John Coleridge Patteson, First Bishop of Melanesia, and his Companions, Martyrs, 1871

https://almanac.oremus.org/2025-09-20

Green / red

Exciting Holiness
2 Chronicles 24.17-21
Psalm 16.2, 4-8
Acts 7.55-end
Mark 8.31-35

Holy Communion
1 Timothy 6.13-16
Psalm 100
Luke 8.4-15

Morning Prayer
Psalm 147
Proverbs 31.10-end
Mark 9.30-37

Evening Prayer
Psalms 148, 149, 150
2 Samuel 24
Acts 13.1-12

(or) Evening Prayer on the Eve of Matthew
Psalm 34
Isaiah 33.13-17
Matthew 6.19-34

Collect

God of all tribes and peoples and tongues,
who called your servant John Coleridge Patteson
to witness in life and death to the gospel of Christ
amongst the peoples of Melanesia:
grant us to hear your call to service
and to respond trustfully and joyfully
to Jesus Christ our redeemer,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion

God our redeemer,
whose Church was strengthened by the blood of your martyr John Coleridge Patteson:
so bind us, in life and death, to Christ’s sacrifice
that our lives, broken and offered with his,
may carry his death and proclaim his resurrection in the world;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

(or)

Eternal God,
who gave us this holy meal
in which we have celebrated the glory of the cross
and the victory of your martyr John Coleridge Patteson:
by our communion with Christ
in his saving death and resurrection,
give us with all your saints the courage to conquer evil
and so to share the fruit of the tree of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Matthew

O Almighty God,
whose blessed Son called Matthew the tax collector
to be an apostle and evangelist:
give us grace to forsake the selfish pursuit of gain
and the possessive love of riches
that we may follow in the way of your Son Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Collect on the Eve of Trinity 14

Almighty God,
whose only Son has opened for us
a new and living way into your presence:
give us pure hearts and steadfast wills
to worship you in spirit and in truth;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.