202: Charalampus Bears Witness Under Torture
On February 10, 202, Charalampus, remembered as an aged bishop of Magnesia in Thessaly, bore fearless witness to Christ amid Roman persecution. Tradition recounts that authorities demanded he renounce Jesus, threatening him with brutal torture; instead he confessed the gospel with calm resolve, enduring scourging and being torn with iron hooks. His steadfastness reportedly startled onlookers and even moved some hardened hearts, reminding the church that the Lord supplies strength beyond human courage. Charalampus’s martyrdom teaches us to prize Christ above comfort, reputation, and even life, trusting the Savior who overcame death.

543: Scholastica’s Prayer Prevails
February 10, 543: Scholastica, the devoted sister of Benedict of Nursia, is remembered in the church’s memory for the quiet strength of a life hidden with God. Gregory the Great tells how, during their yearly meeting, she asked Benedict to remain and speak of the things of heaven; when he refused, she prayed, and the Lord sent a sudden storm so he could not depart. Soon after, Benedict saw her soul received into glory, like a dove ascending. Her witness calls us to steady faith, earnest prayer, and a heart set on what lasts.

1157: William of Malavalle’s Repentant Life
On February 10, 1157, William of Malavalle died at his hermitage in the wild Maremma of Tuscany, having spent years in strict solitude, prayer, fasting, and manual labor. After renouncing a restless earlier life, he sought no platform and pursued no fame, yet his humble endurance drew others to follow his example of repentance and holy discipline. In time, disciples formed a community of hermits around his way of life, preserving a witness that God can remake the heart. William’s story still urges us to forsake sin, embrace surrender, and trust that grace truly changes sinners.

1495: A College for Faithful Learning
On February 10, 1495, a papal bull granted Bishop William Elphinstone permission to found King’s College in Old Aberdeen, with the support of King James IV, to strengthen Christian learning and train pastors and leaders for the far north of Scotland. In an age of hardship and limited schooling, this was a courageous investment in truth, order, and service to neighbor—trusting that educated minds could better honor God and guard the flock. Though centuries brought upheaval, the work endured, and in 1860 King’s College merged with the Protestant Marischal College (1593) to form the University of Aberdeen.

1546: Pray, and Let God Worry
From Eisleben, where he had returned despite winter roads and failing health to help settle a bitter dispute among the Mansfeld leaders, Martin Luther wrote to his wife, Katharina, “Pray, and let God worry.” Only days before his death, this simple counsel revealed a steady heart: not denial of trouble, but confidence in God’s providence. Luther’s heroism was not loud bravado, but faithful perseverance—serving others, loving his household, and casting cares upon the Lord. His words still call believers to humble prayer, courageous trust, and peace under God’s wise hand.

1675: The Lord’s Providence in Captivity
On February 10, 1675, during King Philip’s War, Mary Rowlandson, the wife of a Massachusetts minister, was seized with her three children when Lancaster was attacked and burned by Native forces allied against the English. Wounded and driven from home, she endured an eleven-week march through winter hardship, hunger, and fear; her youngest, Sarah, died in her arms. Yet Rowlandson clung to Scripture, confessing God’s sovereign hand even in affliction. Ransomed for £20 and restored, she later testified in print that the Lord humbles, sustains, and delivers His people.

1856: Wounded Shepherd of Cuba
On February 10, 1856, Archbishop Anthony Mary Claret was attacked in Holguín, Cuba, as he left church; an assailant slashed his face from ear to jaw with a razor. The blade narrowly missed vital arteries, and Claret calmly commended himself to Christ. His preaching against racism, sexual exploitation, and oppression had angered powerful interests, yet he answered violence with forgiveness, urging mercy for the attacker and returning to his pastoral labors. The scar he carried became a witness that Christian reform is often costly, and that courageous faith speaks truth while loving enemies and trusting God to protect His flock.

1899: A Freshly Revised Word for Public Worship
On February 10, 1899, the Church of England first authorized the use of the English Revised Version in Anglican liturgy and worship, opening the way for congregations to hear Scripture in language carefully checked against the best available Hebrew and Greek texts. Building on revisions published for the New Testament (1881) and Old Testament (1885), and later the Apocrypha (1895), this step showed humble courage: honoring the treasured Bible of earlier generations while laboring to present God’s Word with greater exactness. It encouraged reverent reading, clearer understanding, and renewed confidence that Scripture can be faithfully preserved and diligently refined for the church’s good.

1913: Consecrated to Shepherd the Steppe
On February 10, 1913, Michael Platonovich Krasnoperov was consecrated as Bishop Methodius, the first bishop of the new Orthodox Diocese of Akmolinsk, charged with tending scattered believers across the harsh Kazakh steppe and strengthening the church’s witness in a restless land. Taking the name Methodius, he embraced the costly calling of oversight, prayer, and patient instruction for the saving of souls there. His ministry would be sealed in blood: in 1921 Bolshevik militants executed him as a warning to rebellious peasants, stabbing him and cruelly thrusting his cross into a wound. His steadfast faith still calls us to courage, holiness, and hope.

1928: José Luis Sánchez del Río Chooses Christ Over Fear
On February 10, 1928, fourteen-year-old José Luis Sánchez del Río was martyred during Mexico’s Cristero persecution after refusing to deny Jesus Christ. Captured for aiding the Cristero cause, he was pressured to save his life by renouncing the faith, yet he would not. Tortured and mocked, he prayed, forgave his captors, and strengthened others with calm courage. As he was led to his execution, he confessed Christ openly—reportedly crying, “¡Viva Cristo Rey!” His witness calls us to love the Savior more than safety, trusting that God wastes none of His people’s faithful suffering.

1929: Finishing Well in the Pulpit
On February 10, 1929, in London, the beloved preacher and devotional writer F. B. Meyer delivered his final sermon at age 81. For decades he had urged Christians toward a deeper life of prayer, Scripture meditation, and wholehearted surrender to Christ, speaking widely in Britain and beyond and strengthening many through his books and conference ministry. Soon after this last message he entered a nursing home as his strength quickly ebbed, and on March 28 he went to be with the Lord. His final months remind us that fruitful service is not measured by length, but by faithful perseverance to the end.

1947: Courage to Refuse the Nonessential
On February 10, 1947, newly appointed U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall opened the Senate with a prayer that still pierces distracted hearts: “Save Thy servants from the tyranny of the nonessential. Give them the courage to say "No" to everything that makes it more difficult to say "Yes" to Thee.” In a hall crowded with power, he pleaded for humility, holy priorities, and moral clarity in public duty. His words called leaders—and all believers—to resist lesser loves, to value obedience over applause, and to seek God’s will first, whatever the cost.

1973: Faithful Witness in Kabale
On February 10, 1973, during Idi Amin’s brutal dictatorship, Christians in Kabale, Uganda, were taken to the town’s stadium and shot, a stark reminder of how quickly a nation can be turned against the innocent. In an era when fear was enforced by public violence, these believers were treated as disposable—yet their deaths testified that Christ is worth more than safety, reputation, or even life itself. Their blood did not silence the gospel; it exposed the darkness of tyranny and strengthened others to endure. The church remembers them as martyrs who held fast to a better kingdom.