The Lesser Feast of Peter Williams Cassey, Deacon, and Annie Besant Cassey
Learn more about today’s Feast
Page numbers listed are from The Book of Common Prayer.
Opening Sentence, page 103
Officiant: O God, make speed to save us.
People: O Lord, make haste to help us.
All: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Psalm 13, page 597
1 How long, O Lord? will you forget me for ever? *
how long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long shall I have perplexity in my mind,
and grief in my heart, day after day? *
how long shall my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look upon me and answer me, O Lord my God; *
give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;
4 Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” *
and my foes rejoice that I have fallen.
5 But I put my trust in your mercy; *
my heart is joyful because of your saving help.
6 I will sing to the Lord, for he has dealt with me richly; *
I will praise the Name of the Lord Most High.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Reading: Matthew 5:13-16
Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
Reflection: The Lesser Feast of Peter Williams Cassey, Deacon, and Annie Besant Casse
Peter Williams Cassey was ordained as a deacon in 1866, the first person of color ordained in the Episcopal Church west of the Mississippi River. He was a fourth-generation freed African American. His great-grandfather bought his freedom and founded the first Black church in New York, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. His grandfather was the first African American Episcopal priest in New York and founder of St. Philip’s, Manhattan. His parents, Joseph and Amy Cassey, were prominent abolitionists in Philadelphia.
Peter received the best classical education available at the time, learning to read Greek, Hebrew, and Latin fluently. Arriving in San Francisco in 1853, he worked as a barber and formed an abolitionist group to help free slaves. He helped organize a community association to protect African Americans and other persons of color. In the late 1850s he moved to San José, California.
Peter married Anna Besant, who came from another prominent African American family. They were among the founding members of Trinity Parish, San José, California, in 1861. At the same time, they rented the former Bascom School for Girls and established St. Philip’s Mission for Colored People and opened St. Philip’s Academy. The school was not only for African Americans, but also for Native American, Mexican, and Chinese students because no children of color could attend public schools.
Bishop William Ingraham Kip, first Bishop of California, recognized St. Philip’s as a mission congregation out of Trinity Church and in 1866 ordained Peter as a deacon. In 1872, Bishop Kip directed him to establish Christ Church for Colored People in San Francisco while Anna kept St. Philip’s going. Later this church would split into the African American Church of St. Cyprian and Christ Nippon Sei Ko Kai (Japanese American Episcopal Church). In 1881 Peter was called to St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church in New Bern, North Carolina, as the first African American rector in that state. In 1884 he accepted a call to Florida where he served three parishes in succession until he died at the age of 86 on April 16, 1917. He was never ordained a priest because of the racism of the clergy and Standing Committees of the three dioceses in which he served, even though the bishops favored his ordination.
The Bishop of Florida, Edwin Gardner Weed, said at Peter’s funeral that “no other clergyman in the diocese came close to the theological maturity and scholarship that Peter Williams Cassey exhibited in his ministry and teachings. We should be proud of these great souls that helped lay the foundations of this diocese.”
From Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2024
The Prayers, pages 106-107
Officiant: Lord have mercy.
People: Christ have mercy.
Officiant: Lord have mercy.
All:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Officiant: Lord, hear our prayer;
People: And let our cry come to you.
Officiant: Let us pray.
O God of justice and mercy, we remember before you your servants Peter Williams Cassey and Anna Besant Cassey, who, in the face of slavery and discrimination, gave the blessings of education and spiritual haven to the marginalized; Grant us to be fearless in the face of injustice and to work for blessings that will touch those whom the world does not count of value; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
Intercessions and Thanksgivings
Dismissal, page 107
Officiant: Let us bless the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
Officiant: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen.