Viewing all items in Resource Category: Holy Days

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday.  But why ‘Ash’ Wednesday?  The reason has to do with getting things right between you and God, and the tradition goes right back to the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the Israelites often sinned.  When they finally came to their senses, and saw their evil ways as God saw...

Have you done something which haunts you?  Which makes you feel restless and defensive, every time you think of it?  Why not deal with it this month, and put it behind you?   Whatever your mistake has been, consider what the Bible has to say to you: ‘I have not come to call the virtuous but...

This story could come straight out of modern Africa.  Perpetua was a young married woman of 22 who had recently become a Christian.  But the authorities had forbidden any new conversions, and soon she and some other catechumens were arrested and sentenced to death.  This was not under Islamic State, nor Boko Haram, but under...

Here’s a ‘saint’ that the Church of England remembers from the 1st World War –  the Revd. Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy MC,  or ‘Woodbine Willie’, as everyone knew this popular, much-loved army chaplain on the Western Front. Studdert Kennedy (27th June 1883 – 8th March 1929) had been born in Leeds as the seventh of nine...

A number of years ago the hit film Slumdog Millionaire touched millions of people with its story of a youngster triumphing against all the odds.  Dominic Savio did the same thing.  In fact, he is a good patron ‘child saint’ for children today who struggle to get anywhere in life. Savio (1842 – 57) was...

St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland.  If you’ve ever been in New York on St Patrick’s Day, you’d think he was the patron saint of New York as well… the flamboyant parade is full of American/Irish razzmatazz. It’s all a far cry from the hard life of this 5th century humble Christian who...

Many people know that Joseph was the father of the most famous man who ever lived, but beyond that, we know very little about him. The Gospels name him as the ‘father’ of Jesus, while also asserting that the child was born of a virgin. Even if he wasn’t what we call the ‘biological’ father,...

Why should St Joseph’s day be in March?  Surely, he belongs to Advent and Christmas, at Mary’s side in millions of nativity scenes around the world. In any case, as foster-father of Christ and husband of Mary, Joseph played a major part in the story of the coming of Jesus Christ.  All that we know...

Cuthbert of Lindisfarne (c 634-87) has long been northern England’s favourite saint.  It is easy to see why:  Cuthbert was holy, humble, peaceable, prayerful, faithful in friendship, winsome, and really kind. Cuthbert was born into a fairly well-off Anglo-Saxon family, and became a monk at Melrose in 651.  He and another monk, Eata, were sent...

If you have ever been caught up in a great event at work, which has gone on to change your own life, then Thomas Cranmer is the saint for you.  He was the first ever Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury, following King Henry VIII’s decision to pull away from Rome, and set up the Church of...

Families are divided in two kinds of people: givers and takers.  Blessed is the family with at least one ‘giver’, that someone of a cheerful, generous nature who does not panic when you ask them for help.  These kindly saints are on hand when you need them, not fleeing with the cry “But I have...

This beautiful event (Luke 1:26-38) took place in Nazareth, when Mary is already betrothed to Joseph. The Archangel Gabriel comes to Mary, greets her as highly favoured, tells her not to be afraid, that she will bear a son Jesus, and that her elderly cousin Elizabeth is already pregnant (with John the Baptist). The church...