Viewing all items in Resource Category: Holy Days

Magi from the East – it isn’t a lot to go on.  The Magi had originally been a religious caste among the Persians.  Their devotion to astrology, divination and the interpretation of dreams led to an extension in the meaning of the word, and by the first century the Magi in Matthew’s gospel could have...

The story of the coming of the Magi grew in the telling.  By the 6th century they had acquired names: Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar.  By medieval times they were considered to be kings.  Whoever they were, we do know from Matthew that they brought three gifts to Jesus. What about their gifts of gold, frankincense...

Many saints have fed the poor, but not many were interested in actual food production.  Nathalan (died c.678) was, so perhaps he might be the patron saint of anyone who produces food – and gives most of it away to those in need. Scotland in the 7th century must have been a hungry place, especially...

If you have nothing much going for you, Antony Pucci (1819-92) should be your patron saint.   He came from nowhere – a peasant family in Tuscany.  He went nowhere – he spent his life as a parish priest in the Tuscan city of Viareggio.   He was unattractive to look at.  He wasn’t good with words...

What do you do when you find a large spider web in your house?  If you ever feel some sympathy for the spider who went to all that trouble, then Felix is a good patron saint for you.  He was saved by such a spider, spinning such a web. Felix had been born to a...

If your Christmas and New Year break included just too many people and even a bout of indigestion, then St Antony may be the saint for you.  He was a hermit-monk with a reputation for making poorly people feel better. Antony was born in Coma (Upper Egypt) in 251, and at 20 became an ascetic. ...

Not many teenagers, on becoming a Christian, will devote themselves to winning others for Christ in a foreign land. Amy was such a person. She left Britain to live in a tiny village in Southern India. Here, for the next 56 years, Amy rescued hundreds of orphaned and vulnerable children, and served her Lord in...

The more things change, the more they remain the same.  You could read Meinrad’s story today in the newspapers of any large city.  He was born near Wurtemberg of a free peasant family, and became a monk at Reichenau (Switzerland).  In 829 he moved to Einsiedeln to be a hermit, where he lived quietly for...

Agnes should be the patron saint of all the young Christian girls alive today who live in areas of the world where they face kidnap, rape, forced marriage, persecution and even death – simply because they are Christian. Agnes, born c 291, probably came from a noble Roman family.  She converted to Christianity at the...

Never under-estimate a deacon.  After all, the first-ever Christian martyr was a deacon in the church of Jerusalem – St Stephen.   And the first-ever Christian martyr in Spain was a deacon of the Church of Saragossa – St Vincent. By now it was 304 AD, and the Roman Emperor Diocletian was persecuting Christians.  When his...

January is a month of the beginning of great things!  As well as the naming of the Son of God, we celebrate the conversion of the greatest ever apostle of the Christian faith.  Many books have been written on Paul, and here is the briefest of introductions. He was a Jew, born as ‘Saul’ at...

This month, on 25th January, the Church celebrates probably the most famous conversion of all. At least, what happened to a young man called Saul on the road to Damascus has become a byword for all instant conversions – what is known as a ‘damascene’ moment. Saul was a devout Jew, a Pharisee, a student...