Holy Days

• High Days and Holy Days (all) for November

  Sundays of the Month Editor:  We thought you might find it helpful to know what the Sundays of each month are called…  2nd November              Fourth Sunday before Advent 9th November              REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY 16th November            Second Sunday before Advent 23rd November            Sunday next before Advent – Christ the King 30th November            First Sunday of Advent... (8511 words)

• 17th December – Lazarus of Bethany, back from the tomb

  Some people have near-death experiences…. Lazarus should be their patron saint.  Except that he went all the way, and died for four days.  He was quiet in his tomb and the mourners of Bethany were in full swing – before Jesus called him back to life.  (See John 11: 1 – 44.) What happened next... (268 words)

• 1st November – All Saints’ Day, the feast day of all the redeemed

  All Saints, or All Hallows, is the feast of all the redeemed, known and unknown, who are now in heaven. When the English Reformation took place, the number of saints in the calendar was drastically reduced, with the result that All Saints’ Day stood out with a prominence that it had never had before. This... (263 words)

• 1st November – The first martyrs, the ‘seed’ of the Christian Church

  The first martyrs of Rome are recorded in the old Roman Martyrology, which states that: ‘At Rome, the birthday is celebrated of very many martyrs, who under the Emperor Nero were falsely charged with the burning of the city and by him were ordered to be slain by various kinds of cruel death; some were... (113 words)

• 2nd November – All Souls’ Day, a time of reckoning with the past

  The early Church was slow to dedicate a liturgical day to offering prayers and masses to commemorate the faithful departed.  But in time prayers were offered on behalf of dead monks, that they might attain ‘the Beatific Vision’ through purification, which the Church later described as Purgatory.  Odilo, the powerful abbot of Cluny, (d 1049)... (208 words)

• 3rd November – Hubert and the stag

  The morality of hunting has made the headlines in recent years, but here at least was one man who was converted while hunting.  Hubert (bishop, d 727 AD) was out on Good Friday hunting stag when he came across a stag with a crucifix between its antlers.  This so shook him that he converted to... (82 words)

• 3rd November – Richard Hooker, priest, apologist, teacher

  Richard Hooker lived at a critical time for the Church of England. He became one of the most important English theologians of the 16th century. He provided the Church of England with a theological method which combined the claims of revelation, reason, and tradition. Traditionally, he has been credited as the originator of the Anglican... (323 words)

• 3rd November – Martin of Perres

  Martin of Porres is the saint for anyone who has let God transform their bad, painful experiences into making them stronger and better, sensitive to the pain of others, and able to bring healing and kindness. Martin was born in Lima, in 1570. The son of a Spanish officer and a freed slave woman from... (319 words)

• 4th November – Charles Borromeo, the un-ordained archbishop

  Why should being a ‘lay’ person stop you from as full a ministry as being ordained?  Here is a saint for all lay people who suspect they can do as good a job…. Charles Borromeo was an Italian who lived in Milan from 1538 to 1584.   His uncle, Pope Pius IV, made him Archbishop of... (105 words)

• 5th November – Guy Fawkes, an early terrorist

  Guy Fawkes is not considered a saint by anybody, but he is remembered on this day each year. In 1570 he was born into a Protestant family, but on his father’s death, his mother remarried and chose a Catholic husband. Guy Fawkes then converted to Catholicism, and became such an enthusiast for the Pope that... (175 words)

• 5th November – The Kea to toothache?

  Kea was an early Christian and a monk from a good family who left Glastonbury to work in Devon and Cornwall, where Landkey (Devon) and Kea (Cornwall) bear his name.  He founded several Christian centres in the area before going on to Brittany to become the saint known there as ‘Saint-Quay’.  It seems that Kea... (78 words)

• 6th November – William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury

  During the Second World War, Winston Churchill was Britain’s Prime Minister. At the same time, William Temple was Archbishop of Canterbury. While Churchill led the country against Germany, Temple encouraged the British people to trust the Lord for their deliverance and strength. Like Churchill, Temple was a great leader, a gifted orator and a prolific... (414 words)

• 6th November – Illtud, patron saint of NGOs?

  Not many people have heard of Illtud, but perhaps we should make him the patron saint of all Christian NGOs (Non-Government Organisations) who work in emergency and famine relief. Illtud did not set out to be an action hero – he was a gentle and learned abbot heading up a monastery in Glamorgan.  Illtud spent... (178 words)

• 6th November – The Martyrs of Vietnam  

  “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”   The early Church Father Tertullian wrote that in the second century, but he could have been writing about Vietnam from 1745 onwards.  For, during the first 200 years of Christianity in Vietnam/Indo-China, a staggering 100,000 Christians are believed to have been martyred for their... (266 words)

• 7th November – Willibrord of York, apostle of Frisia

  Did you know that the Netherlands first learned Christianity from a Yorkshireman?  Willibrord (658 – 739) was born to devout parents, and joined the Benedictines.  In 678 he went Ireland to study at the Abbey of Rathmelsigi (a centre of European learning in the 7th century).  12 years later, in 690, Willibrord felt God had... (282 words)

• 8th November – Four Crowned Martyrs

  Has your boss ever tried to get you to do something that is against your Christian faith?  If so, here are some saints for you.   They chose to make a Christian ‘stand’ at work, even though it really irritated their boss. Claudius, Nicostratus, Simpronian and Castorius were simple stonemasons in early 4th century Rome.  They... (215 words)

• 9th November – Remembrance Sunday

  In late 1914, WW1 erupted across Northern France and Flanders. Great swathes of previously green fields and forests were blasted and bombed, leaving them bleak and barren, with seemingly every living thing destroyed. But then in the Spring of 1915, something beautiful began to come out of all the destruction. Tens of thousands of bright... (289 words)

• *NEW – 9th November – Margery Kempe

  Here is a saint for any out-spoken, emotional person who also struggles with depression and human failings in the quest to live their best life. Margery Kempe was born in 1373, the daughter of a wealthy businessman in King’s Lynn. She married John Kempe and had 14 children. She described herself as “not lettrid”, for... (354 words)

• 10th November – Leo the Great, rescued doctrine of the Incarnation

  How do you think of Jesus? As the Lord of lords in glory? Or as a human baby soon to be born in Bethlehem? November brings the glorious climax of the church year with the Sunday of Christ the King at the end of November – only to begin a new ‘year’ a week later,... (370 words)

• 10th November – Justus, leading the Church in troubled times

  Does this sound familiar?  An Archbishop of Canterbury tries to bring unity and calm to a Church split down the middle over seemingly irreconcilable differences, and all the while to promote the Gospel to the wider non-Christian society, in the face of widespread ignorance and even hostility towards Christianity. This isn’t Justin Welby, though. It... (266 words)

• 11th November – Martin of Tours, pioneer of western monasticism

  This winter, when you next see someone who looks both poor and cold, think of Martin of Tours.  This monk bishop, born in Pannonia (now Hungary) became one of the most popular saints of the Middle Ages. Martin’s father was a pagan officer in the Roman Army, and Martin was intended for the army as... (312 words)

• 13th November – Frances Xavier Cabrini, first saint of New York City

  In the aftermath of the terrorist attack on America 20 years ago this autumn, many Americans were seen to be ‘saintly’ in their brave attempts to help save lives.  But Frances (1850 – 1917) was the first citizen of the United States to be officially canonised as a saint – by Pope Pius XII in... (70 words)

• 16th November – St Margaret of Scotland

  Some women have power, and some women are good. When a woman with power is also good, she can achieve an astonishing amount. Margaret of Scotland has been called ‘The Pearl of Scotland’, but she began life in Hungary about 1045. She was born to the expatriate English prince Edward the Exile, and so was... (366 words)

• 17th November – Gregory of Tours, compassion in dangerous times

  Danger of torture, assassination, lootings, floods, famines and epidemics… life in France in the 6th century was as turbulent and violent as many of the world’s hot spots are today.  In the midst of all this Gregory (539 – 94) was born into a senatorial family who lived in the Auvergne.  He grew up seeing... (312 words)

• 18th November – Elizabeth of Hungary 

  Here is a saint for any young person who has a generous heart and a desire to please God, but who gets rather badly used by adults who should know better. Elizabeth was born in 1207, a princess in the kingdom of Hungary. When she was four, she was sent to the court of the... (431 words)

• 19th November – Hilda, Abbess of Whitby

  Hilda played a key role in the early English Christian church, and she may even have been the first to encourage the writing of Christian poetry. She was born a princess, into the Deiran (Northumbrian) dynasty, and her sister became Queen of the East Angles, with whom the Deiran had connections. In those days East... (249 words)

• 22nd November – St Cecilia, patron saint of musicians

  If you are going to any concerts before Christmas, spare a thought for St Cecilia (2nd century) – the patron saint of musicians. Cecilia is one of the most famous of the Roman martyrs of the 2nd century.  As far as is known, she was born a noble lady of Rome who, despite her vow... (351 words)

• 23rd November – The excitement of the Sunday of Christ the King 

  The last Sunday in November is the last Sunday of the church year, and in some ways the most important. Why?  Because everything else in the Christian year looks BACK on what happened 2000 years ago. The Sunday of Christ the King looks FORWARD to what we can expect next….  the return one day of Jesus... (552 words)

• 25th November – Catherine of Alexandria, patron saint of young girls and nurses

  Catherine is thought to have been a noble girl who lived in the 4th century.  She was persecuted for her Christianity, and despised marriage with the Emperor because she was a ‘bride of Christ’.  According to the legend, Catherine was no push-over intellectually, either:  she disputed successfully with 50 philosophers who were called in to... (155 words)

• 30th November – St Andrew, patron saint of Scotland

  The apostle Andrew (d. c.60) is patron saint of Scotland.  According to the gospel of Matthew,   Andrew and his brother Simon Peter were the very first two disciples whom Jesus called.   ‘Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’  (Matt 4:18,19) Without more ado, they obeyed.  ‘At once they left their nets... (491 words)

• 30th November – Andrew, first disciple of Jesus

  Andrew, whose feast day ends the Christian year on 30th November, is probably best known to us as the patron saint of Scotland, though his only connection with the country is that some of his bones were reputedly transported in the 8th century to Fife and preserved at a church in a place now named... (454 words)

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