An abbreviated worship schedule for October is on the right sidebar of the HOME page. An August-September-October worship schedule is available for download from the right sidebar of the RESOURCES page.

Commemorations and feast days are part of the Book of Common Prayer calendar throughout the year. This week, prior to the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity and The Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, we have entries on the calendar. On Tuesday, October 13th, we remember Edward the Confessor, King, Westminster, 1066, so-called “because of his religious devotion and pious works.” A Confessor is a saint who suffers for their faith and leads a saintly life despite worldly temptation, but is not a martyr. Under Edward’s rule England was quite peaceful, largely due to his skill at dealing with adversaries. Besides being devoutly religious, he cared for the needs of the common folk and the poor. His death was followed by the Norman Conquest, and the Norman kings were primarily responsible for his canonization. It was Edward who built Westminster Abbey, and his remains rest behind its high altar. A sermon by Ronald Knox says of Edward:

“Many of those who sleep in King Edward’s Abbey were devoted servants of their kind, who left the world better for their passing. But this is certain, that true satisfaction came to them and true success crowned them only so far as their ambitions were for a cause, not for a party; for others, not for themselves. Man’s happiness lies in devoting himself; his success in the offering he can make. And our Confessor was a successful man, yes, even in this world, because in his simple piety, in the unaffected generosity of his nature, he set himself to serve the men about him by easing their burdens, by relieving their necessities, by confirming them in their allegiance to the faith.”

On Friday, October 16th, the calendar commemorates

Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, Bishops, Martyrs, 1555

Hugh Latimer und Nicholas Ridley on their way to the stake (Oxford 1555), by painter Hermann Schweder (fl. 1860–1866). Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

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With Thomas Cranmer (commemorated March 21st), the two bishops are known as the Oxford Martyrs. Both were inspired by Luther and were leaders of the English Reformation. When the Roman Catholic Queen Mary came to the throne, reformers were deemed guilty of heresy. Latimer and Ridley were burned at the stake as heretics, prompting the nineteenth-century American poet Lydia Sigourney to quote Latimer’s famous final words:

                                         “—With wreathing spire

Up went the crackling flame, —and that old man

Forgetful of his anguish, boldly cried

—“Courage, my brother! —we this day will light

Such fire in christendom, as ne’er shall die.”

The following day, Saturday, October 17th, we remember Etheldreda, or Audrey, Queen, Abbess of Ely, 679. Also known as Aethelthryth, Etheldreda is the most revered of Anglo-Saxon women saints and her story is both romantic and fascinating. The Venerable Bede wrote a long hymn in her praise. Despite being twice married, she is liturgically honoured as a virgin since neither marriage was consummated. She was a relative of St. Hilda of Whitby (commemorated next month) and a friend to St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne (commemorated March 20th) and St. Wilfrid of York, her  spiritual mentor. She founded a double monastery at Ely, where she remained until her death. Today it is the site of Ely Cathedral.

On Sunday, October 18th, we celebrate

The Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist

 Detail, Saint Luke Polyptych, 1453-1455. Andrea Mantegna via Wikimedia Commons. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, Italy.

Luke is the author of both the Third Gospel and The Acts of the Apostles. The latter paints a fascinating picture of the way the good news about Jesus spread far beyond his homeland. The author of Colossians calls Luke “the beloved physician.” Not much else is known about him except that he was well-educated and his literary skills were exceptional. Without his works much of the New Testament’s impact would be diminished. His account of Stephen’s martyrdom is one of the most stirring passages in the Bible.