July 8
1115: Demise of Peter the Hermit at Neufmoutier-by-Huy, the French monk and preacher who called for a struggle to get back the holy places in Israel from pagans and thus inspired the Crusades.
1153: Passing away of Blessed Pope Eugene III, who was forced to flee to France due to turmoil in Rome.
1413: Jan Hus’s work De ecclesia (On the Church) is read in Bethlehem chapel, Prague. Cardinal D’Ailly later complained to the Council of Constance that this book combats the plenary authority of the pope.
1622: Pope Gregory XV issues a directive for the different Congregations of Orators of Philip Neri allowing them to govern themselves independently of one another.
1623: Passing away of Pope Gregory XV in Rome from a fever, which caused him great misery for several days.
1663: Following restoration of the English monarchy through Charles II, a new charter was issued to the American colony of Rhode Island, guaranteeing religious freedom to all regardless of ‘differences in opinion in matters of religion.’
1673: Demise of Johann Rudolph Ahle, a popular composer of sacred music who had confined himself to the simple “chorale” style and leaving out polyphonic counterpoint.
1716: Repose of Robert South, a Church of England preacher, and who boldly attacked the vices of his age.
1741: Jonathan Edwards, colonial American theologian, preaches his classic sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” at Enfield, CT, which led to the beginning of New England’s ‘Great Awakening.’
1792: Birth of Lowell Mason, pioneer of congregational singing of the Presbyterians, who composed over 1,000 hymn tunes, including BETHANY (‘Nearer, My God, To Thee’), DENNIS (‘Blest Be the Tie That Binds’), and HAMBURG (‘When I Survey the Wondrous Cross’).
1813: The mortal remains of the eccentric preacher William Huntington, formerly a coal shoveler, are exhumed and shifted from a temporary grave at Tunbridge Wells to a permanent one at Lewes. He called himself W.H. S.S., S.S. meaning “Sinner Saved.”
1939: Dietrich Bonhoeffer cuts short his visit to America (where he was to lecture) and departs for Germany, writing to Reinhold Niebuhr, “I have made a mistake in coming to America. I must live through this difficult period of our national history with the Christian people of Germany. I will have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people.”
1948: The Moscow Conference convened to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the independence of the Russian Orthodox Church from the control of the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople.
2000: Demise of James Curtis Wakhu, a zealous evangelist especially among the Muslims of Kenya, after three years of undiagnosed pain.
2001: Releasing of a new series of books by Vonette Bright for women, My Heart in His Hands. This four-book devotional series was written to complement the seasons of a woman’s life through inspiring stories and Scripture verses.
Edited by: T. Chempilayil MCBS
Courtesy: www.studylight.org