Crispin and Crispinian

I beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

What kind of shoes do mice wear? Squeakers!

What did the clown say to his apprentice? You've got some big shoes to fill!

Crispin and Crispinian were shoemakers and lived in the third century in Gaul. They are the patrons of shoemakers, cobblers, and other leather-workers. They are reputed to have preached the Christian faith in Gaul whilst exercising their trade and so, like St Paul earning his living as a tent-maker, were no drain on the Christian community. They were put to death for their faith at the beginning of the Diocletian persecution and died in about the year 287 in Rome.

The account of their death is quite interesting: During the Diocletian persecution they were brought before Maximianus Herculius whom Diocletian had appointed co-emperor. At first Maximianus sought to turn Crispin and Crispinian from their faith by alternate promises and threats. But they replied: “Thy threats do not terrify us, for Christ is our life, and death is our gain. Thy rank and possessions are nought to us, for we have long before this sacrificed the like for the sake of Christ and rejoice in what we have done. If thou shouldst acknowledge and love Christ thou wouldst give not only all the treasures of this life, but even the glory of thy crown itself in order through the exercise of compassion to win eternal life.” When Maximianus saw that his efforts were of no avail, he gave Crispin and Crispinian into the hands of the governor Rictiovarus, a cruel persecutor of the Christians. Under the order of Rictiovarus they were stretched on the rack and pierced. A millstone was then fastened about the neck of each, and they were thrown into the Aisne, but they were able to swim to the opposite bank of the river. In the same manner they suffered no harm from a great fire in which Rictiovarus, in despair, sought death himself. Afterwards the two saints were beheaded at the command of Maximianus.

Another fantastic tradition connects them with Faversham in Kent where they supposedly fled from persecution. There to this day is a plaque commemorating the location of their supposed house in Faversham and there is also a pub named after them in Strood, also in Kent. Perhaps a St Nic’s pilgrimmage is on the cards… speaking of pilgrimmages, I’d love to go to Holland one day......Wooden shoe?

I beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. What have we been called to? One thing in today’s Gospel appears to be a calling to interpret the signs of the times. Jesus then goes immediately on to speak about reaching a settlement with our accusers. Is then reading the signs of the times, learning how to bear with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. To make an effort to reach a settlement, to try and get on with each other. Easier said than done!

Jesus, our magistrate, will be merciful, but that does not removed the need to pay the last penny. The contemporary push back to the modern doctrine of penal substitution, in which God punished his son because God cannot forgive without justice, i.e. punishment, being carried out, the push back to this, in my opinion is correct. But we have to be careful not to take this too far. Just because God really is merciful and can forgive without punishment being carried out on somebody, doesn’t mean that there isn’t a price to be paid for the mess the world is in. If we haven’t learnt how to do the right thing now, learning how to say sorry, how to make amends, then I think the ongoing purgation of our souls really will be a painful form of payment.

I beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.