St Padre Pio (above), the famous Franciscan friar and stigamtic, died in San Giovanni Rotondo, southern Italy, today in 1968. He was canonized as part of Pope John Paul II’s saint-making factory in 2002, and today is his feast day.
It is the feast day of St Linus, by tradition St Peter’s successor as the second Bishop of Rome. He made it into the Bible by the skin of his teeth by being namechecked at the end of one of the New Testament letters.
‘Do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers and sisters.’ Second Letter to Timothy
Sir John Oldcastle, leader of the Lollards, was tried for heresy today in 1413. The Lollards were an English sect following the teaching of Wyclif. Oldcastle escaped from the Tower of London and headed a Lollard rebellion which led to his recapture. Less careless this time, the authorities killed him by hanging him over a slow fire.
John Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury and one of the early apologists for the Church of England, died after collapsing at the end of a sermon, today in 1571. He is famous for writing the Apologia Ecclesiae Anglicanae (‘Apology of the Anglican Church’).
Today in 1122, Pope Callixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V agreed to the Concordat of Worms to put an end to the Investiture Controversy.
Image: Solomenco Bogdan