The year was 856. We remember Rabanus Maurus, a Benedictine monk. Our reading is a hymn from Maurus, "Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire."

The year was 1788. The Reverend Richard Johnson preached the first Christian sermon in Australia, under a tree in the Sydney cove. The reading is from John Newton, "Father Forgive Them."

The year was 1864. Today, we will remember Adelaide Anne Procter, one of the most famous Victorian poets who was a devout Catholic and advocate for the poor and distressed. The reading is from Procter, "The Shadows of the Evening Hours."

The year was 1945. We remember the historian of the Middle Ages, Johann Huizinga. The last word for today comes from another Dutchman, Herman Bavinck.

The year was 1561. We remember Menno Simons. The reading for today, recommended by a listener, a poem by E.H. Hamilton.

The year was 1972. We remember Belfast’s Bloody Sunday. The last word for today comes from Henry Vaughn, his poem, “Peace.”

The year was 1882. We remember Endicott Peabody. The reading is from Dorothy Sayers from her "Creed or Chaos."

The year was 814. Today we remember the death of Charlemagne. The reading comes from Bernard of Clairvaux, his "Jesus the Very Thought of Thee," translated by Edward Caswell.

The year was 1343. Pope Clement VI proclaimed a coming jubilee and laid out the practice of indulgences. The reading is from G.K. Chesterton, “O God of Earth and Altar.”

The year was 1681. We remember Isabel Alison and Marion Harvey, martyrs for the radical Covenanters. The last word for today comes from St. Jerome, a word on the church and martyrdom.

The year was 1863. We remember the Quaker, Rufus Matthew Jones. The last word for today, a word about peace, comes straight from the Prince of Peace's mouth in the Gospel of John.

The year was 1076. Emperor Henry IV convened a synod at Worms to deal with the power-hungry pope. The reading is from John Newton, his poem, "A Thought on the Seas-Shore."

The year was 1549. We remember Transylvanian Lutheran Johannes Honterus. The last word for today comes from a Hungarian poet, János Pilinsky, “On the Third Day.”

The year was 1561. We remember Francis Bacon. The last word for the day comes from another Christian philosopher, Blaise Pascal.

The year was 1059. We remember Michael Kerullarios. The reading is a prayer by Søren Kierkegaard.

The year was 288. We remember St. Sebastian. The reading is from Gerhard Forde, “On Being a Theologian of the Cross.”

The year was 399. We remember Pulcheria, the silent star of the 5th century. The reading is from George Herbert, “The Hold Fast.”

The year was 1951. We remember one of the most famous of all missionaries, Amy Carmichael. The reading is an octave from Ms. Carmichael.

The year was 1677. We remember Ludovick Muggleton. The reading is "If Birds that neither Sow nor reap" by Roger Williams.

The year was 1899. We remember Charles P. Chiniquy. The reading for today comes from the Almanac's favorite Brennan Manning, "Ragamuffin Gospel."

The year was 1998. We remember Harold Lindsell. The reading is from Anselm of Canterbury, a prayer from the 11th century.

The year was 1623. We remember Father Paolo Sarpi, a Servite and Venetian critic of Rome. The reading is from Juergen Moltmann and his "The Crucified God."

The year was 614. We celebrate St. Mungo's Day. The reading for today comes from a Scottish Poet, George Mackay Brown, "A Poem for Shelter."

The year was 1960. We remember Charles Emmanuel Grace. The reading is from Frederick Buechner's "Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale."

The year is 1759. We remember the Corporation for the Relief of Poor and Distressed Presbyterian Ministers and of the Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of Presbyterian Ministers. The reading is “Mercy” by John F. Deane.