08/14/2026
Jonathan Myrick Daniels is a patron saint of the Episcopal Church who was born in Keene, New Hampshire in 1939. Today we commemorate his day of remembrance.
After graduating from high school in Keene, Jonathan went on to Harvard then entered the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Upon hearing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s appeal in March 1965 to come to Selma in order to secure the right to vote for all citizens, Jonathan moved there to work, being sponsored by the Episcopal Society of Cultural and Racial Unity.
Jonathan was shot and killed while pulling aside his African American companion, a sixteen-year-old, Ruby Sales after having been released from jail for joining a picket line in Hayneville, Alabama on August 14th, 1965.
As we walk life's journey, may Jonathan and Ruby's witness and courage inspire us to follow Christ, with both our lips and our lives, working towards racial justice and reconciliation.
May we act as faithful witnesses inspired by Jonathan and Ruby's commitment to civil rights for all people, as they remind us of the dignity that comes from the oneness of human relationship.
Jonathan Daniels and Martin Luther King Jr. are the only two American martyrs honored in Canterbury Cathedral's Chapel of Martyrs. This year the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire has a group of Youth on Pilgrimage for the commemorative events in Alabama.
Today we pray: God of justice and compassion, who puts down the proud and mighty from their place, and lifts up the poor and the afflicted: We give you thanks for your faithful witness Jonathan Myrick Daniels, who, in the midst of injustice and violence, risked and gave his life for another; and we pray that we, following his example, may make no peace with oppression; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
For more on Jonathan Daniels:
https://prayer.forwardmovement.org/calendar/jonathan-myrick-daniels
For more on the Annual Pilgrimage:
https://www.dioala.org/jonathan-daniels-pilgrimage/
The Episcopal Church in Alabama
St James Keene NH