October 14: Samuel Isaac Joseph Scherechewsky, Bishop and Missionary, 1906

The Collect of the Day

Samuel Isaac Joseph Scherechewsky

O God, who in your providence called Joseph Schereschewsky to the ministry of this church and gave him the gifts and the perseverance to translate the Holy Scriptures: Inspire us, by his example and prayers, to commit our talents to your service, confident that you uphold those whom you call; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Samuel Isaac Joseph Scherechewsky

O God, who in thy providence didst call Joseph Schereschewsky to the ministry of this church and gave him the gifts and the perseverance to translate the Holy Scriptures: Inspire us, by his example and prayers, to commit our talents to thy service, confident that thou dost uphold those whom thou dost call; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2 Corinthians 4:11–18
Psalm 84:1–6
Luke 15:1–7

Joseph Schereschewsky was born on May 6th, 1831, of Jewish parents, in the Lithuanian town of Tauroggen. His early education was directed toward the rabbinate but, during graduate studies in Germany, he became interested in Christianity, both through contact with missionaries and through his own reading of a Hebrew translation of the New Testament. In 1854, Schereschewsky immigrated to America and entered the Western Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh to train for the ministry of the Presbyterian Church. After two years, he decided to become an Episcopalian and to finish his theological studies at the General Theological Seminary in New York City, from which he graduated in 1859.

After ordination, and in response to Bishop Boone’s call for helpers in China, Schereschewsky left for Shanghai. Being a talented linguist, he learned to write Chinese during the voyage. From 1862 to 1875, he lived in Peking and translated the Bible and parts of the Prayer Book into Mandarin. Schereschewsky was elected Bishop of Shanghai in 1877 and was consecrated in Grace Church, New York City. He established St. John’s University in Shanghai, and began his translation of the Bible and other works into classical Chinese.

After some years, however, he became seriously ill. Stricken with paralysis, he resigned his see in 1883. Schereschewsky was determined to continue his translation work, however, and after many difficulties in finding support, he was able to return to Shanghai in 1895. Two years later, he moved to Tokyo, where he died on October 15th, 1906. With heroic perseverance, Schereschewsky completed his translation of the Bible, typing some 2,000 pages with the middle finger of his partially crippled hand. Four years before his death, he said, “I have sat in this chair for over twenty years. It seemed very hard at first. But God knew best. He kept me for the work for which I am best fitted.” He is buried in the Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo, next to his wife Susan Mary Waring, who supported him constantly during his labors and illness.

Lessons and Psalm

First Lesson

Psalm

¹How dear to me is your dwelling, O Lord of hosts! *My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.

²The sparrow has found her a house and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young; *by the side of your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

³Happy are they who dwell in your house! *they will always be praising you.

⁴Happy are the people whose strength is in you! *whose hearts are set on the pilgrims’ way.

⁵Those who go through the desolate valley will find it a place of springs, *for the early rains have covered it with pools of water.

⁶They will climb from height to height, *and the God of gods will reveal himself in Zion.

Gospel

¹¹For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. ¹²So death is at work in us, but life in you. ¹³But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—“I believed, and so I spoke” —we also believe, and so we speak, ¹⁴because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. ¹⁵Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. ¹⁶So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, ¹⁸because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.