Viewing all items in Resource Category: Holy Days

Sundays of the Month Editor:  Continuing our list of what the Sundays of each month are called… 6th April           5th Sunday of Lent 13th April         Palm Sunday 20th April         Easter Sunday 27th April         2nd Sunday of Easter ** High Days and Holy Days for April Editor:  As the church year...

In years gone by, the rules surrounding April Fool were this:  between midnight and noon on 1st April, everyone is ‘fair game’ to be made a fool of.  It is the morning of the practical joke.  But the aim is not just to discomfort the victim: he must be tricked into taking action himself, sent...

Murky crimes committed by various church leaders, local shops in trouble, roads needing repair, and hospitals in a sorry state…. wanting to retire, but the law said no… it seems that Hugh of Grenoble was dealing with 21st century problems in the 11th century. Born at Chateauneuf in 1052 as the son of a knight,...

Ever wonder where the prayer … ‘May I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly, day by day’ comes from?  Richard of Chichester, a bishop in the 13th century, wrote it. He began life as Richard de Wych of Droitwich, the son of a yeoman farmer.  But Richard was...

– Dominican who opposed a Pope Leaving England to live in Spain was popular long before the TV show ‘Location Location Location’ was ever invented. Back in 1350 Vincent Ferrer’s parents had left England to settle in Valencia, where their son Vincent was born and grew up. In 1367, when he was 17, Vincent felt...

Standing up to tyrants, no matter what the cost. That kind of courage has been in the headlines since the war in Ukraine began, as many brave people have defied Putin’s oppression. Dietrich Bonhoeffer did not have Putin to contend with, but Hitler. Bonhoeffer did not back down either, when the time came. Bonhoeffer grew...

William Law is the saint for anyone forced to choose between losing their job or losing their integrity. It had all begun so straightforwardly. Born in King’s Cliffe, Northamptonshire in 1686, William had studied at Emmanuel College Cambridge, been ordained a deacon, and been made a Fellow of the college in 1711. But soon politics...

– the more things change… Zeno of Verona (d. 371) should be the patron saint of all ministers who suspect that the more things change, the more they remain the same. For instance: ethnic diversity…church-planting… teaching…. concern for the poor… women’s ministry in the church… sound like modern-day Christian concerns? Not a bit of it...

 – martyrs of the Early Church In the month of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice of Himself for us, the martyrdoms of Carpus, Papylus and Agathonice are well worth remembering. What they said as they died could be said by the many thousands of Christians who are facing persecution all over the world today. Carpus, Papylus and...

Maundy Thursday is the 5th day of Holy Week. ‘Maundy’ comes from the Latin word for command, ‘mandare’.  On this day the Church looks back to Jesus’ command to His disciples that they should: “Love one another as I have loved you.” On the evening of Maundy Thursday Jesus shared the Last Supper with His...

At the Last Supper Jesus shocked His disciples by washing their feet. He did this as an example, to demonstrate to them that they should serve others with humility. Over the centuries, some churches have recreated this act of humility at a special service on Maundy Thursday.

Maundy Thursday is famous for two things. The first is one of the final acts that Jesus did before His death: the washing of His own disciples’ feet (see John 13).  Jesus washed His disciples’ feet for a purpose: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you...