 • Nikolai Grundtvig, Bishop and Hymnwriter, 1872 and Søren Kierkegaard, Teacher and Philosopher, 1855

I have been and am still inspired by the natural sciences; and yet I do not think that I shall make them my principal field of study. By virtue of reason and freedom, life has always interested me most, and it has always been my desire to clarify and solve the riddle of life. The forty years in the desert before I could reach the promised land of the sciences seem too costly to me, and the more so as I believe that nature may also be observed from another side, which does not require insight into the secrets of science. It matters not whether I contemplate the whole world in a single flower or listen to the many hints that nature offers about human life; whether I admire those daring designs in the firmament; or whether, upon hearing the sounds of nature in Ceylon, for example, I am reminded of the sounds of the spiritual world; or whether the departure of the migratory birds reminds me of the most profound yearnings of the human heart. . . .

What I really need is to get clear about what I am to do, not what I must know, except insofar as knowledge must precede every act. What matters is to find my purpose, to see what it really is that God wills that I shall do; the crucial thing is to find a truth that is truth for me, to find the idea for which I am willing to live and die. Of what use would it be to me to discover a so-called objective truth, to work through the philosophical systems so that I could, if asked, make critical judgments about them, could point out the fallacies in each system; . . . of what use would it be to me to be able to formulate the meaning of Christianity, to be able to explain many specific points—if it had no deeper meaning for me and for my life? . . . I certainly do not deny that I still accept an imperative of knowledge and that through it men may be influenced, but then it must come alive in me, and this is what I now recognize as the most important of all. This is what my soul thirsts for as the African deserts thirst for water. That is what is lacking, and this is why I am like a man who has collected furniture, rented an apartment, but as yet has not found the beloved to share life’s ups and downs with him.

From the early journal entries (1835) of Søren Kierkegaard, quoted in The Essential Kierkegaard, edited by Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2000).

Daily Reading for September 9 • Constance, Nun, and Her Companions, 1878

Even the lime could not cover the smell of death as Constance stepped off the train platform on August 20, 1878. The wind carried the odor for three miles outside of the city. Sister Constance and Sister Thecla returned from a vacation on the Hudson as soon as they heard the news of the fever; the sisters were the only ones traveling into Memphis. As they made their way through the town, signs of plague were everywhere. . . . “What we’ve decided to do is have you sleep in the country, out of the infected atmosphere,” explained one of the sisters from St. Mary’s. “You can work in town during the day.” Constance and Thecla refused. “We cannot listen to such a plan; it would never do; we are going to nurse day and night; we must be at our post.” . . .

The messenger handed Constance the telegram. Father and mother are lying dead in the house, brother is dying, send me some help, no money, signed Sallie U. “Will you go to that poor girl?” he asked. . . .

Constance arrived at a small but neat home. . . . A pretty young girl in mourning led her into the house. Dust floated, effulgent, in the shafts of afternoon light, and the air was heavy as steam. One corpse lay on the sofa, another one on the bed, their skin yellow and tongues black. A tall young man, nearly naked, was also in the bed, delirious, rocking back and forth. His eyes sank deep into his cheekbones ringed by bruised half moons. Outside the window, Constance heard a crowd gathering, presumably to loot the house once all were dead. Constance ran into the yard and shouted at them to leave, warned them of the plague. They scattered like insects in the sunlight.

The healthy were not permitted to touch the dead for fear of spreading the disease further, so Constance sent for an undertaker. But, it could take as long as two days to have the bodies removed. Mr. Walsh, the county undertaker, refused to pay extra wages to the colored men loading and unloading the bodies. Finally, he was arrested. From then on, the men were promised five dollars for an adult corpse, three dollars for a child. In the meantime, the Citizen’s Relief Committee arranged burial patrols to locate bodies by report, smell or even the low flight of buzzards. . . .

Constance left the small house sick from the stench. The air, suffused with moisture, closed the odor of death around the town and its people. She went in search of more nurses and beef tea for the ill. As she did so, she noticed a spectacular sun, a blood orange setting over the Mississippi. How strange, she thought, that one could still find anything beautiful at all.

From The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic that Shaped Our History by Molly Caldwell Crosby (New York: Berkley Publishing Group, 2006).

Daily Reading for September 10 • Alexander Crummell, 1898

The application of this truth to the interests and destiny of the colored race of America is manifest. We are living in this country, a part of its population, and yet, in divers respects, we are as foreign to its inhabitants as though we were living in the Sandwich Islands. It is this our natural separation from the real life of the nation, which constitutes us “a nation within a nation”: thrown very considerably upon ourselves for many of the largest interests of life, and for nearly all our social and religious advantages. . . .

It is the cooperative principle, working in trades, business, and manufacturing, which is the great lever that is lifting up the million masses in great nations, and giving those nations themselves a more masterly superiority than they have ever known, in all their past histories. No people can discard this principle, and achieve greatness. . . . It cannot be done in the confined sphere of individual, personal effort. The social principle prevails in the uprearing of a nation, as in the establishing of a family. Men must associate and combine energies in order to produce large results. In the same way that a family becomes strong, influential, and wealthy by uniting the energies of parents and children, so a people go on to honor and glory, in the proportion and extent that they combine their powers to definite and productive ends.

Two principles are implied in the remarks I have made, that is, the one of mutuality, and the other of dependence.

By mutuality I mean the reciprocal tendencies and desires which interact between large bodies of men, aiming at single and definite ends. I mean the several sentiments of sympathy, cheer, encouragement, and combination, among any special body of people; which are needed and required in distinct departments of labor. Solitude, in any matter, is alien to the human heart. We need, we call for the aid of our fellow-creatures. The beating heart of man waits for the answering heart of his brother. . . .

So, likewise, we may not pass by the other motive, i.e., the feeling of dependence. We need the skill, the energy, the achievement of our fellow-creatures. No man stands up entirely alone, self-sufficient in the entire circle of human needs.

From “The Social Principle among a People, and Its Bearing on Their Progress and Development,” a sermon preached by Alexander Crummell on Thanksgiving Day, 1875 at St. Mary’s Chapel, Washington, D.C.

Daily Reading for September 11 • Harry Thacker Burleigh, Composer, 1949

The plantation songs known as “spirituals” are the spontaneous outbursts of intense religious fervor, and had their origin chiefly in camp meetings, revivals and other religious exercises.

They were never “composed,” but sprang into life, ready made, from the white heat of religious fervor during some protracted meeting in camp or church, as the simple, ecstatic utterance of wholly untutored minds, and are practically the only music in America which meets the scientific definition of Folk Song.

Success in singing these Folk Songs is primarily dependent upon deep spiritual feeling. The voice is not nearly so important as the spirit; and then rhythm, for the Negro’s soul is linked with rhythm, and it is an essential characteristic of most all the Folk Songs.

It is a serious misconception of their meaning and value to treat them as “minstrel” songs, or to try to make them funny by a too literal attempt to imitate the manner of the Negro in singing them, by swaying the body, clapping the hands, or striving to make the peculiar inflections of voice that are natural with colored people. Their worth is weakened unless they are done impressively, for through all these songs there breathes a hope, a faith in the ultimate justice and brotherhood of man. The cadences of sorrow invariably turn to joy, and the message is ever manifest that eventually deliverance from all that hinders and oppresses the soul will come, and man—every man—will be free.

From the 1917 introduction by Harry Thacker Burleigh to The Spirituals of Harry T. Burleigh: Low Voice (Alfred Music Publishing, 1985).

Daily Reading for September 12 • The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

I believe in thee, O Lord, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, one only true God.

I believe that all things were created by thy Almighty power and love: That all have been restored, by the goodness and mercy exhibited in the person of thy Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; who for us men, and for our salvation, was made flesh, conceived and born, did suffer, and was crucified, descended into the place of departed spirits, and rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God; from whence he shall come again and judge the quick and the dead.

I also believe, that by the illumination and powerful operation of the Holy Ghost, a peculiar people has been called, from all quarters of the world, to be knit into one society, united, and distinguished by belief of the truth, and holiness of life: That, as members of this body, we partake of the Communion of Saints, and forgiveness of sins, in this world: And, by virtue of the same membership, do assuredly expect the resurrection of the flesh, and life everlasting, in the world to come.

This pure and holy faith, once delivered to the Saints, Lord, I believe: Help thou mine unbelief. Strengthen in me that which is weak, and add to me that which is wanting. Amen.

An “Act of Faith” in Daily Devotions for Sunday Morning, in The Christian’s Manual of Faith and Devotion: Containing Dialogues and Prayers Suited to the Various Exercises of the Christian Life, and an Exhortation to Ejaculatory Prayer, with Forms of Ejaculatory and Other Prayers by John Henry Hobart (New York: Stanford and Swords, 1850).

Daily Reading for September 13 • John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, 407

Wherefore we have need of zeal in every direction, and much preparation of mind: and if we so order our conscience as to hate our former wickedness, and choose the contrary path with as much energy as God desires and commands, we shall not have anything less on account of the short space of time: many at least who were last have far outstripped those who were first. For to have fallen is not a grievous thing, but to remain prostrate after falling, and not to get up again; and, playing the coward and the sluggard, to conceal feebleness of moral purpose under the reasoning of despair. To whom also the prophet spoke in perplexity saying, “Does he who falls not rise up, or he who turns away not turn back?” (Jeremiah 8:4). But if you inquire of me for instances of persons who have fallen away after having believed, all these things have been said with reference to such persons, for he who has fallen belonged formerly to those who were standing, not to those who were prostrate; for how should one in that condition fall? But other things also shall be said, partly by means of parables, partly by plainer deeds and words.

Now that sheep which had got separated from the ninety and nine (Luke 15:4-5) and then was brought back again, represents to us nothing else than the fall and return of the faithful; for it was a sheep not of some alien flock, but belonging to the same number as the rest, and was formerly pastured by the same shepherd, and it strayed on no common straying, but wandered away to the mountains and in valleys, that is to say some long journey, far distant from the right path. Did he then suffer it to stray? By no means, but brought it back neither driving it, nor beating it, but taking it upon his shoulders. For as the best physicians bring back those who are far gone in sickness with careful treatment to a state of health, not only treating them according to the laws of the medical art, but sometimes also giving them gratification: even so God conducts to virtue those who are much depraved, not with great severity, but gently and gradually, and supporting them on every side, so that the separation may not become greater, nor the error more prolonged.

From Two Exhortations to Theodore after his Fall by John Chrysostom; found at http://www1000.newadvent.org/fathers/1903.htm.

Daily Reading for September 14 • Holy Cross Day

Lofty Tree, bend down your branches
To embrace your sacred load:
Oh, relax the native tension
Of that all too rigid wood;
Gently, gently bear the members
Of your dying King and God.

Tree which solely was found worthy
Earth’s great Victim to sustain,
Harbor from the raging tempest,
Ark, that saved the world again,
Tree with sacred Blood anointed
Of the Lamb for sinners slain.

Honor, blessing everlasting
To the immortal Deity:
To the Father, Son and Spirit
Equal praises ever be:
Glory through the earth and heaven
To Trinity in Unity. Amen.

Adapted from The Short Breviary, quoted in The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle (New York: Doubleday, 2000).

Daily Reading for September 15 • Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr of Carthage, 258, and James Chisholm, Priest, 1855

Because Christ’s people cannot be rent, his robe, woven and united throughout, is not divided by those who possess it; undivided, united, connected, it shows the coherent concord of our people who put on Christ. By the sacrament and sign of his garment, he has declared the unity of the Church.

Who, then, is so wicked and faithless, who is so insane with the madness of discord, that either he should believe that the unity of God can be divided, or should dare to rend it—the garment of the Lord—the Church of Christ? He himself in his gospel warns us, and teaches, saying, “And there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” And does any one believe that in one place there can be either many shepherds or many flocks? The Apostle Paul, moreover, urging upon us this same unity, beseeches and exhorts, saying, “I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you; but that ye be joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10). And again, he says, “Forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). Do you think that you can stand and live if you withdraw from the Church, building for yourself other homes and a different dwelling. . . ?

The flesh of Christ, and the holy of the Lord, cannot be sent abroad, nor is there any other home to believers but the one Church. This home, this household of unanimity, the Holy Spirit designates and points out in the Psalms, saying, “God, who maketh men to dwell with one mind in a house” (Psalm 68:6). In the house of God, in the Church of Christ, men dwell with one mind, and continue in concord and simplicity.

Therefore also the Holy Spirit came as a dove, a simple and joyous creature, not bitter with gall, not cruel in its bite, not violent with the rending of its claws, loving human dwellings, knowing the association of one home; when they have young, bringing forth their young together; when they fly abroad, remaining in their flights by the side of one another, spending their life in mutual intercourse, acknowledging the concord of peace with the kiss of the beak, in all things fulfilling the law of unanimity. This is the simplicity that ought to be known in the Church, this is the charity that ought to be attained, that so the love of the brotherhood may imitate the doves, that their gentleness and meekness may be like the lambs and sheep. What does the fierceness of wolves do in the Christian breast? What the savageness of dogs, and the deadly venom of serpents, and the sanguinary cruelty of wild beasts? . . . Bitterness cannot consist and be associated with sweetness, darkness with light, rain with clearness, battle with peace, barrenness with fertility, drought with springs, storm with tranquillity.

From On the Unity of the Church by Cyprian of Carthage; found at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf05.iv.v.i.html.

Daily Reading for September 16 • Ninian, Bishop in Galloway, c. 430

The most blessed youth having arrived at Rome, when he shed tears, proofs of his devotion, before the sacred relics of the apostles, and had with many prayers commended the desire of his heart to their patronage, betook himself to the Bishop of the Supreme See, and when he had explained to him the cause of his journey, the Pope accepted his devotion, and treated him with the greatest affection as his son. Presently he handed him over to the teachers of truth to be imbued with the disciplines of faith and the sound meanings of Scripture. . . . Therefore with the greatest eagerness, with enlarged mouth, receiving the word of God, like a bee he formed for himself the honeycombs of wisdom by arguments from the different opinions of doctors, as of various kinds of flowers. And hiding them within his inmost heart, he preserved them to be inwardly digested and brought forward for the refreshment of his inward man and for the consolation of many others. . . .

The Roman Pontiff, hearing that some in the western parts of Britain had not yet received the faith of our Saviour, and that some had heard the word of the gospel either from heretics or from men ill instructed in the law of God, moved by the Spirit of God, consecrated the said man of God to the episcopate with his own hands, and, after giving him his benediction, sent him forth as an apostle to the people aforesaid. There flourished at this time the most blessed Martin, Bishop of the city of Tours whose life, rendered glorious by miracles, already described by the most learned and holy Sulpicius, had enlightened the whole world. Therefore the man of God, returning from the City, full of the Spirit of God, and touched with the desire of seeing him turned aside to the city of Tours. With what joy, devotion and affection he was received by him, who shall easily tell? By the grace of prophetic illumination the worth of the new bishop was not hid from him, whom by revelation he recognised as sanctified by the Holy Spirit and sure to be profitable to the salvation of many. . . . Satiated with mutual conversations as with heavenly feasts, after embraces, kisses, and tears shed by both, they parted, holy Martin remaining in his own See, and Ninian hastening forth under the guidance of Christ to the work whereunto the Holy Ghost had called him.

Upon his return to his own land a great multitude of the people went out to meet him; there was great joy among all, and wonderful devotion, and the praise of Christ sounded out on all sides, for they held him for a prophet. Straightway that active husbandman of the Lord proceeded to root up what had been ill planted, to scatter what had been ill gathered, to cast down what had been ill built. Having purged the minds of the faithful from all their errors, he began to lay in them the foundations of faith unfeigned; building thereon the gold of wisdom, the silver of knowledge, and the stones of good works: and all the things to be done by the faithful he both taught by word and illustrated by example, confirming it by many and great signs following.

From The Life of Saint Ninian by Aelred of Rievaulx; found at http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/ninian.html

Daily Reading for September 17 • Hildegard of Bingen, 1179

At Rupertsberg Convent you can observe all the virtues marvelously competing to outdo one another. The mother [Hildegard] receives her daughters with such great love, and the daughters submit to their mother with such immense respect, that it is scarcely possible to decide whether the mother exceeds the daughters, or the daughters the mother in enthusiasm. These holy servants care for one another and in this way honour and respect one another, so that with Christ’s help, though they are members of the weaker sex, they make glad display of their triumph over themselves, the world and the devil. On feast days they sit becomingly in their seclusion, and consecrate themselves zealously to reading and to learning the skills of holy singing. And they heed the words of the Apostle: “If you do not labour you shall not eat.” . . .

On working days they are busy in their respective workshops or writing books, making liturgical vestments, and carrying out other handiwork. Their assiduous reading affords them divine illumination and the grace of contrition, whereas the accomplishment of their outward labours wards off indolence, the enemy of the soul, and suppresses talkativeness, an inclination that in idle and frivolous company only too easily forces far too many words from human mouths. . . .

The mother and leader of this great company devotes herself to them all in the spirit of love. With the vast weight of her modesty she overwhelms the threat of arrogance that generally springs from outward renown. In this way, through sheer love and devotion she has become the servant of all. She is always responsive to whatever demands the moment makes upon her, to everyday needs and requirements. She gives advice, solves difficult problems, writes books, instructs her sisters, and encourages sinners in their struggles when they approach her with their worries. However age and sickness afflict her, she remains strong in the exercise of all the virtues and has made many apostolic recommendations her very own watchwords; for example: “I have become all for all in order to win all”; or: “I may be inexperienced in speaking but not in knowledge.”

From a letter from Guibert of Gembloux to his friend Bodo (1177), quoted in The World of Hildegard of Bingen: Her Life, Times and Visionsby Heinrich Schipperges, translated by John Cumming (Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1998).

Daily Reading for September 18 • Edward Bouverie Pusey, Priest, 1882

Let nothing disturb my soul, fixed on Thee;
nothing weary it, stayed on Thee;
nothing draw it down, upheld by Thee, in Thee;
nothing turn it aside, directed by Thee, unto Thee.

O gather me into one, and gather me unto Thee;
knit my soul in one and knit it into Thyself,
that with my whole heart I may seek Thee,
and seeking Thee may find Thee,
and finding Thee may stretch forth anew unto Thee,
and never cease or fail to stretch forth unto Thee,
until in the end, by Thy grace and mercy, I may arrive at Thee.

O my Jesus, my Saviour,
be Thou Thyself the Way for me unto Thyself, the Life.
Draw me each day, if it be but a little nearer unto Thee;
make me, each day, if it be but a little less unlike Thee;
let me do or bear, each day something, for love of Thee,
whereby, through Thy Grace, I may be fitter for Thee, to behold Thee.

Give me a good heart in all things,
to do all things in love of Thee,
for love of Thee;
and by doing or bearing something for love of Thee,
may I come to love Thee more.

From an evening prayer in Private Prayers by E. B. Pusey, edited by H. P. Liddon (London: Rivingtons, 1884).

Daily Reading for September 19 • The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Why did the Lord Jesus Christ present this parable to us? He surely did not approve of that cheat of a servant who cheated his master, stole from him and did not make it up from his own pocket. On top of that, he also did some extra pilfering. He caused his mater further loss, in order to prepare a little nest of quiet and security for himself after he lost his job.

Why did the Lord set this before us? It is not because that servant cheated but because he exercised foresight for the future. When even a cheat is praised for his ingenuity, Christians who make no such provision blush. I mean, this is what he added, “Behold, the children of this age are more prudent than the children of light.” They perpetrate frauds in order to secure their future.

In what life, after all, did that steward insure himself like that? What one was he going to quit when he bowed to his master’s decision? He was insuring himself for a life that was going to end. Would you not insure yourself for eternal life?

From Sermon 359A.10 of Augustine of Hippo, quoted in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: New Testament III, Luke, edited by Arthur A. Just, Jr. (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2003).

Daily Reading for September 20 • John Coleridge Patteson and his Companions, Bishop of Melanesia, Martyrs, 1871

It is indeed a great and extraordinary grace of God to have an unwavering faith in the constant presence of his Almighty Spirit; yet the Spirit is present, though our faith may be weak; and his grace is given, though we are most unworthy of it; and the more feeble the instrument, the more evidently is the work, if work there be, seen to proceed from God, who will not suffer our unworthiness to hinder this operation of his Spirit in the hearts of his people.

Christ has said, “If ye love Me, keep My commandments,” and this is his commandment, that we love one another, and this love must be more than affection to our relations, and patriotism to our country; for he has said again, “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” And since the whole map of destiny of the world was unrolled before his spiritual eye when he gave commission to his disciples to evangelize all nations, and since he well knew the opposition that would be raised to this blessed work by the malice of the evil one and the sinfulness of men, since he foresaw that his servants must needs sink and grow faint-hearted in the loneliness of their solitary tasks, since he knew what it must be to dwell among nations wholly given to idolatry and heathenism, without God in the world; therefore he added his blessed promise to cheer and sustain them with the certainty of the final triumph of Light over darkness, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” He is with us by his Spirit, who is one with him and the Father—“always”—for the Comforter abides with us for ever. His word must stand fast, his prayers must be effectual. He, God and Man, is himself the Dispenser and Ruler of the economy of the world; for “all power is given unto Him in Heaven and in Earth.”

And the power seems to come to us, while we read and meditate on such words as these; but we lose our hold upon them amidst the details of every-day life; and so by continual prayer and frequent communion we need to renew our strength, to confirm our faith in the abiding presence of Christ’s Spirit: —And not by prayer for ourselves only, but by intercessory prayer for each other, by United Prayer for the stability and increase of the Churches, for the extension of Christ’s kingdom throughout the world. He is praying for us, and his Spirit is making intercession for us, and he spreads the power of his prayer over our unworthy petitions, and presents them all efficacious in his Name before his Heavenly Father. Pray therefore, my brethren, daily and fervently for the conversion of these poor islanders lying in darkness and the shadow of death, . . . and pray for me, called too young, as in years so in all else, to an office of which I dare not say that I realize the responsibility; that the Holy Ghost may ever abide with me to comfort and guide me in all doubts and difficulties, and that I may daily increase in God’s Holy Spirit more and more, and may come at length to his everlasting kingdom.

From “The Abiding Comforter: A Sermon Preached in St. Mary’s Church, Auckland, on the Evening of Sunday, 3rd of March, 1861 (being the day of his consecration)” by the late Right Rev. John Coleridge Patteson, D.D.; found at http://anglicanhistory.org/nz/patteson/comforter1861.html

Daily Reading for September 21 • Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

The first Evangelist, who was chosen by God,
[was] named Matthew, whom the Saviour chose
from being a worldly taxgatherer to be a spiritual Evangelist,
and he was one of the twelve servants of God;
he wrote the Gospel first in Hebrew,
which is set in order in the first book.
He wrote it in Hebrew for the Hebrew people
who in the land of Judea believed in Christ;
and desired, by that scripture whereon they were fed,
to confirm their faith, because he loved them;
and he had to depart then into far distant lands
to heathen nations, to teach them.
Then he desired first of all to write the Gospel
for his own people, before he departed from them. . . .

These four Evangelists are chosen of God,
and they enlightened all the world by their lore,
even as the four rivers which run from Paradise
together water all this orb;
and these four Evangelists God revealed of old
in the Old Law, to the prophet Ezekiel.
He saw in his vision four beasts such as these;
one of the four beasts was seen as it were the appearance of a Man,
the second was like a Lion’s form,
and the third stood like a Stirk (Calf),
and the fourth was like a variously colored Eagle.
The Man’s likeness belongeth to Matthew,
because he began his Gospel about Christ’s humanity.
The Lion belongeth, as the orthodox say,
to Mark’s likeness, because he cried with a loud sound,
even as the lion roareth greedily in the desert
“A voice crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye God’s ways,
make his paths straight.”
The Calf’s likeness belongeth to Luke,
because he began his Gospel, even as God directed him,
from the priest who was called Zacharias;
because people offered, in the old fashion,
a calf for the priest, and slew it at the altar.
The Eagle’s likeness belongeth to John,
because the eagle flieth the highest of all birds,
and can most steadily stare at the sun’s light.
So did John, the divine writer;
he flew far up, as if with eagle’s wings,
and beheld sagaciously how he might write most nobly of God.

From The Lives of Saints, Volume 1, by Aelfric, edited by Walter W. Skeat (Early English Text Society edition).

Daily Reading for September 22 • Philander Chase, Bishop of Ohio, and of Illinois, 1852

August 17. Some time ago I had heard of the scattered remnants of the Oneida and Mohawk Tribes who still retained the use of our Liturgy, once taught them by the British Missionaries when they resided under that government. It was my most anxious wish to see and converse with them. This wish it pleased God most graciously to gratify. I paid them a visit, setting off from Mr. Woodward’s after divine service and a sermon. We lodged at Mr. Coles’s, the last house in the white settlements.

August 18. The morning of the 18th of August gave some hopes of a fair and pleasant day, but it proved otherwise. The sky was soon overcast, and a dark gloom hung over the forest, already dark and gloomy by the thickness of the deep green foliage. Our way was nearly west, towards the Sandusky river, and lay through a pathless desert, with hardly a trace to guide our steps; but confident in the goodness of our cause, and the protection and blessing of the common father of men and nations, we set forward. The beauty of an open Oakland scenery for a time cheered us; but it soon changed to a thick dark underleafed forest, in which, having missed our path, we travelled in the rain, it was judged, five-and-twenty miles, before we reached the huts of the Indians we were seeking.

To us, wet, hungry and waysore, these little shelters from the storm appeared like the abodes of comfort. Some aged men and women of the Mohawks, fit emblems of their tribe, once vigorous, now in decay, met us at their lowly cabin doors. My worthy friend and guide, the Rev. Mr. Coe, who had seen and known these interesting people before, now told them my name and errand. I passed around their little settlement, and the evening and the morning were spent in trying to do them good. I found them not like heathens. They had known Jesus their Creator and Saviour, from their youth, and the liturgy and formularies of the Church of England, with part of the book of Genesis, and the Gospel of St. Mark, translated into their language, A.D., 1787, had been the blessed means by which this faith has been taught and handed down from their forefathers.

What a comment this, on the great utility of accompanying the translation of the scriptures, with the formularies of primitive devotion! And what an overpowering refutation is this of the ungodly objections made to the Christianizing of the heathen, by diffusing the light of the Holy Bible among them! From this instance of God’s blessing on the means, let Christians take courage. Their bread being cast by faith on the waters of God’s providence, shall return blessed after many days; and though now through much persecution, from the hosts of infidelity, they go on their way weeping; yet if they persevere, the whole world will, like a ripe field of corn, come to the Christian faith with joy, and bring their sheaves of holy fruit with them.

August 19. Divine service was performed with these Indians, on the morning of this day; though it rained incessantly, they came in goodly numbers, and seemed with one heart and voice to join in the responses, as the prayers were read by myself, and repeated by an elderly person in their language. By their apparent simplicity and godly sincerity, I was reminded of the accounts given us of the Apostolic worship.

From Reminiscences of Bishop Chase, numbers 5 and 6 (New York: R. Craighead, 1843).

Daily Reading for September 23

The human journey rightly understood is a movement of metanoia. Repentance, the usual translation of the Greek word, is an unsatisfactory one, because it too much suggests self-blame and the acknowledgement of sin, instead of hope which is its essential characteristic. The word means literally change of mind or change of attitude; and though self-blame and the realization of guilt may prepare the way for metanoia it is hope that brings about the change of heart and mind which effects a new orientation in a person’s life. . . .

The hope that will enable effective metanoia includes the hope of becoming more and more completely what in essence we are, of living our own truth to the full; but it includes also the hope of cooperating with our fellows in building a society favourable to growth in humanity; it will include the hope of a city where men will live at peace with men, where the natural environment will be cared for and not recklessly exploited, where men will have learnt to live together as a family because they worship a common Father and Creator.

To insist on hope as the mainspring of metanoia does not as we have seen ignore the fact of human evil, of man’s perversity and blindness, his arrogance, cruelty and sloth and his timid refusal to respond to summons to change. But psychology makes for a merciful view of human sin, and without condoning wrong-doing makes it possible to feel compassion for the sinner and to hope that divine mercy will heal and forgive him as we pray that our sin may be forgiven and healed.

From The River Within: The Search for God in Depth by Christopher Rex Bryant SSJE (London, 1978).

Daily Reading for September 24

Blessed art Thou, O Lord,
who givest thy beloved pleasant sleep,
and to them that fear Thee to lie down safely.
Lighten our eyes,
that we sleep not in death:
deliver us from the terror by night,
from the pestilence that walketh in darkness.
Behold He that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep:
the Lord preserve us from all evil,
yea the Lord keep our souls.

Lord, I will sleep,
but my heart shall be awake.
Visit me, O Lord, with the visitation of the saints,
and discover mine ear in visions of night.
Let my sleep be a respite,
as from toil, so from sin:
let me not in dreams think aught
to offend Thee or pollute me. . . .

Grant me to commune in the night with my heart,
and to be sore exercised and to search out my spirits
and not to neglect the instruction of my reins—
what I may do rightly, what more rightly,
how to be more acceptable to Thee,
how to be more pleasing unto men:
that Thou art about my paths
and about my bed:
that my ways are thine:
when my lamp is alight to see Thee,
when my lamp is quenched to see Thee.

From the Preces Privatae of Lancelot Andrewes, edited by F. E. Brightman (London, 1903).

Daily Reading for September 25 • Sergius, Abbot of Holy Trinity, Moscow, 1392

St. Sergius of Radonej (1314-1392) is one of the most popular Russian saints. The monastery of the Holy Trinity founded by him, at present the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, is now the spiritual centre of Russia. The exceptional influence of the saint, which began during his life and never ceased, can be seen above all in the inner, spiritual life of the country, in its monastic life. St. Sergius had a multitude of followers, and the majority of monasteries founded after his death were directly or indirectly influenced by him. He was the head and the teacher of Russian hermits. The greater part of the saints in the XIVth and XVth centuries, intercessors for the land of Russia at that difficult time, were his disciples, friends or correspondents. It is worthy of note that the monastery which grew up round him is dedicated to the Holy Trinity—the prototype of that unity of which a monastery should be a concrete realization in the world. This unity, this perfect inner peace, was attained by the saint not only with men but also with wild animals. In him was re-established in practice that normal order of the universe where the whole of nature, united round man, obeys God. The monastery of St. Sergius which became the home of Russian sainthood at that period of its flowering, was also the home of iconography. The greatest iconographer, St. Andrew (Rublev) seems to have studied his art there and painted for it his famous icon of the Trinity. . . .

The most striking feature of St. Sergius’ life is his exceptional humility. To relieve his brethren he undertook the most lowly tasks in his monastery, wore threadbare, patched clothes, so that people who met him failed to recognize in him the renowned abbot of Radonej, whose fame spread throughout the land. He shared his meager portion of bread, which was his only food, with a wild bear which came to him from the forest; if there was not enough bread for the two of them, he used to give his share to the bear. To the reproaches of the brethren he answered that “the beast does not understand about fasting.”

From The Meaning of Icons by Leonid Ouspenskky and Vladimir Lossky (Crestwood, N.Y.: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1952).

Daily Reading for September 26 • The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

A dreadful thing, in truth, is poverty, as all who have had experience of it know. For no words can express the trouble which they endure who live in poverty, without knowing the relief of true philosophy. And in the case of Lazarus, there was not only this evil, but bodily weakness superadded, and that in the highest degree. . . . Many people are often in ill health, but they do not at the same time lack necessary food. Others may live in utter poverty, but they may enjoy health; and the blessing on the one hand may counterbalance the evil on the other; but in the case we are considering, both these evils came together.

Suppose, however, that there may be some alleviation even in weakness and in poverty. But this cannot be, when in such a state of desertion. For if there were no one connected with him or at his home, to pity him, yet he might have met with compassion from some of the beholders, when lying before the public; but in this case the utter lack of helpers increased the afore-mentioned evils. And the being laid at the gate of the rich man added to his distress. If he had been placed in a desert and uninhabited place when he suffered this neglect, he would not have felt such grief; for the fact of there being no one nigh would have led him, even though unwillingly, to submit to these unavoidable evils; but being placed in the midst of so many people carousing and rejoicing, and meeting with not the slightest attention from any of them, made the thought of his own woes more bitter, and the more inflamed his grief. . . . For if the rich man had been just, if he had been gentle, if he had been worthy of admiration, full of all virtue, the thought would not thus have grieved Lazarus. But now, when the rich man was living in wickedness, proceeding to the extreme of evil, displaying such inhumanity, and acting as an enemy, passing him by as shamelessly and pitilessly as though he were a stone; . . . just as if he had come for the very purpose of being a witness of another’s prosperity, he was laid at his gate, having life only sufficient to make him sensible of his own ills. He suffered, as it were, shipwreck at the very harbour’s mouth, and was consumed with thirst at the very edge of the spring. . . .

And even in addition to this, there was yet another thing, namely, that his character was maligned by foolish men. For the generality of men are accustomed, when they see any in hunger and thirst, or living in great trouble, not to entertain any charitable feeling respecting them, but rather to pass judgment on their life by their misfortunes, and to suppose that they are thus afflicted entirely on account of their wickedness; and they say to each other many things of this kind—foolishly no doubt—but still they say so: — “This man, if he were favourably regarded by God, would not have been suffered to be afflicted with poverty and other woes.” In this way it happened to Job and to Paul. . . .

Knowing, therefore, these things, let us act wisely, and let us not say that if God loved such a one, He would not have allowed him to be in poverty. This very thing is the greatest token of love. For “whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth” (Heb. xii. 6). And again, “My son, if thou dost purpose to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for trial, make ready thy heart, and be strong” (Ecclesiasticus ii. 1). . . . Let us not say such things; and if we see others speaking thus, let us refute them, let us boldly arise and put a stop to such shameless speech. . . .

Taking all this, therefore, into consideration, beloved, think those blessed, not who live in wealth, but in virtue; think those miserable, not those who live in poverty, but in wickedness: let us look not at the present, but at the future; let us examine, not the outward appearance, but the conscience of each man; and following after the virtue and the bliss of right actions, let us, whether we be wealthy or poor, emulate Lazarus.

From a homily delivered at Antioch by John Chrysostom, Discourse 1 of Four Discourses, Chiefly on the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus; found at
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/pearse/morefathers/files/chrysostom_four_discourses_01_discourse1.htm

Daily Reading for September 27 • Vincent de Paul, Religious, and Prophetic Witness, 1660, and Thomas Traherne, Priest, 1674

Knowing the greatness and sweetness of Love, I can never be poor in any estate. How sweet a thing is it as we go or ride, or eat or drink, or converse abroad to remember that one is the heir of the whole world, and the friend of God! That one has so great a friend as God is: and that one is exalted infinitely by all His Laws! That all the riches and honours in the world are ours in the Divine Image to be enjoyed! That a man is tenderly beloved of God and always walking in His Father’s Kingdom, under His wing, and as the apple of His eye! Verily that God hath done so much for one in His works and laws, and expressed so much love in His word and ways, being as He is Divine and infinite, it should make a man to walk above the stars, and seat him in the bosom of Men and Angels. It should always fill him with joy, and triumph, and lift him up above crowns and empires.

That a man is beloved of God, should melt him all into esteem and holy veneration. It should make him so courageous as an angel of God. It should make him delight in calamities and distresses for God's sake. By giving me all things else, He hath made even afflictions themselves my treasures. The sharpest trials, are the finest furbishing. The most tempestuous weather is the best seed-time. A Christian is an oak flourishing in winter. God hath so magnified and glorified His servant, and exalted him so highly in His eternal bosom, that no other joy should be able to move us but that alone. All sorrows should appear but shadows, beside that of His absence, and all the greatness of riches and estates swallowed up in the light of His favour. Incredible Goodness lies in His Love. And it should be joy enough to us to contemplate and possess it. He is poor whom God hates : ‘tis a true proverb. And besides that, we should so love Him, that the joy alone of approving ourselves to Him, and making ourselves amiable and beautiful before Him should be a continual feast, were we starving. A beloved cannot feel hunger in the presence of his beloved. Where martyrdom is pleasant, what can be distasteful. To fight, to famish, to die for one’s beloved, especially with one's beloved, and in his excellent company, unless it be for his trouble, is truly delightful. God is always present, and always seeth us. . . .

Our friendship with God ought to be so pure and so clear, that nakedly and simply for His Divine Love, for His glorious works, and blessed laws, the wisdom of His counsels, His ancient ways and attributes towards us, we should ever in public endeavour to honour Him. Always taking care to glorify Him before men: to speak of His goodness, to sanctify His name, to do those things that will stir up others, and occasion others to glorify Him. . . . So piecing this life with the life of Heaven, and seeing it as one with all Eternity, a part of it, a life within it: Strangely and stupendously blessed in its place and season.

From “The Fourth Century” in Centuries of Meditations by Thomas Traherne, edited by Bertram Dobell (London, 1908).

Daily Reading for September 28 • Richard Rolle, 1349, Walter Hilton, 1396, and Margery Kempe, c. 1440, Mystics

A great fullness of spiritual comfort and joy in God comes into the hearts of those who recite or devoutly intone the psalms as an act of praise to Jesus Christ. They drop sweetness in men’s souls and pour delight into their thoughts and kindle their wills with the fire of love, making them hot and burning within, and beautiful and lovely in Christ’s eyes. And those who persevere in their devotion he raises up to the life of meditation and, on many occasions, he exalts them to the melody and celebrations of heaven.

The song of the psalms chases away devils, stirs up angels to help us; it drives out and destroys discontent and resentment in the soul and makes a peace between body and soul; it brings desire of heaven and contempt for earthly things. Indeed, this radiant book is a choice song in God’s presence, like a lamp brightening our life, health for a sick heart, honey to a bitter soul, a high mark of honor among spiritual people, a voicing of private virtues, which forces down the proud to humility and makes kings bow in reverence to poor men, nurturing children with gentleness.

In the psalms there is such great beauty of meaning and of medicine from the words that this book is called “a garden enclosed,” a sealed fountain, a paradise full of apples. The song which gives delight to hearts and instructs the soul has become a sound of singing: with angels whom we cannot hear we mingle words of praising, so that anyone would be right to reckon himself exiled from true life if he does not in this way experience the delightfulness of this gift of wonderful sweetness.

From the Prologue to the English translation of the Psalter by Richard Rolle, quoted in Richard Rolle: The English Writings, translated, edited, and introduced by Rosamund S. Allen (Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 1988).

Daily Reading for September 29 • St. Michael and All Angels

Lord God, we all to Thee give praise,
Thanksgivings meet to Thee we raise,
That angel hosts Thou didst create
Around Thy glorious throne to wait.

They shine with light and heav’nly grace
And constantly behold Thy face;
They heed Thy voice, they know it well,
In godly wisdom they excel.

They never rest nor sleep as we;
Their whole delight is but to be
With Thee, Lord Jesus, and to keep
Thy little flock, Thy lambs and sheep.

The ancient dragon is their foe;
His envy and his wrath they know.
It always is his aim and pride
Thy Christian people to divide. . . .

But watchful is the angel band
That follows Christ on ev’ry hand
To guard His people where they go
And break the counsel of the foe.

For this, now and in days to be,
Our praise shall rise, O Lord, to Thee,
Whom all the angel hosts adore
With grateful songs forevermore.

A hymn for the feast of St. Michael and All Angels by Philipp Melanchthon (1497-1560).

Daily Reading for September 30 • Jerome, Priest, and Monk of Bethlehem, 420

Jerome is not a man to whom it is easy to warm, although he certainly had a powerful effect on various pious and wealthy ladies in late-fourth-century Rome. One feels that he was a man with a six-point plan for becoming a saint, taking in the papacy on the way. After [Pope] Damasus’s death Jerome abruptly relocated to Palestine, though the precise reasons for his departure from Rome have now somehow disappeared from the record. Soon afterwards, he wrote of his recently interrupted career in Rome: “The entire city resounded with my praises. Nearly everyone agreed in judging me worthy of the highest priesthood [that is, the papacy]. Damasus, of blessed memory, spoke my words. I was called holy, humble, eloquent.” An earlier venture to seek holiness with the fierce ascetics of the Syrian desert had not been a success, and after Jerome’s withdrawal from Rome he spent his last years in a rather less demanding religious community near Bethlehem. There he continued with the round of scholarship which was his chief virtue, together with bitter feuding, which was not.

Jerome produced an interesting and important spin on the scholarly task which he enjoyed so much. Traditionally it had been an occupation associated with elite wealth, and even in the case of this monk in Bethlehem it was backed up with an expensive infrastructure of assistants and secretaries. Study and writing, he insinuated, were as demanding, difficult and heroically self-denying as any physical extravagance of Syrian monks, or even the drudgery of manual labour and craft which were the daily occupation of monastic communities in Egypt. . . . If Jerome had not been so successful in his campaign for sainthood, and in persuading future writers that it was as much of a self-sacrifice for a scholar to sit reading a book as it was for St Simeon to sit on top of his pillar in a Syrian desert, it might have been far more difficult for countless monks to justify the hours that they spent reading and enjoying ancient texts, and copying them out for the benefit of posterity. Ultimately the beneficiary was Western civilization.

From Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch (New York: Viking, 2009).