In a sermon for the Feast of All Saints, eighth-century Northumbrian monk St Bede explains why it is worth going for the spiritual burn.

Eighth-century Northumbrian monk St Bede urged Christians to think of heaven, and then fight our way there for all we are worth.

John Mansur, working in Islamic Syria, thought he could safely criticise the Roman Emperor for meddling in Christian worship. But he was wrong.

If only the primitive Christians had filled in the right forms and said that one man’s god is as good as another’s, they wouldn’t have had to die.

According to an ancient tradition, the Roman authorities banished St John the Divine to the island of Patmos because they were quite unable to kill him.

When the angels rebelled against their Maker, they demanded a kingdom of their own in a land without him — and he gave them what they wanted.