Commontide
Liturgical Color: Red
Proper 4 (May 29-June 4)
O God, the protector of all those who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy, that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal that we lose not the things eternal; grant this, heavenly Father, for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Most liturgical texts are from the Book of Common Prayer (2019) of the Anglican Church in North America.
The New Coverdale Psalter, © 2019 by the Anglican Church in North America. Used by permission.
Martyrs
Anglican Commemoration
The Martyrs of Uganda were the Christian converts and court pages of the kingdom of Buganda, both Anglican and Roman Catholic, put to death by the Kabaka Mwanga II between 1885 and 1887 for refusing to give up their faith. The first were killed early in 1885; the greatest number, led by the Catholic page Charles Lwanga, were burned alive at Namugongo on 3 June 1886. Their feast joins them to a second generation of Ugandan martyrs killed under Idi Amin in 1977.
The Martyrs of Uganda represent a sustained witness of faith across nearly a century of African Christian history. The primary historical core consists of approximately 45 Christian converts (Anglican and Catholic) executed by Kabaka Mwanga II, king of Buganda, between 1885-1886. These young men, many in their teens and twenties, were martyred for refusing to abandon Christianity and conform to traditional religious practice. On June 3, 1886, a large group was burned alive at Namugongo, a site that subsequently became the holiest shrine in sub-Saharan African Christianity. Their martyrdom led to the rapid growth of Christianity in Uganda rather than its suppression. The canonical year of death (1977) reflects ACNA's broader inclusion of those persecuted under Amin's regime, extending the tradition of Ugandan Christian martyrdom into the modern era. The Namugongo Martyrs Shrine now hosts over one million pilgrims annually.
Foundational African Christian witness; martyrs whose sacrifice established and secured Christianity in East Africa; pilgrimage site of ecumenical Christian veneration; symbols of the blood-washed, indigenous African church.