Nicholas of Myra

Nicholas of Myra

The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara in Asia Minor. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus’ words to “sell what you own and give the money to the poor,” Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.

Learn more at the St. Nicholas Center here.

Grant, Almighty God, that your church may be so inspired by the example of your servant Nicholas of Myra, that it may never cease to work for the welfare of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor, and the help of those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Kamehameha and Emma of Hawaii

Kamehameha and Emma of Hawaii

King Kamehameha IV and his wife Emma were Christian rulers who encouraged the building of Christian schools and hospitals, and who contributed greatly to the spread of Christianity among the Hawaiian people.

O God, who called your servants Kamehameha and Emma to an earthly throne that they might advance your heavenly kingdom, and gave them zeal for you church and love for your people: Mercifully grant that we also may be fruitful in good works, and attain to the glorious crown of your saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis

“You must make your choice,” C. S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity. “Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up as a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon, or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.”

Lewis did not always believe this. Born in Belfast on November 29th, 1898, Lewis was raised as an Anglican but rejected Christianity during his adolescent years. After serving in World War I, he started a long academic career as a scholar in medieval and renaissance literature at both Oxford and Cambridge. He also began an inner journey that led him from atheism to agnosticism to theism and finally to faith in Jesus Christ.

“Really, a young Atheist cannot guard his faith too carefully,” helater wrote of his conversion to theism in Surprised by Joy. “Dangers lie in wait for him on every side…Amiable agnostics will talk cheerfully about ‘man’s search for God’. To me, as I then was, they might as well have talked about the mouse’s search for the cat. You must picture me all alone in that room at Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work,the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me.In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.” Two years later, his conversion was completed: “I know very well when, but hardly how, the final step was taken. I was driven to Whipsnade one sunny morning. When we set out, I did not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and when we reached the zoo, I did.”

Lewis’s conversion inaugurated a wonderful outpouring of Christian apologetics in media as varied as popular theology, children’s literature, fantasy and science fiction, and correspondence on spiritual matters with friends and strangers alike.

In 1956 Lewis married Joy Davidman, a recent convert to Christianity. Her death four years later led him to a transforming encounter with the Mystery of which he had written so eloquently before. Lewis died at his home in Oxford on November 22nd, 1963. The inscription on his grave reads: “Men must endure their going hence”.

 

O God of searing truth and surpassing beauty, we give you thanks for Clive Staples Lewis whose sanctified imagination lights fires of faith in young and old alike; Surprise us also with your joy and draw us into that new and abundant life which is ours in Christ Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Consecration of Samuel Seabury

Consecration of Samuel Seabury

Samuel Seabury, the first bishop of the Episcopal Church, was born in Groton, Connecticut on November 30th, 1729. After ordination in England in 1753, he was assigned, as a missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, to Christ Church, New Brunswick, New Jersey. In 1757, he became rector of Grace Church, Jamaica, Long Island, and in 1766, rector of St. Peter’s, Westchester County. During the American Revolution, he remained loyal to the British crown and served as a chaplain in the British army.

After the Revolution, a secret meeting of Connecticut clergy in Woodbury, held on March 25th, 1783, named Seabury or the Rev. Jeremiah Leaming, whichever would be able or willing, to seek episcopal consecration in England. They extended the call first to Leaming, who declined; Seabury then accepted, and sailed for England.

After a year of negotiation, Seabury found it impossible to obtain episcopal orders from the Church of England because, as an American citizen, he could not swear allegiance to the crown. He then turnedto the non–juring bishops of the Episcopal Church in Scotland. On November 14th, 1784, in Aberdeen, he was consecrated by the Bishop and the Bishop Coadjutor of Aberdeen and the Bishop of Ross and Caithness in the presence of many people.

Upon his return home, Seabury was recognized as Bishop of Connecticut in Convocation on August 3rd, 1785, at Middletown. With Bishop William White, he was active in the organization of the Episcopal Church at the General Convention of 1789. Seabury kept his promise, made in a concordat with the Scottish bishops, to persuade the American Church to adopt the Scottish form for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

In 1790, Seabury became responsible for episcopal oversight of the churches in Rhode Island; and, at the General Convention of 1792, he participated in the first consecration of a bishop on American soil, that of John Claggett of Maryland. Seabury died on February 25th, 1796, and is buried beneath St. James’ Church, New London.

 

We give you thanks, O Lord our God, for your goodness in bestowing upon this church the gift of the episcopate; and we pray that, joined together in unity with our bishops and nourished by your holy sacraments, we may proclaim the Gospel of redemption with apostolic zeal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Saint Martin

Saint Martin

Saint Martin grew up in what is now northern Italy in the early 300s. When he was only 10 years old, he went to church against his parents’ wishes.

At age 15 he had to join the military, at his father’s behest, and so he became a Roman soldier. He served in the cavalry in Gaul (modern day France), meaning he had an army-issued horse. That’s why we most often see him depicted on horseback, and that’s how his most famous saint story happened. When he was riding into a city with his unit, he saw an impoverished beggar at the gate who was cold. Without hesitating, he took his sword and cut his army-issued cloak in half so the man could have a blanket to keep warm. Later that night, he had a dream that Jesus was wrapped in the cloak and said to him, “Martin! Martin, who isn’t even baptized yet, clothed me with this robe!”

Martin had been going to church but wasn’t even baptized yet, and he still behaved in a Christ-like way. When we awoke, the cloak was mysteriously restored to its full size.

A few years later he was baptized, and as he continued to go to church and study he decided he needed to leave the military. It hurt his soul to have to go to war. He continued to help care for and love his fellow soldiers as an unarmed chaplain until he was discharged.

After the war, he went away to an island to rest and recover. While he was resting, he started a monastery and kept studying the Christian faith. After several years of mental healing, he started to travel around Italy preaching and ministering to many Christians.

Because he was a good and trustworthy minister, people made him the Bishop of Tours in 371. He had been drawn to Tours by a ruse — he was urged to come to minister to someone sick — but instead was brought to the church, where he reluctantly allowed himself to be consecrated bishop.

Legend has it that he was so unwilling to be made bishop that he hid in a barn full of geese, but their cackling gave him away to the crowd. As bishop, he planted many new churches and monasteries. He visited every single one of them every year, travelling to them by foot, donkey, or boat. This is something that our own bishops today still try to do.

Martin was also very dedicated to the freeing of prisoners. When authorities, even emperors, heard he was coming, they refused to see him because they knew he would request mercy for someone and they would be unable to refuse.

During Martin’s time as bishop, a Christian teacher named Priscillian, bishop of Avila in Spain, was accused of heresy. Some of Martin’s fellow bishops were happy to use imperial power to put Priscillian on trial and execute him. Martin objected vehemently. He thought Priscillian was wrong in his teaching, and that what he was teaching was harmful to people, but he also thought it was wrong to put him to death. His experience as a soldier made him care especially about prisoners and want mercy for everyone. He is remembered by many for his mercy during these conversations, and his strong moral conviction. He was an example to many.

We learn many things from Saint Martin’s example. We learn to be generous. We should not hesitate to help those who need our help. We must be the change we want to see in the world. If we believe in mercy, we should first be merciful ourselves. We learn that Christians are called to a high moral standard even when it puts us in opposition with what others think is justice. Christians are supposed to be just and merciful even beyond what society’s rules say. Our work in the Church is different from the work of the State. And we learn that it is important to retreat and pray, to retreat and learn, and to be brave enough to do what we think is right.

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