Benjamin of Susa

31 March

Benjamin of Susa, deacon and martyr, with bishop Audos, martyred by torture for refusing to cease preaching Christianity, in 421. Audas, bishop of the city of Susa (east of the Tigris River in Persia), was beheaded for Christ in the year 418 by Emperor Yezdegird. His deacon, Benjamin, was released by the tormentors with the understanding that he would never preach the gospel again. In the beginning he agreed, but Benjamin could not sustain this in his heart and continued to spread the truth of Christ among the people. For this Benjamin was captured and killed three years after Audas.

Cyril of Heliopolis

29 March

Cyril, deacon and martyr, killed at Heliopolis, and companions, who suffered under Julian the Apostate, in 362. Cyril was a prominent deacon in Heliopolis, a suburb of Athens in Greece. He opposed idol worship and destroyed many of the city’s idols. Emperor Julian the Apostate sentenced him to torture and death. Tradition holds that God punished Cyril’s torturers with blindness, boils, and terrible illness.

Pelagius of Treviso

27 March

Pelagius, deacon, venerated at Treviso (near Venice in northern Italy), date of death unknown.

Irenaeus of Pentapolis

26 March

Irenaeus, deacon and martyr, with bishop Theodore of Pentapolis in Libya and others, had his tongue cut out but survived and died in peace, in 310. Theodore, Irenaeus, and readers Serapion and Ammonius suffered under Gallienus, who had their tongues cut out. Although they survived, they are venerated as martyrs.

Paschal greeting

Exchange by two persons knocking red-dyed eggs:

Christos anesti!
Alithos anesti!

The egg that survives is the winner.

Octavian of Carthage

22 March

Octavian, archdeacon and martyr at Carthage, with several thousand companions, murdered under Arian Vandal King Hunneric, in 484.

Sophia of Jerusalem

21 March

Sophia of Jerusalem, deacon, died 21 March, probably in the 4th century. The Greek inscription on her tombstone reads: “Here lies the servant and virgin of Christ, the deacon, the second Phoebe, who passed away in peace on the 21st day of March . . . May the Lord God . . .” (Revue biblique, New 1 [1904], 260-262).

Amantius

19 March

Amantius, deacon and evangelist in Belgium and northeastern France, died c. 668. Landoald is said to have been a Roman priest and Amantius his deacon. They were sent by the pope to evangelize what is now the Maestricht region of Belgium and northeastern France. Landoald founded a church at Wintershoven.

Entrée to Holy Week

Thanks to Whispers in the Loggia for this video, getting us started on the road to the Paschal feast. (A very young Johnny Cash with a deep, deep voice. I don't know who the women are precisely, probably Carter family members. They're pretty good too.)

Tatian of Aquileia

16 March

Tatian, deacon and martyr, with bishop Hilary of Aquileia and others, killed by beheading, in 284. The others, all baptized Christians, were Denis, Felix, and Largus. Hilary, also called Dionysius, was the bishop of Aquileia, at the head of the Adriatic in northeastern Italy.

Diaconus of the Marsi

14 March

Diaconus, deacon of the church of the Marsi (who lived at Marsica in central Italy), martyred with two monks by the Lombards, 6th c. Gregory the Great recorded Diaconus’ death in his Dialogues.

Peter the Deacon

12 March

Peter the Deacon, disciple, secretary, and companion of Gregory the Great, died at Rome on 12 March 605. A Benedictine monk and one of the seven deacons of Rome, Peter wrote down the four books of the Dialogues as dictated by Gregory. He is responsible for the statement that the Holy Spirit sometimes hovered in the form of a dove over the great pope’s head. Peter died a year to the day after Gregory. He is revered as the patron saint of Salassola in the diocese of Biella, near Venice.

Apollonius of Antinoe

8 March

Apollonius, deacon and martyr of Antinoe (also called Antinopolis) in Egypt, with the actor Philemon, cast into the sea at Alexandria, c. 305. Antinoe was on the east bank of the Nile in central Egypt. Philemon was converted to Christianity by deacon Apollonius. Roman authorities arrested them during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian. Taken to Alexandria, they were wrapped in chains and hurled into the sea.

Pontius of Carthage

8 March

Pontius, deacon and witness to the execution of Cyprian of Carthage, in 260. A deacon of the church at Carthage, Pontius followed Cyprian into the exile imposed upon him during the persecution of the church under Emperor Valerian. Attending Cyprian’s trial and execution, he wrote an account of the event. This appeared in his work, Vita Cæcilii Cypriani (Life of Cæcilius Cyprianus), which was not so much a biography of the bishop as a touching and vivid panegyric. Nevertheless, it is considered the earliest Christian biography.

Ecclesiastical fun and games

At the annual convention of the diocese of Louisiana, last Friday and Saturday at St Luke's, Baton Rouge, the delegates elected:

General Convention deputies
Clergy
Fred Devall (rector of St Martin, Metairie)
Ralph Howe (chaplain of Episcopal High in Baton Rouge)
Chad Jones (curate at Trinity, Baton Rouge)
Ken Ritter (rector of Trinity, Baton Rouge)

Lay
John Musser (Trinity, New Orleans)
David Pitts (St Luke, Baton Rouge)
Ed Starns (St Luke, Baton Rouge)
Ann Ball (All Saints, River Ridge)

General Convention alternates
Clergy
Mark Stevenson, 1st (canon to the ordinary)
Susan Gaumer, 2nd (rector of St Andrew, New Orleans)
Jean Meade, 3rd (rector of Mount Olivet, New Orleans)
Dan Krutz, 4th (secretary of Louisiana Interfaith Conference)

Lay
Jennifer Dalferes, 1st (St Matthew, Houma, wife of rector)
Harriet Murrell, 2nd (Trinity, New Orleans)
Rucker Leake, 3rd (? must have been nominated from the floor)
Nancy Marshall, 4th (St Andrew, New Orleans)

The eight deputies are all white, all married to spouses of the opposite sex, mostly all men (except for one lay deputy), and mostly conservative. One priest might claim to be a moderate liberal, and one is probably a moderate conservative. Four liberals were nominated but ended up as alternates, below No. 1, where they can cause no embarrassment to the diocese. No deacons ran for deputy.

That said, I trust the deputation to vote sensibly except on matters of sexuality.

Inter alia, the convention passed a few blah resolutions, including one that "reaffirms the unique Lordship of Jesus Christ as set forth in the historic creeds, the baptismal covenant and the ordination rites. We do affirm that He is our Lord and Savior." I wonder whatever happened to the Trinity.

I wasn't present, as my doctor has ordered me to stay away from crowds.