It is the feast day of St Luke, who wrote more of the New Testament (Luke and Acts take up almost 28 per cent) than anyone else. As well as being a doctor and travelling companion of St Paul, he is also revered in Eastern Orthodox tradition for painting the first ever icon (above), a portrait of the Virgin Mary holding the child Jesus, in an unbelievable anticipation of Byzantine style. St Luke is the patron of artists and physicians.
Today in 1633, King Charles I of England reissued the Book of Sports, written by his father, James I, which listed the recreations allowable on the Sabbath, plus the ones that weren’t. The prohibited Sabbath sports included bowling, bear baiting, and comic plays. The parish clergy were ordered to read out the Book of Sports to their congregations, but the Puritans, who wanted no sports at all on Sunday, hated the book and had it burned when Cromwell got into power.
’As for our good people’s lawful recreation, our pleasure likewise is, that after the end of divine service our good people be not disturbed, letted or discouraged from any lawful recreation, such as dancing, either men or women; archery for men, leaping, vaulting, or any other such harmless recreation, nor from having of May-games, Whitsun-ales, and Morris-dances; and the setting up of May-poles and other sports therewith used.’ Book of Sports, 1633
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem was ordered to be demolished today in 1009. The order came from Caliph Al-Hakim, known by his enemies as the Mad Caliph, who despite (or because of) his Christian upbringing reversed the Muslim policy of religious toleration by persecuting Christians and burning their holy places. The Holy Sepulchre was (and remains) the most important church in Christianity, as it credibly includes the sites of the crucifixion and the resurrection within its walls. The Caliph inflicted major damage on the church, but it was rebuilt in the 11th and 12th centuries.
Pope Pius III died today in 1503 after 27 days in office, with immeasurable consequences for the history of the Church. He was expected to call an ecumenical council to reform the Church after the debauchery and corruption of the Borgia papacy, but instead the pallium passed to Pope Julius II, the warlord. All the talk of reform was forgotten, and the rupture of the Protestant Reformation followed.
It is the feast of Justus of Beauvais, a nine year-old cephalophoric (‘head-carrying’) saint from the 3rd century. His folk tale says that during a Roman persecution, he was beheaded when he refused to reveal where two other Christians were hidden. He then picked up his head, handed it to his father, and asked him to take it home to his mother.
Image: Rijksmuseum