The Greatest of these is Charity
Pre Lenten Season
the three weeks before Lent commonly called Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima
O LORD, who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee. Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.
[Quinquagesima Sunday]
when the end comes, I hope to join him in that better land, where all the earth's distinctions are obliterated, and nothing but character establishes our status with our Heavenly Father
[The Reverend Major Giles B. Cooke to his friend and student James S. Russell]
Wisdom of Solomon viii. 7
WISDOM reacheth from one end to another mightily: and sweetly doth she order all things. I love her and sought her out from my youth, I desired to make her my spouse, and I was a lover of her beauty. In that she is conversant with God, she magnifieth her nobility: yea, the Lord of all things himself loved her. For she is privy to the mysteries of the knowledge of God, and a lover of his works. If riches be a possession to be desired in this life, what is richer than wisdom, that worketh all things? If a man loves righteousness, her labours are virtues; for she teacheth temperance and prudence, justice and fortitude, which are such things as man can have nothing more profitable in their life [KJV]
1 Corinthians xiii. 1
THOUGH I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. [KJV appointed for Quinquagesima Sunday]
Homily
This Sunday marks the beginning of the pre-Lenten period on the Church calendar. Several of the readings appointed these 17 days concern virtues. The prayer above also comes from this season. It is a prayer that would have been well known to men like Lee, Stewart, Jackson, Pennington, and Polk as it was in their Prayer Books and on their lips. It would have also been familiar to another officer of Lee's staff, who is perhaps not so well known. That is Major Giles B. Cooke of whom we will learn this day.
Today's lessons speak to us of virtues. In the Wisdom of Solomon we hear the virtues that were embraced by the ancients including Plato and Socrates, as well as the Jews during the inter-Testament period when this was written. These are the virtues of temperance, and prudence, justice and fortitude.. As we look at the picture of Lee and his staff in the medallion above, one must acknowledge that these men indeed displayed these virtues - and in particularc Robert E. Lee.
There are three other virtues that Paul speaks of in his letter to the Corinthians that are key for Christians. Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians 13, appointed for Quinquagisma, the Sunday before Lent, that all the things that we strive for are worthless without the most important virtues: Faith, Hope and Charity, and that the greatest is Charity... that is, Christian Love.
Now, here is a mystery. These three are not virtues that a man may obtain through diligence. No, my friend, these three key virtues are the gift of God alone, and it is these three that enable us to master those others of justice, prudence, temperance, and fortitude. It is by the fruit of his Spirit, working within us, that we may come to see these virtues working in our own lives.
Let us now turn to a most remarkable man. Miles G. Cooke volunteered for service at the beginning of the war. He fought at Manassas and served on the staff of Generals Bragg and Beauregard. He was Lee's Assistant Adjutant and Inspector General. He was with Lee at the surrender, and he was the last officer on Lee's staff to die. That is not the most important part of his remarkable story. After the war, Major Giles attended seminary and was ordained a deacon and then a priest of the Episcopal Church. He pastured a church and started St. Stephen's Normal School for ex-slaves. He also opened a small seminary. His first seminarian was a man by the name of James Solomon Russell, an ex-slave, and he was the sole student. His great love for the people who had once called him "master," was manifested in what became the labor of his life. Russell went on to establish the St. Paul Normal and Industrial School that is still in operation.
Major Giles was a graduate of Virginia Military Institute, and a student of Major Thomas E Jackson. It is quite possible that he observed Jackson's respect for the black man and his work with freedman and slaves in Sabbath School in Lexington. There may have been a tiny mustard seed of faith planted at VMI that was to bloom in later years. What makes Major Cooke remarkable is not his mastery of those things we commonly think of as virtues, but rather how Christ manifested himself in Cooke's life and the life of his student Russell. That good work continues today. Major Cooke's own words tell the story of the love between these men:
From Major G.B. Cooke
Matthews C. H. August, 30, 1917
Dear Brother Russell:
I was very much affected when I read your kind letter of the 21st, expressive of your affection founded upon a friendship between teacher and scholar for about forty years. If I have ever done any good in the world, mixed with much evil, I think of you as a part of my humble efforts in shaping in some degree your noble career of usefulness to your fellow men, especially to your own race. God has been good to you, brother, in very many ways, especially in giving you such a useful help-mate as your dear wife. She partakes largely of the character of her good father (Peter G. Morgan), who was (and is now) one of the greatest colored men I have ever met with, and one of the best friends I ever met with, and one of the best friends I ever had. As living in this world, I held him in the highest esteem, so as now living in a better world, I hold him in memory dear. Had he enjoyed the advantages of a college education, he would have been probably the most prominent man of his race in this day and generation. In the course of nature, I cannot expect to live much longer and when the end comes, I hope to join him in that better land, where all the earth's distinctions are obliterated, and nothing but character establishes our status with our Heavenly Father. My dear wife will kindly keep you posted as to my funeral, if you and Brother Schouler should survive me, and if I should survive you, with Virginia's permission, I shall certainly take part in your funeral.
I am your dear old teacher.
Giles. B. Cooke
In the medallion above, Major Cooke is #12. I commend the following site to learn more about the work of Cooke and Russell . Major Giles Cooke's obituary is here part 1, and part 2 (to read part 1, you may need to copy to your computer and open larger in a image viewing program.
Also see a testimony by Mr. Russell to the friendship of these two men of God
Preached at Saint John Baptist Anglican Church, Quinquagesima Suday, MMVI
The Reverend Mark Carroll, MMVI
Lieutenant Colonel, US Army (Retired)
Parson, Saint John Baptist Anglican Church