Viewing all items in Resource Category: Holy Days

The legend goes that St Christopher was a Canaanite who lived in the 3rd century.  He was a giant of a man, of fearsome appearance.  At first he decided to serve the devil, but when he discovered that the devil was afraid of Christ and His Cross, Christopher decided to serve Christ instead.  A nearby...

 One thing is certain – Mary the mother of Jesus must have had parents. Beyond that, nothing is certain – but church tradition offers some details. The first mention of Anne and Joachim as being Mary’s parents was found in the apocryphal Gospel of James (second century) which has no historical validity. James says that...

Do you tend to avoid conflict?  When you feel stressed, do you crave sleep?  Then the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus would be good patron saints for you.  But – you may find it hard to copy their successful method of avoiding trouble! Legend has it that The Seven Sleepers were third century Christians who lived...

If you led a wild life before your conversion, then Olaf is the saint for you. Indeed, anything you have done could hardly match him, for he was a brigand and pirate who roamed the Baltic and Normandy around 1015 AD, maiming and killing, stealing and destroying, feared by all. Then on one particular raid...

During the 18th century many people in England were involved in the campaign to abolish the slave trade.  The CofE remembers especially William Wilberforce, Olaudah Equiano and Thomas Clarkson – three very different but all tireless campaigners against the evil practice. Thomas Clarkson (1760-1846) was an Anglican clergyman and one of the most prominent of...

Have you ever suffered from gossip? Ever discovered that people are saying some really wild things about you?  If so, Joseph of Arimathea would understand – and sympathise with you.  This decent, godly man of the gospels seems to have fired the imaginations of all sorts of odd people down the centuries. Joseph was a...

Ignatius came from a noble Basque family in north-east Spain. Born in 1491 in his family’s castle near Loyala, he was sent to serve as a page at the court of King Ferdinand V of Castile. Ignatius entered military service, but was wounded in 1521, at the French siege of Pamplona. While convalescing, he read...

Sundays of the Month Editor: For your convenience, here are the names of the Sundays in June, at a glance. 1st  June           Seventh Sunday of Easter 8th June           Day of Pentecost – Whit Sunday 15th June         Trinity Sunday 22nd June         First Sunday after Trinity 29th June         Second Sunday after Trinity – St Peter and St...

Sometime in the summer of 165AD seven Christian men were put to death in Rome.   Accused of belonging to an illicit religion, they refused point blank to offer sacrifices to pagan gods. Threatened with torture and execution they replied that suffering and death gave them confidence to appear at the Great Tribunal ‘of our Lord...

…. the first ever Christian philosopher Justin Martyr (c. 100 – 165), is regarded as the first ever Christian philosopher. He was born at Nablus, Samaria, to parents of Greek origin, and was well educated in rhetoric, poetry and history before he turned to philosophy. He studied at Ephesus and Alexandria and tried the schools...

… a good saint when you’re all at sea Do you like messing about in boats? If so, then you’ll have heard of St Elmo’s Fire. It is the light that is sometimes seen on mastheads of boats after storms at sea. St Elmo is another name for St Erasmus, a fourth century Syrian bishop...

… defying the Kabaka The Ugandan Church had dozens of martyrs within just ten years of Christianity arriving there. At first, it had gone so well:  the first Anglican missionaries arriving in Uganda in 1877 were welcomed by the Kabaka (king) of Buganda, Mutesa. Mutesa also welcomed the Roman Catholics and Muslim Arabs, and, being...