January 28
814: Death of Charlemagne, the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, in Aachen, Germany. Known as one of the greatest rulers of all time, he was influential in church matters.
1547: Edward VI becomes king of England, who later became a promoter of Reformation.
1561: The Edict of Orleans during the reign of Francis II ends the Persecution of French Huguenots, the Protestants of France.
1568: Passing away of Venerable Theodosius, an Orthodox ascetic who had founded the Totma Ephraimov wilderness monastery in Volgoda.
1581: Scotland’s King James VI, who later became England’s James I, signed the Second Scottish Confession of Faith.
1822: Birth of William D. Longstaff, English philanthropist, remembered today as the author of the hymn, “Take Time to Be Holy.”
1834: Birth of Sabine Baring-Gould, Anglican clergyman, who authored the evergreen hymns, “Onward, Christian Soldiers” and “Now the Day is Over.”
1896: Death of Joseph Barnby in London, who composed famous hymns like “Hail, Thou Once Despised Jesus,” “Jesus Lover of My Soul,” “O Perfect Love,” “Stand up, Stand up, for Jesus,” and “When Morning Gilds the Skies.”
1907: Death of John Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides. He had to dig a grave and bury his wife and son, who died shortly after he began work. A model of great faith, he survived huge waves of threats from the islanders.
1947: A copy of the 1640 Bay Psalm Book was purchased at an auction at Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York for $150,000, the highest price ever paid to date for a single volume.
1977: The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith published an 18-page document ruling out the admission of women to the priesthood in the catholic church. The reason stated was, they lacked a “natural resemblance which must exist between Christ and his ministers.”
1998: Michelangelo’s painting of Jesus asking the Samaritain woman for a drink is sold for $7.4 million at an auction.
Edited by: T. Chempilayil mcbs
Courtesy: www.studylight.org