August 13
- Hippolytus, Doctor, Bishop in Rome, Martyr 235
Not much is known of his early
life, but we do know that
Hippolytus, a Greek, was a pupil
of Irenaeus, who was a disciple of
Polycarp, who was disciple of
John the beloved disciple of
Jesus. He became the head of a
respected school of theology and
a bishop in or around Rome.
Subsequently he came into
conflict with Pope Callistus (Calixtus), who was elected pope in 217 A.D. , but whom he
considered heretical. He established himself as an anti-pope (i.e., one who claims to
exercise the office of pope without the valid authority to do so) and remained in schism
(though not a heretic) until the year 235 A.D. In this position he prepared a liturgical
handbook, "Apostolike Paradosis" ["paradosis" is a Greek word meaning to "hand on the
Word of God" which can also be translated as "tradition"], which contains the earliest
evidence for the Roman Eucharistic prayer used in the Catholic Mass. His schism
continued after the martyrdom of Pope Callistus in 222 A.D. Arrested and banished to
mines on the island of Sardinia, Hippolytus urged his followers to return to communion
with the legitimate pope, Antherus, before dying as a martyr by being dragged to death
by horses, about 236 A.D.
- Jeremy Taylor, Bishop of Down and Connor, 1667
Jeremy Taylor (1613 – 13 August 1667) was a
clergyman in the Church of England who
achieved fame as an author during the
Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. He is sometimes
known as the "Shakespeare of Divines" for his
poetic style of expression and was often presented
as a model of prose writing.
Taylor was educated at the Perse School,
Cambridge before going on to Gonville and Caius
College, at Cambridge, where he graduated in
1626. He was under the patronage of William
Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury. He went on to
become chaplain in ordinary to King Charles I as
a result of Laud's sponsorship. This made him
politically suspect when Laud was tried for
treason and executed in 1645 by the Puritan
Parliament during the English Civil War. After
the Parliamentary victory over the King, he was briefly imprisoned several times.
Eventually, he was allowed to live quietly in Wales, where he became the private
chaplain of the Earl of Carbery. At the Restoration, his political star was on the rise, and
he was made Bishop of Down and Connor in Ireland. He also became vice-chancellor of
the University of Dublin.