On the Kalendar: Isaac Watts, Hymn Writer

November from Les Petites Heures d'Anne de Bretagne

Isaac Watts was a Congregational minister and a prolific and popular hymn writer. He is credited with over 750 hymn texts; the 1940 Hymnal contains eleven of his hymns. He is often called the “Godfather of English Hymnody”.

“November”, kalendar page from Les Petites Heures d’Anne de Bretagne (The Little Hours of . . . → Read More: On the Kalendar: Isaac Watts, Hymn Writer

On the Kalendar: Saint Cecilia

November from Les Petites Heures d'Anne de Bretagne

Cecilia may or may not have been real, and the stories about her and her companions are certainly fictional, but she has remained securely ensconced on the kalendar since the fourth century.

“November”, kalendar page from Les Petites Heures d’Anne de Bretagne (The Little Hours of Queen Anne of Bretagne), by the . . . → Read More: On the Kalendar: Saint Cecilia

Consecration of Samuel Seabury, First American Bishop

November from Les Petites Heures d'Anne de Bretagne

Samuel Seabury was born in North Groton, CT, in 1729. His father (also named Samuel) was a Congregationalist minister who was later ordained deacon and priest in the Church of England in 1720. Samuel the younger was graduated from Yale in 1748, and then travelled to Edinburgh, Scotland, where he studied medicine. In 1753, he . . . → Read More: Consecration of Samuel Seabury, First American Bishop

On the Kalendar: Crispin and Crispinian, Martyrs

October from Les Petites Heures d'Anne de Bretagne

Crispin and Crispinian were cobblers in 3rd-century Rome who fled to Gaul because of persecution. Born to a noble family, they wound up in Soissons, in the north of France, where they preached the Gospel by day and made shoes by night, in imitation of Saint Paul. They were brothers, and they may have been . . . → Read More: On the Kalendar: Crispin and Crispinian, Martyrs

On the Kalendar: Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London, and Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, Martyrs

October from Les Petites Heures d'Anne de Bretagne

“October”, kalendar page from Les Petites Heures d’Anne de Bretagne (The Little Hours of Queen Anne of Bretagne), by the Maître des Triomphes de Pétrarque. From Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (France).

Nicholas Ridley was a prominent churchman during the reign of Henry VIII. While at Cambridge, he was instrumental in developing . . . → Read More: On the Kalendar: Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London, and Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, Martyrs

On the Kalendar: Saint Denis

October from Les Petites Heures d'Anne de Bretagne

“October”, kalendar page from Les Petites Heures d’Anne de Bretagne (The Little Hours of Queen Anne of Bretagne), by the Maître des Triomphes de Pétrarque. From Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (France).

Denis is a cephalophore, that is, a saint who is depicted carrying his own head post mortem. You might think . . . → Read More: On the Kalendar: Saint Denis

On the Kalendar: Saint Francis

October from Les Petites Heures d'Anne de Bretagne

“October”, kalendar page from Les Petites Heures d’Anne de Bretagne (The Little Hours of Queen Anne of Bretagne), by the Maître des Triomphes de Pétrarque. From Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (France).

Francis, born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, is one of the most well-known and beloved of all saints, but in . . . → Read More: On the Kalendar: Saint Francis

On the Kalendar: Lancelot Andrewes

September from Les Petites Heures d'Anne de Bretagne

“September”, kalendar page from Les Petites Heures d’Anne de Bretagne (The Little Hours of Queen Anne of Bretagne), by the Maître des Triomphes de Pétrarque. From Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (France).

Lancelot Andrewes has a mixed reputation as a preacher. On the one hand, he preached sermons which have been described . . . → Read More: On the Kalendar: Lancelot Andrewes

On the Kalendar: Saint Hildegard von Bingen

Hildegard, known as the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess, but she is most widely known as a composer, philosopher, and mystic. She was born into a family of minor nobility, but she was sickly as a child, and quickly offered as an oblate to a Benedictine monastery. It’s not clear just . . . → Read More: On the Kalendar: Saint Hildegard von Bingen

On the Kalendar: Saint Deiniol, Abbot and Bishop

Deiniol is traditionally considered the first Bishop of Bangor, in the Kingdom of Gwynedd, Wales. According to Deiniol’s Life, he was the son of Abbot Dunod Fawr, the son of Pabo Post Prydain. Other sources trace his ancestry to Coel Godhebog, a chieftain in Strathclyde, which, at the time, was a Brythonic speaking region. (The . . . → Read More: On the Kalendar: Saint Deiniol, Abbot and Bishop