June 16
1361: Death of Johannes Tauler, a Dominican Monk and a well known German mystic and influential preacher, in Strasburg.
1654: Queen Christina of Sweden, a convert to Roman Catholicism, renounces her throne to devote the rest of her life to religion and art.
1660: The British House of Commons passes a resolution to burn the books of John Milton which had infused the Parliamentarian rebellion against Charles I and had argued for the legitimacy of the king’s execution. This resolution was executed on 27th August of the same year.
1752: Passing away of Joseph Butler, Anglican theologian, whose ‘Analogy of Religion’ presented the strong probability for the existence of a caring God against that of a disinterested Creator Deity.
1818: Demise of Samuel J. Mills at sea, while exploring the possibility of establishing a mission in Africa. Mills had been the founder of the American foreign missions along with Adoniram Judson and others.
1833: Cardinal John Henry Newman pens the world famous hymn, “Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling Gloom,” while sailing from Italy to France.
1862: Passing away of Archimandrite Moses, who had entered a monastery with the blessing of the famous St. Seraphim himself. After years of asceticism in Roslavl Forest near Bryansk in Russia, he founded a hermitage in Optina.
1948: Repose of Rufus M. Jones, an American Quaker theologian, who influenced the Quaker social actions through his writings. He also helped found the American Friends Service Committee.
1983: Visit of Pope John Paul II to his home land Poland during the time of the martial law imposed by the communist government. He remained there till June 23rd visiting the major cities in Poland, attracting millions and meeting many dignitaries. This second pastoral of the pope to Poland resulted in the collapse of communism.
Edited by: T. Chempilayil MCBS
Courtesy: www.studylight.org