July 22
259: Dionysius, who had attracted many to faith through his commentaries and who had helped to restore the church decimated by severe persecution, is elected bishop of Rome.
601: (Probable date) Mellitus and associates leave Rome for England taking the route via France, carrying letters from the pope and utensils for the church at Canterbury. Mellitus became the first bishop of London and the third Archbishop of Canterbury.
1505: Vasco da Gama and his sailors capture Kilwa, an African city state, sparing only those Moors who do not resist. They marched through the city singing a Te Deum (a praise hymn), and then set on to loot its wealth.
1517: Don Fr. Francisco de Cisneros, the archbishop of Toledo and the general inquisitor of Spain, issues an order empowering all bishops in New Spain to investigate, prosecute, and punish heretics.
1525: Jean Leclerc, a wool-carder and Protestant who had smashed Catholic images saying “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands,” is punished with a cruel death.
1620: A small congregation of English Separatists, led by John Robinson, migrates to the New World and their group came to be known as the ‘Pilgrims.’
1680: French mystic Madame Guyon claims to have experienced a mystic union with God on this St. Mary Magdalene’s Day.
1827: Demise of James Varick, the first Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.
1836: Birth of Emily E. S. Elliott, a supporter of Anglican missions and hymn-writer, famous for the hymn “Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne.”
1847: The first large company of Mormon immigrants enter the Salt Lake Valley, still a part of Mexico. Soon the Mormon leader Brigham Young founded Salt Lake City, Utah.
1865: Birth of Peter P. Bilhorn, a sacred composer, who produced over 1,400 hymns, including “I Will Sing the Wondrous Story” and “Sweet Peace, The Gift of God’s Love.”
1895: Priestly ordination of Vladimir Nikolsky – under the name Andronicus – in the Orthodox church, which he served faithfully as a missionary and an archbishop. He was executed by the Soviets in 1918 due to his uncompromising defense of the fallen Tsars and his staunch opposition to the atheistic teachings of communism.
1900: Martyrdom of “Blind Chang” at the hand of Boxers at Chaoyang, China. A convert who left a life as a thief, gambler, and gangster and who even abandoned his wife and forced his daughter into prostitution, he started preaching Jesus and won many for the faith. The Boxers murdered him fearing that he would bring many more to Christ. They forced him to offer sacrifice to Buddha, which he refused; they beheaded him, and then fled in fear, saying that they had killed a righteous man.
1945: Founding of the Youth for Christ International at Winona Lake, Indiana, with Torrey Johnson as the president and Billy Graham as the first full-time evangelist.
1981: Turkish terrorist Mehmet Ali Agca sentenced to life imprisonment for attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in May that year.
Edited by: T. Chempilayil MCBS
Courtesy: www.studylight.org