The Saints and Martyrs of Europe 	July 30
Of all the regions whose saints and martyrs are commemorated in the Calendar, Europe covers the widest span of time and influence, because it was here that the link between the church and the social and political institutions became closest. The term “Christendom” could loosely be applied to Europe, or large parts of it, from the eighth century to the nineteenth, with preludes back to Constantine and remains of it down to the present day in the cultural and religious shape of modern Europe.
The saints and martyrs cover all walks of life and every century. There were the missionaries who extended the gospel message, first across the lands of Europe itself and then beyond: from Patrick and Columba, to Cyril and Methodius, to the expansion of European missions to the Americas and China by the Jesuits and Francis Xavier, to the outreach of the pietist movement and the Wesleys in the eighteenth century, and to the enormous upsurge of missionary endeavours by all the European churches in the nineteenth century, some of which directly affected the development of the churches in the Pacific. They preached the gospel in season and out of season.
In the wake of the missionaries came the leaders and organisers of the churches: bishops like Theodore and Anskar and Cranmer; other leaders like Luther and Calvin, and the spiritual leaders who kept the vision bright: from Julian of Norwich to Mechtild of Magdeburg; from Catherine of Siena to Evelyn Underhill. They prayed and meditated and wrote and counselled.
Many of these leaders were close advisers to the rulers of the nations and states of Europe, and many of the rulers and political leaders were themselves shaped by the gospel. Queen Margaret of Scotland was one of the monarchs. Often it was the advisers to the king who shaped policy, like Thomas Becket. More recently, the impact of the gospel on society has been led by dedicated individuals pressing for reforms of one kind and another: William Wilberforce and slavery; Elizabeth Fry and prison reform; Florence Nightingale and nursing.
Monastic and religious vows have played a significant part in the creation of the European Christian story of its saints. Benedict of Nursia and his rule influenced the style of monasticism all over Europe from his own day to the present. Francis and Dominic added another dimension with their bands of brothers (friars) and their impact on the growing cities of Europe in the late Middle Ages. Religious communities of many kinds have grown up all over Europe, from the Brethren of the Common Life in the fourteenth century to the Taizé Community in the twentieth.
Christian thinkers were at the cutting edge of the emergence of the west as a significant intellectual force, and much of the scientific and technological development of the world owes its impetus to the interaction of gospel, philosophy and the world in Europe. From Anselm and Aquinas to Kant and Maurice, they sought to make the gospel intelligible to the people of their day. 
And in the course of all this, many of them died for their faith. Sometimes their opponents were non-Christians who sought to stop them proclaiming the gospel. From the deaths of Peter and Paul in Rome about 64 CE to the death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in 1945 and Jerzy Popieluszko in Poland in 1984, many have preferred death to submission to an alien system of faith and action. But often the martyrs have been internal to the church. Their deaths have been occasioned by the inability of the church to accept differences of opinion within its ranks. Joan of Arc, Jan Hus, Thomas More and Thomas Cranmer were all victims of the church itself.
By their lives and deaths the saints and martyrs of Europe have shaped our heritage and witnessed to the power of the gospel.
For Liturgical Use
We remember and honour today the thousands in Europe who down the centuries have witnessed to the power of the gospel, sometimes at the cost of their lives. There were missionaries inside and outside Europe; there were leaders in the church and in the nations; there were spiritual guides and intellectual leaders; there were monks and friars and women’s groups; communities and individuals with power and influence; and there were those who humbly lived out the gospel without leaving a record for the historian. And many of them died for the sake of Christ. “All these were commended for their faith.”
Sentence
Sing to God you kingdoms of the earth, sing praises to the Lord.	Psalm 68:32
Collects
Gracious and eternal God,
the gospel of your Son
has been proclaimed in the nations of Europe
by saints and martyrs from century to century;
empower us by your Spirit
to speak your word to our generation
and be your faithful servants;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God of every century,
we thank you for the saints of Europe,
the humble, devoted, loving believers,
the noble army of missionaries,
the rulers, the serious enquirers,
the explorers, the worshippers,
and the great host watching, working, waiting.
Psalms	96	111
Readings
Ecclesiasticus 2:10-11,15-18	Fear of the Lord
Romans 15:17-24		Paul’s missionary hopes
Mark 4:26-32		The growth of the kingdom
Post Communion Sentence
Jesus said, “Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty, sixty and a hundredfold.”	Mark 4:8