Born to Congregationalist missionaries in India in 1861, Scudder and her mother were confirmed in the Episcopal church during the 1870, by no less a person than Phillips Brooks, the noted preacher (and composer of "O Little Town of Bethlehem"). After receiving an excellent education, she founded the College Settlements Association and Denison House in Boston, while also teaching at Wellesley College, which was then an all-women's college. After a breakdown from overwork, Scudder went to Italy to recuperate. Two years later she returned to the U.S. and once again was busy with social activism. In 1911, she became a Christian Socialist; the following year, she supported the textile workers' strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts. She supported the First World War, but later became a pacifist. She began writing after her retirement from teaching, and became the first woman published in the Anglican Theological Review. She died on October 10, 1954. PRAYER Most gracious God, you sent your beloved Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Raise up in your church witnesses who, after the example of your servant Vida Dutton Scudder, stand firm in proclaiming the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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Saints Alive!
I have been privileged to offer Noonday Prayer at my church, usually on Thursdays, which doesn’t matter because it’s on Youtube forever. [It’s amazing what can be done with a smartphone and a smart, helpful parish administrator!] The service is brief, with a place for a meditation. We usually look at the Episcopal calendar of saints, who are nearly always honored on their death dates, not their birth dates. Here is a hymn by medieval saint Hildegard of Bingen to set the mood.
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