Posted Dec. 26, 2007 MINNEAPOLIS 12:15am CT | LONDON 06:15am | SYDNEY 05:15pm

THIS DAY IN HISTORY - December 26, the 1st day of Christmas in Western Christianity

Researched and written by Gloriscope staff

1950: Pipe Pius XII proclaimed the end of the Holy Year of 1950.

1948: Cardinal József Mindszenty, Primate of the Catholic Church in Hungary, was arrested by the Hungarian Communist regime. – Because of his opposition to Communism, he was accused of treason and conspiracy, tried in 1949 and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was released during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.

1925: Turkey switched to Christian time reckoning by adopting the Gregorian calendar. - The Gregorian calendar was decreed by Pope Gregory XIII on February 24, 1582, and has been used by many countries since October 15, 1582.

1790: King Louis XVI signed the law on the civilian constitution of the clergy. – The law, passed by the French National Assembly earlier in 1790, after the French Revolution in 1789, reorganized the church in France and transformed the clergy into “public functionaries.”

1764: Death of Benito Jerónimo Feijoo y Montenegro, one of the most important Spanish scholars. – He was a Benedictine monk, a polyglot, a university professor, and a prolific writer of essays on theology, philosophy, arts and sciences.

1734: First performance of the second cantata of “Christmas Oratorio” by Johann Sebastian Bach (in Leipzig, Germany).

1620: The Pilgrim Fathers landed at the future place of the New Plymouth colony in Massachusetts.

1499: God strengthened Christopher Columbus in adversity – During his third voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus met a lot of trouble on the island of Hispaniola (Haiti). He was sick and the Spanish colonists on the island were in revolt because of the disease ravaging their settlement. Columbus recorded in his diary:

The day after Christmas Day, 1499, all having left me, I was attacked by the Indians … and was placed in such extremity that, fleeing death, I took off to sea in a small caravel ship. Then Our Lord helped me, saying, “Man of little faith, do not fear, I am with thee.” And he dispersed my enemies and showed me how I might fulfill my vows. Unhappy sinner that I am, to have put all my hopes in the things of this world!

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TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY!

Published in the U.S.A. Copyright © 4T4C News Corp. 2007. All rights reserved.