Harriet, with her camera at the ready, visited many countries with her husband. In 1900 she undertook her first expedition with her husband. The three year trip was to South America where they visited every country. She crossed the Andes on horseback. Gave first lecture to National Geographical Society (NGS). Her next voyage followed Christopher Columbus’s first discoveries between Europe and America visiting every country that had a Spanish or Portuguese colony. She was a correspondent for Harper’s magazine in Europe during the First World War. She was the first American journalist to visit the French trenches. In 1935 , with her husband, she did a second extended trip to South America. During her lifetime she wrote 21 articles for the NGS. Her colour photographs and adventurous travel style earned her numerous invitations to speak across the world by organizations who had never before asked a woman to speak… Harriet was the first president of the Society of Woman Geographers (1925-33). Sources Wikipedia Standing on her Shoulders by Monica Clark-Robinson

Septima developed the literacy and workshops that played an important role in the voting rights and civil right for African Americans in the Civil Rights Movement. Her position in the Civil Rights Movement was one that claimed ’ knowledge could empower marginalized groups that formal legal equality couldn’t’. In 1979 US President Jimmy Carter awarded her a Living Legacy Award. Martin Luther King commonly referredt o her as The Mother of the Movement. Septima lived to the age of 89. In the eulogy, at her funeral in 1987, the Revd. Joseph Lowery asserted that her ‘courage and pioneering efforts in the area of citizenship education and interracial cooperation’ won her SCLC highest award - Drum major for Justice Award. ( SCLC Southern Christian Leadership Conference) Source- Wikipedia

Vnes Enriquetta Juliette Mexia in 1909, approaching 40 years of age, suffered a mental and physical breakdown. While recovering in Northern California she became interested in botany. She enrolled at University California Berkeley in 1925. and went on a collecting trip in Mexico. In middle age Mexia had found her purpose in life writing, I have a job (where) I produce something real and lasting. Over the next 13 years she travelled from the northern regions of Alaska to the southern modest tip of South America - Tierra del Fuego. Her ‘habits’ surprised people -she travelled alone, rode on horse back, wore trousers and she preferred to sleep outside even if beds or indoor accommodation was available. Her challenges included poisonous berries, dangerous terrain, bogs and earthquakes for the sake of her research. In 1938, while on an expedition to Mexico, she became ill and was forced to abort her trip. On returning to the USA she was diagnosed with cancer and died a month later at the age of 68. 'All who knew Ynes Mexis could not fail to be impressed by her friendly unassuming spirit, and by that rare courage which enabled her travel, much of the time alone, in lands where few would dare to. William E. Colby secretary of the Sierra Club. Sources Wikipedia Standing on her Shoulders by Monica Clark-Robinson

Laura Jane Addams was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, philosopher and author. She was a leader in the history of social work and women’s suffrage. In 1889 she co-founded Hull House one of the USA’s most famous settlement houses. In 1910 she was the first woman to be awarded am honorary Master of Arts degree by Yale University. In 1920 she co-founded the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU0). She was an advocate for world peace the became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. In her lifetime she helped America address and focus on issues that were of concern to women or domestic work assigned to women. When Jane died in 1935, aged 74, she was the best known public figure in the USA. In the* Progressive Era* Jane was one of most prominent reformers. Source Wikipedia

Saint Nicodemus is mentioned 3 times in St. John’s Gospel. He is not mentioned in the synoptic gospels of Matthew. Mark or Luke. He visits Jesus one night to discuss Jesus’ teaching. Here he is referred to as being a prominent leader among the Jews John ch 3 v 1-21 Nicodemus makes a statement v2 Rabbi, we know that thou are a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. V3 Jesus replies, Verily , verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. v4 Nicodemus asks, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb? v5 Jesus replies, *Except a man be born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. v6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit v7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again * The importance ofBeing born again is often mentioned in the epistles. He is mentioned when Jesus faced the Sanhedrin. Here he is referred to as being a ruler and Pharisee. John ch 7 v 50-53 After Jesus’ crucifixion he provided the customary spices for anointing the dead when he assists Joseph of Arimathaea in preparing the body of Jesus for burial - John ch.19 v 39-42 He was a Pharisee , a ruler and a member of the Sanhedrin. Although there is no explicit mention of him as a follower or disciple of Jesus in the New Testament he is considered to be a secret disciple of Jesus by both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches based on the narrative of John ch 19. The name Nicodemus means ‘victory of the people’

I had already written over 600 profiles of Saints and other famous Christians when I came across a list of 40 martyrs for England and Wales. (See List) I have simply copied parts from Wikipedia for the first 10. If a number of you are interested download the first 10- I will then do the other 30. Saints Almond, Arrowsmith, Barlow, Boste, Briant, Campion, Clitherow, Evans , Gernet and Lloyd (Evans and Lloyd are combined).

I have created four useful sheets for the children when they write to Father Christmas. Sheet 1 is an outline for the letter. Sheet 2 is a vocabulary of useful words. Sheet 3 for is a clip art sheet for writing their letter on. Sheets 4 and 5 pictures of gifts for boys and girls in 2024. I went on Google and found an address from the Post Office for writing letters to Father Christmas this year.

I came across these photocopied free Photocopiable Christmas lists while looking for Christmas ideas. I have photocopied 14 of them’ 2 page of possible presents

Christmas Evans (1766-1838) was born on Christmas day, December 25th 1766. He was Welsh nonconformist minister who has been described as ‘the greatest preacher that the Baptists have ever had in Great Britain’ known by D.M. Lloyd-Jones. Christmas was born near the village of Llandysul, Cardiganshire. His father, a shoemaker, died when his son was 9 years of age. He grew up as an illiterate farm labourer. He stood about 7 feet tall and lost an eye during a youthful brawl. Aged 17 he became the servant of David Davies, a Presbyterian minister, who taught him to read and write in English and Welsh. Visiting Calvinistic Methodist preachers and members of the Baptist church in Llandysul influenced him, so he joined the Baptists. Career In 1789 he settled for 2 years on the remote Llyn Peninsula in Caernarfonshire. He then moved to Llangeful in Anglesey. here on a stipend of £17 a year,he built up a strong Baptist community. Many new chapels were built, the money being collected on preaching tours which he undertook in South Wales. In 1826 he moved to Caerphilly, where he stayed for 2 years. In 1828 he moved to Cardiff. In 1832, responding to an urgent call, He settled in Caernarfon and again took undertook the old work of building and collecting. Style of preaching Christmas was a remarkably powerful preacher. With a natural aptitude for his calling he united a nimble mind and an inquiring spirit. His chief characteristic was a vivid and affluent imagination, which absorbed and controlled his other abilities, he earned the name ‘The Bunyan of Wales’. His sermons enlightened the understanding and warmed the heart. His piety humble and his faith fervently evangelical. His famous ‘The Graveyard Sermon’ was included in Grenville Kleiser’s 1909, 9 volume The World’s Great Sermons. . In 1838 he was taken ill, in the house of Daniel David,while on another tour of South Wales. He died in Swansea on 19th July 1838. His funeral was one of the largest ever attended in the country. He is buried in the grounds of Swansea’s Bethesda Chapel. His works were edited by Owen Davies in 3 volumes and published in Caernarvon between 1895-7. Christmas Evans came on the scene in the late 18th century and became one of the greatest preachers in the national history of powerful Gospel preaching in Wales (It is believed to bring good luck to kiss his headstone - making it the Swansea version of the Barney Stone.) Source Wikipedia

Desiderius Erasmas Roterodamus is considered to be one of the most influential thinkers of the Northern Renaissance because of his vast number of translations, books, essays, prayers and letters. He was one of the major figures of Dutch and Western culture. His medieval Dutch childhood ended in him being orphaned and impoverished. He went to Paris, Queen’s College Cambridge and Turin universities. He wrote in a spontaneous, copious and natural Latin style. He prepared new Latin and Greek scholarly editions of the New Testament with annotations and commentary. He wrote a vast number of books.(See list of Books by Erasmus) *His influential middle road approach disappointed, and even angered, partisans, in both camps. He remained a member of the Catholic church all his life, remaining committed to reforming the church from within. Sources Wikipedia

Elizabeth was a Catholic, religious sister, in the USA and an educator. She was known as the founder of the country’s parochial school system. She was the first American citizen to be canonized. Feast Day 4th January She was raised as an Episcopalian. She married William Seton and they had 5 children. William died in 1803 from tuberculosis. In 1805, 2 years after her husband’s death, she converted to Catholicism. To support herself she had started an academy for young ladies. On hearing of her conversion parents withdrew their daughters! The Sulpician Fathers , a French emigre community, were in the process of establishing the first Catholic seminary in the USA. Father Dubourg had envisioned a religious school to meet the educational needs of the new nation’s small Catholic community. Elizabeth accepted the invitation and moved to Emmitsburg, Maryland. She established the first Catholic girl’s school, Saint Joseph’s Academy and Free School in Emmitsburg. In 1809 she founded the first American congregation of religious sisters - Sisters of Charity.- they were initially called Sister of Charity of St. Joseph. They adopted the rules of the Daughters of Charity, co-founded in France by Vincent de Paul and Louisa de Manilac. Elizabeth was now Mother Seton. Elizabeth, a charming and cultured lady, spent her last 12 years leading and developing the new congregation of sisters. Legacy Her name has been used by buildings, charities, churches, hospitals and schools across the world. (See Eponymous institutions list) Saint Elizabeth Seton -canonized by the Catholic Church September 14 , 1975 Sources Wikipedia The Encyclopedia of Saints by Howard Loxton

The story of Dymphna and her friends was first recorded in the 13th century after their bodies were discovered. Oral Tradition says Dymphna’s father, Damon, was a petty king of Oriel in Ireland ; her mother was a devout Christian. When she was 14 years of age she consecrated herself to Christ and took a vow of chastity. Her father’s mental health deteriorated when his wife died. His counsellors pressed him to remarry. He agreed on the condition the new wife looked like his first wife. Searching proved fruitless and he began to desire his daughter because of her resemblance to her mother. The daughter learned of his intentions and fled the court with her confessor Father Gerebemus , two trusted servants and the king’s fool. They went to Gheel (now Geel) in Belgium. Tradition says she built a hospice for the poor and sick in Geel. Her father’s agents eventually found her. Damon had Gerebemus killed. She refused to return so he drew his sword and struck off his 15 year old daughter’s head. Residents initially buried the two friends in a nearby cave; later moved to a more suitable location. 1349, nearly 700 years later, a church honouring Dymphna was built in Geel. By 1480 pilgrims were coming from all over Europe seeking treatment for psychiatric disorders. This tradition is still on going. Patients are called ‘boarders’. They become part of the community.It has continued for over 500 years. ( Read paragraph which begins with In 1349 for more information.) Dymphna w as beheaded on May 30th. The year of her death is uncertain. Dymphna is the Patron saint for the insane. Sources Wikipedia Encyclopedia of Saints by Howard Loxton

Edmund Campion died a martyr because his conscience was unable to accept the offer of freedom he was offered by the 3 privy councilors while being held in the Tower of London for treason… He was happy to accept Elizabeth 1 as queen but unable, in good conscience, accept the validity of the Anglican Church. In his Decern Rationes ( Ten Reasons) he explained his arguments against the validity of the Anglican Church. He had been educated in England at Oxford University. In 1564 he had received Holy Orders as a deacon in the Anglican Church but inwardly he took a remorse of conscience and detestation of mind. Religious difficulties arose. He moved to Ireland (1569-1570) where he helped establish the University of Dublin. He moved to Douai (1571-1573) in the Low Countries (France) where he was reconciled to the Catholic Church. He gained his Bachelor of Divinity degree while hr taught rhetoric. He received minor orders after this and was ordained sub-deacon. He travelled, on foot, as a pilgrim, to Rome in 1573 to join the Jesuits as a novice. In Prague (1573-1580) he was ordained a deacon and priest. For 6 years years he was professor of rhetoric and philosophy.E In 1580 the mission to England began badly. Before they left they learned that a letter detailing the mission had been intercepted. Edmund, in the guise of a jewel merchant.arrived in London on 24th June 1580. His presence soon became known but he began his task of administering the sacrament and preaching. In Norfolk, on 15th July, he was captured by George Eliot, a spy, and taken to London. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Interrogated. 14 th November indicted 20th November found guilty 1st December hung, drawn and quartered ( This is his Feast Day) Edmund was 41 years of age 23 educational institutions are named after him. Sources Wikipedia Encyclopedia of Saints by Howard Loxton

Winnie started by giving a child a bowl of soup. Soon she was feeding over 500 starving children. She lived in Finetown in the south of Johannesburg, South Africa. She cared almost singlehandedly for orphans and vulnerable children. In 2004 Lisa Ashton travelled to South Africa to make a TV programme to mark 10 years of the end of apartheid. She interviewed a number of people including Winnie. Winnie greatest desire was to own a property that the children could call home. Lisa made a promise to Winnie that she would do all she could to keep her legacy alive. Just a few months later Winnie died. Lisa realised her calling - she had to continue Winnie’s work. The foundation has grown considerably over the years. In 2013 she awarded an MBE for her services to South Africa particularly to those living with HIV Dan Walker visited Ilamula House in Zenzele, when the Football World Cup was in South Africa in 2010. In his book Remarkable People ch 1I started with a bowl of soup**(pages 19-29) gives us a lot of detail about Lisa’s determination to fulfill Winnie’s dream and the foundation first hand. Sources Wikipedia Remarkable People by Dan Walker

Eugenia’s feast is celebrated on Christmas Day, December 25th. Her legend states that she was converted by and martyred with Protus and Hyacinth, her Chamberlains, during the persecution of Valerian. She is said to have been the daughter of Philip, ‘duke’ of Alexandria and governor of Egypt. . She fled her father’s house dressed as a man and was baptised by Helenus the bishop of Heliopolis. Dressed.as a man she became an abbot One of the stories tells of her curing a woman of an illness who made sexually advances towards her, which she rebuffed, while dressed as a man. She was accused of adultery. It went to trial. Her own father was the judge. In court she was exonerated when her true identity was revealed. Her father converted to the faith and became bishop of Alexandria. The emperor had him executed. Eugenia and the rest of the family fled to Rome but this did not prevent their martyrdom. Protus and Hyacinth were beheaded on September 11th AD 258. Eugenia, after Christ had appeared to her in a dream, was told she would die on the Feast of the Nativity. She was beheaded on Christmas Day, December 25th AD 258. Sources Wikipedia The Encyclopedia of Saints by Howard Loxton

Saint Frances of Rome was an Italian saint who was a wife, mother (six children), organizer of charitable services and a Benedictine oblate (a person dedicated to a monastic or religious life). As an 11 year old she had wanted to be a nun but within a year she was forced to marry Lorenzo Ponziani, a commander of the papal troops in Rome. They were happily married for 40 years- he was frequently at war, she spent her time visiting the poor and taking care of the sick. Twice she turn her home/castle into a hospital. She lost two children because of the plague. With Lorenzo’s approval she founded on August 15th, 1425 the Oblates of Mary. In March 1433 she founded a monastery at Tor de’ Specchi in Campidoglio. For a number of years she looked after Lorenzo after he had been seriously wounded. After his death in 1436 she moved into the monastery and she became the superior. She died in 1440 and was buried in Santa Maria Nova. On May 9th, 1608 she was canonised by Pope Paul V in recognition of her life’s work. In 1925 Pope Pius XI declared her the patron saint of automobile drivers because of a legend that an angel used to light the road before her with a lantern when she traveled keeping her safe from hazards.

She was born Francecesca Cabrini in a village near Milan in Italy. She was a sickly child and had frail health for the rest of her life. She found disappointment and difficulties with every step. She wished to join the Daughters of the Sacred Heart but was told she was too frail for their life style. But this did not deter her from founding 67 institutions ( orphanages/schools/hospitals) all over the world over a period of 35 years. In 1877 she went to Rome to seek permission to work in China instead Pope Leo XIII sent her to America. In 1909 she became a naturalized American citizen As a child she was frightened of drowning but she crossed the Atlantic 30 times. There is a great deal of information on the wikipedia web site. I have chosen to include work from Historica’s Women, Church Pop and 8 interesting facts plus franciscanmedia.

There are two Christians called Erasmus in the history of Christianity Saint Elmo is venerated as the patron saint of sailors and abdominal pain. He is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. He was Bishop of Formia, Italy, during the persecution of Christians by emperors Diocletian and Maximian Hercules. He went to Mount Libabus where he hid for 7 years. An angel counseled him to return to the city. The Acts of Saint Elmo compiled from Legends tell us that on his way back to the city he met some soldiers who questioned him. He admitted to being a Christian. He faced Diocletian. He was bound with chains and thrown into prison- an angel helped him escape. He continued to confess his faith and Maximian had him enclosed in a barrel with protruding spikes and rolled down the hill - an angel intervened. He must eventually have died a cruel martyr’s death A number of unreliable legends fill Erasmus’ story. Sources Wikipedia

Saint Florin was a Roman soldier who advanced through the ranks to commander. He also was responsible for organizing and leading firefighting brigades. He was a Christian who did not enforce proscription ( public identification and official condemnation of enemies of the state) of Christians in his territory. Aquilinus was sent to investigate these reports. He refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods and he was sentenced to be burned at the stake. Standing on the funeral pyre he is reputed to have said, If you wish to know that I am not afraid of your torture, light the fire, and in the name of the Lord I will climb onto it. The apprehensive soldiers decided to drown him instead. They drowned him in the Enns River with a millstone around his neck. ( See painting by Albrecht Altdorfer) The name ‘Florin’ is given to many boys in Bavaria and Austria to secure the saint’s patronage against fire. Saint Florin is the patron saint of Poland and Austria. He is also celebrated in Hungary. Sources Wikipedia The Encyclopedia of Saints by Howard Loxton

Saint Francis was a friar and founder of Order of Minims. His parents were pious: they prayed for years, through the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi, for a son. As a child he showed a preference for abstinence and prayer. Aged 13 he was placed in a convent and was taught to read. He abstained from wearing linen or eating meat. Aged 14 he went on a pilgrimage with his parents to the Portiuncula at Assisi and then on to Rome. Aged just 15 he became a hermit. He made a cave and stayed alone for 6 years devoting himself to prayer and self-mortification… In 1436, aged now 20, he was joined by 2 other devoutly inclined persons. 3 cells and a chapel was built by local people. The 3 sang divine prayers every day in the chapel. A priest from the village celebrated mass with them. This marked the beginning of the order Hermits of Saint Francis of Assisi. Within 17 years the numbers had grown. In 1454 a large monastery and church were sanctioned by the Archbishop of Cosenza. Francis and his companions sought to live unknown and hidden from the world. To the 3 rules of Evangelical council - poverty, chastity and obedience they added fasting for Lent. On May17th 1474 Pope Sixtus IV gave his approval to the order. On July 28th 1506 Pope Julius 11 simplified the name of the community to Order of the Minims. Saint Francis died at Piessis on April 2nd aged 91 The order soon spread to France, Germany and Spain and continues to exist today. minims -meaning - least of the faithful – many at the beginning were laypersons not priests Sources Wikipedia The Encyclopedia of Saints by Howard Loxton