Anne Askew
A hot day in July 1546 was about to get hotter for Anne Askew, who was tied to a bundle of sticks between two similarly restrained friends. Her jailers had secured the wood to her mid-section because she’d been tortured to the point where she could no longer hold herself upright. Anne was the married…
Read MoreAnnie Johnson Flint
Annie Johnson was born in Vineland, New Jersey, on Christmas Eve 1866. Her parents, Eldon and Jean rejoiced in the gift of their early Christmas present daughter. Nearly three years later, all the joy of that Christmas disappeared in a flood of sorrow, as Annie’s mom died at the age of 23, soon after giving…
Read MoreRuth Graham
Ruth Bell Graham, wife of evangelist Billy Graham, was born at Qingjiang, Kiangsu, China, on June 10, 1920, as Ruth McCue Bell. Her parents, Dr. and Mrs. L. Nelson Bell, were medical missionaries at the Presbyterian Hospital 300 miles north of Shanghai. As a young girl there in the small hospital compound, Ruth first sensed…
Read MoreThomas Merton
Thomas Merton, known in the monastery as Fr. Louis, was born on 31 January 1915 in Prades, southern France. The young Merton attended schools in France, England, and the United States. At Columbia University in New York City, he came under the influence of some remarkable teachers of literature, including Mark Van Doren, Daniel C.…
Read MoreT.S. Eliot
In 1931, T.S. Eliot wrote in his essay, “Thoughts After Lambeth,” “The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark…
Read MoreG.K. Chesterton
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) cannot be summed up in one sentence. Nor in one paragraph. In fact, in spite of the fine biographies that have been written of him, he has never been captured between the covers of one book. But rather than waiting to separate the goats from the sheep, let’s just come right…
Read MoreChristina Rossetti
The Victorian poet Christina Rossetti (1830–1894) is most celebrated for her popular Christmas carols, but her most prolific liturgical season was Lent. A fervent Anglican, Rossetti expressed in her poems a deeper understanding of suffering than pieces like “Love Came Down At Christmas” might lead you to suspect. In her Lenten poetry, she focuses not only on…
Read MoreFanny Crosby
The “Queen of Gospel Song Writers” came into this world on March 24, 1820. Fanny Crosby was the only child of John and his second wife, Mercy Crosby. She had a half-sister from her father’s first marriage. Hardship came to her early in life, and without her full recognition. At six weeks old, her eye…
Read MoreWilliam Wordsworth
Born 7 April 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumberland, to the steward of an estate, Wordsworth’s early life was relatively hard. His mother died when he was eight, and the next year he was sent to attend the principal grammar school of the district at Hawkshead where he was solidly educated. Only four years later, however, his father died,…
Read MoreSamuel Wesley
The English composer, Samuel Wesley, was the son of Rev. Charles and nephew of the celerbrated Rev. John Wesley. His elder brother, Charles Wesley (1757-1834), was an harpsichodist, organist and composer. Although Samuel was also a precocious performer, like his brother’, he did not develop his faculties quite so early, for he was 3 years…
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