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Christian History

Today in Christian History

December 24

December 24, 1223: Francis of Assisi stages history's first living nativity scene, complete with live animals, in a cave near Greccio, Italy (see issue 42: Francis of Assisi).

December 24, 1491: Spanish ascetic and theologian Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, is born in Guipuzcoa, Spain. His order quickly became a great power in Roman Catholicism and led the Counter-Reformation.

December 24, 1818: Franz Gruber composes "Silent Night" in the St. Nicholas Church of Oberndorf, Austria.

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April 26, 1521: After Charles V promises to take firmer measures against his doctrines, Luther leaves the Diet of Worms. A month later, his teachings are formally condemned (see issue 34: Luther's Early Years).

April 26, 1877: Residents of Minnesota observe a state-wide day of prayer, asking deliverance from a plague of grasshoppers that had ruined thousands of acres of crops. The plague ended during that summer.

April 26, 1992: The bells of the Ivan the Great Belltower in Saint Basil’s ...

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