The well was once believed to wash away sins; then it became the site of a curse.
CHR Comment: Saint Anne’s Well and its priory were built in the medieval period. The saint was supposed to have washed their, making the well a place of healing. One descended into the well and dunked in the waters. Saint Anne is the legendary mother of the Virgin Mary.
CHR Comment: A brief description of anniversary and ecumenical efforts during the Age of Protestant Orthodoxy in 1617 and 1717.
Source: Celebrating the Reformation | Peter J. Leithart | First Things
Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville was set on fire on Tuesday evening and suffered extensive damage.
CHR Comment: Sad stupidity connected to the election. This story dates from Nov. 3. I am still in the process of updating my list of events after teaching in South Africa and accepting a call to parish ministry.
Source: Black Majority Church Burned And Vandalised With ‘Vote Trump’ | Christian News on Christian Today
The Catholic Church’s ban on female priests will stand forever, Pope Francis said Tuesday.
CHR Comment: Francis is frustrating progressives in the Roman Catholic Church. Although he has expressed openness on many issues, little is actually changing under his charge. Here is a significant example. Despite his apparent conservatism, he makes many statements that rile conservative Catholics.
Catholic Europe shunned England so the Protestant queen traded with its enemies—and changed her country’s culture forever.
CHR Comment: The article is a book review for The Sultan and The Queen, which explores the trade relationship between Protestant England and Muslims.
Source: The Secret History of Elizabeth I’s Alliance With Islam
The Catholic Church in England and Wales is launching a new website aimed at practically and spiritually helping both Catholics and non-Catholics alike grapple with issues around death and dying, and to prepare, ideally, for a “good death”.
CHR Comment: This is a modern version of the late medieval Ars Moriendi, by which people prepared to face death.
Surrounded by charred walls and in front of a ruined altar, dozens of Iraqi Christians celebrated mass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception.
CHR Comment: Christians were driven out in August 2014 when ISIS troops occupied the city and issued an ultimatum that they should convert or else.
CHR Comment: The inn located at Assos included a Byzantine chapel. Pictured above is a theater at Assos, which overlooks the Aegean Sea.
Source: Byzantine-Era Inn Found in Anatolia – Archaeology Magazine
Church attendance is correlated with longer life and a sense of meaning.
CHR Comment: This may explain why religion, despite its detractors in modern life, will simply never go away—there are simply too many benefits associated with religious beliefs and practices.
Researchers recently uncovered a stone burial slab which many believe Jesus Christ’s body may have been laid on after his death.
CHR Comment: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built in AD 325 during the reign of Constantine and is the traditional site where Jesus was buried.
Source: ‘Burial slab’ of Jesus found in Jerusalem church
Here is a link directly to a National Geographic story.
Here is a link to the Washington Post story.
church history review 