Philip the Evangelist

We just learned about Saint Stephen, one of the Seventy Disciples.

Another of the seventy is Philip the Evangelist.

An evangelist is someone who goes out and tells other people about Jesus.

Philip traveled to many lands like Samaria and helped tell people about God's word and Jesus, and baptized people.
The Bible says that in Samaria people followed a man named Simon who some people believed was a sorcerer.
When Philip came to Samaria and told them all about Jesus, even Simon believed him and many people in the town became believers.

Later Philip was on the road to another town and met someone from Ethiopia who was trying to understand God's word but was having troubles.
Philip helped explain things to him, and then that Ethiopian went back to his country and helped spread God's word.

Because Philip helped spread God's word like this, he was known as Philip the Evangelist.


(from: wikipedia - philip the evangelist)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Elisha

Saint Stephen

We just learned about Ananias of Damascus, one of the Seventy Disciples.

Another of the seventy is Saint Stephen.

After Jesus died on the cross, Stephen was telling people about him and some of the leaders who did not like Jesus were getting angry.
They told some people to tell lies about Stephen, which made other people very angry.
Stephen was put on trial in front of everyone where he told the truth and talked about Jesus.
This made the leaders who did not like Jesus even more angry, and they threw stones at him and killed him.

Because he was killed for believing in Jesus, he is called the first martyr.
A martyr is someone who is killed because of something they believe in.


(from: wikipedia - saint stephen)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Elijah

Ananias of Damascus

We just learned about Thaddeus, one of the Seventy Disciples.

Another of the seventy is Ananias of Damascus.

Ananias was one of the followers of Jesus after he died on the cross, and he was known in the Bible as the person who helped give Paul his sight back after he was blinded to help him believe in Jesus.


(from: wikipedia - ananias of damascus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Solomon

Thaddeus

We just learned about Matthias, one of the Seventy Disciples.

Another of the seventy was Thaddeus, sometimes called Thaddeus of Edessa, Addai, Aday, Addeus, or Jude the Apostle.

Because there are a lot of stories about some people named Thaddeus or Jude, it can be hard to tell if the stories are about the same person.

Jude the Apostle was one of the twelve that followed Jesus, and also the one who wrote the book of Jude in the Bible.
There are some other stories about Thaddeus going on and spreading the Gospel to other towns.


(from: wikipedia - thaddeus of edessa)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Nathan

Saint Matthias

We just learned about Cleopas, one of the Seventy Disciples.

Another of the seventy was Matthias.

After Judas betrayed Jesus, the apostles chose Matthias to replace him.
He went on to tell people about Jesus in many other countries.


(from: wikipedia - saint matthias)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: David

Cleopas

We just learned about James son of Alpheus, the first of the seventy disciples.

The second one on the list is Cleopas.

Cleopas is in the Bible as one of the disciples who met Jesus on the road after Jesus came back to life after dying on the cross.


(from: wikipedia - cleopas)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Saul

James son of Alpheus

We just learned about the Seventy Disciples.

The famous historian Hippolytus of Rome wrote down names of who he felt were the 70.

The first disciple listed is James the Lord's brother, bishop of Jerusalem.

Sometimes James is also known as "James, son of Alphaeus" or "James the lesser" because there were two apostles named James.

People aren't sure whether he was a child of Jesus' mother Mary, or if he was called Jesus' brother because they were so close.

After Jesus death, James moved to Jerusalem and was a leader in the church there along with Peter.


(from: wikipedia - james, son of alphaeus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Samuel

Seventy Disciples

We just learned about Bridget of Sweden and a lot of other Nuns and Monks!

Let's learn a little about the people Jesus sent out called Disciples.

There is a list of some of the most important disciples out there, called the Seventy Disciples.

In the book of Luke, it says that Jesus sent out a group of people to every town and place, tell people about him, spread peace and heal the sick.

The Bible does not say who the people are, but some people have written down lists and made paintings of who they think they were.


(from: wikipedia - seventy disciples)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ruth

Bridget of Sweden

We just learned about the Carmelite Nuns.

Another famous religious nun is Bridget of Sweden.

She was born in the 1300s in Sweden, and spent her life taking care of orphans and sick people.


(from: wikipedia - bridget of sweden)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Samson

Carmelite Nuns

We just learned about Rose of Lima and the Dominican Order.

Another group of nuns are the Carmelite Nuns, that started in the about a thousand years ago.
They focus on three things: prayer, community, and service


(from: wikipedia - carmelites)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Gideon

Rose of Lima

We just learned about the nun Clare of Assisi.

Another famous nun was Rose of Lima, who was born in the country of Peru, and spent her whole life helping to take care of sick and poor people.

She was a member of what is called the Dominican Order, which was a group started by a Spanish priest named Dominic around 1200 AD.


(from: wikipedia - rose of lima)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Joshua

Clare of Assisi

We just learned about the nun Hildegard of Bingen who studied and wrote many letters and books.

Another well known nun is Clare of Assisi, who lived in the 1200s AD.
Her brother Francis was very well known in the church, so when she wanted to give her life to worship God, he helped her out.

She started up a group called the "Order of Poor Ladies" and wrote up some rules for how women could live as Nuns and worship God.

There are still women who follow these rules, and call themselves the "Poor Clares".


(from: wikipedia - clare of assisi)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Aaron

Hildegard of Bingen

We just learned about Scholastica the Nun and sister of Benedict.

Another famous Nun was Hildegard of Bingen.

At a very young age, Hildegard was sent to live with Nuns, learn about God and worship.
She was very smart, and studied medicine, plants and animals in nature, music and writings about God.
There is even a special language she created by herself with it's own alphabet and words, that only she knew how to read and write.

She wrote hundreds of letters to people like popes, monks or other nuns, and she was one of the first people to study and write about medicine and biology.
People say that she also had visions from God that gave her instructions to write down the things she learned to help other people.


(from: wikipedia - hildegard of bingen)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Moses

Scholastica

We just learned about the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent in France.

One of the oldest known Nuns was Scholastica, who was the twin sister of the monk Benedict of Nursia that we learned about before.

She lived the eremitic or "hermit" life, living by herself but in an area where there were other women also living alone so sometimes they could meet up and talk about God.

Sometimes she would meet up with her brother Benedict and they would share the wisdom that each of them had learned.

She is said to be the first woman to set up a Benedictine convent, where other Nuns could meet up for worship.


(from: wikipedia - scholastica)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Joseph

Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul

We just learned about the Desert Mothers who lived in the deserts and wrote wise sayings.

Another group of women living as nuns is the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul.

In the 1600s in France there were a lot of poor people needing help, but there was not a very good way to organize taking care of them.
The Daughters of Charity set up soup kitchens, hospitals, schools and homes for orphans.


(from: wikipedia - daughters of charity of saint vincent de paul)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Leah

Desert Mothers

We just learned a little about Nuns.

We learned a while back about the Desert Fathers.

There were also Desert Mothers who were women living in the desert either as hermits or in small groups with other women.


(from: wikipedia - desert mothers)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rachel

Nuns

We've learned a lot about monks now, from famous monks to how and where they lived for hudnreds of years.

Monks through history were only men, but when women lived the same kind of life, they were called Nuns.
Many people believe the name Nun came from the word for grandmother "Nonna".

Just like Monks, Nuns usually live away from other people, only living with other Nuns.


(from: wikipedia - nun)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jacob

Mount Athos

We just learned about the Bruno of Cologne and the Chartreuse Monastery.

Another place where monks live is Mount Athos in Greece, known as the Holy Mountain.

For hundreds of years monks have lived in monasteries on this mountain, through all the wars and changes in the world, and today there are still 20 different monasteries there.


(from: wikipedia - stavronikita)



(from: wikipedia - osiou gregoriou monastery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Esau

Bruno of Cologne

We just learned about Benedict of Nursia who wrote The Rule of Saint Benedict.

Another famous monk is Bruno of Cologne.

Bruno started off as a leader in the church, but then decided that he wanted to live like a hermit, or a heremitic monk.


(from: wikipedia - bruno of cologne)

He started a monastery in the Chartreuse mountains in France with a couple of other monks living separately in log cabins.


(from: wikipedia - grande chartreuse)

His monastery became very famous and lasted a long time, and the monks there started a group called the Carthusian Order, with rules for how everyone should live, and a motto "The Cross is steady while the world is turning"


(from: wikipedia - carthusians)

Hundreds of years later, the Chartreuse monastery made a special type of drink called Chartreuse, that is green and yellow.
This drink was so well known for its green-yellow color, that the word chartreuse is now the name for a green-yellow color.

(from: wikipedia - chartreuse (liqueur))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rebekah

Benedict of Nursia

We just learned about the Mar Saba, the monastery in Bethlehem.

Another monk from history is Benedict of Nursia.

Saint Benedict helped set up 12 different monasteries throughout Italy.

He also wrote a very famous book called The Rule of Saint Benedict.

This was a long book that gave instructions for how monks should live together.
It has everything from what they should eat, how they should work, where they should sleep, and how they should act toward each other and the people in the community.

One of the most important rules for monks was to be humble, and they had 12 rules for how to be humble:

"(1) Fear God, (2) Subordinate one's will to the will of God; (3) Be obedient to one's superior; (4) Be patient amid hardships; (5) Confess one's sins; (6) Accept the meanest of tasks, and hold oneself as a "worthless workman"; (7) Consider oneself "inferior to all"; (8) Follow examples set by superiors; (9) Do not speak until spoken to; (10) Do not readily laugh; (11) Speak simply and modestly; and (12) Express one's inward humility through bodily posture."


(from: wikipedia - benedict of nursia)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Isaac