Special April Days


3rd April - Richard of Chichester

 Ever wonder where the prayer … ‘May I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly, day by day’ comes from?  Richard of Chichester, a bishop in the 13th century, wrote it.

 He began life as Richard de Wych of Droitwich, the son of a yeoman farmer.  But Richard was a studious boy, and after helping his father on the farm for several years, refused an advantageous offer of marriage, and instead made his way to Oxford, and later to Paris and Bologna to study canon law.

 In 1235 he returned to Oxford, and was soon appointed Chancellor, where he supported Edmund, Archbishop of Canterbury, in his struggles against King Henry III’s misuse of Church funds.  After further study to become a priest, Richard was in due course made a bishop himself.  He was greatly loved.  He was charitable and accessible, both stern and merciful to sinners, extraordinarily generous to those stricken by famine, and a brilliant legislator of his diocese.  He decreed that the sacraments were to be administered without payment, Mass celebrated in dignified conditions, the clergy to be chaste, to practise residence, and to wear clerical dress.  The laity was obliged to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days, and to know by heart the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed. 

 He died at Dover on 3rd April 1253.  In art, Richard of Chichester is represented with a chalice at his feet, in memory of his having once dropped the chalice at Mass!  One ancient English church is dedicated to him. 

 And, of course, he is author of that famous prayer, now set to popular music, which runs in full:   “Thanks be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ for all the benefits thou hast given me, for all the pains and insults which thou hast borne for me. O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, may I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly and follow thee more nearly, day by day.”

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 5th April - Vincent Ferrer: Dominican who opposed a Pope

 Leaving England to live in Spain was popular long before the TV show ‘Location Location Location’ was ever invented. Back in 1350 Vincent Ferrer’s parents had left England to settle in Valencia, where their son Vincent was born and grew up. In 1367, when he was 17, Vincent felt called by God to become a monk, and joined the Dominican order. The reason for his ‘call’ was soon clear: Vincent had outstanding gifts as both a philosopher and as a preacher.

 What is preaching? If you think of it as a way of bringing the reality of God and the love of Jesus Christ to people, then that is a good summary of what Vincent did for all who heard him. In the great tradition of John the Baptist, he called them to come to God by way of repentance for their sins. In the tradition of St Peter, the apostle to the Jews, Vincent was also heard by many Jews in Valencia. A great number of these listened to his preaching and came to believe that Jesus was indeed their promised Messiah. (One of these Jewish converts went on to become bishop of Cartagena.)

 Vincent’s preaching met with extraordinary success in France, Spain and Italy. He seems to have been an evangelist at heart, for his topics were sin, the Last Judgement, and Eternity. In Spain such large numbers of both Gentiles and Jews wanted to hear him that no church was big enough to contain the crowds: and so Vincent preached in the open air. 

 When in 1414 the Council of Constance attempted to end the Great Schism (there were two Popes competing for the same job), Vincent persuaded Ferdinand, King of Aragon, to withdraw his allegiance to the doubtful contender, Pope Benedict. The end result was that Benedict’s credibility collapsed, and the schism was ultimately healed. Vincent went back to preaching and spent his last three years in Normandy and Brittany, where he died at Vannes in 1419, worn out by all his labours.

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 9th April: Dietrich Bonhoeffer - Lutheran pastor and martyr

Standing up to tyrants, no matter what the cost. That kind of courage has been in the headlines since the war in Ukraine began, as many brave people have defied Putin’s oppression.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer did not have Putin to contend with, but Hitler. Bonhoeffer did not back down either, when the time came.

 Bonhoeffer grew up with no thought of ever defying the leader of Germany. Nothing could have been further from his mind or background. Born at Breslau in Silesia (now the Polish city of Wroclaw) in 1906, Bonhoeffer was the son of an academic. In 1912, his father was appointed to be Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology at Berlin university, and so the family moved to Berlin.

 Bonhoeffer never even considered going into politics. Instead, he studied theology in Tubingen, Berlin and New York, before returning to Berlin as a lecturer in theology in 1931.

 But though Bonhoeffer did not chase political trouble, it soon came to him. For on 30th January 1933 Adolf Hitler, leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, had come to power. His totalitarian approach left no room for anyone in public life to disagree with him. Including anyone in the two major churches - Lutheran and Catholic. But Bonhoeffer refused to be compliant, and joined the Confessing Church, which had formed in opposition to the takeover of the Lutheran Church. The Confessing Church also opposed Hitler’s attempts to force antisemitism on the church and society.

 Bonhoeffer was in America when war broke out in 1939, but he returned to Germany. He said: “I shall have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war, if I do not share the trials of this time with my people.” Back in Germany, he joined the underground anti-Nazi opposition and worked hard to oppose Hitler. In 1943 he was arrested and imprisoned at Tegel prison in Berlin. The involvement of many of his contacts in the July 1944 plot to kill Hitler may well have sealed his fate. He was finally moved on to Flossenberg concentration camp.

 In April 1945, as American troops were approaching the camp, Bonhoeffer was hanged. The last words of this brilliant and courageous 39-year-old opponent of Nazism were: “This is the end - for me, the beginning of life.” Bonhoeffer left a great legacy behind him. His writings, and especially his Letters and Papers from Prison, have inspired many trying to make sense of persecution and needless suffering. His 1937 book The Cost of Discipleship is described as a modern classic.

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23rd April - St George: England’s Patron Saint        

The Saint of an English Army before he was Patron Saint of England, St George may have been a soldier, but he was no Englishman. Some stories say that he was an officer in the Roman army under Diocletian, who refused to abandon his faith during the Terror, and was martyred at Lydda in Palestine about the year 300 AD - supposedly 23rd April. Over the years St George became the example of a Christian fighting-man, a powerful helper against evil powers affecting individual lives. He was the soldier-hero of the Middle Ages, of whom remarkable deeds were reported.

 In the Golden Legend of the 13th century, Jacobus de Voragine gave St George a handsome write-up. The story runs thus: One day, St George rode up to the heathen city of Sylene in Lybya where he found the citizens in great distress. A neighbouring dragon had forced them to surrender two sheep each day for its dinner, and when the sheep gave out, two of their children; and now they were about to sacrifice the King’s daughter, dressed as if for her wedding. St George encountered the little party by a stagnant lake, where the dragon lived, and persuaded the sobbing Princess to tell him why she was so miserable. At that moment the dragon appeared, looking inexpressibly revolting. St George charged forwards and drove his spear into the dragon’s gaping mouth. To everyone’s amazement, he tumbled the monster over and over. 

 Then St George borrowed the Princess’s girdle, tied it round the dragon’s neck, and persuaded her to lead it back to Sylene herself. The sight of her approaching with the befuddled dragon on its makeshift lead emptied the town. When the inhabitants timidly crept back, St George promised to behead the dragon if they would all believe in Jesus Christ and be baptised. It was a most effective form of evangelism, for everybody said ‘yes’ at once. So, 15,000 people were baptised, and four carts were commissioned to remove the dragon’s body.

 St George thus became a symbol of the war against evil, and he is usually portrayed trampling the dragon of sin under his horse’s hoofs. The Crusaders had a vision of him helping them against the Saracens at Antioch, during the first Crusade, and so brought the story of St George back with them from Palestine.  Presently England put herself under the protection of the Saint. His day was declared a holiday in 1222. A red cross on a white field is the flag of St George.  Today, we are still called to stand for Christ against wrongs and injustice in daily life, whatever the personal cost. 

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 25th April - Mark, disciple, apostle, writer of the Second Gospel 

 Mark, whose home in Jerusalem became a place of rest for Jesus and His 12 apostles, is considered the traditional author of the second gospel. He is also usually identified as the young man, described in Mark 14:51, who followed Christ after his arrest and then escaped capture by leaving his clothes behind.

 Papias, in 130, said that in later years Mark became Peter’s interpreter. If so, then this close friendship would have been how Mark gathered so much information about Jesus’ life. Peter referred to him affectionately as his ‘son’. 

 Mark was also a companion to Paul on his journeys.  When Paul was held captive at Rome, Mark was with him, helping him. Mark’s Gospel, most likely written in Italy, perhaps in Rome, is the earliest account we have of the life of Jesus.  Mark died about 74 AD.

 Early in the 9th century Mark’s body was brought to Venice, whose patron he became, and there it has remained to this day. The symbol of Mark as an evangelist is the lion, and is much in evidence in Venice.

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27th April - Tertullian, fierce firebrand of the Early Church

 Tertullian was born in Carthage, North Africa, about 155 AD. He had pagan parents and his father may have been a centurion. Carthage was a prestigious Roman colony and Tertullian was given a good education in Greek, Latin, literature, history and philosophy. On arrival in Rome, Tertullian probably worked as a lawyer.

 In Rome, he also enjoyed visits to the arena, to see gladiators kill each other and Christians devoured by lions. However, Tertullian grew impressed with the Christians; by their courage, and willingness to die for their belief in one God. He was also moved by their compassion for the poor, the orphans and widows, and how they prayed for their persecutors. In AD 185, he converted, and married a Christian woman.

 On Tertullian’s return to Carthage, he became a vociferous, if not always orthodox, defender of Christianity. He wrote in Latin, instead of Greek, and used legal terms to persuade the Roman establishment to cease its relentless persecution of Christians. He argued they had a right to a fair trial, instead of just being condemned to death.

 Tertullian advocated that Christianity should stand uncompromisingly against the surrounding culture. He addressed a whole range of issues, from appropriate dress and marriage, to idolatry, repentance and baptism. He also wrote essays on prayer and devotion. Tertullian used the Scriptures to refute heresies, especially Gnosticism, which was a major threat to the Church at the time.

 His prolific works are full of memorable phrases, puns and wit. While he could be gentle, sensitive, self-critical and reflective, he could also be aggressive and sarcastic. He devised the term New Testament, and also introduced the words penitence and sacrament. His most famous statement was the defiant: ‘The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church.’

 Late in life, Tertullian sadly decided that Jesus and the Holy Spirit were not wholly equal with the Father. This was Montanism, one of the early Christian heresies. Although he coined the word Trinity, a word that does not appear anywhere in the Bible, sadly he did not mean a triune God, but a group of three. This was heresy, and so the Early Church was not able to recognise him as a saint. According to tradition, he died about AD 225.

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