The Holy Innocents

Troparion (Tone 1)
O Lord and Lover of the human race,
through all the sufferings your saints endured for you,
we beseech and implore you:
heal all our pains and sufferings!

Kontakion (Tone 8)
When the King was born in Bethlehem,
wise men came from the East and brought him gifts.
They had been led by a star on high.
Herod became exceedingly angry
and harvested the infants like lamenting wheat,
and his kingdom came to an end.

Domitian of Ancyra

28 December

Domitian, deacon and martyr, with presbyter Eutychius, killed for defending the faith, at Ancyra in Galatia (present Turkey), date unknown.

Stephen the Deacon

An icon at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Cohasset, Massachusetts.

26 December

Stephen the Deacon, first martyr, died c. 34.

Stephen suffered martyrdom in Jerusalem about the year 34. He is remembered both as the first Christian martyr (the protomartyr) and as one of the first deacons. The latter tradition is an early one. In the year 185, Irenaeus in his treatise Against Heresies (Book III, ch. XII, 10) refers to “Stephen, who was chosen the first deacon by the apostles.” All that we know of his life is found in Acts 6:1—7:3.

According to tradition, Stephen was a Jew living in the Hellenic provinces, related to the apostle Paul, and one of the first seven deacons ordained by the apostles to serve the church in Jerusalem (thus making him an archdeacon). The Holy Spirit worked powerfully through his faith, enabling him to perform many miracles and always to defeat those who would dispute with him. Some in their hatred of Stephen lied about him to the people. But Stephen with his illumined face reminded the people of the miracles God had worked through him and even rebuked the crowd for killing the innocent Christ.

The people were enraged by what they thought was blasphemy and “gnashed their teeth” at Stephen. It was then that he saw his Christ in the heavens and declared it so. Hearing this, the crowd took him outside the city and stoned him to death, with his kinsman Saul (later Paul) holding their coats while they did it. Afar off on a hill was the Virgin Mary and St John the Theologian who witnessed this first martyrdom for the Son of God and prayed for him while he was being stoned. This occurred about a year after the first Pentecost.

Those who had stoned Stephen left his body at the foothill of the city for two days to be eaten by dogs. On the second night, Gamaliel—teacher of the apostle Paul and the apostle Barnabas—came and moved the body to his own land in Capharganda. Nicodemus, who died while weeping at this grave, was also buried there along with Gamaliel’s godson Abibus and Gamaliel himself upon his repose.

After many years Stephen’s burial place had been forgotten, until 415 when Gamaliel appeared three times to Father Lucian, priest at Capharganda. He revealed to Lucian the place of the burial and everything about it. Lucian received the blessing of the patriarch to exhume the saints from their grave where a strong, sweet fragrance fillled the cave. Stephen’s relics were translated to Zion and honorably buried, and many of the sick were healed by his relics. The other three relics were placed inside a church atop the cave on a hill. Eventually, his relics were translated to Constantinople.

Troparion (Tone 4)
For all you endured for Christ our God,
you received a royal crown, first and holy martyr Stephen!
You put your persecutors to shame
and saw your Savior enthroned at the right hand of the Father.
Cease not to pray for the salvation of our souls.

Kontakion (Tone 3)
Yesterday the Lord came to us in the flesh,
today his servant departs in the flesh.
Yesterday the King was born in the flesh,
today his servant is stoned to death.
Behold the first martyr Stephen.

Xmas menu at Kay and Ormonde's house

Noël 2007

walnut, arugula & gorgonzola crostini

cabernet sauvignon

Jerusalem artichoke soup with wild mushroom tortellini

green salad

creamed spinach

standing rib roast with portobello mushrooms

rosemary garlic roasted potatoes

raspberry cake with chocolate sauce

Hodie Christus natus est

The antiphon on Magnificat at II Vespers of the Feast of the Nativity:

Hodie Christus natus est:
Hodie Salvator apparuit:
Hodie in terra canunt Angeli, laetantur Archangeli:
Hodie exsultant justi, dicentes:
Gloria in excelsis Deo, alleluia.

Today Christ is born.
Today the Savior appeared.
Today on earth angels are singing, archangels rejoicing.
Today the righteous rejoice, saying:
Glory to God in the highest, alleluia.

Demonizing the bishop

My bishop, Charles Jenkins, writes in his blog:

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Raising Your Head Above The Wall

Archbishop Rowan Williams recently reminded me “when you raise your head above the wall, someone will throw a stone at you.” I have lately been too much above the wall for my comfort.
Why must we demonize those with whom we disagree? Why can public discourse not be a civil matter? How do Christian people resort to such tactics with what seems greater ease and more venom than those in the public sector?

I think that disagreement can and should be argued, debated, and a resolution reached without personally tearing down those with whom we differ.

Bishop Jenkins

I wish he would tell us who has been demonizing him. Or, if that information is too sensitive, perhaps a few other details. Has he been receiving nasty phone calls, letters, emails? And what do they say?

Anyway, God bless him for standing up for the poor.

Train Wreck

Time magazine's Top 10 Religion Stories of 2007 includes:

#5 The Slow-Motion Episcopal/Anglican Train Wreck

The Episcopal Bishops' meeting in New Orleans fails to stem the ongoing defection of conservatives over the church's positions on gays, or the likelihood of a worldwide Anglican split over the same issue.

Our bishop speaks out (2)

More from our bishop today:

Friday, December 21, 2007

An Interesting Bit of Irony

On the day before the City Council of New Orleans voted unanimously to move ahead with the demolition of four public housing sites in New Orleans, Church leaders were summoned by FEMA and HUD to a housing summit. We were asked by the officials present to assist with the looming housing crisis in New Orleans. Those of us who attempt to minister in the area of housing were asked to move quickly to be part of the solution to the crisis that is coming. We were told that the critical point would be in April of 2008. FEMA plans to move thirty thousand families out of travel trailers before the next Hurricane season. There are apparently six thousand families still in “trailer parks.” Many trailers are still in front of ruined houses.

When asked of the demolition of projects that could have provided temporary housing for citizens, the reply came, “bad timing, isn’t it?” You can’t make this stuff up, you know? I should also point out that the Mayor of New Orleans apparently knew nothing of this summit.

Let us be clear that our Diocese is committed to the ministry of housing. We are not just about building houses but homes. We seek the transformation of lives and the improvement of neighborhoods.

Our JERICHO ROAD EPISCOPAL HOUSING INIATIVE continues to build new houses in the Central City neighborhood. We are partnered with many in this ministry. JERICHO ROAD is also involved in “gap financing” and homeowner education to help transform renters into owners. JERICHO ROAD depends upon the generosity of others for its funding. This ministry of the Diocese, Christ Church Cathedral, New Orleans, and Episcopal Relief and Development is recognized as a leader in rebuilding our city. A new opportunity for consideration by the JERICHO ROAD Board is to move into refurbishing rental property in Central City. This move could provide affordable rental property: a move that speaks directly to the urgent request of FEMA and HUD.

In a separate and distinct ministry, the Diocese continues to clean and rebuild houses ruined by the floodwaters. This ministry is funded in large measure by Episcopal Relief and Development but must increasingly depend upon the generosity of individuals. Katie Mears and her team of trained college interns head up this ministry. Volunteers from around the country continue to give of their time and talents to make this happen. Since so many have not received Road Home funds, the Diocese has been providing the materials for many of these rebuilds. The results are amazing and the generosity of those with whom we have worked is heartwarming. When the Road Home funds have finally come to those with whom we have worked, we have seen an outpouring of generosity that is amazing.

Even though the ideas I put forward in the public housing debate did not prevail, I want all to know that our Diocese stands committed to safe and dignified housing in our city. A loss in one area is often an opportunity in another. God is good.

Bishop Jenkins

Our bishop speaks out (1)

From our bishop today:

Friday, December 21, 2007

A Word to the Diocese of Louisiana

I write to share with you a bit of my thinking behind my decision to enter the fray around public housing in New Orleans. The Bible as God’s revelation is the beginning of theological reflection just as surely as God is the end, the object, of such reflection. I know many of you question why I have become involved in this issue and some think I have come down on the wrong side of the issues. I want to share the theology that has informed my decisions. Time and space dictate a hurried and superficial look.

So, faith, hope, love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love. (I Corinthians 13.13)

In one sense, I wish we would not read this passage of Scripture at weddings for such usage could mistakenly lead to the idea that these three theological virtues, revealed in Holy Scripture, are sentimental and fuzzy. One can even begin to believe that the theological virtue of love is an emotion and depends upon an intensity of feeling. Do not confuse eros and agape and be certain that the love of which St. Paul writes in I Corinthians is neither erotic nor emotional. Agape, of which St. Paul writes, is a tough and persistent act of the will in which we continually put God first in our hearts, our lives, and our decisions. As wrote Bishop R. C. Mortimer, formerly Lord Bishop of Exeter and Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University, the theological virtue of love is not primarily an emotion; its seat is in the will . . . it is something to which we must direct our attention by an act of the will. 1 This theological virtue of Agape is also a gift of God and one for which I think all should pray. Agape is an infused virtue and comes to us as a matter of grace. One cannot manufacture Agape, this virtue is not naturally ours as is an emotion, though I would say that we can and should prepare ourselves for the infused virtue by conforming our lives to charitable living. Since I was ordained Bishop ten years ago next month, I have prayed daily that God would make me a good Bishop for you and that I might faithfully live out this vocation. As you well know, I am not one who quickly claims a charism, so with hope and humility I pray that I am indeed carrying out God’s will in standing with the poor in this particular way. I would not suggest that those who disagree with me believe themselves to be doing exactly the same. I believe the Church catholic is called of God to be a place where Agape is not merely a topic of conversation but the marching order of the day.

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which the great commandment in the law?” And he said to them, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This the great and first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.” (St. Matthew 22: 34 – 40)

God is the first and primary object of our love, but we must remember that we are bidden as well by Jesus to love neighbor and self. To so love another, at least in classical Anglican theology, is to desire their true good.2 It seems to me that Agape is the fulfillment of justice. As Dewar and Hudson point out, it is the generosity of agape that produces the atmosphere in which that rough-and-ready approximation to justice which is embodied in human law always can be achieved. Paradoxically, so long as men are solely concerned to insist on their rights, it is never completely possible to fulfill those rights. .. there is, however a second way in which agape fulfills justice. It is the ultimate satisfaction of natural rights. Accordingly, any conduct which is inconsistent with this is not truly agape. A further examination of the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard may help elucidate this.

I have come to think that the theological virtue of love is the basis for the baptismal covenant question which asks: “will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?” We are called to love others as God loves others and ourselves. We are called to seek for others God’s perfect end. The Christian is not only to love neighbor as self, but as best we can, to love our neighbor as God loves them.

This means that there are no disposable lives, no subspecies of human upon whom we may look down but that all posses a certain, God-given, dignity in life. This frames the moral issue that I feel compelled to address as a Christian. There is a direct connection between our current homeless population in New Orleans and the thirty thousand families and individuals living in FEMA travel trailers all of whom shall soon be evicted even from those formaldehyde soaked boxes. I am concerned about our homeless situation now and concerned about what I think may a looming human tragedy in the near future.

I traveled to Baker, Louisiana, last week to meet with folks from Renaissance Village. It was interesting to hear the HUD representative tell folks they could move anywhere they wanted in the United States and HUD would help them but that they probably could not move home to New Orleans because of the housing shortage and the high costs of rent.

Let me be clear that I am not about trying to repeat a failed Federal effort in public housing. I absolutely agree with Community Congress II and III which said that we the people do not want the poor deposited in huge neighborhoods of poverty. I am for improving the lot and living conditions of our poor folks, especially our working poor. I have said that I would seek to use some of the existing projects as temporary, dignified homes whilst the new, mixed-income housing is built over the next two years. Let our leadership find a phased way to make this transition. Why not accept the moratorium called for by the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader of the Senate? There is a serious disconnect between the claims of the Housing Authority of New Orleans and the experiences of those in the diaspora who want to come home. HANO says there is an abundance of housing going without takers. Residents tell me they cannot get HANO to admit them to a home.

Let me be clear. I am not so concerned about buildings. I am concerned about people. I am concerned about our homeless and our soon to be homeless. I care deeply about the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of our people. I pray for the good of all God’s people. I may be going about this wrongly or naively, and if so, I pray for forgiveness. I imagine that many will agree with the theological principles I have tried to demonstrate but will question my choice to apply them in this issue. It is a gift to live in a Christian community where diversity of opinion and practice is treasured. My decision to enter this fray comes from the depths of my spirituality. I pray this decision is prompted by God at work in my life. I could be wrong.

In the meantime, the Christian Church stands for the dignity of every human being. To do so is to be faithful to Scripture and the great tradition of Anglican moral theology. How can we do otherwise and believe ourselves faithful?

Bishop Jenkins

Housing in New Orleans (2)

Another letter recently made public, written by a young woman who lives in New Orleans:

People are in an uproar here over this. Protesters were pepper sprayed today at the city council meeting it got so bad. There have been signs plastered all over threatening to burn condos and houses for every development demolished. It has also somehow turned into a seemingly black vs. white issue when it isn't just whites pushing for the demolition etc etc. Some of the former residents of the complex have come out to say the conditions of the place before the storm were horrible and they should be rebuilt. They voted today to demolish with conditions in the vote about ensuring housing when the rebuilds are done.

It is very hard in this city right now to convince people to put their tax dollars towards subsidized housing. People have been working hard, some rebuilding their homes by themselves. Most everyone I know is barely getting by. We have levees that haven't been fixed, government infrastructure that is still not working, government officials being arrested left and right and our murder toll for the year is over 200. The housing complexes have a history of being safe havens for drug dealers and violent criminals. They use the situation to their advantage because people do not speak up or turn them in. If I was a working or middle class black person in Nola East I would be furious and insulted at the amount of time and energy spent bringing up the race issue concerning the projects. And not living here it would be hard to know those things because they are localized issues.

Anyway, its created a lot of anger on both sides this week. People are furious and it will probably only get worse in the next few weeks.

Housing in New Orleans

From a letter (recently made public) to a young man who had inquired about the housing fight in New Orleans:

One, the battle over demolitions is already lost. It does not look like it can be stopped. At best it can only be delayed. Two, I think its also just the wrong fight. The real fight is over the future of public housing policy and what it will look like, not over whether the old, broken, failed model should be saved. I agree with your father, it should not be brought back the way it was, especially if there is a real opportunity for reform which is what we have right now.

The real fight right now, like many of the other post-Katrina policy fights, is about whether we are going to reform the public model or whether we are going to let it be scrapped so that the system can be privatized.

The redevelopment of the Lafitte public housing project is a good model. It is 1-1 replacement for every unit demolished. There are currently 865 subsidized units at Lafitte. The plan is to tear them down and replace them with 1500 mixed income units, 900 of which will be subsidized. Every Lafitte housing resident will have the right of return. It will be phased redevelopment, meaning 100 of the current units will be immediately opened while the redevelopment begins. An additional 100 units will be opened if the first 100 fill up quickly. But [Bill] Quigley apparently opposes this plan and thinks they should all be brought back immediately.

My fear is that fighting the wrong fight between those of us who ought to be allies will undermine the real fight for reform. What I sympathize with on Quigley is his skepticism and mistrust on some of the intentions and possible outcomes with public housing. But what I wonder is if he sees the opportunity to fix it. There are bills in congress that use some resources to fix public housing. The Maxine Waters-Barney Frank House bill and the corresponding Mary Landrieu-Chris Dodd Senate bill will deliver 700 million dollars to redevelop public housing. Vitter and the Republicans want to use that money to privatize the system through a voucher program. A lot of developers and landlords would love to get their hands on those dollars too.

Seung Hong
Legislative and Communications Director
Office of Councilmember Shelley Midura

Violent protests in New Orleans

This morning there was a hearing on whether to tear down four housing projects in New Orleans. This occurred (almost) in the chambers of the City Council. After the hall filled up, more people tried to get it, and the police had to lock the gates with chains. Angry people tried to tear down the gates, but the police (some on horseback) repelled them. There were struggles outside between protesters and police, fights inside in the council chambers. Some protesters got sprayed with mace. Some got tasered, and their companions carried them off writhing in pain. Some were white and some black. A few looked as if they might actually have lived in the projects. A few looked familiar from similar scenes in the past. The council members departed in haste but later returned, in a calmer atmosphere, for debate and voting.

All this was presented in vivid color on the noon TV newscasts, with excited commentaries by our local news personalities. Our bishop, Charles Jenkins, was there and reported by e-mail to his priests and deacons:

The violence and unrest in and in front of City Hall today was an unnecessary and most regrettable situation. I was not part of that and disassociate myself from it. The Diocese of Louisiana was not part of that scene. Indeed, I was amongst those who could not get into City Hall but I understood that [if] I had been there earlier, before the capacity for safety was reached, I would likely have been admitted. I departed when the crowd grew unruly. Had I been admitted, I likely would have registered to speak before the City Council.

I was awake early this morning and in my prayers I asked God for guidance. Here is the word that came to me. "Refrain from anger, and foresake wrath. Do not fret, it leads only to evil. For the wicked shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land." Ps. 37: 8-9 We pray for all involved and for the healing of the City of New Orleans.

This violence does no one, no cause, any good. Where was the spirit of Gandhi and King?

COMMENT: Indeed, where was our absentee, non-voting, non-governing mayor, Ray Nagin? Our citywide disgust in that man has about reached its limit.

UPDATE: Late in the day, the City Council voted 7-0 to tear down all four projects. I suspect that the violence, instigated mainly by professional activists, contributed to this unanimous decision. Now we need to figure out where homeless people can live, and, in the long term, where all our people, freed from ignorance and violence, can receive a decent education and find good jobs.

Timothy of Morocco

19 December

Timothy, deacon and martyr, burnt alive in Morocco, Africa, c. 250. After enduring a harsh imprisonment for his faith in Christ, Timothy was thrown into the fire.

Abbacum of Serbia

17 December

Abbacum (Habakkuk), deacon and martyr of Serbia, with abbot Paisius, impaled by Turks on 17 December 1814.

Paisius was abbot of the monastery of Trnava near Cacak in Serbia, and Habakkuk his companion and deacon. As Christians, both of them were impaled on stakes by the Turks on Kalemegdan in Belgrade, on 17 December 1814. Before the execution, dragging his spike through the streets of Belgrade, Habakkuk sang in praise of God. When his mother begged him with tears to save his life by accepting Islam, he thanked her for her motherhood but not for her advice, quoted the great figures of the Old Testament who suffered for God, and looked forward to his own martyrdom.

Controversial levee video

This is the video the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) doesn't want you to see. Made by students at Isidore Newman School, a brainy high school in uptown New Orleans, the video ridicules the ASCE and Army Corps of Engineers. Levees.org, a local organization fighting for reform, placed the video on its web site (and YouTube). ASCE said the spoof defames them and threatened to sue. The video was pulled. After two local law firms offered to defend Levees.org for free, ASCE backed down, and the video is back on the Internet.

As with all such attempts at censorship, the ASCE's clumsy response has attracted thousands of viewers who would otherwise have paid no attention.

The red-haired woman in the front row, on the right, is Mary Jo Brown, wife of retired Bishop James Brown of Louisiana and a Spanish teacher at Newman.

Susanna of Palestine

15 December

Susanna, deacon and martyr in Palestine, archimandrite, died 3rd c.

NOTE: The title Archimandrite (Greek: ἀρχιμανδρίτης), primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches, originally referred to a superior abbot whom a bishop appointed to supervise several "ordinary" abbots (each styled hegumenos) and monasteries, or to the abbot of some especially great and important monastery.

Looking ahead

The Third Sunday of Advent is traditionally known as "Gaudete Sunday," from the first word of the Latin introit (Philippians 4:4-6):

Gaudéte in Dómino semper: íterum díco, gaudéte: modéstia véstra nóta sit ómnibus hominibus: Dóminus prope est: Nihil sollíciti sítis: sed in ómni oratióne petitiónes véstrae innotéscant apud Déum. [Latin Vulgate]

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. [NRSV]

Regocijaos en el Señor siempre. Otra vez lo diré: ¡Regocijaos! Vuestra bondad sea conocida de todos los hombres. El Señor está cerca. Por nada estéis afanosos; antes bien, en todo, mediante oración y súplica con acción de gracias, sean dadas a conocer vuestras peticiones delante de Dios. [La Biblia de las Américas]

Réjouissez-vous en tout temps de tout ce que le Seigneur est pour vous. Oui, je le répète, soyez dans la joie. Faites-vous connaître par votre amabilité envers tous les hommes. Le Seigneur est proche. Ne vous mettez en souci pour rien, mais, en toute chose, exposez vos besoins à Dieu. Adressez-lui vos prières et vos requêtes, en lui disant aussi votre reconnaissance. [La Bible du Semeur]

And the color is rose (if you have it). That's for vestments, not candles. As Thomas Talley once said, those colored Advent candles are a merchandizing plot concocted by candle manufacturers.

Justus Van Houten, SSF

Brother Justus with missionaries Bonnie Weppler (left) and Jennifer Wheeler (right), dressed in native garb in Papua New Guinea in July 2006. (from the web site Volunteers in Mission of the Anglican Church of Canada)

13 December

Justus Richard Van Houten, SSF, deacon and advocate for those on the edge of society, died of pneumonia at Kompiai in Papua New Guinea, 13 December 2006.

Justus Van Houten was born on 6 October 1948 in Staunton, Virginia. After serving in the Army in Vietnam, he came home in 1973 with a desire to become a Franciscan friar. At that time he felt that the vocation of friar was incompatible with the vocation of deacon (although Francis of Assisi had been a deacon). In the early 1980s, after ten years as a friar, he changed his mind and with the support of his brothers was ordained at the annual chapter of the Society of St Francis (SSF) on 26 May 1986, as the society’s first deacon friar. For his first two years as deacon, Brother Justus worked for the San Francisco Night Ministry, spending Saturday nights in the streets, bars and coffee shops, and other places where people hang out. He helped and befriended robbed tourists, stranded people, patients who had lost their medication, recovering alcoholics, and potential suicides.

Later, in 1993, he was elected Minister General of the American Province of SSF, and in 1993-1995 he also served as president of the North American Association for the Diaconate. After a long sabbatical, he joined the Franciscan brothers in Papua New Guinea. At the time of his illness and sudden death on 13 December 2006, he was serving as principal and lecturer in liturgy, sacramental theology, and church history at Newton Theological College in Popondetta, Papua New Guinea.

A student and witness, Adam Wali, recalled his final days:

“Our actual day of leaving or left Newton College for visiting my Diocese and particularly my Parish (Koinambe) was on Wednesday 6th December. He had just arrived from Port Moresby a day before we began our trip. After leaving Newton College I found out that he had hard cough and a sore throat. He actually mentioned to me that he had hard cough and a sore throat after his recent trips from New Zealand and coming to and from Port Moresby for the College Council Meeting.

“However, we left Popondetta on the 6th December for Mt. Hagen. We had to fly from Girna to Port Moresby, changed the flight and we caught another flight to Mt. Hagen. We stayed two nights and a day in Hagen. The cough and sore throat in him doesn’t change. During our staying in Hagen we were given The Mepang Missionary home to overnight there two nights.

“While we were in Hagen on Thursday I showed him the city in actually taking a walk, just around the central part of the city or township only for sight viewing, because this is his first time to the Province (WHP) and the Highlands.

“On the 8th December, we flew by MAF to Koinambe, where we met The Parish Priest (Fr. Nicholas Kaam), all the church leaders and the Christians fully dressed in customs and welcomed us from the airstrip to the Parish Hall for refreshment and rest.

“There were lots of greetings and joy with tears from the Christians in receiving us. We rested the whole day after arrival on Friday at the Parish. We stayed with the Parish priest for three days, which were: Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“On Saturday I took him around the station for sight viewing and visited the school, Parish itself and the health Centre. One thing we did while at Koinambe for this three days was visiting and praying for the patient at the Health Centre. That reminds me of how Br. Justus love to serve and care for the soul of others in the ministry he was called to serve.

“On Sunday 10th December we had a very spectacular service. Late Br. Justus was told to take the Gospel reading and preached. In his preaching all done in Pidgin, I can remember and recall one thing he mention in Pidgin that ‘Yumi Mas Redi Long Kambek Bilong Jesus Long Laip Bilong Yumi.’ This phrase in his preaching in Pidgin meant that we must be prepare and ready for the Lord coming in our lives today. Anyway we ended the Sunday service with speeches, ‘bungka’ and presentation of items. Then we stayed overnight the last night at the Parish St. Johns the Baptist Parish at Koinambe.

“On Monday 11th December we had to take our walk from Parish to Kompiai which is another out station. We started the journey at 7.30 am and reached to the village at 4.00 pm in the afternoon. Christians and the leaders both the church and the community welcomed us with refreshment and rest. After our arrival at Kompiai I found out about his cough and sore throat that it got worse.

“On Tuesday morning I told him that we should stop at Kompiai and not to go further to Mengik, but he insisted and mentioned that we should finish the trip. So, we went over to Mengik on the 12th December started the journey at 7.30 am but it took us a while or a day before reaching the village. At Mengik he cannot say or do anything because he was very tired and very weak after the walk, not only that was the cause but also the hard cough and sore throat. And eventually he was having a complication of breathing and the symptom of the case grew worse and in the same night he had diarrhea. I have to nurse him all night with the help from community up until Wednesday morning.

“In the early hours on Wednesday I told the Christians to make a stretcher so we will carry him to the near Health Centre, which is at Koinambe. So we carry him on the local made stretcher left at Mengik at 9.00 am and carry him all the way and just reaching Kompiai my own family village Late Brother Justus had passed away at 1.00 pm in front of my Christian community and me his own student and his brother.

“I would like to recall the last words from Late Br. Justus Van Houten. ‘Adam my brother, this is the end of my ministry in Christ. Our visiting here at your Parish is not a waste, but we fulfill the ministry that we are called to do in Jesus, Thank you.’

“Then as I have said he took the last breath and end of his life at 1.00 pm at Kompiai, my own village.

“After his death or he has passed away the Christians continually carry the body all the way down to Koinambe for chopper lift to Mt. Hagen. The information about his death gone through the VHF Radio to be air broadcast to the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea. We carry the body down to Koinambe and it took us one and half hour, and we finally put the body on the chopper lift. We arrived in Mt. Hagen at 5.00 pm and took the body straight to the morgue with the help from Diocesan Staff here at Mt. Hagen.

“Now to be honest in my report about the instant death of Late Brother Justus SSF is from the hard cough and the sore throat and as a result of those that final night at Mengik the problem grew bigger and also that night he had diarrhea. His death was end with very high breathing symptoms, meaning that he had pneumonia or what we call sort win in Pidgin.” [Adam Wali, “The Final Hours of Brother Justus,” http://aidanspiritatwork.blogspot.com/, 31 Dec 2006]

On 8 July 2007 his funeral was celebrated at the friary at Little Portion, Long Island, New York, and his ashes were buried in the garden.

The bishop speaks out

My bishop, Charles Jenkins, has issued a statement opposing FEMA's decision to evict refugees from trailers and HUD's decision to bulldoze federal housing in New Orleans (already a city with many homeless). He says, in part:

As a Christian, I am compelled to speak of the morality of these decisions. The issue is not simply one of housing or even subsidized housing. Rather, the issue before us is primarily a moral issue. The issue before us is not buildings, but people. As the Christ Child had no place but a manger to lay his head, so it is that many children in New Orleans and of the New Orleans diaspora have no place to call home. Shall America by policy treat our citizens as mere statistics or shall we respect the dignity of each person as a child of God?

For the whole statement, see here.

Recently, before a sympathetic city council, several protesters got a little rowdy, and police arrested the noted civil rights lawyer Bill Quigley. An Episcopal activist, Nell Bolton of Trinity Church, was present but kept her cool.

Aux barricades, citoyens!

Abundius

10 December

Abundius, deacon and martyr, with presbyter Carpophorus, martyred at either Spoleto in Italy, or Seville in Spain, 300.

In the persecution of Diocletian, they were first beaten with clubs and then thrown into prison, where they were denied food and drink. They were tortured for a second time on the rack and again cast into prison for a long period. Finally, they were slain by the sword.

William West Skiles of Valle Crucis

8 December

William West Skiles, deacon, farmer, missionary, and monk at Valle Crucis, North Carolina, died 8 December 1862.

In 1842 Bishop Levi Silliman Ives of North Carolina decided to begin mission work in a wild area near Boone where two valleys cross. He bought two thousand acres and called the area Valle Crucis. Over the next several years, Bishop Ives established the Order of the Holy Cross, the first monastic order in the Anglican Communion since the Reformation.

William West Skiles was born on 12 October 1807 at Hertford, Perquimons County, North Carolina, and came to Valle Crucis in 1844 at the age of 37. In June 1847 he became a member of the Order of the Holy Cross, as the first Anglican monk since the Reformation. He supervised the farming operation and dairy herd, taught school, kept store, practiced medicine, raised funds to build the local Church of St John the Baptist (contributing a third of the $700 construction cost), and became the spiritual leader of the community. Bishop Ives ordained Skiles a deacon on 1 August 1847.

Under criticism in the diocese for introducing catholic practices, Bishop Ives dissolved the order in 1849. In 1852, his health deteriorating, Ives resigned his office, sold the land, and became a Roman Catholic. Although the monastic order and school disbanded, Skiles was the only one of the original monks not to marry. “Father Skiles,” as he was called, continued to care for the poor valley people until he died on 8 December 1862. He was buried next to the church he helped to build, overlooking the Watauga River. Moved in 1882 to a spot higher up the Watauga, the church still stands and is used during the summer and for special services. In 1889 Skiles’ body was moved to the new site.

Susan Fenimore Cooper wrote an account of his life and ministry, William West Skiles: A Sketch of Missionary Life at Valle Crucis in Western North Carolina 1842-1862, published in 1890. The book is reproduced online here.

Kontakion (Tone 1)
In the valley you took up a cross
and gave your life to Christ.
The wilderness became a garden,
and the mountains sang for joy.
Brother William, pray for us.

COMMENT: It is ironic that the first Anglican monk after the Reformation (and in the USA) died on the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Nicholas Ferrar of Little Gidding

4 December

Nicholas Ferrar of Little Gidding, deacon, died 4 December 1637.

Born in 1592, Nicholas Ferrar was the founder of a religious community that lasted from 1626 to 1646. After Nicholas had been ordained a deacon, he and his family and a few friends retired to Little Gidding in Huntingdonshire, England, to devote themselves to a life of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. They restored the abandoned church building and held regular services there. They taught the neighborhood children and looked after the health and well-being of the people of the district. They prayed the daily offices of the Book of Common Prayer, including the recital every day of the complete Psalter. Day and night, there was always at least one member of the community kneeling in prayer before the altar, that they might keep the command, “Pray without ceasing.” They wrote books and stories dealing with various aspects of Christian faith and practice. They fasted with great rigor and in other ways embraced voluntary poverty, so that they might have as much money as possible for the relief of the poor.

The community was founded in 1626 (when Nicholas was 34). He died in 1637 (age 45), and in 1646 the community was broken up by the Puritans of Cromwell’s army. The memory of the community survived to inspire and influence later undertakings in Christian communal living. One of T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets is called “Little Gidding” (1942), in which he writes:

If you came this way,
Taking any route, starting from anywhere,
At any time or at any season,
It would always be the same: you would have to put off
Sense and notion. You are not here to verify,
Instruct yourself, or inform curiosity
Or carry report. You are here to kneel
Where prayer has been valid. And prayer is more
Than an order of words, the conscious occupation
Of the praying mind, or the sound of the voice praying.
And what the dead had no speech for, when living,
They can tell you, being dead: the communication
Of the dead is tongued with fire beyond the language of the living.
Here, the intersection of the timeless moment
Is England and nowhere. Never and always.

COMMENT: Although the calendar of The Episcopal Church has Nicholas Ferrar on Dec. 1, his feast properly belongs on Dec. 4, the date of his death.

Marcellus of Rome

2 December

Marcellus, deacon and martyr, with companions, beheaded at Rome, 254-259.

Marcellus and others were martyrs in Rome under Valerian. Presbyter Eusebius, his deacon Marcellus, and Neon and Mary were beheaded. Adria and Hippolytus were scourged to death. Paulina died in a torture-chamber. Maximus was thrown into the Tiber.