The Calendar of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa is published in An Anglican Prayer Book 1989.

The Preface to the calendar in the Prayer Book describes its purpose: The Church's Year both commemorates and proclaims how God came down from heaven to earth in Jesus Christ, who still lives among us by the Holy Spirit until he comes again at the end of time. The yearly observance of the holy days of the Calendar is a celebration of what God has done and is doing for our salvation.

Holy Days are distinguished as Great Festivals (being the principal celebrations), Festivals (celebrating New Testament events), Commemorations (recalling particular individuals and events), and other Special Days - the observance of the former taking precedence over the latter in the event of clashes. The Preface to the calendar describes the commemorations as occasions: when the Church thankfully recalls the work and witness of men and women through whom Christ's saving victory has been manifested from the time of the apostles to the present day.

Great Festivals

These Festivals may occur on different dates in each year and fall principally on a designated day of the week; and they relate to, and are determined by, the seasons of Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 and Easter

Easter

Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...

.

• The Four Sundays in Advent
  Advent
  Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, called Levavi...
  
  
• Christmas Day
  Christmas
  Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
  
   (25 December)
• The First Sunday after Christmas
• The Second Sunday after Christmas (in some years)
• The Epiphany
  Epiphany (Christian)
  Epiphany, or Theophany, meaning "vision of God",...
  
   (6 January)
• The First Sunday of the Year: The Baptism of Christ
  Baptism of Jesus
  The baptism of Jesus marks the beginning of Jesus Christ's public ministry. This event is recorded in the Canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. In John 1:29-33 rather than a direct narrative, the Baptist bears witness to the episode...
  
  
• The Second, Third and Fourth Sundays of the Year

According to the date of Easter the Fifth to Ninth Sundays of the Year may occur before Lent

• The Five Sundays in Lent
  Lent
  In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
  
  
• Palm Sunday
  Palm Sunday
  Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in all four Canonical Gospels. ....
  
  : The Sunday of the Passion
• Easter Day
  Easter
  Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
  
  
• The Five Sundays after Easter
• Ascension Day
• The Sixth Sunday after Easter
• The Day of Pentecost
  Pentecost
  Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...
  
  
• Trinity Sunday
  Trinity Sunday
  Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity...
  
  : The Sunday after Pentecost
• Corpus Christi
  Corpus Christi (feast)
  Corpus Christi is a Latin Rite solemnity, now designated the solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ . It is also celebrated in some Anglican, Lutheran and Old Catholic Churches. Like Trinity Sunday and the Solemnity of Christ the King, it does not commemorate a particular event in...
  
  : The Commemoration of the Holy Communion (the Thursday after Trinity Sunday)
• The Sundays of the Year which follow Pentecost (These vary in number according to the date of Easter)
• All Saints
  All Saints
  All Saints' Day , often shortened to All Saints, is a solemnity celebrated on 1 November by parts of Western Christianity, and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in Eastern Christianity, in honour of all the saints, known and unknown...
  
   1 November
• The Thirty Fourth Sunday of the Year: Christ the King
  Christ the King
  Christ the King is a title of Jesus based on several passages of Scripture. It is used by most Christians. The Roman Catholic Church, together with many Protestant denominations, including the Anglican Churches, Presbyterians, Lutherans and Methodists, celebrate the Feast of Christ the King on the...
  
  

Festivals and commemorations

Festivals are shown in bold text and commemorations are shown in regular type. While this list shares many similarities with other calendars in the Anglican Communion, it is specific to Southern Africa and is determined by the Southern African Synod of Bishops.

January

• 1: The Holy Name of Jesus
  Jesus
  Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
  
  : The circumcision of Christ
  Circumcision of Christ
  The Feast of the Circumcision of Christ is a Christian celebration of the circumcision of Jesus in accordance with Jewish tradition, eight days after his birth, the occasion on which the child was formally given his name.The circumcision of Jesus has traditionally been seen, as explained in the...
  
  
• 10: William Laud
  William Laud
  William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...
  
  , Archbishop of Canterbury and Martyr, 1645
• 11: The Holy Innocents
  Massacre of the Innocents
  The Massacre of the Innocents is an episode of infanticide by the King of Judea, Herod the Great. According to the Gospel of Matthew Herod orders the execution of all young male children in the village of Bethlehem, so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn King of the Jews whose birth...
  
   can be kept on this day instead of 28 December
• 13: Hilary
  Hilary of Poitiers
  Hilary of Poitiers was Bishop of Poitiers and is a Doctor of the Church. He was sometimes referred to as the "Hammer of the Arians" and the "Athanasius of the West." His name comes from the Latin word for happy or cheerful. His optional memorial in the Roman Catholic calendar of saints is 13...
  
  , Bishop of Poitiers and Teacher of the Faith, 367
• 14: Richard Meux Benson
  Richard Meux Benson
  Richard Meux Benson was a priest in the Church of England and founder of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, the first religious order of monks in the Anglican Communion since the Reformation...
  
   of Cowley
  Cowley, Oxford
  Cowley in Oxford, England, is a residential and industrial area that forms a small conurbation within greater Oxford. Cowley's neighbours are central Oxford to the northwest, Rose Hill and Blackbird Leys to the south, New Headington to the north and the villages of Horspath and Garsington across...
  
  , Religious, 1915
• 17: Anthony of Egypt
  Anthony the Great
  Anthony the Great or Antony the Great , , also known as Saint Anthony, Anthony the Abbot, Anthony of Egypt, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony the Anchorite, Abba Antonius , and Father of All Monks, was a Christian saint from Egypt, a prominent leader among the Desert Fathers...
  
  , Founder of the Religious Life, 356
• 18: The Confession of St Peter
  Peter's confession
  In Christianity, the Confession of Peter refers to an episode in the New Testament in which Apostle Peter proclaims Jesus to be Christ - the expected Messiah...
  
  
• 21: Agnes
  Saint Agnes
  Agnes of Rome is a virgin–martyr, venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, and Lutheranism. She is one of seven women, excluding the Blessed Virgin, commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass...
  
  , Virgin and Martyr, c.304
• 23: Yona Kanamuzeyi, Deacon and Martyr in Rwanda, Africa, 1964
• 24: Francis de Sales
  Francis de Sales
  Francis de Sales was Bishop of Geneva and is a Roman Catholic saint. He worked to convert Protestants back to Catholicism, and was an accomplished preacher...
  
  , Bishop of Geneva, 1622
• 25: The Conversion of Paul
• 26: Timothy and Titus
  Apostle Titus
  Titus was a companion of Saint Paul, mentioned in several of the Pauline epistles. Titus was with Paul and Barnabas at Antioch and accompanied them to the Council of Jerusalem, although his name occurs nowhere in the Acts of the Apostles....
  
  
• 27: John Chrysostom
  John Chrysostom
  John Chrysostom , Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and his ascetic...
  
  , Bishop of Constantinople and Teacher of the Faith, 407
• 28: Thomas Aquinas
  Thomas Aquinas
  Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
  
  , Teacher of the Faith, 1274
• 29: Charles Frederick Mackenzie, Bishop in Central Africa, 1862

February

• 2: The Presentation of our Lord in the Temple
  Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
  The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, which falls on 2 February, celebrates an early episode in the life of Jesus. In the Eastern Orthodox Church and some Eastern Catholic Churches, it is one of the twelve Great Feasts, and is sometimes called Hypapante...
  
  
• 3: Anskar
  Ansgar
  Saint Ansgar, Anskar or Oscar, was an Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. The see of Hamburg was designated a "Mission to bring Christianity to the North", and Ansgar became known as the "Apostle of the North".-Life:After his mother’s early death Ansgar was brought up in Corbie Abbey, and made rapid...
  
  , Bishop and Missionary in Denmark and Sweden, 864
• 4: Manche Masemola
  Manche Masemola
  Manche Masemola is a Christian martyr, of the Pedi tribe, who lived in Marishane, a small village near Pietersburg, in South Africa...
  
   of Sekhukhuneland, Virgin and Martyr, 1928
• 5: The Martyrs of Japan
  Martyrs of Japan
  The refers to a group of Christians who were executed by crucifixion on February 5, 1597 at Nagasaki. Their martyrdom is especially significant in the history of Roman Catholicism in Japan....
  
  , 1597
• 9: James Mata Dwane, Priest, 1916
• 14: Cyril
  Saints Cyril and Methodius
  Saints Cyril and Methodius were two Byzantine Greek brothers born in Thessaloniki in the 9th century. They became missionaries of Christianity among the Slavic peoples of Bulgaria, Great Moravia and Pannonia. Through their work they influenced the cultural development of all Slavs, for which they...
  
   and Methodius, Missionaries to the Slavs, 9th century
• 15: Thomas Bray
  Thomas Bray
  The Reverend Dr Thomas Bray was an English clergyman, who spent time in Maryland as an Anglican representative.-Life:...
  
  , Priest, 1730
• 20: Mother Cecile of Grahamstown, Religious, 1906
• 23: Polycarp
  Polycarp
  Saint Polycarp was a 2nd century Christian bishop of Smyrna. According to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to touch him...
  
  , Bishop of Smyrna and Martyr, 155
• 27: George Herbert
  George Herbert
  George Herbert was a Welsh born English poet, orator and Anglican priest.Being born into an artistic and wealthy family, he received a good education that led to his holding prominent positions at Cambridge University and Parliament. As a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, Herbert excelled in...
  
  , Priest, 1632

March

• 1: David
  Saint David
  Saint David was a Welsh Bishop during the 6th century; he was later regarded as a saint and as the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and a relatively large amount of information is known about his life. However, his birth date is still uncertain, as suggestions range from 462 to...
  
  , Bishop and Missionary in Wales, 6th century
• 2: Chad
  Chad of Mercia
  Chad was a prominent 7th century Anglo-Saxon churchman, who became abbot of several monasteries, Bishop of the Northumbrians and subsequently Bishop of the Mercians and Lindsey People. He was later canonized as a saint. He was the brother of Cedd, also a saint...
  
  , Bishop of Lichfield, 672
• 3: John
  John Wesley
  John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
  
   and Charles Wesley
  Charles Wesley
  Charles Wesley was an English leader of the Methodist movement, son of Anglican clergyman and poet Samuel Wesley, the younger brother of Anglican clergyman John Wesley and Anglican clergyman Samuel Wesley , and father of musician Samuel Wesley, and grandfather of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley...
  
  , Priests, 18th century
• 7: Perpetua and her companions, Martyrs, 202
• 9: Maqhamusela Khanyile of Zululand, Martyr, 1877
• 12: Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome and Teacher of the Faith, 604
• 17: Patrick
  Saint Patrick
  Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints....
  
  , Bishop and Missionary in Ireland, 461
• 18: Cyril of Jerusalem
  Cyril of Jerusalem
  Cyril of Jerusalem was a distinguished theologian of the early Church . He is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. In 1883, Cyril was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII...
  
  , Bishop and Teacher of the Faith, 386
• 19: Thomas Ken
  Thomas Ken
  Thomas Ken was an English cleric who was considered the most eminent of the English non-juring bishops, and one of the fathers of modern English hymnology.-Early life:...
  
  , Bishop of Bath and Wells, 1711
• 20: Cuthbert
  Cuthbert of Lindisfarne
  Saint Cuthbert was an Anglo-Saxon monk, bishop and hermit associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Northumbria, at that time including, in modern terms, northern England as well as south-eastern Scotland as far as the Firth of Forth...
  
  , Bishop of Lindisfarne, 687
• 21: Thomas Cranmer
  Thomas Cranmer
  Thomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from...
  
  , Archbishop of Canterbury and Martyr, 1556
• 25: The Annunciation of our Lord to the Blessed Virgin Mary
  Annunciation
  The Annunciation, also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary or Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Virgin Mary, that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus the Son of God. Gabriel told Mary to name her...
  
  
• 29: John Keble
  John Keble
  John Keble was an English churchman and poet, one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement, and gave his name to Keble College, Oxford.-Early life:...
  
  , Priest, 1866

April

• 1: Frederick Denison Maurice, Priest, 1872
• 6: William Law
  William Law
  William Law was an English cleric, divine and theological writer.-Early life:Law was born at Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire in 1686. In 1705 he entered as a sizar at Emmanuel College, Cambridge; in 1711 he was elected fellow of his college and was ordained...
  
  , Priest, 1761
• 11: George Augustus Selwyn
  George Augustus Selwyn
  George Augustus Selwyn was the first Anglican Bishop of New Zealand. He was Bishop of New Zealand from 1841 to 1858. His diocese was then subdivided and Selwyn was Primate of New Zealand from 1858 to 1868. He was Bishop of Lichfield from 1868 to 1878...
  
  , Bishop and Missionary in New Zealand, 1878
• 21: Anselm
  Anselm of Canterbury
  Anselm of Canterbury , also called of Aosta for his birthplace, and of Bec for his home monastery, was a Benedictine monk, a philosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109...
  
  , Archbishop of Canterbury and Teacher of the Faith, 1109
• 23: George
  Saint George
  Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...
  
  , Martyr, 4th century
• 25: St Mark
  Mark the Evangelist
  Mark the Evangelist is the traditional author of the Gospel of Mark. He is one of the Seventy Disciples of Christ, and the founder of the Church of Alexandria, one of the original four main sees of Christianity....
  
  
• 29: Catherine of Siena
  Catherine of Siena
  Saint Catherine of Siena, T.O.S.D, was a tertiary of the Dominican Order, and a Scholastic philosopher and theologian. She also worked to bring the papacy of Gregory XI back to Rome from its displacement in France, and to establish peace among the Italian city-states. She was proclaimed a Doctor...
  
  , 1380

May

• 1: St Joseph
  Saint Joseph
  Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
  
  
• 2: Athanasius
  Athanasius of Alexandria
  Athanasius of Alexandria [b. ca. – d. 2 May 373] is also given the titles St. Athanasius the Great, St. Athanasius I of Alexandria, St Athanasius the Confessor and St Athanasius the Apostolic. He was the 20th bishop of Alexandria. His long episcopate lasted 45 years Athanasius of Alexandria [b....
  
  , Bishop of Alexandria and Teacher of the Faith, 373
• 3: St Philip
  Philip the Apostle
  Philip the Apostle was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. Later Christian traditions describe Philip as the apostle who preached in Greece, Syria, and Phrygia....
  
   and St James
• 4: Monica
  Monica of Hippo
  Saint Monica is a Christian saint and the mother of Augustine of Hippo, who wrote extensively of her virtues and his life with her in his Confessions.-Life:...
  
  , Mother of Augustine of Hippo, 387
• 6: St John may be kept on this day instead of 27 December
• 12: Simon of Cyrene
  Simon of Cyrene
  Simon of Cyrene was the man compelled by the Romans to carry the cross of Jesus as Jesus was taken to his crucifixion, according to all three Synoptic Gospels...
  
  
• 19: Dunstan
  Dunstan
  Dunstan was an Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, a Bishop of Worcester, a Bishop of London, and an Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restored monastic life in England and reformed the English Church...
  
  , Archbishop of Canterbury, 988
• 21: Helena
  Helena of Constantinople
  Saint Helena also known as Saint Helen, Helena Augusta or Helena of Constantinople was the consort of Emperor Constantius, and the mother of Emperor Constantine I...
  
  , Mother of the Emperor Constantine, 4th century
• 25: The Venerable Bede
  Bede
  Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
  
  , Teacher of the Faith, 735
• 26: Augustine
  Augustine of Canterbury
  Augustine of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597...
  
  , First Archbishop of Canterbury and Missionary, 605
• 31: The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

June

• 1: Justin Martyr
  Justin Martyr
  Justin Martyr, also known as just Saint Justin , was an early Christian apologist. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue survive. He is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church....
  
  , c. 165
• 2: The Martyrs of Lyon, 177
• 3: The Martyrs of Uganda
  Martyrs of Uganda
  The Uganda Martyrs were Christian converts who were murdered for their faith in the historical kingdom of Buganda, now part of Uganda.-Charles Lwanga and his companions:...
  
  , 1886
• 5: Boniface
  Saint Boniface
  Saint Boniface , the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid, Wynfrith, or Wynfryth in the kingdom of Wessex, probably at Crediton , was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He is the patron saint of Germany and the first archbishop of Mainz...
  
  , Bishop and Martyr in Germany, 755
• 9: Columba of Iona
  Columba
  Saint Columba —also known as Colum Cille , Colm Cille , Calum Cille and Kolban or Kolbjørn —was a Gaelic Irish missionary monk who propagated Christianity among the Picts during the Early Medieval Period...
  
  , Missionary in Scotland, 597
• 11: St Barnabas
  Barnabas
  Barnabas , born Joseph, was an Early Christian, one of the earliest Christian disciples in Jerusalem. In terms of culture and background, he was a Hellenised Jew, specifically a Levite. Named an apostle in , he and Saint Paul undertook missionary journeys together and defended Gentile converts...
  
  
• 13: Anthony of Lisbon
  Anthony of Padua
  Anthony of Padua or Anthony of Lisbon, O.F.M., was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. Though he died in Padua, Italy, he was born to a wealthy family in Lisbon, Portugal, which is where he was raised...
  
  , Religious, 1231
• 14: Basil and his Companions, Teachers of the Faith, 4th century
• 18: Bernard Mizeki
  Bernard Mizeki
  Bernard Mizeki was an African Christian missionary and martyr. He was born Mamiyeri Mitseka Gwambe in Inhambane, Portuguese East Africa , but moved to Cape Town, Cape Colony , when he was about twelve years old.Through the work of the Cowley Fathers' mission, and particularly the German missionary...
  
  , Martyr in Mashonaland, 1896
• 22: Alban
  Saint Alban
  Saint Alban was the first British Christian martyr. Along with his fellow saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three martyrs remembered from Roman Britain. Alban is listed in the Church of England calendar for 22 June and he continues to be venerated in the Anglican, Catholic, and Orthodox...
  
  , First Martyr in Britain, c. 304
• 24: The Birth of St John the Baptist
  John the Baptist
  John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
  
  
• 28: Irenaeus
  Irenaeus
  Saint Irenaeus , was Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, then a part of the Roman Empire . He was an early church father and apologist, and his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology...
  
  , Bishop of Lyons and Teacher of the Faith, c. 202
• 29: St Peter
  Saint Peter
  Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
  
   and St Paul
  Paul of Tarsus
  Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
  
  

July

• 3: St Thomas
  Thomas the Apostle
  Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in . He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman...
  
  
• 6: Thomas More
  Thomas More
  Sir Thomas More , also known by Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. He was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England and, for three years toward the end of his life, Lord Chancellor...
  
  , Martyr, 1535
• 11: Benedict of Monte Cassino
  Benedict of Nursia
  Saint Benedict of Nursia is a Christian saint, honored by the Roman Catholic Church as the patron saint of Europe and students.Benedict founded twelve communities for monks at Subiaco, about to the east of Rome, before moving to Monte Cassino in the mountains of southern Italy. There is no...
  
  , Religious, c. 540
• 13: Silas
  Silas
  Saint Silas or Saint Silvanus was a leading member of the Early Christian community, who later accompanied Paul in some of his missionary journeys....
  
  
• 22: St Mary Magdalene
  Mary Magdalene
  Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
  
  
• 25: St James
• 29: William Wilberforce
  William Wilberforce
  William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
  
  , Philanthropist, 1833
• 30: Mary
  Mary, sister of Lazarus
  Mary of Bethany is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of John and Luke in the Christian New Testament...
  
   and Martha
  Martha
  Martha of Bethany is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem...
  
   of Bethany

August

• 3: St Stephen
  Saint Stephen
  Saint Stephen The Protomartyr , the protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches....
  
   may be kept on this day instead of 26 December
• 6: The Transfiguration of our Lord
  Transfiguration of Jesus
  The Transfiguration of Jesus is an event reported in the New Testament in which Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels describe it, and 2 Peter 1:16-18 refers to it....
  
  
• 8: Dominic
  Saint Dominic
  Saint Dominic , also known as Dominic of Osma, often called Dominic de Guzmán and Domingo Félix de Guzmán was the founder of the Friars Preachers, popularly called the Dominicans or Order of Preachers , a Catholic religious order...
  
  , Religious, 1221
• 15: St Mary the Virgin, mother of our Lord
  Mary (mother of Jesus)
  Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
  
  
• 20: Bernard of Clairvaux
  Bernard of Clairvaux
  Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val...
  
  , Religious, 1153
• 24: St Bartholomew
  Bartholomew
  Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, and is usually identified as Nathaniel . He was introduced to Christ through St. Philip, another of the twelve apostles as per , where the name Nathaniel first appears. He is also mentioned as “Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee” in...
  
  
• 28: Augustine
  Augustine of Hippo
  Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
  
  , Bishop of Hippo in Africa, 430
• 29: The Beheading of St John the Baptist
  John the Baptist
  John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
  
  

September

• 1: Robert Gray
  Robert Gray (bishop)
  Robert Gray was the first Anglican Bishop of Cape Town.-Biography:Gray was born in Bishopwearmouth, north east England, the son of Robert Gray, Bishop of Bristol, who ordained him deacon in Wells Cathedral on 11 January 1834. His first parish was at Whitworth. In 1845 he became the vicar of...
  
  , First Bishop of Cape Town, 1872
• 2: The Martyrs of New Guinea, 1942
• 8: The Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary
  Nativity of Mary
  The Nativity of Mary, or Birth of the Virgin and various permutations, is celebrated as a liturgical feast in the Roman Catholic calendar of saints and in most Anglican liturgical calendars on 8 September, nine months after the solemnity of her Immaculate Conception, celebrated on 8 December...
  
  
• 13: Cyprian
  Cyprian
  Cyprian was bishop of Carthage and an important Early Christian writer, many of whose Latin works are extant. He was born around the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received a classical education...
  
  , Bishop of Carthage and Martyr, 258
• 14: Holy Cross Day
  Feast of the Cross
  In the Christian liturgical calendar, there are several different Feasts of the Cross, all of which commemorate the cross used in the crucifixion of Jesus....
  
  
• 16: Ninian
  Saint Ninian
  Saint Ninian is a Christian saint first mentioned in the 8th century as being an early missionary among the Pictish peoples of what is now Scotland...
  
  , Bishop and Missionary in Scotland, c. 432
• 19: Theodore of Tarsus
  Theodore of Tarsus
  Theodore was the eighth Archbishop of Canterbury, best known for his reform of the English Church and establishment of a school in Canterbury....
  
  , Archbishop of Canterbury, 690
• 20: John Coleridge Patteson
  John Coleridge Patteson
  John Coleridge Patteson was an Anglican bishop and martyr.Patteson was educated at The King's School, Ottery St Mary, Eton and then Balliol College, Oxford. He was ordained in 1853 in the Church of England...
  
  , Bishop of Melanesia and Martyr, 1871
• 21: St Matthew
  Matthew the Evangelist
  Matthew the Evangelist was, according to the Bible, one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the four Evangelists.-Identity:...
  
  
• 26: Lancelot Andrewes
  Lancelot Andrewes
  Lancelot Andrewes was an English bishop and scholar, who held high positions in the Church of England during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. During the latter's reign, Andrewes served successively as Bishop of Chichester, Ely and Winchester and oversaw the translation of the...
  
  , Bishop of Winchester, 1626
• 29: St Michael
  Michael (archangel)
  Michael , Micha'el or Mîkhā'ēl; , Mikhaḗl; or Míchaël; , Mīkhā'īl) is an archangel in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic teachings. Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans refer to him as Saint Michael the Archangel and also simply as Saint Michael...
  
   and All Angels
• 30: Jerome
  Jerome
  Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
  
  , Priest and Teacher of the Faith, 420

October

• 1: Remigius
  Saint Remigius
  Saint Remigius, Remy or Remi, , was Bishop of Reims and Apostle of the Franks, . On 24 December 496 he baptised Clovis I, King of the Franks...
  
  , Bishop and Missionary to the Franks, 530
• 2: Anthony
  Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury
  Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury KG , styled Lord Ashley from 1811 to 1851, was an English politician and philanthropist, one of the best-known of the Victorian era and one of the main proponents of Christian Zionism.-Youth:He was born in London and known informally as Lord Ashley...
  
  , Earl of Shaftsbury, Philanthropist, 1885
• 4: Francis of Assisi
  Francis of Assisi
  Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...
  
  , Religious, 1226
• 7: William Tyndale
  William Tyndale
  William Tyndale was an English scholar and translator who became a leading figure in Protestant reformism towards the end of his life. He was influenced by the work of Desiderius Erasmus, who made the Greek New Testament available in Europe, and by Martin Luther...
  
  , Priest and Martyr, 1536
• 11: Philip the Deacon
  Philip the Evangelist
  Saint Philip the Evangelist appears several times in the Acts of the Apostles. He was one of the Seven Deacons chosen to care for the poor of the Christian community in Jerusalem . He preached and performed miracles in Samaria, converted Simon Magus, and met and baptised an Ethiopian man, an...
  
  
• 15: Teresa of Avila
  Teresa of Ávila
  Saint Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, baptized as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, was a prominent Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic saint, Carmelite nun, and writer of the Counter Reformation, and theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer...
  
  , Religious, 1582
• 16: Hugh Latimer
  Hugh Latimer
  Hugh Latimer was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, Bishop of Worcester before the Reformation, and later Church of England chaplain to King Edward VI. In 1555, under Queen Mary, he was burnt at the stake, becoming one of the three Oxford Martyrs of Anglicanism.-Life:Latimer was born into a...
  
   and Nicholas Ridley
  Nicholas Ridley (martyr)
  Nicholas Ridley was an English Bishop of London. Ridley was burned at the stake, as one of the Oxford Martyrs, during the Marian Persecutions, for his teachings and his support of Lady Jane Grey...
  
  , Bishops and Martyrs, 1555
• 17: Ignatius of Antioch
  Ignatius of Antioch
  Ignatius of Antioch was among the Apostolic Fathers, was the third Bishop of Antioch, and was a student of John the Apostle. En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters which have been preserved as an example of very early Christian theology...
  
  , Bishop and Martyr, c. 110
• 18: St Luke
  Luke the Evangelist
  Luke the Evangelist was an Early Christian writer whom Church Fathers such as Jerome and Eusebius said was the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles...
  
  
• 19: Henry Martyn
  Henry Martyn
  Henry Martyn was an Anglican priest and missionary to the peoples of India and Persia. Born in Truro, Cornwall, he was educated at Truro Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge. A chance encounter with Charles Simeon led him to become a missionary...
  
  , Missionary to the East, 1812
• 28: St Simon
  Simon the Zealot
  The apostle called Simon Zelotes, Simon the Zealot, in Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13; and Simon Kananaios or Simon Cananeus , was one of the most obscure among the apostles of Jesus. Little is recorded of him aside from his name...
  
   and St Jude
  Saint Jude
  Jude was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is generally identified with Thaddeus, and is also variously called Jude of James, Jude Thaddaeus, Judas Thaddaeus or Lebbaeus...
  
  

November

• 2: The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed
• 3: The Martyrs of Mbokotwana, 1880
• 4: Martin de Porres
  Martin de Porres
  Martin de Porres was a lay brother of the Dominican Order who was beatified in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI and canonized in 1962 by Pope John XXIII. He is the patron saint of mixed-race people and all those seeking interracial harmony.He was noted for work on behalf of the poor, establishing an...
  
  , Religious, 1639
• 7: Willibrord
  Willibrord
  __notoc__Willibrord was a Northumbrian missionary saint, known as the "Apostle to the Frisians" in the modern Netherlands...
  
  , Bishop and Missionary in Holland, 739
• 8: Martyrs and Confessors of our Time
  Saints in Anglicanism
  In a catholic sense the term "saint" refers to any spiritually saved person—however, since the 10th century, the title "Saint" is only given to persons who have been officially recognised by the Church for outstanding Christian service and conduct. In the days when the Church of England was...
  
  
• 10: Leo the Great
  Pope Leo I
  Pope Leo I was pope from September 29, 440 to his death.He was an Italian aristocrat, and is the first pope of the Catholic Church to have been called "the Great". He is perhaps best known for having met Attila the Hun in 452, persuading him to turn back from his invasion of Italy...
  
  , Bishop of Rome and Teacher of the Faith, 461
• 11: Martin
  Martin of Tours
  Martin of Tours was a Bishop of Tours whose shrine became a famous stopping-point for pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela. Around his name much legendary material accrued, and he has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints...
  
  , Bishop of Tours, 397
• 12: Charles Simeon
  Charles Simeon
  Charles Simeon , was an English evangelical clergyman.He was born at Reading, Berkshire and educated at Eton College and King's College, Cambridge. In 1782 he became fellow of King's College, and took orders, receiving the living of Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge, in the following year...
  
  , Priest, 1836
• 14: Samuel Seabury, Bishop in America, 1784
• 16: Margaret
  Saint Margaret of Scotland
  Saint Margaret of Scotland , also known as Margaret of Wessex and Queen Margaret of Scotland, was an English princess of the House of Wessex. Born in exile in Hungary, she was the sister of Edgar Ætheling, the short-ruling and uncrowned Anglo-Saxon King of England...
  
  , Queen of Scotland, 1093
• 18: Hilda of Whitby
  Hilda of Whitby
  Hilda of Whitby or Hild of Whitby was a Christian saint and the founding abbess of the monastery at Whitby, which was chosen as the venue for the Synod of Whitby...
  
  , Religious, 680
• 22: Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr at Rome, c. 230
• 23: Clement
  Pope Clement I
  Starting in the 3rd and 4th century, tradition has identified him as the Clement that Paul mentioned in Philippians as a fellow laborer in Christ.While in the mid-19th century it was customary to identify him as a freedman of Titus Flavius Clemens, who was consul with his cousin, the Emperor...
  
  , Bishop of Rome and Martyr, c. 100
• 30: St Andrew
  Saint Andrew
  Saint Andrew , called in the Orthodox tradition Prōtoklētos, or the First-called, is a Christian Apostle and the brother of Saint Peter. The name "Andrew" , like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the 3rd or 2nd century BC. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him...
  
  

December

• 1: Nicholas Ferrar
  Nicholas Ferrar
  Nicholas Ferrar was an English scholar, courtier, businessman and man of religion. Ordained deacon in the Church of England, he retreated with his extended family to the manor of Little Gidding in Huntingdonshire, where he lived the rest of his life.-Early life:Nicholas Ferrar was born in London,...
  
  , Deacon and Religious, 1637
• 3: Francis Xavier
  Francis Xavier
  Francis Xavier, born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta was a pioneering Roman Catholic missionary born in the Kingdom of Navarre and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was a student of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits, dedicated at Montmartre in 1534...
  
  , Priest and Missionary to the East, 1552
• 4: John of Damascus
  John of Damascus
  Saint John of Damascus was a Syrian monk and priest...
  
  , Teacher of the Faith, c. 760
• 5: Peter Masiza, Priest, 1907
• 7: Ambrose
  Ambrose
  Aurelius Ambrosius, better known in English as Saint Ambrose , was a bishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. He was one of the four original doctors of the Church.-Political career:Ambrose was born into a Roman Christian family between about...
  
  , Bishop of Milan and Teacher of the Faith, 397
• 24: Christmas Eve
  Christmas Eve
  Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
  
  
• 26: St Stephen
  Saint Stephen
  Saint Stephen The Protomartyr , the protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches....
  
  This Festival may be transferred to 3 August
• 27: St John
  John the Evangelist
  Saint John the Evangelist is the conventional name for the author of the Gospel of John...
  
  This Festival may be transferred to 6 May
• 28: The Holy Innocents
  Massacre of the Innocents
  The Massacre of the Innocents is an episode of infanticide by the King of Judea, Herod the Great. According to the Gospel of Matthew Herod orders the execution of all young male children in the village of Bethlehem, so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn King of the Jews whose birth...
  
  This Festival may be transferred to 11 January
• 29: Thomas Becket
  Thomas Becket
  Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
  
  , Archbishop of Canterbury and Martyr, 1170

Special Days

Days of Special Devotion are Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday, in the calendar of Western Christianity, is the first day of Lent and occurs 46 days before Easter. It is a moveable fast, falling on a different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter...

, the weekdays of Holy Week

Holy Week

Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...

 (including the Easter Vigil

Easter Vigil

The Easter Vigil, also called the Paschal Vigil or the Great Vigil of Easter, is a service held in many Christian churches as the first official celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. Historically, it is during this service that people are baptized and that adult catechumens are received into...

), and the weekdays of Easter Week

Easter Week

Easter Week is the period of seven days from Easter Sunday through the Saturday following.-Western Church:In the Latin Rite of Roman Catholicism, Anglican and other Western churches, Easter Week is the week beginning with the Christian feast of Easter and ending a week later on Easter Saturday...

. Additionally Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday, in the calendar of Western Christianity, is the first day of Lent and occurs 46 days before Easter. It is a moveable fast, falling on a different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter...

 and Good Friday

Good Friday

Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...

 are fast days.

Ember Days fall on the following Sundays (and include the Wednesday and Friday prior): the Third Sunday in Advent

Advent

Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, called Levavi...

, the Second Sunday in Lent

Lent

In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...

, Trinity Sunday

Trinity Sunday

Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity...

, and the Twenty Sixth Sunday of the Year. On these days particularly prayers are offered for theological institutions, the ordained, and those preparing for ordination

Ordination

In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...

.

Rogation Days are the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday following the Twenty Eighth Sunday of the Year and can be moved to suit local custom. On these days God's blessing is asked for the fruitfulness of the earth and peoples labour.

The Harvest Thanksgiving is celebrated according to local custom.

Evening Prayer

Evening Prayer (Anglican)

Evening Prayer is a liturgy in use in the Anglican Communion and celebrated in the late afternoon or evening...

 on the eve of Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

, Pentecost

Pentecost

Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...

, and Ascension are services of special preparation for those Festivals.

See also

• Anglican Church of Southern Africa
• Liturgical Calendars of the Communion