Historically, spring was a time for fasting in agricultural societies because resources from the previous harvest were running low, and much of the remaining seed had to be saved for planting. For Christians, Lent (from the Teutonic word for spring) was originally a period of preparation of new converts for baptism. Baptisms would take place at the vigil the night before Easter. Those preparing would engage in a final 40 day time of fasting, prayer, and study, immediately prior to reception into the church. The 40 day practice is based on Jesus’ own experience in the desert at the beginning of his ministry. Eventually, the practice was extended to all Christians as a way to prepare spiritually for the Holy Week and Easter celebrations.

Different local and regional churches developed different methods of determining the 40 days. There was some question as to whether Sundays and Holy Week should be included. (In the West it is 40 days of fasting, plus six Sundays, leading to a 46 day period beginning on a Wednesday.) Then there were differences as to what could be eaten, how much, and when. The standard practice by the Middle Ages was to abstain from meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy products for the period, eating only once a day, in the evening or late afternoon. (Hence the practice of having pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, to clear the butter and eggs out of your pantry; and the habit of decorating eggs at Easter, when it would be permissible to eat them again.) In the Western church, exceptions, allowances, and indulgences were allowed over many centuries until today when it is reduced to merely an abstention from meat, and even that is now laxly observed.

March 7 + Perpetua & Felicity.

They died in Carthage along with four male companions, in the year 203. When they were arrested they were not yet baptized, but "catechumens," that is, people preparing for baptism. Felicity was a slave-girl and pregnant; Perpetua a young widow with an infant. While in prison for their faith they were baptized, and Perpetua had a series of mystical dreams. Meanwhile, Felicity gave birth in their cell. The children of both women were adopted by other Christian families. All six of them were paraded into the arena and showed faith and courage as they were mauled by bull, leopard, bear, and boar, until finally finished off with a sword. Their example of courage and steadfast faith has shone for the faithful ever since.

March 9 + Gregory of Nyssa.

Gregory was a fourth century theologian from a pious Christian family which included two other saints, his brother Basil the Great, and his sister Macrina. He began his career as a teacher of rhetoric and was married. His skill was recognized by a friend, Gregory of Nazianzus (who was also destined for sainthood). One Gregory convinced the other to devote himself to Christ and the Church, and Gregory of Nyssa was consecrated a bishop in 371, by his brother. After a difficult first few years, he rose to prominence in combating the Arian heresy. Gregory was declared a "pillar or orthodoxy" by the Council of Constantinople in 381. His voluminous writings on philosophy, theology, mysticism, and the spiritual life have been highly influential ever since.

In Gregory of Nyssa we see the resolution of Platonic philosophy into the higher key of Christianity, a process begun by Clement of Alexandria and Origen two centuries earlier. This synthesis gave Christianity the philosophical "chops" to gain acceptance in the Greek world, and completed its evolution from an obscure Jewish sect to a universal world religion. Gregory of Nyssa also stands as one of the greatest theologians of the Christian East, and familiarity with his works has often brought renewal in its wake.

March 10 + Harriet Tubman.

We go from the rarefied sublimity of Gregory to the literally down-to-earth, hands-on spirituality of the great African-American leader, Harriet Tubman. Harriet was a slave in Maryland who became "the Moses of her people." Inherently rebellious against her condition, she endured repeated harsh punishment for insubordination and attempting to escape. Eventually, she adopted quieter methods and actually did escape northward in 1849.

In all her exploits, Harriet was motivated by the stories of Israel’s Exodus from slavery in Egypt. She even had several mystical visions which inspired her to escape over the Mason-Dixon Line to Pennsylvania, a free state. Not content with freedom, Harriet then made repeated and extremely dangerous trips back south to assist other escaping slaves in their journeys. After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, slaves had to be guided in secret all the way to Canada.

Harriet never lost a single slave under her care, and she became one of the most wanted "criminals" in America, especially the South. During the Civil War she worked as a nurse and spy for the Union. She devoted the rest of her life to assisting freed slaves from her small house in upstate New York. She died in 1913, in her nineties.

March 11 + Maximilian.

Maximilian was drafted into the Roman Army in about the year 295. He refused to serve on the basis of his faith. When the authorities argued that there were other Christians in the Army, he still appealed to his conscience. They tried to get his veteran father to convince him, and he was unable. They threatened him with death, and Maximilian still refused to be inducted. So they beheaded him, and his body was buried in Carthage. He remains an inspiration to Christian pacifists.

March 12 + Paul Aurelian.

Paul was a disciple of Illtyd along with other famous Celtic saints like David, Samson, and Gildas. He left Wales as a peregrine (traveling) monk, landing on an obscure island off the coast of Brittany, where he established a monastery and gained a reputation for holiness. After being invited to preach for several years in Cornwall, he returned to Brittany where he died at the age of 104.

March 12 + Gregory the Great.

This 7^th century Pope was for a while Mayor of Rome. Then he became a monk at age 35, serving in several positions in the ecclesiastical bureaucracy. He was the first monk to be elected Pope, and he held the position for 14 very turbulent years. He developed a good relationship with the northern barbarian tribes that were in the process of reconstituting Western Europe. He sent missionaries to England under Augustine of Canterbury. He wrote widely on spiritual and pastoral issues, and reformed Church music. Gregorian Chant is named after him.

Gregory stopped the decline and atrophy of Rome and reestablished its primacy in the West, helping to end a period of moral and intellectual blight known as the Dark Ages. The Rome and Papacy that emerged was quite different from the one that became enmeshed in crisis two centuries earlier.

Patrick was born in 385, the son of a Roman British official. As a boy he was kidnapped by raiders from Ireland and forced to work as a slave, keeping sheep. During his long, cold hours in the pastures he had a mystical experience of God’s Presence, which sustained him until he could escape from slavery and go back to Britain. Patrick remained a staunch opponent of slavery his whole life. God called him in a dream to go back and spread the gospel among his former captors, so he went to the mainland and studied for the priesthood under Germanus of Auxerre. In 432, at the age of 45, he finally got his chance to return to Ireland as a missionary.

While in Ireland legend has it that he bested the Druidic priests at spectacular exploits. In any case, by 442 he had established an episcopal see (jurisdiction) in Armagh with a large following of priests and monastics. Other legends are that he used the shamrock as a visual aid to teach about the Trinity, drove the snakes out of Ireland, and developed the Celtic cross by juxtaposing the cross with the Druidic circle. Ireland converted to Christianity relatively easily; there were no Irish martyrs. The people seemed to feel that Christianity was simply the next step in the evolution of their faith.

Joseph was the adopted father of Jesus. Like his namesake in Genesis, Joseph experienced many meaningful dreams which helped him protect Jesus. Tradition says that Joseph was considerably older than Mary, and had children from a former wife, who had died. (Among these were Jesus’ brothers, James and Jude, who appear later in the New Testament. This would also explain why Joseph is absent from accounts of Jesus’ ministry.) Joseph continues to stand as a shining example of responsible and selfless fatherhood.

Cuthbert was born in 634 in northern England. When he was a boy keeping sheep he had a vision of angels in the night sky leading a holy soul into heaven. The soul was that of Aidan, the founder of the monastery at Lindisfarne, where Cuthbert was also destined to serve as abbot. In 664 he became bishop. He was interested in nature, dedicated to the poor, a worker of miracles, and oversaw the transition to Roman ecclesiastical authority.

March 23 + Gregory the Illuminator.

Gregory brought the gospel to the people of Armenia, in the 3^rd and 4^th centuries. His life is shrouded in legend. Armenia was, I believe, the first nation to become officially Christian, and one of the first areas outside of the Roman Empire to be converted.

March 24 + Oscar Romero.

Originally a conservative papal appointment as Archbishop of San Salvador, the horrible injustices of the government in El Salvador radicalized Romero and made him an increasingly vocal advocate of the poor. This antagonized the forces of evil in his country, and, on March 24, 1980, a death squad entered his church as he celebrated mass, and, as he lifted the cup of the Lord’s blood, he was shot.

March 25 + The Feast of the Annunciation.

At about the time of the Passover, the angel Gabriel came to a young woman named Mary who lived in Nazareth, and said God had selected her to be the mother of the Messiah. In giving her assent, Mary became the vehicle through which God came into the world through Jesus Christ. Nine months later, Jesus is born in Bethlehem.

Protestants have habitually understated Mary’s role and function in the Church. This was mainly a backlash against the excesses of medieval Roman attitudes towards Mary, but also went much too far.

Mary was declared "Theotokos," or "Bearer of God" at the Council of Ephesus in 431. This was an official ratification of a movement that no doubt had much deeper roots in Christian practice, perhaps back to the 1^st century.

March 25 is close to the Spring Equinox, when the daylight hours begin to outlast the hours of darkness. (Jesus’ death also occurs at this time of year.) Thus, Christ is conceived at a time of increasing light, just as he will be born near the Winter Solstice, when light triumphs over the darkness of winter. In this way the early Church saw the life of Christ interpreting the natural cycles of the planet.

Eckhart was born in 1260, in Germany. As a teenager he became a Dominican monk; his career was spent as a scholar and as a Dominican official. His writings got him into trouble with the Roman hierarchy, then at one of its most corrupt phases. Eckhart’s greatest impact was as a preacher and mystic, and his teachings are still widely read and appreciated today.

March 28 + Kanzo Uchimura.

Uchimura was a young man of the Japanese Samurai class when he encountered Christian missionaries and converted in the late 19^th century. Coming to America to study, he was appalled by the racism and vulgarity of the culture. He noted his own naivete in thinking that every time he heard Americans say "Jesus Christ" he thought they were praying!

His disillusionment shook and nearly broke his faith; but he was taken in by some Christians and nurtured back to spiritual health. But when he got back to Japan he resolved to work on the development of a Christianity that was separated from Western culture. His indigenous Japanese version of Christianity was called "Mukyokai," or "No-Church."

The Mukyokai movement rethought Christianity along Japanese lines and what emerged was a non-institutional faith that looked more like Zen. Their meetings were lectures on the Bible and spirituality led by an accomplished Master. They owned no property, had no clergy, celebrated no sacraments. They were also very nationalistic.

Uchimura’s enduring value was in his recognition that Christianity was not identical with Western civilization, and could therefore be planted and thrive in a place like Japan using Japanese culture as its milieu. Uchimura remains one of the most widely read Christian scholars in Japan.

March 28 + Roger Williams.

Williams grew up near Smithfield, in England, where Protestants were burned at the stake by Queen Mary. Hence, he had an innate antipathy towards the Crown and the established Church of England. He joined the Puritans and came over to the new colony of Boston in 1630, a protege of John Winthrop.

But Williams was more radical than Winthrop and tried to bring his more extreme and separatist brand of Puritanism to the churches he served in Boston and Salem. This brought him into conflict with Winthrop’s people, who, after all, received their right to set up a colony from the English monarch. Eventually he was banished to Rhode Island, where he established his own new colony, called Providence.

Rhode Island became a haven for religious seekers, since Williams’ radical stance against "idolatry" also included suspicion of virtually all religious rules and institutions. He separated Church and State, which horrified the Puritans in Boston. In 1643, the Puritan-dominated English Parliament granted him a charter for his colony.

Rhode Island became famous for its tolerance and diversity. It became the center for minority groups in British America, and welcomed Quakers and Roman Catholics, as well as Jews.

Donne was an Anglican priest and poet of the 16th and 17th centuries. His poems wrestle with God and express his seeking to be conformed to God’s will, often through suffering. Perhaps his most famous line was "No man is an island."

Sister Thea was an African-American Franciscan nun who was very active in the civil rights movement of the 1960's. One of her agendas was the expression of Roman Catholicism in the cultural language of African-Americans. She was a wonderful preacher and effective evangelist. She suffered from breast cancer, yet still traveled the country in her work. Sister Thea died on March 30, 1990; she was 53.

Maria lived through the turmoil of the Russian Revolution, eventually fleeing to Paris where she became involved in working with destitute Russian refugees. In 1932 she became a nun, and intensified her work on behalf of the poor in Paris. When the Nazis occupied France in 1940, Mother Maria became involved in efforts to rescue Jews. She was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943, and lived in the unspeakable brutality of Ravensburg concentration camp for two years, where she garnered a reputation as a light of hope and courage. Mother Maria was executed in the gas chamber on March 31, 1945, just before the arrival of Soviet troops.