Samuel Ajayi Crowther
v. 1807-1891 19th century Feast day: December 31
The prayer of the freed one: to give thanks for deliverance and to pass it on to one's own.
Who was Samuel Ajayi Crowther?
A Yoruba child seized by slave traders and then freed by the British navy, he became the first Anglican bishop of African origin. A translator of the Bible into Yoruba, he made his own language a road to God and served his people with the living memory of his double liberation, from men and from sin.
In their own words
About the third year of my liberation from the slavery of man, I was convinced of another worse state of slavery, namely, that of sin and Satan. It pleased the Lord to open my heart.
It pleased the Lord to open my heart, and I longed to join the visible Church of Christ.