Found 21 resource(s) in 'Holy Days', for August 2018.
High Days & Holy Days for August (all)
Editor: Kings and mystics, writers and martyrs – August does well with its feast days that remember outstanding Christians. Monica and Augustine are new this month. 1 Ethelwold – Saint of Wessex 4 Sithney – mad dogs 5 Oswald – a king with faith, courage and humility 6 The Transfiguration of our Lord 7 ... (8087 words)1st August Ethelwold – the Wessex saint
St Ethelwold (c.912 – 84) did great things for the church at Winchester, which in those days was the principle town of Wessex. He began as a simple monk, eager to restore the Rule of Benedictine in England, a major reform for the church of the time. So, after serving at the abbey in Glastonbury,... (268 words)4th August Sithney – the saint who preferred mad dogs to women
You know how some men find women’s interest in romance and clothes hard to cope with? Well, Sithney (or Sezni) should be the patron saint of all such men. According to a Breton folk legend, Sithney was a hermit of long ago, minding his own business, when one day God told him that he was... (179 words)6th August The Transfiguration – a glimpse of glory
The story is told in Matthew (17:1-9), Mark (9:1-9) and Luke (9:28-36). It was a time when Jesus’ ministry was popular, when people were seeking Him out. But on this day, He made time to take Peter, James and John, His closest disciples, up a high mountain. In the fourth century, Cyrillic of Jerusalem identified... (440 words)5th August Oswald – faith, courage and humility
Many Christians have dreamed of doing something spectacular for God, which would be remembered for centuries afterwards. Oswald, who lived from 605 to 642AD, was in a position to do so. He was a King, whose father, Aethelfrith, was a great warrior who laid the foundations of the great kingdom of Northumbria. But Aethelfrith was... (777 words)7th August Cajetan – founder of pawnshops
Bit short of cash for your holiday this year? Cajetan (1480 – 1547) should be the patron saint of anyone who needs some extra money – right now. For it was he who founded the Monts de Piete – the pawnshops – in the 16th century. They were first designed to help people through... (144 words)8th August Dominic – the saint who believed in learning
If you enjoy reading the Bible and in encouraging others to have faith in God, then Dominic is the patron saint for you. His passion for helping Christians to learn and proclaim their faith led him to found the Order of Preachers, or Black Friars, because of the black cape they wore over white habits.... (345 words)9th August Mary Sumner – founder of the Mothers’ Union
The Mothers’ Union is now more than 140 years old. It has accomplished a staggering amount in that time, and nowadays numbers more than four million members, doing good work in 83 countries. That is a far cry from the modest circle of prayer for mothers who cared about family life, which is how it... (445 words)11th August St Clare of Assisi
Assisi, a beautiful town in the Italian province of Umbria, was the birth-place in the twelfth century of two of that country’s greatest saints, Francis and Clare. Francis first, and then Clare, discovered the liberating effect of release from the burden of wealth. For them simplicity, a godly poverty, was the way to blessing. Their... (231 words)10th August Laurence of Rome – and the gridiron
Laurence was a deacon of the Church in Rome who was martyred in 258. His story is found in the very ancient Depositio Martyrum, which tells us that he was closely associated with Pope Sixtus II, who was martyred just a few days before him during the persecution of the Emperor Valerian. We also know... (339 words)11th August Clare of Assisi – prayer and simplicity
In the year 1212 Clare, the 18-year-old daughter of a local Count, heard a young preacher called Francis. A few years earlier he had caused a sensation in the centre of the town where they both lived, Assisi in Italy, by stripping himself of his wealthy clothes and declaring that from now on he would... (445 words)11th August Clare – choosing the riches of poverty
Clare (1194 – 1253) was the famous virgin foundress of the Minoresses or Poor Clares. Born at Assisi of the Offreduccio family, Clare grew up to hear the teaching of St Francis of Assisi, and at 18 she renounced all her possessions and joined him at the Portiuncula, where she became a nun. Soon Francis... (337 words)14th August Maximilian Kolbe – Christian witness in WW2
Some people’s lives seem to epitomise the suffering of millions, but also to shine with a Christian response to it. One such person was Maximilian Kolbe, 1894 – 1941, a Franciscan priest of Poland, and publisher extraordinary. Maximilian was born at Zdunska Wola, near Lodz, where his parents, devout Christians, worked in a cottage weaving... (592 words)16th August Laurence Loricatus – saint who couldn’t forgive himself
Have you done something bad which haunts you? Does the memory of it still follow you through each day – and keep you awake at night? If so, then Laurence Loricatus (c. 1190 – 1243) is the saint for you. He was born at Facciolo (Apulia) and as a youth he killed a man. After... (254 words)23rd August Rose of Lima – nothing was ever enough
How will you become a better person than you are now? Have you ever denied yourself in order to try and please God? No matter what your dedication, it is unlikely that your efforts will ever have outshone those of Rose of Lima (1586 – 1617), who in 1671 became the first saint of America,... (606 words)27th & 28th August Monica and Augustine – Mother and Son
On consecutive days this month (27th and 28th) the Christian Church celebrates, a mother and her son. The mother is Monica, and her son is Augustine. The story of their relationship and how, after a long process, they both came to share the same Christian faith is a moving one, and perhaps has a message... (298 words)28th August Augustine of Hippo – the Christian for all seasons
After St Paul, who was the most influential Christian writer ever? St Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430), whose feast-day is on 28th August. He lived and wrote in a time of social and spiritual chaos. The Roman Empire was collapsing, the world was about to slide into the dark ages and the Church was... (437 words)29th August The beheading of St John the Baptist
When you go back to work after the August Bank Holiday this month, spare a thought for John the Baptist: however rough your local sandwich bar may be, it probably doesn’t serve you locusts with a honey dip; you won’t be imprisoned for saying derogatory things about the local MP’s wife, and even the boss... (296 words)30th August John Bunyan – the man who wrote Pilgrim’s Progress
After the Bible, John Bunyan’s wonderful Christian allegory, the Pilgrim’s Progress, is one of the most celebrated and widely-read books in the English language. It has been translated into more than one hundred languages around the world and keeps its place as a Christian classic. Names of people and places from its pages have been... (393 words)31st August Aidan – the man who brought Christianity to England
31st August is the feast of St Aidan, who brought Christianity to northern England. He is a strong contender for the title of the first English bishop. Not that honours meant a great deal to this austere but captivating character. In 635 he came to Northumbria at the invitation of the local ruler, Oswald. Oswald... (710 words)31st August Raymond Nonnatus – redeeming slaves from a living death
Raymond Nonnatus (1204 – 40) is a good patron saint for anyone who does not take life for granted. The account of his own life begins with the story of how his mother died just before his birth, and of how Raymond was somehow extracted from her dead body just in time to save him.... (215 words)
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