Theologian's Almanac for Week of June 22, 2025

Welcome to SALT’s “Theologian’s Almanac,” a weekly selection of important birthdays, holidays, and other upcoming milestones worth marking — specially created for a) writing sermons and prayers, b) creating content for social media channels, and c) enriching your devotional life.

For the week of Sunday, June 22:

June 24 is Midsummer Night or “Midsummer Eve,” a time of revelry also known as St. John’s Eve, the day before John the Baptist’s birthday. St. John is the patron saint of beekeepers, and this time of year, many beehives are brimming with honey. In fact, this month’s full moon (June 11 this year) has historically been called “the Mead Moon,” since honey was gathered and fermented to make mead — hence the term, “honeymoon.” In a time when the essential work of bees and other pollinators is increasingly appreciated, even as insect populations are in alarming decline, celebrating St. John — who lived in the wilderness, preaching justice and eating “wild honey” (Matthew 3:4) — is more important than ever.

June 24 is also the birthday of St. John of the Cross, the mystic and poet born in Spain in 1542. He grew up in an impoverished family, and in his youth worked at a hospital for the destitute in order to contribute to his household’s income. Eventually, mentored by St. Teresa of Ávila, he sought to reform the Carmelite order — and was arrested and publicly punished for his efforts. He wrote poetry in prison, however, and today is widely considered one of Spain’s greatest poets; among his most famous works are “Spiritual Canticle” and “Dark Night of the Soul.” The patron saint of mystics, contemplatives, and Spanish poets, St. John wrote, “They can be like the sun, words. / They can do for the heart what light can for a field.”

June 27 is the birthday of poet Lucille Clifton, born in 1936 near Buffalo, New York, the daughter of a steelworker and a laundress. Lucille’s mother, Thelma, was a gifted poet herself — but Lucille’s father forbid her from writing, and forced Thelma to throw her poems into the fire. Lucille later wrote:

“fury”

for mama

remember this.
she is standing by
the furnace.
the coals
glisten like rubies.
her hand is crying.
her hand is clutching
a sheaf of papers.
poems.
she gives them up.
they burn
jewels into jewels.
her eyes are animals.
each hank of her hair
is a serpent's obedient
wife.
she will never recover.
remember. there is nothing
you will not bear
for this woman's sake.

And here’s Clifton herself, reading her classic poem about Jesus, “Spring Song.”