The Hungarian primate Cardinal József Mindszenty (above) addressed his nation over the radio today in 1956. Hungary was then part of Communist Eastern Europe, and Mindszenty had just been released from prison during a popular, pro-democracy uprising. The cardinal supported the rising in his radio speech, and called for free elections and for the Russians not to invade the country. But the revolution was put down by the Red Army, and Mindszenty sought asylum in Budapest’s American Embassy, where he spent the next 15 years.
Today is the Church of England’s birthday. On this day in 1534, the English Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, legally replacing the Pope with the King as head of the church. It proclaimed Henry VIII as ‘the only supreme head in earth of the Church of England’, giving him full power to appoint bishops, and to decide the Church’s doctrine and laws.
‘Be it enacted by authority of this present Parliament that the king our sovereign lord, his heirs and successors kings of the realm shall be taken, accepted and reputed the only supreme head in earth of the Church of England called Anglicana Ecclesia…’ The Act of Supremacy, 1534
Today is the feast of St Hubert of Liege, a hunter who was converted when a stag with a light-up crucifix between its antlers told him, ‘Hubert, unless you turn to the Lord and lead a holy life, you’ll be in hell before you know it.’ He is the patron saint of hunters, but also of opticians, maybe proving that the Church’s saint-makers have a sense of mischief.
Alexander Cruden put on his best coat and wig and had an audience with Queen Caroline, wife of King George II of Britain, today in 1737. Kneeling before her, he presented the first edition of his Complete Concordance to the Bible, an alphabetical listing of biblical words. The volume, weighing in at 1,200 pages, each page crammed with three columns of tiny type, was too hefty for the Queen to actually hold, so Cruden handed it to a palace servant. The moment was the culmination of 12 years of detailed work, and the printing of the book had almost ruined Cruden financially, but the Queen promised to reward him with £100 from her privy purse. He left the meeting overjoyed that his finances were saved, but the Queen died 17 days later, and he never received the £100.
St Martin de Porres, a 17th century Dominican lay brother from Lima, Peru, has his feast day today. His father was a Spanish nobleman and his mother a freed slave, and Martin grew up as a poor, illegitimate child, but was eventually accepted as a servant by a local convent. Martin is famous for healing the sick, but also for healing small animals and reasoning with bad-tempered bulls, not to mention negotiating with a delegation of rats who were intent on infesting the convent. Stories tell how he was also able to walk through locked doors, appear in Japan and Mexico while never leaving Lima, and transporting a whole picnic of novices from the countryside to the convent yard, in time for evening prayer.
Image: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich