James is believed to have been an Italian Benedictine monk who accompanied Paulinus, who in the seventh century was sent on a mission to England by Pope Gregory (the Great). We don’t know many facts about James, and much of what is written about him is assumed. Continue reading
Author Archives: TA Brasier
Nicholas Ferrar
Nicholas Ferrar (22 February 1592/1593 – 4 December 2024) was a scholar, a tutor in the train of Princess Elizabeth (daughter of James I), a merchant whose family financial interests included the Virginia colony, a Member of Parliament, a deacon in the Church of England, and the founder of a religious community at Little Gidding. He became acquainted with priest and metaphysical poet George Herbert while studying at Cambridge. On his death in 1633, Herbert entrusted the disposition (to publish or to burn) of his work, The Temple, to Ferrar. Continue reading
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll
Self portrait of Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pseudonym, Lewis Carroll, was an Anglican deacon, author, mathematician, logician, and photographer. He is best known as the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass, and many poems. He was born in Cheshire, England on 27 January 1832, and died in Surrey on 14 January 1898. He was ordained a deacon on 22 December 1861. For reasons not clear, Dodgson delayed, then finally rejected priestly orders. He lectured in Mathematics at Christ Church, Oxford for twenty-six years.
Ordination to the Diaconate, a Sermon by Dr Leander S. Harding
Ordination to the Diaconate
A Sermon Preached by the Rev. Dr. Leander S. Harding
on June 2, 2012, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Pittsburgh, PA
[Note: Please read the entire sermon, posted on Dr Harding’s blog.]
We are here today for the joyous occasion of the ordination of deacons. Beyond and underneath that we are here today because we have died and are risen with Jesus Christ the Lord. In him have we found a new life with God and each other, being reconciled to the Father in one body through the cross of Christ. Continue reading
Saint Stephen
Stoning of St Stephen
Saint Stephen is considered the first martyr of Christianity, and by many, the first deacon. The feast day of Saint Stephen is 26 December.
As the very early church increased in number, and as the apostles became more involved in preaching the Word, the need arose for others to take responsibility to “serve tables”, to meet charitably the needs of the community. In Acts 6:5, Stephen is identified as one of the seven men, “full of faith and of the Holy Spirit”, picked for the duty.
Stephen is seized by the Sanhedrin and charged with blasphemy. Acts 7 contains Stephen’s response to the charges, after which he was stoned to death, with the approval of Saul (later known as Paul the Apostle).
Crest of Saint Stephen
Western churches observe the Feast of Saint Stephen on 26 December. Stephen is the patron saint of casket and coffin makers; deacons; headaches; horses; masons; and stone masons. His symbols include: stones, sometimes accompanied by the palm branches of martyrdom, and a deacon carrying a pile of rocks.