an everlasting homeland in heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
whom by the power of the Spirit
you raised to live with you,
his God and Father,
for ever and ever.
8 April
Griffith Jones
Priest, Teacher of the Faith
Wales: V
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Teachers
A native of Pen-boyr in Carmarthenshire, Griffith Jones was born in 1683. He was a shepherd and, after attending the grammar school in Carmarthen, he was ordained in 1708. In 1711 he became rector of Llandeilo Abercywyn and five years later rector of Llanddowror. His reputation as a preacher drew large numbers of people from all over South Wales to hear him. An increasing awareness of widespread illiteracy in Wales led him to set up a system of circulating schools, held for three months at a time in churches, barns or private houses. People of all ages were taught to read with the Welsh prayer book and bible as their textbooks. By the time of Griffith Jones’s death in 1761 158,000 people had been taught to read in 3,495 of his schools. This astonishing achievement played a major part in the Welsh spiritual awakening of the eighteenth century.
Collect
Almighty God,
who inspired your servant Griffith
to promote the knowledge of the Christian faith
and by his preaching to bring others to you:
grant that we who have been schooled in the faith which he taught
may labour to bring others to Christ,
whom by the power of the Spirit
you raised to live with you,
his God and Father,
for ever and ever.
9 April
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Lutheran Pastor, Martyr
England, Scotland: Commemoration – Wales: V
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Martyrs
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born in 1906 into an academic family. Ordained in the Lutheran Church, his theology was influenced by Karl Barth and he became a lecturer: in Spain, the USA and, in 1931, back in Berlin. Opposed to the philosophy of Nazism, he was one of the leaders of the Confessing Church, a movement which broke away from the Nazi-dominated Lutherans in 1934. Banned from teaching, and harassed by Hitler’s regime, he bravely returned to Germany at the outbreak of war in 1939, despite being on a lecture tour in the United States at the time. His defiant opposition to the Nazis led to his arrest in 1943. His experiences led him to propose a more radical theology in his later works, which have been influential among post-war theologians. He was executed by the Nazi police in Flossenburg concentration camp on this day in 1945.
Collect (Wales)
Lord Jesus Christ,
your servant Dietrich [Bonhoeffer]
learned the cost of discipleship
in his faithful witness to justice and peace:
give us the assurance of your presence
that we may persevere faithfully unto death;
for you are alive and reign with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
9 April
Saints, Martyrs and Missionaries of South America
Wales: V
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Missionaries
The gospel was first brought to South America by the Spanish and Portuguese in the years after Columbus’s landfall. Today we recall those who have worthily proclaimed the gospel of Christ in South America: people like Bartolomé de las Casas and Martin de Porres who challenged the injustices inflicted on the native people, Allen Gardiner who died at the southernmost tip of the continent, and Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of San Salvador murdered in his cathedral for preaching economic and social justice. We give thanks for their witness and that of all the saints of God in South America.
Collect
Almighty God,
we praise and bless your name
for the saints, missionaries and martyrs of South America:
may we, in life and death, be a community of love
united in prayer and faith with him who died and rose again,
Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
whom by the power of the Spirit
you raised to live with you,
his God and Father,
for ever and ever.
10 April
William Law
White
Priest, Spiritual Writer
England: Lesser Festival – Scotland: Commemoration
Born at Kings Cliffe in Northamptonshire in 1686, William Law was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and, after ordination as a deacon, became a fellow of the college in 1711. When George i came to the throne in 1714, William declined to take the Oath of Allegiance, being a member of the non-or party who believed the anointed but deposed monarch James II and his heirs should occupy the throne. He lost his fellowship, but in 1728 was ordained priest, and in the same year published A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, which much influenced such people as Samuel Johnson and John and Charles Wesley. In it he stresses the moral virtues, a personal prayer life and asceticism. He returned to Kings Cliffe in 1740, where he led a life of devotion and simplicity and caring for the poor. He remained there for the rest of his life and died on this day in the year 1761.
Collect
Almighty God,
who called your servant William Law
to a devout and holy life:
grant that by your spirit of love
and through faithfulness in prayer
