May 11
1621 – Demise of Johann Arndt, a German Lutheran theologian, considered the precursor of Pietism. He holds the most important position in the history of German mysticism after Thomas a Kempis.
1672 – Martyrdom of Joseph, the first metropolitan of Astrakhan, at the hands of Cossacks, a semi-nomadic warrior folk from Ukraine and South Russia, because he refused to denounce a letter of excommunication as forgery.
1682 – The General Court of Massachusetts repeal two laws which were in force for two years, namely, the prohibition for observing Christmas, and the capital punishment for Quakers who returned to the colony after being banished.
1685 – Two Covenanter women, both named Margaret, are cruelly tortured and drowned at Wigton, Scotland.
1824 – Inauguration of St. Regis Seminary in Florissant, Missouri, as the first Roman Catholic institution established in America for the higher education of American Indians.
1825 – Founding of the American Tract Society, the first national tract league in America, through the merger of 50 smaller societies in NY City.
1888- Inception of the Woman’s Missionary Union, as an Auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention, at the meeting of the delegates from 15 states at Richmond in Virginia, which took up the task of forming a general women’s organization within the denomination.
1918 -Repose of Huang Su’e (Mrs. Francis Lister Hawks Pott), renowned for her commitment as a missionary and for other zealous Christian activities, such as promotion and oversight of women’s education and establishment of an orphanage for neglected girl babies etc.
1926 -J. R. R.Tolkien and C. S. Lewis engage in long dialogue, which led to the conversion of Lewis after five years. Later they became members of the Inklings, a predominantly Christian group at Oxford, along with a group of friends and colleagues.
1994 -Passing away of Jim Broomhall, who had served the Yi (Nosu) people of China as a medical missionary and later worked in the Philippines when he was expelled by the Communists.
Edited by: T. Chempilayil MCBS
Courtesy: www.studylight.org