April 26
865: Demise of Paschasius Radbertus, who wrote an influential book The De corpore et sanguine Domini by Paschasius Radbertus (‘On the Body and Blood of the Lord’, with the ‘Letter to Fredugard’), affirming that the Eucharist contains the true, historical body of Jesus Christ.
1518: Martin Luther, German reformer, states sarcastically in his Disputation at Heidelberg, “Grace is given to heal the spiritually sick, not to decorate spiritual heroes.”
1569: Queen Elizabeth I of England issues a special license permitting John Seconton to hold Sunday games, because he was struggling to maintain his family with four children; she even directed the local authorities to send “four or five good substantial men” to keep the peace.
1731: (date uncertain) Death of Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe and Journal of the Plague Year, works of fiction noted for their likeliness and plausibility, written from a Puritan non-conformist point of view. Two centuries later, Neesima Shimeta, a Japanese youth, converted to Christianity after reading Robinson Crusoe.
1834: Birth of Horatio R. Palmer, American Congregational clergyman, author of the hymns, “Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts” and “My Faith Looks Up to Thee.”
1865: German missionary Ernst Faber arrives in Hong Kong where helped in creating a Chinese-Christian literature by encouraging Chinese associates to write their own books in consultation with him. He also worked with the Chinese officials to import and apply European technology in China.
1877: The residents of Minnesota observe a state-wide day of prayer, pleading to God for deliverance from a plague of grasshoppers that had been ravishing their farm crops. The plague ended soon after, in the summer.
1955: The Roman Catholic religious program “Life is Worth Living” broadcasted for the last time over Dumont television. Starting in 1952, it won its permanent host Bishop Fulton J. Sheen an Emmy for being “the most outstanding personality” on television in the same year.
1956: C.S. Lewis, English apologist, stated in Letters to an American Lady, “One of the many reasons for wishing to be a better Christian is that, if one were, one’s prayers for others might be more effectual.”
1969: Emmanuel Oladele Agboola, one of Nigeria’s greatest indigenous pastors and educators as well as a humble and kind man, is unanimously elected to preside over the 56th annual session of the Nigerian Baptist Convention in acknowledgment of his hard work and zeal for souls.
1995: Azmy Mokhtar Aziz, a Coptic Christian, is murdered in the city of Malawi, like several other Copts targeted that year.
Edited by: T. Chempilayil MCBS
Courtesy: www.studylight.org