Viewing all items in Resource Category: Holy Days

The Most Reverend Janani Luwum (d 1977) was the sitting Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi and Boga Zaire when 35 years ago this month he was murdered by the dictator Idi Amin.   At the time the Church in Uganda was on the verge of centennial celebrations of its birth through the seed of the...

Did you have a miserable childhood?  Were your parents more absorbed in themselves than in you?   Later, looking for love, did you fall for the wrong man?  Perhaps you now have children of your own, and struggle to raise them.   If you feel your life has been ‘wrong-footed’ from the start, and that there is...

Polycarp (c. 69 – c. 155) was one of the most important Christians in Roman Asia in the mid-2nd century, because of his link between the time of the Apostles and the earliest Christian Fathers.  This disciple of John the Apostle became bishop of Smyrna and defended orthodox Christian belief against the heresies of Marcion...

Have you ever been in the position where someone is desperately needed – and you fit the bill perfectly?   It is almost as if all your miscellaneous qualifications that never made much sense before now make PERFECT sense.  And you sense that you have been chosen by God for the task…. If so, then Matthias...

If you have been hurt in your search for romantic love, Gabriel Possenti (1838-62) may be a good saint for you.  Because Possenti, born to the governor of Assisi, began by having it all.   He grew up doing the mid-19th century equivalent of eBay, nightclubs, cinema and online dating, only in those days it was...

Have you done something which haunts you?  Which makes you feel restless and defensive, every time you think of it?  Why not deal with it this month, and put it behind you?   Whatever your mistake has been, consider what the Bible has to say to you: ‘I have not come to call the virtuous but...

If we were to name someone prominent from the 17th century, we might mention Rembrandt or Shakespeare. It is unlikely we would remember George Herbert. However, he was a prolific writer, a gifted speaker and musician. His hymns are still sung today. Herbert was born into a wealthy family in Mid-Wales on 3rd April 1593....

On 27th February the Church Calendar celebrates George Herbert. For those who are muttering ‘never heard of him’, just think of the hymn ‘Let all the world/ In every corner sing’, which he wrote, along with several other hymns which are still popular, even if they are well over 300 years old.  In the course...

1          The naming of Jesus 1          Have you ever wondered where the name ‘Jesus’ comes from? 2          Basil the Great – champion of the Church 2          Basil and Gregory – lives of costly discipleship 5          Simeon Stylites – one of the weirder saints! 6          Epiphany 6          Where did the Wise Men come from?...

It is Matthew and Luke who tell the story of how the angel instructed that Mary’s baby was to be named Jesus – a common name meaning ‘saviour’.  The Church recalls the naming of Jesus on 1 January – eight days after 25 December (by the Jewish way of reckoning days).  For in Jewish tradition,...

The name Jesus is a transliteration of a name that occurs in several languages.  It is of Hebrew origin, ‘Yehosua’, or Joshua.  Or there is the Hebrew-Aramaic form, ‘Yesua’.  In Greek, it became ‘ Ἰησοῦς’ (Iēsoûs),  and in Latin it became ‘Iesus’. The meaning of the name is ‘Yahweh delivers’ or ‘Yahweh rescues’, or ‘Yahweh...

Basil was most people’s idea of the perfect diocesan bishop. He was a theologian of distinction, who as a monk devoted himself to much prayer and teaching.  He leapt to the defence of the Church from the persecution of the Arian emperor Valens, but also appreciated great secular literature of the time, gave away his...