APRIL 25
Savonarola Raged Against Corruption at the Cost of His Life (1475)
“To John The inward witness, son, the inward witness this is the proof, the strongest proof of Christianity . to Charles The weaker I am in body, the s...”
Ellis, James J. John Wesley. London: James Nisbet & Co., 1891.
Faith Plus Perseverance Equals Accomplishment (1885)
What, by the help of God, might we not accomplish, if we only made up our minds, and were thoroughly determined! We migh...
Events
62
Death of Mark the Gospel writer while imprisoned in Alexandria in the eighth year of Nero, according to Vetus martyrologium romanum (an old Roman collation of martyr accounts).
Authority for the date: Thomas C. Oden, The African Memory of Mark, p. 65799
Pope Leo III is attacked, his eyes stabbed, and his tongue torn. He recovers and later crowns Charlemagne as emperor.
Authority for the date: Brusher, Joseph. Popes Through the Ages, 3rd Edition. Neff-Kane, 1980.974
Death of Ratherius of Verona, a learned but abrasive man who had been deposed from one church position after another, often by his underlings, because of his controversial positions and inability to handle people.
Authority for the date: Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church.1449
The ineffectual Council of Basel ends.
Authority for the date: Schaff, Philip. The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge.1479
Death of Sylvester of Obnorsk, a Russian Orthodox hermit who had lived off roots and bark. Eventually he had established a monastery.
Authority for the date: Wikipedia.1564
John Calvin, reformer of Geneva, dictates his last will and testament to notary Peter Chenalat.
Authority for the date: Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church.1595
Death from a fever in the convent of St. Onofrio of Italian poet Torquato Tasso. Ironically, he was supposed to receive a laurel from the pope on this day in recognition of his epic poems, among which Jerusalem Delivered had been the most acclaimed.
Authority for the date: Horne, Charles F. Great Men and Famous Women.1735
Death at Epworth, England, of Samuel Wesley, curate, author, and father of Methodist revival leaders John and Charles Wesley.
Authority for the date: Dictionary of National Biography1800
Death at East Dereham, Norfolk, England, of English poet William Cowper. Despite lifelong depression, he had produced enduring hymns, including, “Oh For a Closer Walk with God” and “There is a Fountain Filled with Blood.” Dementia had led him to believe he was damned.
Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.1858
Consecration of Jean-Pierre Augustin Marcellin Verot as the first Roman Catholic bishop of Florida. He will become known as “the rebel bishop” for his support of the South during the American Civil War.
Authority for the date: ufdc.ufl.edu/USACH00002/000071879
Consecration of J. B. Lightfoot as Bishop of Durham. A renowned English New Testament scholar, he had left Cambridge and a life of scholarship to devote the remaining ten years of his life to church administration.
Authority for the date: Wiersbe, Warren W. Ten People Every Christian Should Know. Baker Books, 2011.1889
Death at Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, of Anzentia Igene Perry Chapman. A member of the Free Methodist Church, she wrote a number of hymns, including, “Thou Shalt Rest at Eve,” and “We’ll Never Say Goodbye.”
Authority for the date: Cyberhymnal.1912
Death in Ghana of Christian Abraham Ackah, at the age of about twenty-eight. He had been a major player in establishing Seventh Day Adventist work in Ghana, opening schools and churches.
Authority for the date: Dictionary of African Christian Biography.1917
Ordination of Paul Sasaki as a priest in the Anglican Church in Japan. He will become bishop of Nippon Sei Ko Kei (an independent church organization within the Anglican Communion), and suffer imprisonment for his refusal to bring Nippon Sei Ko Kei under the authority of a government-ordered church coalition.
Authority for the date: Wikipedia.