Viewing all items in Resource Category: Holy Days

23rd September is the autumnal equinox (if you live in the northern hemisphere) or the vernal (Spring) equinox (if you live in the southern hemisphere)  The equinoxes occur in March and September, when the Sun is ‘edgewise’ to the Earth’s axis of rotation, so that everywhere on earth has twelve hours of daylight and twelve...

It’s amazing how little some things change down the centuries.  Take the life of Gerard Sagredo, for instance.  He left his ‘comfort zone’ of home and church because he felt God’s calling on his life.  He travelled abroad and taught in order to earn his living in a non-Christian country.  In his spare time he...

St Ceolfrith is a good patron saint for anyone who has studied hard for their profession, is strong in the face of tragedy, and who can also offer some homely care to others in need. This well-loved abbot of Wearmouth and Jarrow came from a noble Northumbrian family, and was ordained at Ripon when he...

Very few people stand out as being incredibly good, but Vincent de Paul was one of them.  His life touched thousands of people, who were helped and inspired by his love and kindness. Vincent de Paul was born in 1581 to a Gascon peasant family at Ranquine. Educated by the Franciscans and then at Toulouse...

What really gets a woman remembered?  Loved? Respected? Lioba the abbess of Bischofsheim is the patron saint for any woman who wants to make the most of her life. Lioba was born in Wessex early in the 8th century.  Her family was noble, her mother was a relative of the monk Boniface (the Billy Graham...

Michael is an archangel, whose name means ‘who is like unto God?’  He makes various appearances throughout the Bible, from the book of Daniel to the Book of Revelation.  In Daniel, he is ‘one of the princes’ of the heavenly host, and the special guardian of Israel.  In Revelation, he is the principal fighter of...

One of those surveys which some newspapers love to publish claimed recently that a large number of British people believe in angels – almost as many, in fact, as claimed to believe in God. They didn’t tell us what people meant by ‘angels’. I suspect quite a few were thinking of young children who die,...

What is an angel? Easy, people think: a shining figure with glorious wings, who appears from time to time to do some mighty work for God or bring a very special message from him. Well, that’s right in one sense (apart from the wings, which owe more to stained glass windows than the Bible). But...

Editor:   Kings and mystics, writers and martyrs – August does well with its feast days that remember outstanding Christians. Monica and Augustine are new this month. 1     Ethelwold – Saint of Wessex 4     Sithney  – mad dogs 5     Oswald – a king with faith, courage and humility 6      The Transfiguration of our Lord 7    ...

St Ethelwold (c.912 – 84) did great things for the church at Winchester, which in those days was the principle town of Wessex.   He began as a simple monk, eager to restore the Rule of Benedictine in England, a major reform for the church of the time.  So, after serving at the abbey in Glastonbury,...

You know how some men find women’s interest in romance and clothes hard to cope with?   Well, Sithney (or Sezni) should be the patron saint of all such men. According to a Breton folk legend, Sithney was a hermit of long ago, minding his own business, when one day God told him that he was...

The story is told in Matthew (17:1-9), Mark (9:1-9) and Luke (9:28-36). It was a time when Jesus’ ministry was popular, when people were seeking Him out.  But on this day, He made time to take Peter, James and John, His closest disciples, up a high mountain.  In the fourth century, Cyrillic of Jerusalem identified...