The Pearl of Great Price
A short daily trip down the lane of Christian History. Looking at the fascinating people and events that have shaped a universal civilisation.
Dec 6 The Franciscan who first sketched Niagra Falls
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One of the great wonders of the Natural World - the Niagra falls between Canada and US was first sketched today by a Franciscan explorer
Dec 4 The Shroud of Turin
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Today we remember how a fire melted metal onto a large piece of linen that was reputed to be the burial cloth of Christ. When an Italian photographer processed the first negative image of the cloth it wowed the world
Dec 3 The first heart transplant
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Dr Christian Barnaard performed the first heart transplant - we look at his missionary parents and his visit to Pope Paul VI
Dec 2 Christopher Wren designs St Pauls
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St Pauls was one of the worlds first Anglican Cathedrals and one the most iconic. This is the story of how and when it was designed by Sir Christopher Wren
Dec I Charles de Foucault of the Little Brothers is shot
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Today we remember how the hermit Charles de Foucault was assisinated by Tuareg bandits. His life and commitment has inspired many movements
Nov 28 The Night of the Confessor - Tomas Halik
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Tomas Halik - A priest from the Czech Republic was ordained clandestinely under communism. Now he has been given many awards including an honorary doctorate from Oxford for his many writings.
Nov 27 Milan Cathedral - Il Duomo
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Milan's Cathedral - the biggest in Italy is made up of pink-hued white marble. Canals were dug leading to the construction site, to bring the stone there, It has the most statues and spires in the world and houses the shrine of Charles Borromeo and a nail from the cross of Christ
Nov 26 Paul VI Stabbed in Manila
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This is the story of an assassination attempt on Pope Paul VI at Manila airport. The 'Pilgrim Pope' who was the first to travel on an aeroplane and visit the Holy Land
Nov 25 Biblical Encylopedias and their deaf author
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The incredible story of John Kitto - who although he became deaf after an accident as a teenager, he became an avid traveller and observer of Eastern Culture. He used what he had experienced and observed to created very popular Biblical Encyclopaedias
Nov 24 Pius XI loses the Papal States & Infallibility
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Pope Pius IX had to flee from Rome to escape Garibaldi and the Nationalists. He returned to become a prisoner of the Vatican and called Vatican I - the council that controversially defined infallibility
Nov 23 Thomas Tallis' Tapestry of Voices
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One of the greatest composers of sacred music in English was Thomas Tallis. His greatest work composed when he was seventy years old is the 40 voice 'Spem in Alium'. A tapestry of voices about putting hope in God
Nov 22 The Knights Templar
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The Templars are one of the most controversial orders in the history of the Church. Set up in poverty to protect pilgrims to the Holy Land their power and fortunes rose and fell with the success of the Crusades
Nov 21 Lumen Gentium - A light for the Peoples
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Lumen Gentium was one of the most important documents of Vatican 2. The Churches understanding of itself... the first time ever written, dealing with such themes as the universal call to holiness and salvation outside the church
Nov 20 The Little Flower and Two Popes
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Terese of Liseux is one of the most popular saints in the church - even though she died relatively unknown at 24. Her 'Little Way' to Holiness was made famous through her autobiography The Story of a Soul. Her modesty and 'littleness' belies a spiritual powerhouse, at 14 she defied protocol and held onto the Pope's legs at an audience. We also look at the curious story of her relationship with Pope Francis and the gifts she sends him.
Nov 19 A radical thinker from Uruguay
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Alberto Methol Ferrer is one of the most influential thinkers you have never heard of. He was a great friend of the current pope, and used to cross the Rio Grande from Uruguay to see him regularly in Buenos Aires. His thoughts on theology, renewal and atheism are looked at in todays podcast
Nov 18 A little piece of heaven as St Peters is consecrated
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St Peters Basilica is world famous and today it was consecrated in 1626
Nov 17 Harald Bluetooth and Denmark's Baptismal Certificate, The Jelling Stones
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Two remarkable stones tell us a lot of the beginning of Denmark as a nation state, brought together by Harald Bluetooth - the first Christian King. He united the feuding tribes which is why Bluetooth technology was named after him, uniting digital devices.
Nov 16 Hugh of Lincoln, Anglo-Norman culture
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The Bishop of Lincoln, a French aristocrat called Hugh was much loved for standing up to corrupt kings, and for his holiness. He was declared a saint twenty years after his death
Nov 15 How to Read the Bible - Dei Verbum
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One of the most consequential documents of Vatican 2 is also one of the shortest - Dei Verbum which deals with Divine Revelation
Nov 14 Blitzes, Bombs and Cathedrals
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The Coventry Blitz on Nov 14 1940 was the most devestating in Britain during WW2. Its bombed out cathedral is now world famous
Nov 12 King Canute and the tide
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King Canute the King of Denmark, Norway and England built up an Empire of the North Sea. He also put a lot of money back into rebuilding churches and monasteries. Why did he attempt to turn back the sea?
Nov 13 A Darwinist's description of religious experience
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The Marine Biologist - Sir Alister Hardy - set up a centre to study religious experience. He claimed that 50% of people in the UK had a religious experience and saw this as an evolutionary response to some dimension of reality
Nov 11 Ordaining Women
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Today we remember how the General Synod voted to accept women priests in 1992.
Nov 10 Stopping Clandestine Marriages
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The Council of Trent is most famous for its counter reformation decrees - but perhaps of most significance in shaping civilisations is its decree 'Tametsi' which tried to counteract clandestine marriage
Nov 9 Satan and the Book of Enoch
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We remember the death of William Morfill, the first professor of Russian and Slavonic languages in Britain, He translated the non-canonical Book of Enoch which had been preserved in Bulgarian texts and describes how Satan was cast out of heaven
Nov 8 The Samaritans and Chad Varah
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Nov 7 Pope Benedict consecrates Barcelona's Sagrada Famiiia
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The Sagrada Familia was Anthony Gaudi's magnus opus and attracts more than 3 million visitors every year to Barcelona. Today we remember how Pope Benedict consecrated the unfinished basilica - and opened it to the public to worship - which was Gaudi;s intention and dream
Nov 6 George Williams and the YMCA
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George Williams inspired by the ideals of Muscular Christianity founded the YMCA to offer young men an alternative and healthy life to the urban malaise he saw in London, The movement spread around the world and invented basketball and volleyball as part of its legacy
Nov 5 Guy Fawkes and York Minster
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Guy Fawkes was from York and to commemorate his failure to blow up the House of Lords a special light show was projected onto the beautiful and famous York Minster. Today we look at both the story of Guy Fawkes and the beautiful York Cathedral and its links to the Emperor Constantine
Nov 4 J R R Tolkien's Theological Mythology
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The Lord of the Rings has been hugely successful as a book and a film series, all over the world, We look at the theology that underpins J R R Tolkien's Middle- Earth that has been popular all over the world
Nov 3 War Requiem - Benjamin Britten and Wilfred Owen
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Coventry Cathedral was rebuilt after being bombed in WW2, with its shell left standing next to the new cathedral a symbol of Resurrection and Reconciliation. It commissioned a War Requiem from Benjamin Britten which incorporated Wilfred Owen's poetry with a Latin Requiem Mass Setting
Nov 2 The Theology of Failure according to John Navone
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One of the most intriguing works of Christology is the Theology of Failure by John Navone. An edition was published today in 1974 and it has had a lasting influence on Pope Francis
Nov 1 Michelangelo's Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
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After four years work - the Sistine Chapel was opened for public viewing on all Saints Day. Michelangelo's Ceilings is now seen as one of the greatest artistic achievements of all time - with more than three hundred figures. it shows the creation, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and the Great Flood - the first chapters of the book of Genesis .
Oct 31 Catholics and Lutherans agree on Justification
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The understanding of justification by faith alone was the theological faultline at the heart of the reformation. Today almost 5oo years later a joint statement was released in agreement between Lutherans and Catholics
Oct 30 Nat Turners Slave Rebellion
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The Slave Nat Turner believed that he was divinely inspired to lead an uprising of slaves in Virginia. He would be killed for his efforts
Oct 29 St Andrew, his relics and Scotland
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Today we look at the story of St Regulus being shipwrecked in Scotland with relics of St Andrew. How he became the national saint and the story behind his saltire
Oct 28 The Good Pope and the Cuban Missile Crisis
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John XXIII was born into a simple farming family and was proud of his humble beginnings. He Was mourned after his death as 'Il Papa Buono' and mas made Time Magazine Man of the year after his intervention in the Cuban Missile Crisis
Oct 27 Constantine, the Edict of Milan and The True Cross
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Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to be baptised a Christian, This was an incredible turnaround after many terrible persecutions of the Roman authorities, killing tens of thousands of Christians. We look at the spiritual experience that may explain this and the influence of his mother St Helena and her quest to find the true cross
Oct 26 Alfred the Great - Christianity unites England
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When Alfred defeated Guthrum at the Battle of Eddington and then proceeded to be his mentor and oversee his baptism - England was at a turning point. From Being the embattled King Of Wessex he oversaw the beginning of the unification of England and the assimilation of many Danes
Oct 25 Chaucer and his Canterbury Tales
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Geoffrey Chaucer's stories of pilgrims on their way to the shrine of St Thomas a Becket have lead to him being called the father of English Literature, We look at his life, his writing and his ambiguous relationship with the church
