Speaking of Commemoration...

...someone recently inquired about the saints that we regularly commemorate in our Divine Service at St. Paul's:

The Blessed Virgin Mary,
St. Joseph, her husband;
St. John the Baptist;
Sts. Peter and Paul.

Why these? The reason is that they are important witnesses: the holy Virgin and St. Joseph to the circumstances surrounding the incarnation itself; St. John the Baptist to the miracles at the Baptism of our Lord; Sts. Peter and Paul to the Resurrected Christ as victor over death.

There are, of course, many more who could be remembered, but we especially honor those whom God chose to be His witnesses to these wondrous events upon which our faith rests and by commemorating them in our prayers, we rejoice in the One to whom they witness and who has made them all sharers in His unending life.