In our Sunday prayers there is always a petition remembering the saints who have gone before us to rest with God; we give thanks for their lives as models of faith and hope and love.
Many times when we pray these prayers we gratefully remember friends and family members who have died. But it can also be good to remember the saints of the past who have shown us different ways of being a faithful disciple; who can encourage us in our own lives of following Jesus.
May these brief stories of the saints be an inspiration to you in your faith journey. If you are interested in learning more about any of the saints mentioned, a Wikipedia or Google search is only a few keystrokes away!
In June the Church Commemorates:
Justin, martyr at Rome, died around 165
Sunday, June 1, 2025
Born of pagan parents, Justin was influenced by an elderly Christian in Ephesus. He became a
teacher of philosophy and the Christian faith. Jailed for practicing an unauthorized religion, he
refused to renounce his faith and was beheaded.
The Martyrs of Uganda, died 1886
Tuesday, June 3, 2025
On June 3, 1886, thirty-two young men were burned to death for refusing to renounce Christianity.
The confident manner in which these Christians went to their deaths contributed to a much stronger
Christian presence in Uganda.
John XXIII, Bishop of Rome, died 1963
Tuesday, June 3, 2025
When elected pope, the former Angelo Roncalli was expected to be a short-term caretaker. He
showed great spirit, though, and convened the Second Vatican Council which helped bring great
changes to Roman Catholic and other churches.
Boniface, Bishop of Mainz, missionary to Germany, martyr, died 754
Thursday, June 5, 2025
Boniface was a native of England who became a Benedictine monk and was called to missionary
work among the Vandal tribes of Germany. With fellow workers, he established churches and
schools, and he also worked to reform the church.
Seattle, chief of the Duwamish Confederacy, died 1866
Saturday, June 7, 2025
Noah Seattle led a coalition of tribes, and convinced them to live peacefully with encroaching white
settlers. When he became a Roman Catholic, he held morning and evening prayer with his tribe.
The city of Seattle is named for him.
Columba, died 597; Aidan, died 651; Bede, died 735; renewers of the church
Monday, June 9, 2025
These three monks from the British Isles helped keep the light of learning alive during the Middle
Ages. Columba founded three monasteries off the coast of Scotland. Aidan was a pastor who led
people to works of charity. The Venerable Bede was a Bible translator, historian, and hymnwriter.
Barnabas, Apostle
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Barnabas was not numbered among the twelve apostles, but the book of Acts gives him that title.
After Paul was converted to Christianity, Barnabas welcomed him to Jerusalem, and later the two
traveled together on missionary journeys.
Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea, died 379; Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, died around
385; Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishop of Constantinople, died around 389; Macrina,
teacher, died around 379
Saturday, June 14, 2025
The Cappadocian fathers, as the three men in this group are known, explored the mystery of the
Holy Trinity. Basil's monastic rule forms the basis for Eastern monastic life. Gregory of Nazianzus
defended orthodox Christianity in Constantinople. Gregory of Nyssa, Basil's younger brother, wrote
on the spiritual life. Macrina, older sister of Basil and Gregory of Nyssa, was the leader of a
community dedicated to asceticism, meditation, and prayer.
Emanuel Nine, martyrs, died 2015
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
On June 17, 2015, Clementa C. Pinckney, Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel Lee Simmons, Sharonda Coleman-
Singleton, and Myra Thompson were murdered by a self-professed white supremacist while they
were gathered for Bible study and prayer at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (often
referred to as Mother Emanuel) in Charleston, South Carolina. Pastors Pinckney and Simmons were
both graduates of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary. A resolution to commemorate June
17 as a day of repentance for the martyrdom of the Emanuel Nine was adopted by the Churchwide
Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on August 8, 2019. Congregations of the
ELCA are encouraged reaffirm their commitment to repenting of the sins of racism and white
supremacy which continue to plague this church, to venerate the martyrdom of the Emanuel Nine,
and to mark this day of penitence with study and prayer.
Onesimos Nesib, translator, evangelist, died 1931
Saturday, June 21, 2025
Onesimos was born in Ethiopia. Captured, enslaved, and taken to Eritrea, he was there freed by
Swedish missionaries. He translated the Bible into his native Oromo and returned to preach there.
John the Baptist
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
John said, "[Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease." And so his birth is celebrated half a year
before Jesus', just as the daylight in the northern hemisphere begins to wane. Jesus honored John
as being the greatest prophet.
Presentation of the Augsburg Confession, 1530
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
On this day in 1530 the German and Latin editions of the Augsburg Confession were presented to
the Emperor Charles of the Holy Roman Empire. The Augsburg Confession was written by Philipp
Melanchthon and endorsed by Martin Luther, and consists of a brief summary of points in which the
reformers saw their teaching as either agreeing with or differing from that of the Roman Catholic
Church of the time.
Philipp Melanchthon, renewer of the church, died 1560
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Though he died on April 19, Philipp Melanchthon is commemorated today because of his connection
with the Augsburg Confession. Colleague and co-reformer with Martin Luther, Melanchthon was a
brilliant scholar, known as "the teacher of Germany."
Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, died 444
Friday, June 27, 2025
Cyril defended the orthodox teachings about the person of Christ. After a conflict involving all of the
major Christian leaders of the time, it was decided that Cyril's interpretation, that Christ's person
included both divine and human natures, was correct.
Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, died around 202
Saturday, June 28, 2025
This important early church leader tried very hard to hold to the faith handed down by the apostles.
An opponent of the movement known as gnosticism, Irenaeus was one of the first to speak of the
church as catholic, or linked together.
Peter and Paul, Apostles
Sunday, June 29, 2025
These two strong-willed apostles are the pillars of the church in the first generation after Christ.
Peter was one of the Twelve, one who both offered a glorious confession of faith and later denied
knowing Jesus. Paul once led the persecution of Christians, then was converted and helped bring
the faith to non-Jewish people.
Beginning in July 2025, the Church Commemorates:
Catherine Winkworth, died 1878; John Mason Neale, died 1866; hymn translators
Tuesday, July 1, 2025
Neale was an English priest who specialized in the translation of Latin and Greek hymns into English.
Winkworth lived in Manchester, England, and devoted herself to translating German hymns. Almost
all English-speaking hymnals include many of their translations.
Thomas, Apostle
Thursday, July 3, 2025
Though frequently remembered as "doubting Thomas," this apostle also demonstrated a willingness
to suffer and die with Jesus (John 11:16), and finally claimed the risen Christ as "my Lord and my
God!" By tradition, he later worked as a missionary in India. Long commemorated on December 21,
Thomas's celebration is moved to July 3 in agreement with ecumenical calendars.
Jan Hus, martyr, died 1415
Sunday, July 6, 2025
Hus was a Bohemian (present-day Czech Republic) priest who spoke against abuses in the church,
and was seen by Martin Luther as his predecessor in the reforming movement. He was found guilty
of heresy by a council of the church, and burned at the stake.
Benedict of Nursia, Abbot of Monte Cassino, died around 540
Friday, July 11, 2025
Benedict is known as the father of the Western monastic movement. Educated in Rome, he went to
live as a hermit, and eventually gathered a community of monks around him. He wrote a rule for
living in monasteries that is used by Benedictines and adapted by others.
