Faith Through the Ages - Today in Religious History
This feast day commemorates the presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem, as described in the Gospel of Luke. It is one of the oldest Christian feasts, dating back to the 4th century.
At the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II called upon Christians to undertake a military expedition to the Holy Land to aid the Byzantine Empire and reclaim Jerusalem from Muslim rule. This led to the beginning of the Crusades.
Twenty-six Christians, including the Jesuit priest Paul Miki and two other priests, were crucified in Nagasaki, Japan, for their faith. They are known as the Martyrs of Nagasaki and were canonized by the Catholic Church in 1862.
The first of a series of Marian apparitions began when the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the young peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France. This event led to the establishment of the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, a major pilgrimage site for Catholics.
During World War II, Pope Pius XII consecrated the world, and especially Russia, to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in response to the request made by the Virgin Mary at Fatima in 1917.