Today in 1986, Desmond Tutu (seen above in 2014) was enthroned as the Archbishop of Capetown, the first black person to hold the post in the 112 years of its existence. His election proved to be a huge boost in the struggle against apartheid, in which Tutu had played a leading role, and for which had won the Nobel Peace prize in 1984. After the cathedral service, during which the congregation danced to the music of a choir from the black township of Soweto, some 10,000 people attended Eucharist at a stadium on the outskirts of the city, celebrated by the new Archbishop.
‘If we could but recognize our common humanity, that we do belong together, that our destinies are bound up with one another’s, that we can be free only together, that we can survive only together, that we can be human only together, then a glorious South Africa would come into being where all of us lived harmoniously together as members of one family, God’s family.’ Desmond Tutu, enthronement address, 1986
It is the feast of St Kassia, a woman from a wealthy Byzantine family who was almost chosen to be an empress, but became a hymn writer instead. Put into a bride show for the young Emperor Theophilus, she wrecked her chances by failing to appreciate his terrible chat-up line. ‘From a woman [Eve] came the bad things,’ he said. ‘And from a woman [Mary] came the better things,’ she replied. The Emperor, offended at her quick response, chose someone else instead, and Kassia embraced monastic life, probably with a huge sigh of relief. She became a prolific poet and songwriter, and is thought to be one of the earliest female composers in world history whose songs have survived. Her most famous composition is the ‘Hymn of the Fallen Woman’, sung in Orthodox churches on the Wednesday of Holy Week.
I will kiss your pure feet
and wipe them with my hair.
I will kiss the feet which walked in Paradise,
Which Eve heard with dismay, that afternoon,
And hid herself for fear.
Who will measure the multitude of my sins
and the depths of your judgment?
O Saviour and Deliverer of my soul,
Do not turn away from your servant,
For your mercy never ends.
St Kassia, ‘Hymn of the Fallen Woman’, translation by Simon Jenkins
William Holman Hunt, the Pre-Raphaelite artist, died on this day in 1910. He found worldwide fame with his allegorical painting, ‘The Light of the World’, depicting Christ knocking on the door of the human heart, but he also painted many other biblical and religious subjects.
Revd John Hugh Smyth Pigott, leader of the Agapemonite Church, got into his church pulpit in Clapton, London, today in 1902, and announced that he was Christ. Half the congregation bowed down in worship, while the other half started heckling the new divinity. A former Anglican curate and Salvation Army soldier, Smyth Pigott gained a following and reinforced his claims by fathering three children – named Glory, Power and Life – merely, we are told, by breathing into their mothers’ noses.
The rebellion in China of the Righteous Harmony Fists (better known in the West as the Boxers, due to their use of martial arts) was defeated today in 1901 by an alliance of foreign powers. The rising was an anti-colonial campaign, supported by the Chinese empress, to kill all foreigners in the country, many of whom were western missionaries. The biggest Christian losses, though, were among indigenous Chinese Catholics and Protestants, with some 32,000 dead.
Image: Bokmässan