Today is Wednesday, September 16, 2009.

Today is Wednesday, September 16, 2009.

On this day in history:

1224 - During an extended period of prayer and fasting, St. Francis of
Assisi, 42, received the stigmata (crucifixion scars of
Christ) on Mount Alvernia, in Italy. Francis, the founder of
the Franciscans in 1209, has been called by some the greatest
of all the Christian saints.
1620 - The "Mayflower" set sail from Plymouth, England, bound for the
New World. On board were 48 crew members and 101 colonists
(including 35 Separatists from Leiden, Holland, known
afterward as the Pilgrims). During the three-month voyage, two
passengers died and two babies were born.
1840 - Scottish pastor Robert Murray McCheyne wrote in a letter: 'Grace
fills us with very different feelings from the possession of
anything else. If you have tasted the grace of the Gospel, the
irresistible longing of your hearts will be, "Oh, that all the
world might taste its regenerating waters."'
1906 - Birth of J.B. Phillips, Anglican clergyman. Ordained in 1930, he
wrote "Your God is Too Small" (1951), but is better remembered
for his biblical paraphrase, "The New Testament in Modern
English," first published in 1958.
1976 - In Minneapolis, the 65th Triennial General Convention of the
Episcopal Church officially approved ordination of women to
the priesthood.