by Peter James | Dec 22, 2023 | Christina Rosetti
It hardly ever snows in the Holy Land, but you wouldn’t know it by the lyrics of the Christmas Carol “In the Bleak Midwinter,” written by the highly esteemed poet Christina Rossetti (1830-1894). She was asked by the editor of Scribner’s Monthly...
by Peter James | Dec 21, 2023 | Phos Hilaron
Picture the scene. You are gathered with other people at night in an underground burial vault called a catacomb. There is a center open area where you stand with other believers surrounded by recessed burial chambers. You congregate in tombs with fellow Christians to...
by Peter James | Dec 20, 2023 | Philip Brooks
Philip Brooks (1835-1893) wanted a new carol for the children to sing at their annual Christmas Eve program at Holy Trinity Church in Philadelphia. Philip recalled his visit to the Holy Land in 1865, when he traveled by horseback on Christmas Eve to the place where it...
by Peter James | Dec 19, 2023 | Thomas Salmon
Thomas Salmon (1800-1854) visited a shop owned and operated by William Walford in a small English village one afternoon in 1842. Since William was blind and lived alone, he relied on his prodigious memory to keep Scripture on instant recall and composed poems in his...
by Peter James | Dec 18, 2023 | Fursey, St
They wore long dark robes complete with hoods. Their tonsure haircuts–a ring of hair encircling their shaved heads–added to the mystique. These Irish monks were distinctive both in appearance and in their fervor to spread the gospel across western Europe...
