Viewing all items in Resource Category: Holy Days

Here is a great saint for all teachers, head teachers and principals of educational institutions, and indeed anyone whose vocation is to train and equip others. For Comgall (c 516 – c 601) was founder and first abbot of Bangor, which became the largest monastery in Ireland. And large means LARGE – for including several...

Have you ever happened to be in the right place at the right time, with certain qualifications, and suddenly realise that God is singling you out for a special task? If so, Matthias is a good patron saint for you! In Acts 1 (15 – 26) the apostles had a task to do: Judas had...

If you’re saying to yourself, ‘Who?’ you’ll be in good company. May 15th is the feast day of St Matthias the Apostle, and in describing him thus we have said just about all there is to know about him. He gets just one mention in the Bible, in the first chapter of Acts, immediately prior...

If you want an example of someone who can show you their faith through their works,  Caroline Chisholm is a saint for you. This doughty little 19th century English woman had such a compassionate heart that she helped tens of thousands of people, from India to Australia. Caroline was born in Northamptonshire in May 1808....

Dunstan (909-988 AD) stands out as an example of what just one person can achieve when they follow the call of God on their life. Dunstan was born near Glastonbury, of a noble family with royal connections and church connections; his uncle was Archbishop of Canterbury. But in 935, at the age of 26, he...

Here is a saint for all primary school teachers who have a passion to help children learn to read and write. Alcuin was born near York in about 735. His family were of noble stock, and they sent him to York Cathedral School, which had the best teachers in the land. They soon realised that...

Helena should be the patron saint of all mothers who help their sons achieve great things. Helena was born at Drepanum in Bithynia about 250. Although only a stable-maid or innkeeper’s daughter, she caught the eye and affections of a Roman general, Constantius Chlorus, while he was stationed in Asia Minor on a military campaign....

John and Charles Wesley were the founders of Methodism. Two of 19 children born to Samuel and Susannah Wesley of Epworth Rectory in Lincolnshire in 1703 and 1707, their father was the local rector, while their mother was a spiritual inspiration to her many children. Both John and Charles went to Christ Church, Oxford (1720...

The Church calendar celebrates the lives of John and Charles Wesley.  John’s great gift to the Christian cause was the little matter of founding the world-wide movement known as Methodism. His brother Charles had an equally profound impact through his hymns. He wrote over 6,000, most of which aren’t sung nowadays, but among the ones...

The Venerable Bede was an outstanding scholar who accomplished several ‘firsts’. He was the first historian to date events from the birth of Christ. He was the first person to write scholarly works in the English language. And, of course, his world-famous, magisterial Ecclesiastical History of the English People, completed in 731, is still in...

Aldhelm is the saint for you if you are intelligent but unconventional. Aldhelm was born in 640, into a family closely related to Ine, the King of Wessex. Educated at the monastic community in Malmesbury in Wiltshire, he went for further study in Canterbury. He proved a brilliant student and was sent back to Malmesbury...

Augustine, a 6th century Italian prior, holds a unique place in British history. He became the ‘apostle to the English,’ although it was with great reluctance. In 596 Augustine was chosen by Pope Gregory to head a mission of monks whom he wanted to send to evangelise the Anglo-Saxons. Augustine was not a bold man,...