Viewing all items in Resource Category: Holy Days

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...

Pentecost took place on the well-established Jewish festival of Firstfruits, which was observed at the beginning of the wheat harvest.  It was exactly 50 days after the Passover, the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. A feast day to celebrate the country’s wheat harvest does not sound exactly world-changing, but that year, it became one of the...

On that long ago first morning of Pentecost, Jerusalem was crowded with thousands of visitors, for it was one of the most popular feast-days in the Jewish calendar – the Feast of Firstfruits, looking forward to the wheat harvest. In one small room of that great city, a small group of people who had followed...

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...

Later this month 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 actually wrote over 6000, most of which aren’t sung nowadays,...

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...

How far would you go to respond to God’s call on your life?  When as the daughter of a peasant family in Champagne in 1426, 14 year-old Joan heard heavenly voices calling her to ‘save France’ from the English, she decided to obey the call, no matter what the consequences. Teenage girls who want to...

Mary – the virgin mother of Jesus.  For centuries the eastern and western churches have considered her pre-eminent among all the saints. In the gospels, Mary makes her first appearance as a teenager.  Nothing is known of her childhood, and what we do know of her is found mostly in Matthew 1 – 2 and...