November 3

In 1600 Richard Hooker finished his earthly parable near Canterbury, where he had been a parish priest. The Church of England commemorates him as a Teacher of the Faith.
Born in Heavitree in 1554, Richard was educated at Oxford's Corpus Christi College, after which was ordained a priest and married.
He moved to London and there became one of the principal champions of the Anglican "middle way," seeking to correct both the deviations of Puritanism, which was widespread in England, and what he saw as Catholicism's overemphasis on the authority of the Church.
Hooker believed that the fundamental key to knowing God's will contained in Scripture is reason, whose dignity derives from the fact that it is God's own gift to humanity. For Hooker, obeying reason means obeying the natural law God established as part of creation.
Hooker's personal equanimity emerges in his theological works, which also give witness to the depth of his spiritual life and his love for humanity.

BIBLICAL READINGS

Sir 44:10-15; 2 Tim 2:22-25: Jn 16:12-15

THE CHURCHES REMEMBER...

ANGLICANS:
Richard Hooker, priest, Anglican apologist, teacher of the faith
Martin of Porres (d. 1639), friar

WESTERN CATHOLICS:
Martin of Porres, religious (Roman and Ambrosian calendars)

COPTS AND ETHIOPIANS (24 bâbah/teqemt):
Ilarion of Gaza (d. 371), monk (Coptic Church)

LUTHERANS:
Pirminus (d. 753), apostle in South-West Germany

MARONITES:
Acepsimas, Joseph and Aethalas of Persia (4th cent.), martyrs
Dedication of the church of St George at Lydda (4th cent.)

ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS AND GREEK CATHOLICS:
Acepsimas, Joseph and Aethalas of Persia (4th cent.), martyrs
Relocation of the relics and dedication of the church of St George at Lydda, megalomartyr
Bessarion Saraj, Sophronius of Cioara and Oprea (17th-18th cent.), confessors (Serbian Church)
Pimen of Zographou (d. 1618), monk (Bulgarian Church)