10th. William Laud.
He was born in Reading on 7th October, 1573. He was ordained in 1601, following education at Oxford. He disliked the Calvinism of the Church of England, preferring pre-reformation liturgy and ritual. These views were shared by King Charles I, and Laud rose in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, eventually being appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633. Laud proceeded to restore many pre-reformation rituals, bringing him into bitter conflict with the Puritans, who regarded this as paving the way for the restoration of Roman Catholicism. When the Puritan party gained control of Parliament in 1641, Laud was impeached and imprisoned. He was found guilty of high treason and beheaded on this day in 1645.
11th. Mary Slessor.
Was born in 1848 and worked as a mill girl in Dundee throughout her childhood and early adulthood. Her great dream was to become a missionary, and she was accepted to teach at Calabar, Nigeria, by the United Presbyterian Church in 1876. Mary spent many years there teaching and she was very popular with the Nigerians, who called her 'Great Mother'. She died at Itu, Nigeria on 13th January, 1915.
12th. Aelred of Hexham
Was the son of a Saxon priest born at Hexham in 1109. He lived at the court of King David I, son of St Margaret of Scotland. He joined the Cistercians at the recently founded abbey of Revesby in 1143. He was elected abbot of Rievaulx in 1147. He became head of all the Cistercian abbots in England, and was present at the translation of the relics of King Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey in 1163. He died on this date in 1166.
13th. Kentigern (Mungo)
According to the legend he was born in southern Scotland, the grandson of a British prince, and taught by St Serf in a monastic school at Culross. He became Bishop of the Britons in Strathclyde, and founded the Church of Glasgow. He spent a period away from Scotland to avoid persecution, in Wales and in Cumbria. His reputed tomb stands in Glasgow Cathedral. He died in Glasgow around 612.
24th. Francis de Sales.
Was born at Thorens, France in 1567. Francis gave up a promising career in public service in favour of the priesthood. Ordained in 1593 he was appointed Provost of Geneva, and converted thousands of Calvinists of the Chablais region back to the Church. He was appointed Bishop of Geneva in 1602. He wrote many spiritual books which are still read today. He died at Lyons on 28th December, 1622.
28th. Thomas Aquinas.
Born near Monte Casino around 1225. He joined the Dominicans in 1244 and was kidnapped by his family and shut up for a year. On his release he went to study at Cologne where he became a master of theology in 1256. The rest of his life was spent between Paris and Italy, studying, lecturing, preaching and writing. In 1266 he started his Summa Theologiae, a great theological synthemature thought on all the Christian mysteries. He died near Maenza on 7th March, 1274.
30th. Charles I
Born on 19th November, 1600 at Dunfermline, the second son of James VI of Scotland and I of England. He succeeded to the throne in 1625. He championed the Episcopal Church in Scotland and imposed the Prayer Book in Scotland. Executed on this day in 1649.