October 19: Henry Martyn, Priest and Missionary, 1812

The Collect of the Day

Henry Martyn

O God of the nations, who gave to your servant Henry Martyn a longing to share your Gospel with all peoples; Inspire the church in our own day with that said desire, that we may be eager to commit both life and talents to you who gave them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Henry Martyn

O God of the nations, who gave to thy servant Henry Martyn a longing to share thy Gospel with all peoples; Inspire the church in our own day, we beseech thee, with that same desire, that we may be eager to commit both life and talents to thee who didst bestow them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Isaiah 49:1–7
Psalm 98
John 4:21–26

Henry Martyn, an English missionary and translator, died when he was only thirty-one years old. Though his life was brief, it was a remarkable one.

Martyn was educated at Cambridge. He had intended to become a lawyer, but Charles Simeon, the rector of Holy Trinity, Cambridge, inspired him to go to India as a missionary. After serving as Simeon’s curate for a short time, Martyn traveled to Calcutta in 1806 as chaplain of the East India Company.

During his five years in India, Martyn preached the gospel, organized private schools, and founded churches. In addition to his work as a missionary, Martyn translated the New Testament and the Book of Common Prayer into Hindi, which was a valuable missionary aid to the young Anglican Church in India. He also began the study of Persian, and translated the New Testament into that language as well.

Martyn longed to go to Persia, and in 1811, his persistence brought himto Shiraz, as the first English clergyman in that city. He engaged in theological discussions with learned Muslims and corrected his Persian translations of the New Testament. Martyn hoped eventually to visit Arabia and to translate the New Testament into Arabic.

While on his way to Constantinople in 1812, however, Martyn died in the Turkish city of Tokat. The Armenian Orthodox Christians of the city buried him with the honors usually accorded toone of their own bishops. Very soon afterwards, his life of energetic devotion and remarkable accomplishment became widely known. He is remembered as one of the founders of the modern Christian church in both India and Iran.

Lessons and Psalm

First Lesson

Psalm

¹Sing to the Lord a new song, *for he has done marvelous things.

²With his right hand and his holy arm *has he won for himself the victory.

³The Lord has made known his victory; *his righteousness has he openly shown in the sight of the nations.

⁴He remembers his mercy and faithfulness to the house of Israel, *and all the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.

⁵Shout with joy to the Lord, all you lands; *lift up your voice, rejoice, and sing.

⁶Sing to the Lord with the harp, *with the harp and the voice of song.

⁷With trumpets and the sound of the horn *shout with joy before the King, the Lord.

⁸Let the sea make a noise and all that is in it, *the lands and those who dwell therein.

⁹Let the rivers clap their hands, *and let the hills ring out with joy before the Lord, when he comes to judge the earth.

¹⁰In righteousness shall he judge the world *and the peoples with equity.

Gospel

¹Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb he named me. ²He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. ³And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” ⁴But I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my God.” ⁵And now the Lord says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God has become my strength— ⁶he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” ⁷Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers, “Kings shall see and stand up, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”