Symbolism is going full-throttle in Revelation 8-11. I choose not to decode every symbol, but do opt to make some textual and historical sense of these chapters.
THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS
Revelation 8:1-6 depicts the opening of the seventh seal, which sets the stage for the sounding of the seven trumpets.
The first four trumpets round out Revelation 8. The natural disasters–depicted as divine judgment–relate to human sins. Actions have consequences.
Let us be careful, O reader. May we not blame victims. Those who live in Kansas will have to deal with tornadoes because tornadoes occur in Kansas. Hurricanes and tropical storms strike the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Earthquakes occur at fault lines. Some events occur for natural reasons. But sometimes collective human actions make matters worse. Industrial pollution of a certain variety leads to acid rain. Global warming/climate change makes weather more extreme, and severe storms more frequent. Actions have consequences.
Revelation 8:8-9 contains echoes of Exodus 7:14-25, 1 Enoch, and the Sybilline Oracles. In 1 Enoch 18:13, seven stars like great, burning mountains fall into the sea. These are fallen angels (1 Enoch 21:3-10). The Sybilline Oracles refer to stars (swords, figuratively) that will fall into the sea (3:672-684), as well as to a great star that will fall into the sea (5:158-161). The great star will destroy Rome and Italy for Roman persecution of Jews. In Revelation 8:8-9, the burning mountain represents a fallen angel expelled from Heaven to wreak destruction on the world.
THE DEMONIC LOCUSTS
The demonic locusts (Revelation 9;1-12) represent the Roman Empire, historically. Echoes of the plagues on Egypt continue. One may also detect allusions to Joel 1 and 2.
Revelation 9:1 depicts evil as functioning in the service of divine will. This is not evil’s intention. Yet the sovereignty of God makes evil work for good.
Members of each generation may identify contemporary demonic locusts. Locusts come and go; the motif repeats.
ROMAN IMPERIAL PERSECUTION
The historical reference in Revelation 9:13-21 is the Roman Empire, persecuting Christians. Recall, O reader, that “Babylon” is code for Rome in Revelation. Again, the motif repeats with variations in the evil power of the time.
Also, the failure to learn lessons that history should have made abundantly clear is, depressingly, predictable. Never underestimate human obliviousness, O reader.
EATING THE SCROLL OF DOOM
John of Patmos eating the scroll of doom ought to remind a serious student of the Bible of Ezekiel 1-3.
Revelation 10:1-11 contains many allusions to the Hebrew Bible.
SYMBOLISM AND NUMEROLOGY
Symbolism and numerology drench Revelation 11:1-14. Imagine, O reader, being a Roman censor reading these verses. You would experience confusion. Cracking the code requires understanding parts of the Hebrew Bible. Having a grasp of 1 Enoch 61:1-5 also helps. In that text, angels with cords measure the righteous and the faithful, for protection against spiritual dangers.
Without getting lost in the proverbial weeds (easy to do), the time God will permit the Roman Empire to continue to rule will be like the time Seleucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem and persecuted Jews (Daniel 9:27; 12:7). Three and a half years–forty-two months–is a mystical and symbolic timeframe. Emperor Domitian is like King Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Revelation says. Evil’s days of governing are numbered.
The Church will outlive its oppressors. The Church–the seemingly dead two witnesses–will triumph. God will destroy the oppressive powers.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 16, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ALBERT E. R. BRAUER, AUSTRALIAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF AUGUSTINE THEVARPARAMPIL, INDIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND “GOOD SHEPHERD OF THE DALITS”
THE FEAST OF GASPAR CONTARINI, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC CARDINGAL AND AGENT OF RECONCILIATION
THE FEAST OF SAINT HEDWIG OF ANDECHS, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRINCESS AND NUN; AND HER DAUGHTER, SAINT GERTRUDE OF TRZEBNICA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBESS
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOZEF JANKOWSKI, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1941
Whenever Christians to my right speak or write about what the Bible says about various matters, I invariably roll my eyes, at least metaphorically. Literalists overlook a documented fact: the Bible contradicts itself. Reading the germane texts for what they are reveals that context is key. If one mistakes St. Paul the Apostle for a systematic theologian, one may overlook the cultural contexts in which he ministered.
The cultural and geographical context of First Peter was northern Asia Minor, the Roman Empire, 70-90 C.E. The culture was hostile to Christianity, a young, small, and growing religion. Slavery, and patriarchy were cultural norms. The author bought into these norms, although he moderated them. The attitude of submission to civil authority (the Roman Empire, in this case) contrasted with the attitude of “John of Patmos,” who wrote Revelation. According of Revelation, the Roman Empire was in league with Satan, so submission to the empire was submission to Satan. Such submission was sinful, according to Revelation. Not surprisingly, the attitude of submission to the empire (in 1 Peter) has long been more popular with governments than the contrasting attitude in Revelation.
As always, context is crucial.
I argue with much of 1 Peter 2:1-3:17. I oppose all forms of slavery at all times and in all places. I affirm equality within marriage. I contend that one can belong to a powerless minority in a society and still say,
X is wrong. The social and cultural norms are askew.
I hold that living the Golden Rule, individually and collectively, is a divine mandate, not a suggestion. Living reverently in Christ (1 Peter 3:15) requires nothing less.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 26, 2021 COMMON ERA
PROPER 21: THE EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF SAINT PAUL VI, BISHOP OF ROME
THE FEAST OF FREDERICK WILLIAM FABER, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHN BRIGHT, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF JOHN BYROM, ANGLICAN THEN QUAKER POET AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF LANCELOT ANDREWES, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF CHICHESTER THEN OF ELY THEN OF WINCHESTER
Ezekiel 8:1-11:13, the product of more than one person, contains some unusual editorial choices and odd shifts of attention. I mention that matter to get it out of the way, so that nobody can legitimately claim that I do not know it. Now that I have gotten that matter out of the way, I focus on themes, details, and the application thereof.
The figurer who looked like a man (or fire, depending on translation) in 8:2 is the divine Presence, Ezekiel’s guide. This figure recurs in 40:3f.
The date of the vision in 8:1-11:13 is September 592 B.C.E.
Idolatry recurs as a sin of the people of Judah.
We read that, contrary to what many people think, God has not abandoned Judah–yet–and does see what people are doing (9:9).
Above: Ezekiel’s Vision, by William Blake
Image in the Public Domain
Chapter 10 reads like a redux of Chapter 1, with some differences.
God departs Judah in Chapter 11.
We read of the divine promise of restoration and cleansing of exiles already in the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire. We read that those still in Judah are doomed (11:41-21). We read that God has moved to the exiles in Babylon (11:23).
Ezekiel 11:21 cautions that divine renewal of the exiles is not automatic; it requires human vigilance. Grace is free, not cheap.
Ezekiel 11:17-21 is thematically similar to Jeremiah 31:33-34; Jeremiah 32:39; Ezekiel 18:31; Ezekiel 36:26. We read that, in an ideal future, by divine action, disobedience to God will cease to be an option.
In Hebrew prophetic literature, as well as in the Revelation to John, divine faithfulness is never in doubt, from the author’s perspective. Also, divine judgment and mercy remain in balance. Creative destruction by God makes way for the establishment for the new, divine order. In Christian terms, God must destroy the old, corrupt order before the fully-realized Kingdom of God can become visible on the Earth, from a human perspective. As C. H. Dodd reminds me from the printed page and his grave, the Kingdom of God is; it does not come. Yet, from a human point of view, certain events make its presence more palpable than it used to be.
Another idea, frequently repeated in the Bible–especially Hebrew prophetic books–is that human sins have consequences. We human beings condemn ourselves. We leave God. We are the faithless ones. We are arrogant; we do not stand in awe of God. We read what he have sown.
Yet grace remains. As the great Southern Baptist theologian Will Campbell said:
We’re all bastards, but God loves us anyway.
And our only hope is in God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 24, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE NATIVITY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST
Sovereignty over the world has passed to our Lord and his Christ, and he shall reign for ever.
–Verse 15b, The Revised English Bible (1989)
Nevertheless, we must wait until Chapter 21 for that sovereignty to become apparent.
The sovereignty of God is indeed a challenging concept. In the Gospels the Kingdom of God is already partially present. The Roman Empire and its agents, one of whom goes on to order the execution of St. John the Baptist, born in Luke 1, is fully present.
Truly bad people who wield authority always seem to present somewhere. Nebuchadnezzar II, hardly a nice man, is a figure of ridicule in the Book of Daniel. He is fickle and seems unaware of the extent of his authority at times. He is willing to send people to die for refusing to serve the gods, so how nice can he be? He, as monarch, can change the law, too. Later in the Book of Daniel (Chapter 4) he goes insane. Also troubled and in one of the readings (sort of) is King Saul, a disturbed and mentally unwell man. The not attached to Psalm 57 contextualizes the text in 1 Samuel 22-24 and 26, with David leading a group of outlaws while on the run from Saul. In the story David saves the life of the man trying to kill him. (Aside: Chapters 24 and 26 seem to be variations on the same story. The Sources Hypothesis explains the duplication of material.)
One might detect a certain thread common to three of the readings: The lives of the faithful are at risk. That theme is implicit in Luke 1. God will not always deliver the faithful, hence the martyrs in Revelation 14. The sovereignty of God will not always be obvious. But we who claim to follow Christ can do so, by grace, and proclaim God among the peoples in a variety of circumstances.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 29, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS BOSA OF YORK, JOHN OF BEVERLEY, WILFRID THE YOUNGER, AND ACCA OF HEXHAM, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS
THE FEAST OF SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN
THE FEAST OF TIMOTHY REES, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF LLANDAFF
O God, our true life, to serve you is freedom, and to know you is unending joy.
We worship you, we glorify you, we give thanks to you for your great glory.
Abide with us, reign in us, and make this world into a fit habitation for your divine majesty,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 53
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The Assigned Readings:
Jeremiah 46:18-28 (Monday)
Isaiah 33:17-22 (Tuesday)
Isaiah 60:8-16 (Wednesday)
Psalm 24 (All Days)
Revelation 21:5-27 (Monday)
Revelation 22:8-21 (Tuesday)
Luke 1:1-4 (Wednesday)
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Lift up your heads, O gates;
lift them high, O everlasting doors;
and the King of glory shall come in.
“Who is this King of glory?”
“The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle.”
Lift up your heads, O gates;
lift them high, O everlasting doors;
and the King of glory shall come in.
“Who is this King of glory?”
“The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory.”
–Psalm 24:7-10, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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Here are some thoughts for the time between Proper 29 (Christ the King Sunday) and the First Sunday of Advent.
God wins in the end. Conquerors fall to other conquerors, who fall to other conquerors. The faithful who persevere will receive their reward. Some of them will live long enough to witness the triumph of God in the flesh. The story of Jesus of Nazareth, attested to by eyewitnesses, contains suffering, death, and resurrection. The victory of God in that case is one of love and power, not the smiting of enemies, for whom Christ interceded (Luke 23:34).
The Book of Revelation tells of divine creative destruction from Chapters 4 to 20. Then, in Revelation 21 and 22, God inaugurates the new order. There is smiting of enemies here, for the deliverance of the oppressed is frequently bad news for unrepentant oppressors. The new, divine world order, however, contains no oppression.
That divine order has not become reality yet, of course. Nevertheless, as the Reverend Maltbie Davenport Babcock (1858-1901) wrote:
This is my Father’s world,
O let my ne’er forget
That though the wrong
Seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world:
The battle is not done;
Jesus who died
Shall be satisfied,
And earth and heaven be one.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 7, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF FREDERICK LUCIAN HOSMER, U.S. UNITARIAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT ANTHONY MARY GIANELLI, FOUNDER OF THE MISSIONARIES OF SAINT ALPHONSUS LIGUORI AND THE SISTERS OF MARY DELL’ORTO
THE FEAST OF CHARLES AUGUSTUS BRIGGS, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN PASTOR THEN EPISCOPAL PRIEST
THE FEAST OF SAINT ROBERT OF NEWMINSTER, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND PRIEST
Embrace us with your mercy, that with you as our ruler and guide,
we may live through what is temporary without losing what is eternal,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 53
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The Assigned Readings:
Ezekiel 10:1-19
Psalm 98
Luke 17:20-37
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Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things.
–Psalm 98:1, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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Psalm 98 is the most optimistic reading for this day. In Ezekiel 10 (carried over into Chapter 11) the Presence of Yahweh departs from Jerusalem, leaving it open to invasion and destruction by foreigners. The divine Presence remains absent until Ezekiel 43. In Luke 17:21 the Kingdom of God is present yet persecution and generally dark, eschatological times are en route. On the other hand, in Luke 18, Jesus encourages his followers to continue praying and never to lose heart. There is a way through the difficult times while living or dead, and always faithful to God.
The tone of these readings, taken together, fits the time of the church year well. In the Revised Common Lectionary and several other lectionaries the selected portions of scripture become increasingly apocalyptic during the last few weeks before Advent and into that season. Some Confessional Lutheran bodies even go so far as to label the last four Sundays of the Season after Pentecost the End Time Season.
May we remember that out of the creative destruction in Revelation 4-20 comes a new creation in Chapters 21 and 22. Hope in God is real and well-founded, for God will win in the end.
That is a reason for optimism.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 6, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF FRANKLIN CLARK FRY, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA AND THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA
THE FEAST OF SAINT CLAUDE OF BESANCON, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, MONK, ABBOT, AND BISHOP
THE FEAST OF HENRY JAMES BUCKOLL, AUTHOR AND TRANSLATOR OF HYMNS
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM KETHE, PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER
O Lord God, you teach us that without love, our actions gain nothing.
Pour into our hearts your most excellent gift of love, that,
made alive by your Spirit, we may know goodness and peace,
through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 34
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The Assigned Readings:
Daniel 7:13-14 (Friday)
Daniel 7:27 (Saturday)
Psalm 148 (Both Days)
Revelation 11:15 (Friday)
Revelation 11:16-19 (Saturday)
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Let them praise the Name of the LORD,
for his Name only is exalted,
his splendor is over earth and heaven.
He has raised up strength for his people
and praise for all his loyal servants,
the children of Israel, a people who are near him.
Hallelujah!
–Psalm 148:13-14, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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The fact that the Apocalypse of John quotes the Book of Daniel is old news. The “son of man,” or as TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985) renders the term, “One like a human being,” in Daniel 7, is a heavenly figure the text never identifies specifically. He might be the archangel Michael. In subsequent Jewish interpretation “the son of man” is a representation of Israel. Whoever the “son of man” is in Daniel 7, he receives an everlasting dominion on earth in a vision in that chapter. In Revelation Jesus receives that everlasting dominion.
Revelation 11:15 cues Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” to start thundering inside my head, it was one of the passages of the composer used in that portion of theMessiah. The New Revised Standard Version (1989) renders the text as:
The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord
and of his Messiah,
and he will reign forever and ever.
The translation in The Revised English Bible (1989) is less traditional:
Sovereignty over the world has passed to our Lord and his Christ, and he shall reign for ever!
In Revelation 12-18 God proceeds to destroy the corrupt human order on earth before inaugurating the divine order in chapters 19-22.
Many of the texts regarding the Kingdom of God in the New Testament indicate its partial presence, at least from a human perspective. It is evident among people, but there will be more to come. We need not wait for the complete realization of the Kingdom of God to praise and exalt God, whose mighty acts are numerous. The full Kingdom of God will come to pass and become obvious in human sight in time. Until then reminders of divine sovereignty are still in order, for appearances often prove both deceptive and discouraging.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 2, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE NINTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS
THE FEAST OF JOHANN KONRAD WILHELM LOEHE, BAVARIAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND COORDINATOR OF DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN MISSIONS
THE FEAST OF SABINE BARING-GOULD, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
you anointed your beloved Son to be priest and sovereign forever.
Grant that all the people of the earth,
now divided by the power of sin,
may be united by the glorious and gentle rule of Jesus Christ,
our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 53
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The Assigned Readings:
Daniel 7:19-27 (Monday)
Ezekiel 29:1-12 (Tuesday)
Ezekiel 30:20-26 (Wednesday)
Psalm 76 (All Days)
Revelation 11:1-14 (Monday)
Revelation 11:15-19 (Tuesday)
John 16:25-33 (Wednesday)
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You gave sentence from heaven:
the earth in terror was still,
when God arose to give judgment:
to save all that are oppressed upon earth.
–Psalm 76:8-9, A New Zealand Prayer Book (1989)
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The readings from Daniel and Ezekiel condemn arrogant monarchs–Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Seleucid Empire and a Pharaoh of Egypt who claimed the Nile River as his own. People might seem to be in charge, but God is still sovereign, the lessons remind us. In Revelation 11 God vindicates the prophetic witness of the Church. Earthly rulers still have the ability of earthly rulers to have faithful people killed, but God vindicates the martyrs. And, in John 16, Jesus, about to endure torture and execution, tells his twelve Apostles,
I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!
–Verse 33, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
In Revelation 11, prior to divine victory over forces of evil, loud voices in Heaven sing,
The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord
and of his Messiah,
and he will reign forever and ever.
–Verse 15, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
The two passages I have quoted might seem counterintuitive. How could Jesus have conquered the world before his crucifixion by forces of the Roman Empire? And, if forces of evil remain powerful, how could the final coming of the Kingdom of God in its fullness have occurred? The best answer I can muster is to repeat the theme of Christ the King Sunday: God remains sovereign, despite all appearances to the contrary.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 10, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHANN SCHEFFLER, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF GEORG NEUMARK, GERMAN LUTHERAN POET AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHN HINES, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
When I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me, holding a scroll. He unrolled it in front of me; it was written on, front and back; and on it was written, “Lamentations, dirges, and cries of grief.”
Revelation 10 borrows a motif—eating a scroll of judgment—from Ezekiel 3. The scroll, in Ezekiel 3:3, tastes as sweet as honey. It is also as sweet as honey in the mouth in Revelation 10, where one reads another detail: the scroll is bitter in the stomach.
I am blessed to have a well-stocked biblical library—acquired mostly at thrift stores, by the way. Germane volumes from said library inform this post greatly. William Barclay writes:
A message of God may be to a servant at once a sweet and bitter thing. It is sweet because it is a great thing to be chosen as the messenger of God; but the message itself may be a foretelling of doom and, therefore a bitter thing.
The word of Christ is certainly a word of forgiveness of sins. This is “sweet.” But what about the “bitter,” the judgment? I have always felt that the gospel of Christ stands also in judgment, that it stands against whatever violates the love of God in the affairs of nations, in their treatment of people.
–The Dragon Bound: The Revelation Speaks to Our Time (Atlanta, GA: John Knox Press, 1981), page 62
And Carl G. Howie writes:
Ezekiel obediently consumed the message of God so that it became part of him.
Yes, judgment and mercy coexist in God. I have affirmed this in writing in blog post many times. But repenting—changing one’s mind, turning around—can stave off divine judgment. Hence the pronouncement by God can lead to a positive result for the target. This is not merely an individualistic matter. No, it is also a social message, one which Hebrew prophets proclaimed. If one a messenger of God, the result of repentance is “sweet” indeed, but the “bitter” will also occur.
“The world,” in the biblical sense, is not the foe’s playground, something for faithful people to shun and from which to hide. No, it is our community, for which all of us are responsible. May we therefore engage it constructively, shining brightly with the light of Christ and challenging it to transform for the better. We stand on the shoulders of moral giants who did this in their times and places, confronting sins ranging from unjust wars to chattel slavery to racial segregation. Will we content ourselves to speak of these men and women in respectful tones or will we dare to play our parts?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 27, 2013 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JAMES INTERCISUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR
THE FEAST OF HENRY SLOANE COFFIN, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGIAN
–Martin Luther; translated by William James Kirkpatrick
Yesterday I sang in my parish choir’s performance of the Christmas portion of Handel’s Messiah. We dropped “His yoke is easy and his burden is light,” culminating instead in the Hallelujah Chorus. The concert was glorious and spiritually edifying for many people.
There are still a few days of Advent left. So I encourage you, O reader, to observe them. Then, beginning sometime during the second half of December 24, begin to say
Merry Christmas!
and continue that practice through January 5, the twelfth and last day of Christmas. And I encourage you to remember that our Lord and Savior was born into a violent world, one in which men–some mentally disturbed, others just mean, and still others both mean and mentally disturbed–threatened and took the lives of innocents. Names, circumstances, empires, nation-states, and technology have changed, but the essential reality has remained constant, unfortunately.
The Hallelujah Chorus, quoting the Apocalypse of John, includes these words:
The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.
That is not true yet, obviously. But that fact does not relieve any of us of our responsibilities to respect the Image of God in others and to treat them accordingly. We must not try to evade the duty to be the face and appendages of Christ to those to whom God sends us and those whom God sends to us. We cannot save the world, but we can improve it. May we do so for the glory of God and the benefit of others.
May the peace of Christ, born as a vulnerable baby and executed as a criminal by a brutal imperial government, be with you now and always. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 17, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MARIA STEWART, EDUCATOR
THE FEAST OF EGLANTYNE JEBB, FOUNDER OF SAVE THE CHILDREN
THE FEAST OF FRANK MASON NORTH, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER
BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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