September 13
1376: Gregory XI leaves Avignon to return the papacy to Rome, ignoring the opposition of the French Cardinals. He was persuaded by St. Catherin of Siena to do so; he entered Rome on Jan 17th 1377, after making a long sail to Genova and then to Corneto, where he waited till arrangements were made in Rome.
1541: Calvin returns to Geneva, after being banished by the authorities three years earlier. He received a warm welcome there.
1601: Passing away of Meletius Pegas, who, in his position as the Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria, had attempted to reunite the Greek and Coptic churches. Although he was a staunch opponent of Roman Catholicism, he had accepted the doctrine of transubstantiation.
1629: Demise of John Buxtorf the Elder in Basel, who was an eminent Christian scholar in Hebrew language, writings, and customs, and whose works were influenced by his desire to convert the Jews. He once attended a circumcision due to his interest in Jewish ceremonies; he was fined 100 gulden by the authorities in Basel for the same.
1635: The Massachusetts General Court banishes the Separatist preacher Roger Williams, for criticizing the Massachusetts Bay Company charter and for continuously advocating a separation of church and state.
1845: William Walford’s hymn, “Sweet Hour of Prayer,” first appears in the “New York Observer.” He was a blind lay preacher, and had written the poem three years earlier in England.
1940: Representatives from 14 congregations organize the Southern Baptist General Convention of California at Shafter.
1962: Karl Barth, a Swiss Reformed theologian, wrote in a letter, “God, according to 2 Cor. 5:19, reconciled the world to himself, not himself to the world.”
1984: Adano Andrew Tuye, who later became the first person from Kenya’s nomadic tribes to become a bishop in the Anglican Church, begins studies at the All Nations Christian College in England. He later translated the entire Bible into the Borana/Oromo language.
1988: Qatar, an Islamic country, allows holding a first public Catholic holy mass there. Subsequently five other Christian denominations were allowed to conduct public worship.
Edited by: T. Chempilayil MCBS
Courtesy: www.studylight.org