December 18
The saints and feasts remembered on December 18, each with a short life, a Bible passage and a prayer.
Saint Malachi
Last of the Twelve Prophets, he promised a messenger to prepare the Lord's way
Malachi is the name attached to the last book of the Twelve Prophets, and almost nothing is known about the man himself. Even the name may be a title: in Hebrew it means “my messenger.” The book points to Jerusalem after the exile, probably in the fifth century BC, when the Temple had been rebuilt but enthusiasm had faded.
The book is written as a series of arguments. The people raise an objection—“How have you loved us?”—and God answers. The prophet challenged priests who offered sick and lame animals, families who held back their tithes, and men who broke faith with the wives of their youth. Behind the rebukes stood a simple claim: God had not stopped loving his people, and he still expected faithfulness.
The book ends by promising a messenger to prepare the Lord's way, and the return of Elijah before the day of the Lord. The Gospels saw that promise fulfilled in John the Baptist, and in most Western Bibles Malachi is the last book before the New Testament.
“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.
Malachi 3:1 · BSB
A prayer
Faithful God, when your people grew tired and careless, you sent your prophet Malachi to remind them of your steady love and to promise a messenger who would prepare your way. Shake us out of half-hearted worship, make our homes places of faithfulness, and ready our hearts to welcome Christ when he comes. Amen.
Saint Wunibald
English monk who helped bring the Gospel to Germany and founded Heidenheim
Wunibald grew up in Wessex, in southern England, in the early 700s. As a young man he travelled to Rome with his father and brother Willibald; their father died on the way, at Lucca. Wunibald studied in Rome for about seven years, then went home.
In the 730s he returned to Rome to live as a monk. There, around 738, his fellow Englishman Boniface asked him to help in Germany. Wunibald was ordained a priest and worked in Thuringia and Bavaria, where the Church was still young. With Willibald, by then bishop of Eichstätt, he founded a monastery at Heidenheim around 752 and led it as abbot, clearing wild land and facing local opposition. In his last years poor health kept him from a journey he longed to make to Monte Cassino. He died at Heidenheim in 761, and his sister Walburga took over the community.
Some years later a Heidenheim nun named Hugeburc wrote down his life. He is remembered as one of the patient builders of the Church in Germany.
Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
Genesis 12:1–2 · BSB
A prayer
Faithful God, you called Wunibald to leave his homeland and serve you among people far from home, building a community of prayer and work. Give us the courage to go where you send us, patience when the work is slow, and trust in you when our strength fails. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The lives are written with AI help from public-domain histories and checked before publishing; the prayers are ours. Bible quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), in the public domain. How we write.