May 12
254 St. Stephen I becomes the 23rd pope in the Catholic Church. As per “Liber Pontificalis,” (Pontifical Book, a book of biographies of the Popes from St. Peter until the 15th century) it was Pope Stephen, who instituted the rule that clerics have to wear special liturgical vestments during the services.
403 Burial of St. Epiphanius of Salamis, an Orthodox bishop, in a new church built under him. He had opposed the use of icons that was creeping into the church and had rejected Arianism and listed out eighty other heresies. His unique contribution includes the directives for the translation of the Bible. The Seventh Ecumenical Council of 787, authorized the use of icons; at the same time, it named him a father and teacher of the Church.
1003 Passing away of Pope Sylvester II, the first French Pope, who was accused of being in league with Satan, because of his interest in science. Sylvester’s main political achievement was the formation of an alliance which could drive the Saracens, the Muslim invaders of Europe, out of Italy.
1792 William Carey publishes a pamphlet titled “An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians, to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens….” It forced many Protestants to rethink missions and became their manifesto.
1795 Demise of Ezra Stiles in New Haven, Connecticut, a Congregationalist pastor, a theologian who advocated the study of Hebrew, and became the seventh president of Yale.
1838 Repose of Samuel Marsden in Windsor, New South Wales [Victoria], a missionary to New Zealand, who was also known as “Greatheart of the Maori.”
1891 The Presbytery of New York decides to put the Rev. Dr. Charles A. Briggs, the new professor of biblical theology at Union Theological Seminary, on trial for heresy.
1907 Birth of Sidney N. Correll, founder and first General Director of the United World Mission, Inc., an evangelical organization which is involved in evangelization, construction of churches and Christian education worldwide.
1938 A four-day convention ends at Utrecht in Holland, at which a provisional constitution for the World Council of Churches was adopted.
1982 Assassination attempt at Pope John Paul II at Fatima by Juan MarÃa Fernández y Krohn, a priest who was suspended for mental instability and disobedience, and had become a Sedevacantist, a traditionalist catholic movement.
1986 Christians of the Nazarene Church of Maputo, Mozambique follow the instruction in 2 Chronicles 6:28-30 literally and humble themselves and pray for their nation, plagued by war and famine; the intercession went on for 6 days. Although the civil war continued for six more years, the church experienced huge growth during this time.
Edited by: T. Chempilayil MCBS
Courtesy:Â www.studylight.org