DECEMBER 13
LUCY'S UNFALTERING CHRISTIAN FAITH LIGHTED THE WORLD (304)
“Chinese authorities in the city of Wenzhou have torn down or blown up more than 200 illegal churches and temples. A further 239 small places of worshi...”
Daily Telegraph.
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And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch—Acts 11:26 (KJV).This name “Christian” suggests that the clear...
Events
304
Lucy, a young Christian virgin, is executed for her faith in Syracuse, Sicily, an attempt having been first made to force her into prostitution. Within a century she will be one of the most popular saints, and Scandinavians will later become her strongest followers.
Authority for the date: http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=12281124
Death in Rome of Pope Calixtus II. He had defeated Emperor Henry V in battle, making possible a resolution to the controversy between church and state over investiture.
Authority for the date: Brusher, Joseph. Popes Through the Ages, Third Edition. Neff-Kane, 1980.1294
To the shock of the Christian world, Pope Celestine V resigns the papacy, having first issued a controversial constitution allowing popes the right to do so.
Authority for the date: Loughlin, James F. “Pope St. Celestine V.” The Catholic Encylopedia, 1913.1545
The first session of the Council of Trent opens in response to the spread of Protestantism and the drastic need for moral and administrative reforms within the Roman Catholic Church. It will meet on and off for eighteen more years.
Authority for the date: Kidd, Beresford James. The Counter-reformation, 1550-1600. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1933.1732
Moravian missionaries first reach St. Thomas Island where they establish a work that, after many difficulties, will produce a church among the island’s slaves.
Authority for the date: John O. Choules and Thomas Smith, The Origin1837
Death of Father Herman, the soul of the Orthodox mission to the Kadiak of Alaska. He had been devoted to Mary, to whom he prayed, and he considered sin of little consequence to the Christian. “A true Christian is made by faith and love of Christ. Our sins do not in the least hinder our Christianity, according to the word of the Savior Himself...Sin, to one who loves God, is nothing other than an arrow from the enemy in battle. ”
Authority for the date: Pierce, Richard A. Russian Orthodox Religious Mission in America, 1794-1837. Limestone Press, 1978.1952
John Ajayi Agbona founds the Christ Apostolic Mission Church Oke-Igbala in Nigeria. Many miracles accompany his ministry and the denomination spreads into several other countries.
Authority for the date: Dictionary of African Christian Biography.