25th January: Today in Christian History

25th January, 1077

On this day in Christian History, Emperor Henry IV submits to Pope Gregory VII at Canossa, Italy, and will be forced to stand for three days barefoot in the snow.

25th January, 1164

On this day in Christian History, Council of Clarendon assembles and King Henry II of England threatens the bishops of the realm with death if they do not yield him more jurisdiction over crimes by clergy. Archbishop Thomas à Becket concedes in order to save lives.

25th January, 1366

On this day in Christian History, Death in Ulm, Germany, of Henry Suso, a fanatical ascetic and mystic, who practiced austerities and tortures on himself as penance for twenty-two years. For example, he bound a wooden cross to his back, in which he affixed thirty spikes in memory of Christ’s wounds. On this instrument of torture he stretched himself at night for eight years.

25th January, 1720

On this day in Christian History,  Muslims in Constantinople beheaded Auxentius who had refused to convert to Islam despite being beaten with an iron bar.

25th January, 1907

Death in Wisconsin of Onangwatgo [Cornelius Hill], an Oneida chief and Episcopal priest.

January 25, 1922

Death in England of Madame Tchertkoff, a Russian evangelical noblewoman whose estates and mission buildings had been confiscated by the Bolsheviks when she was eighty-five years old. She had escaped to Finland and from there to England. When she had sold a property she owned in England, the new owners kindly allowed her to live there the remainder of her life.

January 25, 1944

Florence Li Tim-Oi is ordained a priest in Hong Kong by Anglican bishop Ronald Hall, the first woman ordained a priest in the Anglican communion.

January 25, 1959

Death in South Africa of Walter Lefa Mochochoko, who had been a notable leader in the Anglican Church of South Africa, and then a bishop in the African Church. He had spoken out vigorously against the racism practiced in churches.

January 25, 1963

Emmanuel Abraham is elected president of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, a position he will hold for twenty-two years until January 25, 1985. During many of those years, he will also serve as a leading diplomat for Emperor Haile Sellassie and the Ethiopian government.

25th January, 1980

On this day in Christian History,  Frederick Donald Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury, retires. He had been involved in the translation of the New English Bible and was an advocate for the ordination of women.

January 25, 1986

Death in Toronto of Oswald J. Smith. He had founded the People’s Church in Toronto, raised millions of dollars to support missions and written thirty-five books which had been translated into one-hundred-and-twenty-eight languages.

25th January, 2008

On this day in Christian History, the United Christian Women were incorporated into a non-profit organization in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to encourage young women to remain strong in faith.