NOVEMBER 15
KING MWANGA KILLED MUKASA FOR MAKING CHRISTIANS (1885)
“To the glory of God and in grateful commemoration of His servants, Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley, Hugh Latimer, Prelates of the Church of England, w...”
Inscription on the gothic cross erected in Oxford, England, on this date, 1838.
Cry to God in trials but accept his will
...[A]nd began to be sore amazed—Mark 14:33 (KJV). It was thus that Christ commenced that sore agony in the garden...
Events
655
King Oswy of Northumbria gives his daughter into the charge of the influential abbess Hild (aka Hilda) of Whitby.
Authority for the date: New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967.1136
Death of Margrave Leopold III, who will later be named patron saint of Austria. During a period of wars and religious factions, he had kept Austria at peace, increasing its prosperity, and had founded several religious houses.
Authority for the date: A. W. A. Leeper, A History of Medieval Austria. Oxford University, 1951. p. 2321621
In his bull Aeterni Patris Gregory XV prescribes that in the future only three modes of papal election are to be allowed: scrutiny, compromise, and quasi-inspiration. A later bull “Decet Romanum Pontificem” contains a ceremonial which regulates these three modes of election in every detail.
Authority for the date: The Catholic Encyclopedia.1630
Death of Johann Kepler, the Lutheran astronomer who had discovered the laws of planetary motion. His arguments for the unity of religion and science were often printed as if by Galileo.
Authority for the date: Encyclopedia Americana, 1956.1670
Death of Jan Amos Comenius, influential author, educator, and leader of the persecuted and exiled Moravians.
Authority for the date: New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967.1794
Death near Princeton of John Witherspoon, the Scottish born pastor-educator, who had become president of Nassau Hall (Princeton University). Because of his influence in the American Revolution, it was said of him “the American colonies have run off with a Presbyterian pastor.” He was the only clergyman to sign the American Declaration of Independence.
Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.1794
Death of Orthodox leader Paissy Velichkovsky, notable for having translated large numbers of Greek spiritual texts into Slavonic. He revived monasticism in Moldavia.
Authority for the date: Wikipedia.1836
Death of the Russian Orthodox monk Herman, one of ten original monks sent to open a mission at Kodiak, Alaska. He had become the mission’s steward, and had been notable for his gentle disposition and his attempts to protect the native population.
Authority for the date: Wikipedia.1848
An assassin stabs Pope Pius IX’s premier, Count Pellegrino Rossi, in the neck, killing him. Rossi was detested because of how slowly he introduced democratic reforms into the papal states.
Authority for the date: Paul Collins, Absolute Power p. 321869
Elisabeth of Wied, whose pen name is “Carmen-Sylva,” marries Karl I. In 1881 she will become the first Queen of Romania when that nation becomes a monarchy. She will be involved in many charitable endeavors, write hymns and novels, and collect Romanian folklore.
Authority for the date: Wikipedia1878
Death of Jane Montgomery Campbell, who translated a number of hymns from German into English, including “Silent Night,” “We Plow the Fields,” and others.
Authority for the date: ” Jane Montgomery Campbell.” http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/c/a/m/campbell_jm.htm1885
Mwanga, ruler of Buganda (now part of Uganda), beheads the recent Anglican convert and member of the royal family Joseph Mukasa. Mukasa opposed killing the Anglican missionary bishop James Hannington and his colleagues. Mwanga’s bloodbath continued through January 1887. Collectively, the martyrs of Uganda will be canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1964.
Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.1917
Death of Oswald Chambers, while serving as chaplain to British troops in Egypt during World War I. His widow, Gertrude (Biddy), will compile the bestselling devotional My Utmost for His Highest from his lessons and sermons.
Authority for the date: Standard encyclopedias.1957
Patriarch Ignatius Yacoub III officially establishes the Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church in the U.S. and Canada. Archbishop Mar Athanasius Yeshue Samuel is appointed primate of the new archdiocese, and will take up residence in Hackensack, New Jersey.
Authority for the date: ” The Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch in North America.” http://syrianorthodoxchurch.org/library/articles/the-