387 - Augustine of Hippo, 32, was baptized on this Eve of Easter. He told the story of his Christian conversion from a profligate life in his "Confessions," written between 397-401.
1576 - Birth of St. Vincent de Paul, French Catholic priest. He founded several religious orders during his lifetime, including the Lazarists (or Vincentians) in 1625.
1870 - At the Vatican I Ecumenical Council, the dogmatic constitution "Dei filius" was published. Explaining the relationship between faith and reason, it declared that God could be known by human thought processes.
1920 - Death of Eliza P. Hewitt, 69, American Presbyterian S.S. teacher and hymnwriter. Many of her verses are still sung today, including "More About Jesus," Sing the Wondrous Love of Jesus" and "Sunshine in My Soul."
1944 - In deciding the legal case "United States v. Ballard," the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the general principle that "the truth of religious claims is not for secular authority to determine."
© 1987-2009, William D. Blake. Used by permission of the author, from
Almanac of the Christian Church
