Today is the feast of St Francis of Paola (above), an Italian friar who died in 1507. He left the Franciscans to go and live in a cave by the seaside, and is the patron saint of seafarers. He had a reputation for mindreading, converted King Louis XI on his deathbed, and sailed across the Strait of Messina to Sicily using his cloak as a boat. He is commemorated in Liszt’s thunderous piano piece, ‘St Francis of Paola walking on the waves’.
On this day in 1739 John Wesley was finally persuaded by his preaching buddy George Whitefield to start preaching in the fields outside Bristol. The preachers of the Welsh revival had already taken their preaching outdoors, but it really wasn’t Wesley’s style. However, the dynamic duo were such a hit they were having to turn away as many people from the churches as they let in, and were starting to get turned away themselves, because 18th century vicars didn’t like people getting too excited by religion.
‘At four in the afternoon I submitted to being more vile, and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation, speaking from a little eminence in a ground adjoining to the city, to about three thousand people. The scripture on which I spoke was, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.”’ John Wesley, Journal
Ulrich Zwingli, the creator of the Reformed Churches, became the first Protestant leader to marry, wedding Anna Reinhard on this day in 1524. He explained to the Bishop of Constance his reasons for allowing clerical marriage: ‘Your honourable wisdom has already witnessed the disgraceful and shameful life we have unfortunately hitherto led with women, thereby giving grievous scandal to everyone.’
Image: Wikimedia Commons