Today the church rightly remembers an icon of the rights of humanity: Saint Frederick Douglass, Abolitionist, Author, and Activist.

Saint Frederick was born into slavery in Maryland, a state many people forget was actually part of the historic South. His mother died when he was a young boy, and he was raised by his grandparents. It was rumored that his birth father was the plantation owner, though Saint Frederick himself never truly knew. He also barely knew his mother, as the barbaric practice of separating children from parents was common practice on plantations across the states where slavery was legal.

He was extremely bright and savvy, he learned to read and write by bartering food for lessons from neighborhood children. He went on, then, to teach other slaves to read using the Bible and the Sunday School hour as the classroom.

He escaped from slavery by pretending to be a sailor, aided by a uniform given him by his love, Anna Murray, and successfully hopped a train that aided him in getting to the free commonwealth of Pennsylvania. From there he went to New York City, sending for Anna Murray to meet him there, eventually marrying her in 1838. The couple eventually settled in Massachusetts and Douglass became a licensed preacher.

A fantastic orator and writer, Saint Frederick would spend his days making connections with other stakeholders in the area, and writing for the “Liberator” magazine. He attended protests and organized boycotts of local transportation (he refused to sit in segregated areas), lobbying for the equal treatment of African-Descent citizens as well as women.

As his fame grew, especially after the publication of his autobiography, he traveled to the British Isles as both a touring opportunity as well as a safe-guard against his former owners hearing about him and trying to take him back. For two years he toured the isles, even meeting with Thomas Clarkson, the famous British abolitionist who had persuaded Parliament to outlaw slavery.

This meeting gave him infinite hope that the same could be true of America, an America that he lamented “didn’t recognize him as even a man.”

Saint Frederick returned to the states and began publishing his first magazine, “North Star,” writing against slavery and butting heads with politicians and leaders who suggested anything other than total freedom for slaves, and he lobbied hard for school desegregation.

By the time the Civil War was underway, the famous St. Frederick met with President Lincoln to discuss a future free from slavery. He argued that willing men of all races should be allowed to fight for the Union, and post-war was disappointed that President Lincoln didn’t have the decency to publicly advocated for suffrage for free Black citizens who had so faithfully defended the Union.

During Reconstruction Douglass worked hard through political and social avenues to ensure the newly-granted rights of Black citizens were respected. He supported the election of President Grant, and became the first Black citizen to be nominated on the Vice Presidential ticket of the Equal Rights Party (though he didn’t even know he had been nominated).

That year his house burned down. Arson is suspected. But he continued on his speaking circuit, writing and lobbying for equal rights.

President Hayes appointed Douglass as the Marshal of the District of Columbia, the first person of color so named.

In 1881 he published his seminal work, The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, and in 1888 received a vote for the Presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention.

On February 20th, 1895 Saint Frederick, having attended a meeting of the National Council of Women, returned home and suffered a massive heart-attack. He was 77 years old. Thousands attended his funeral out of respect to his legacy of fighting for equality.

Saint Frederick is an inspiration and an icon. He worked with anyone as long as they were trying to “do good,” and this fact got him much criticism from radicals who thought no one should ever work with someone of a differing ideology, ever. But St. Frederick was fond of saying, “I would unite with anybody to do right, and with nobody to do wrong.”

Saint Frederick is a reminder for me, and should be for the whole church, of many things, but primarily it is simply this: laws that are unjust are worth disobeying.

Let those with ears to hear, hear.

-history gleaned from Claiborne and Wilson-Hartgrove’s Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals as well as public source material

-icon written by Kelly Latimore Icons (available on his site)

I met Jesse Jackson twice in my life, both by accident.

The first time was when I was wandering on the South Side of Chicago with some classmates, and we came upon the Rainbow Push Coalition headquarters. We had been told to do a neighborhood audit, to just watch and observe and see what was where. So just a few blocks from who would be President Obama’s house was Rainbow Push.

We walked in and were met by an attendant who told us a bit about the place, the work, the massive legacy of the coalition.

And then a car pulls up and out walks Reverend Jackson, chatting with his companion. He saw us, greeted us warmly, excused himself quickly because he had a meeting, but was kind and said he was grateful we stopped by.

We were pretty awestruck.

The second time was much more informal, and much more surprising.

Some fraternity brothers and I decided to hit up the Ukrainian Banya in Lincoln Park for some saunas, cold plunges, and Baltika beer.

As we were sitting and sweating in the large sauna, in walks Rev. Jackson just like a regular towel-clad patron.

He sat down next to me, turned to me, and said (to the group of us), “Good day gentlemen. How are we?”

“We’re good, Reverend. We’re good,” I replied. And he said, “That’s fine, that’s fine.” Smiled distincitvely. And we just chatted.

And then he did push ups right there as if he was 20 years old, and probably would have bested all of us in a push up competition even though we were just over 20 years old at the time.

Reverend Jesse Jackson leaves a legacy of justice work that is unmatched in his time. His presidential run in 1988 was one of the first that I remember. He stood with laborers and those dismissed by society. Those of us in justice work stand not just on his shoulders, but boosted by his masterful influence.

Rest in power.

-icon written by KJCasey

Today the church remembers the reformer and cranky theologian, Martin Luther. He’d wince at being called a saint, but welcomed the title of “baptized.”

Luther was as imperfect as he was ingenious. As the most prolific and public author of his day, his opinions on matters mundane (a homemade remedy for skin rashes) to mighty (Freedom of a Christian) are well-documented and well known by all students of history. He wrote beautiful theological treatises and stirring hymnody. He was a pioneer for women and children in his day.

Yet, he was a person of his era in many ways, and lamentably was unable to rightfully wrestle with his own prejudices, especially toward those of the Jewish faith.

His anti-Semitic writings have been totally and fully condemned by the Lutheran church.

With both his flaws and his fortitude he embodies one of his central theological discoveries: that we are all both sinner and saint, simultaneously. We are both perfectly imperfect, and perfectly loved by a God who has a tender spot for broken things.

One of his more poetic thoughts about the “now-and-not-yetness” of our human existence:

“This life therefore is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness,
not health, but healing,
not being but becoming,
not rest but exercise.
We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it,
the process is not yet finished,
but it is going on,
this is not the end, but it is the road.“

-icon written by Harrison A Prozenko

Today the church remembers one of the “dragon saints” who, in iconography, is often accompanied by a dragon (think of Saint Michael or Saint Margaret who also often have dragon companions/foes): Saint Juliana of Nicomedia, Patron Saint of Midwifry and Slayer of Dragons.

Like many saints, what we learn about Saint Juliana of Nicodemia is more story than history. Born sometime in the late 3rd Century to pagan parents, Saint Juliana was betrothed at a young age to a prominent Senator, Eleusius (whom Juliana was predictably meh on).

Even though her father was suppesdly hostile to Christians, Juliana in an act of child rebellion (as teens are wont to do) got secretly baptized. Children have, since forever, rebelled against their parents, so be careful what you encourage them to rebel against!

As wedding bells were nearing their ringing day, Juliana became more and more fraught. She didn’t want to marry this guy, and even though her father demanded she not break her engagement, she refused to show up for the big day.

As retaliation, her father turned her over to the governor who (cue ominous music) was her former fiance! Senator Eleusius (also a governor) asked her once again to marry him now that she was in his custody. While she could have gone along with it to secure her freedom, she again refused.

The Governor, in a rage, was said to have her flogged her, and beaten her, and dipped her in boiling oil (which is why she’s sometimes written with a cauldron).

In 304 AD during the persecution under Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus, Saint Juliana was said to be beheaded along with her friend and companion, Saint Barbara (December 4). She is especially popular in the Netherlands (who knows why?).

Saint Juliana is the patron saint of midwifry because, well, she endured torture with an honest heart and eager hope, and the midwives of this world accompany women who need that honesty and eagerness in the pangs of labor. She is often depicted with a dragon, and sometimes even fighting a dragon, because sometimes pain in this world needs to be seen with legs and teeth…because that’s how it feels, and she fought that foe to the end.

Also, I’d contend, that the system of oppression she was under was a dragon of a system…is a dragon of a system…forcing women to have their bodies controlled by the powerful rule-makers.

In a world of rule-makers, she was a good-trouble rule-breaker.

Saint Juliana is a reminder for me, and should be for the whole church, that sometimes we gotta break the rules to live moral lives.

-historical bits from public sources

-icon written “St. Juliana of Nicomedia, the devil at her feet,” from a Picture Bible made at the Abbey of Saint Bertin, Saint-Omer, France, ca. 1190–1200. KB, 76 F 5, fol. 32r. Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Royal Library), The Hague, Netherlands.

Question from a reader:

Why doesn’t the church honor St. Valentine on Valentine’s Day?

Answer:

Nothing historically verifiable at all is known about St. Valentine other than someone with that name was buried in Rome on February 14th. Legends grew, of course, including legends of a gruesome death (kind of an ancient “tongue-wagging” tactic for a church that liked drama), but none of it is thought to be true. In 1969 the Roman church removed him from the calendar of saints for “lack of evidence for existence.”

It is thought, though, that the emergence of this day as a romantic holiday was a way that the church overshadowed a Roman festival, Lupercalia, held on February 15th.

Lupercalia was the celebration of the wolf that rescued the legendary founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, and nursed and raised them (“Luper” from the Latin root “lupus” for “wolf”). For this reason the celebration was associated with child-birth and fertility, making the Church’s institution of Saint Valentine’s Day in 496 a natural Christianization of the holiday (though it became known more for love than fertility in the end).

Lupercalia honored the wild energies of creation intended for romance and reproduction. Valentine’s Day was a more modest variation of that theme…something the church could stomach.

Btw: Ever notice that the heart icons commonly used look nothing like an anatomical heart? The shape of that icon (all over everything Valentine’s Day) is thought to have been an artistic representation of voluptuous buttocks, the epitome of beauty in Roman times.

A competing thought is that the icon is derived from the fig leaves used as modesty covers in Pagan statuary.

Whatever the origin, though, it’s been used for a very long time and, despite it’s now common place and mild application, was pretty risque!

Blessed Valentine’s Day.

-icon written by Theophilia

Today the world honors St. Valentine, but the church kind of shrugs toward that saint, and instead dedicates the day to two Greek biological brothers: St. Cyril and St. Methodius, both 9th Century missionaries to the Slavs.

Cyril, in an effort to translate the Gospels and the liturgy into the Slavonic language, created a whole new alphabet. Modern Russian is based on this Cyrillic alphabet.

After Cyril’s death, Methodius took up the missionary mantle and continued the work. Cyril and Methodius met great opposition within the church for their novel way of using the common vernacular to spread the Gospel. Their followers likewise faced oppression, and found themselves scattered…which actually helped the language, and the mission, spread throughout Eastern Europe.

The Slavic tradition in Lutheranism is still very strong, with a whole non-geographical Synod (Slovak-Zion Synod) representing the tradition in the ELCA yet today.

The brothers believed in a deeply contextual approach to engagement with those they were living with, even deconstructing and reconstructing their own systems (alphabet and liturgy) in order to communicate with clarity. They were transformed in the process, even as they transformed the information, and are still deeply revered in Slovak, Czech, Croat, Serb, and Bulgar traditions.

Those with ears let them hear.

-historical bits adapted from Pfatteicher’s _New Book of Festivals and Commemorations