January 27
417: Pope Innocent I excommunicates Pelagius, who taught that human beings, having natural, God-given free will, can freely choose to obey God’s commands.
537: Byzantine Emperor Justinian dedicates the magnificent Church of Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) in Constantinople, which played a significant role in the byzantine church for long, till it was restructured into an Islamic centre by Sultan Mehmed II in the 15th century. Later it was set apart for all as a museum. The Türkish president turned it again into a mosque in 2020.
1343: Publication of Pope Clement VI’s bull “Unigenitus” which officially confirmed the papal and ecclesiastical merits in validating Indulgences. It was later questioned by Martin Luther.
1540: Death of Angela Merici, the founder of the Order of the Ursulines. The aim of the Order was the religious training of young girls. Pope Pius VII declared her a saint in1807.
1774: The first American Methodist bishop Francis Asbury stated in his journal: ‘If my labours should be in vain for the people, the Lord gives me a gracious reward in my own soul.’
1839: Birth of John Julian, a known English authority in Sacred Music. His masterwork “Dictionary of Hymnology” was published in 1892.
1852: Death of Finnish Lutheran lay evangelist Paavo Henrik Ruotsalainen. He had turned to Jesus on the words of a blacksmith who could convince him of the need of Christ’s life in him.
1972: The white and black United Methodist conferences of South Carolina – separated since the Civil War – voted in their respective meetings in Columbia to adopt a plan of union.
Edited by:Â T. Chempilayil mcbs
Courtesy: www.studylight.org