Today in Christian History
Today is Tuesday, January 22nd, the 22nd day of 2019. There are 343 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
302: (probable date) Martyrdom of Vincent of Saragossa, Spain’s first famous martyr, who had been starved, racked, exposed in the stocks, and partially roasted.
1623: Burial of St Macarius at Zhabyn, opposite the Orthodox monastery he had founded. This Russian ascetic had allegedly performed great miracles.
1867: Ambatonakanga Memorial Church opens in Madagascar in honor of Christians marytered under the cruel queen Ranavalona.
1876: Death at Ticehurst, Sussex, UK, of John Dykes, who had written some well-known hymn tunes, two of which we sing to this day: “Holy, Holy, Holy” and “Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee.”
1915: Death at Highland Falls, New York, of hymnwriter Anna Bartlett Warner, most famous for the chidren’s hymn “Jesus Loves Me.”
1918: Death in Jewett City, Connecticut, of Mary Haughton Brown, a Baptist teacher and hymnwriter. Most famous of her hymns had been “I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go.” Her death was caused by the infamous influenza pandemic that killed millions world-wide that winter.
1936: Death of Liang Xiaochu, one of the most influential Chinese Christian leaders in the early part of the twentieth century. He had greatly increased YMCA membership but watered down its Christian component and stressed character and education instead.
1949: Death in Wyoming of John Roberts, Episcopal priest and missionary to the Shoshone and Arapahoe Indians of Wyoming. He had been notable for his efforts to preserve the culture and languages of the tribes, translating the Bible into two Indian languages.
1973: To the extreme disappointment of many Christian groups, the United States Supreme Court hands down the Roe v. Wade decision that allows abortion even in cases where it is not necessary to save a mother’s life.
