On this day in 1187, Saladin captured Jerusalem from the Crusaders. Though the Christians had killed the entire populace when they took the city, Saladin (above) didn’t even loot a single house. He offered captured Christians their freedom for 10 pence each. In a moving demonstration of Christian leadership, the Bishop of Jerusalem paid his 10 pence, went to his church, packed its vast treasures into carts and made a run for it. Saladin released most of the Christians, whether or not they paid for their freedom.
Printing began today in 1515 on the first published New Testament in Greek, prepared by Erasmus of Rotterdam. The second edition was used by Luther to translate the New Testament into German, and the third edition was used by the translators of the King James Version.
Mohandas Gandhi, the anti-colonial activist, was born on this day in 1869. His principle of non-violent protest, which won India freedom without bloodshed from British rule, was inspired by the Sermon on the Mount and the spiritual writings of Tolstoy.
Today is Guardian Angels’ Day. Guardian angels were given their own feast in the Western Church by Pope Paul V in 1608.
‘As guardians are appointed for men who have to pass by an unsafe road, so an angel guardian is assigned to each man as long as he is a wayfarer. When, however, he arrives at the end of life, he no longer has a guardian angel; but in the kingdom he will have an angel to reign with him, in hell a demon to punish him.’ Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
It is the birthday of Graham Greene, the English novelist, who was born today in 1904. He abandoned liberal Anglicanism and embraced Catholicism in his early 20s, and his faith especially shaped several of his novels, including The Power and the Glory, The Heart of the Matter, and The End of the Affair.
Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, a Spanish priest, founded the Catholic lay organisation Opus Dei, today in 1928.
Catharine Saube, a proto-Anabaptist 100 years ahead of her time, was burned to death for heresy in Montpellier, France, this afternoon in 1417.
Image: Dosseman