http://www.sundaysandseasons.com/ Lesser festivals and commemorations of the Church en-us Copyright 2012 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. webmaster@augsburgfortress.org 1 http://www.sundaysandseasons.com/ <b>The Martyrs of Japan, died 1597</b><br />Sunday, February 5<br /><br />Christianity was brought to Japan in the sixteenth century by Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries. The religion was suppressed, however, and in 1597 twenty-six missionaries and converts were crucified. Nevertheless, Christianity survived and later prospered.<br /> http://www.sundaysandseasons.com/ <b>Cyril, monk, died 869; Methodius, bishop, died 885; missionaries to the Slavs</b><br />Tuesday, February 14<br /><br />These two brothers from Thessalonika, Greece, were monks and were sent to bring Christianity to the Slavic people. In the course of their work they created a written language, inventing the Cyrillic alphabet for it, and translated the Bible and the liturgy.<br /> http://www.sundaysandseasons.com/ <b>Martin Luther, renewer of the church, died 1546</b><br />Saturday, February 18<br /><br />Though he began his adult church life as a simple Augustinian monk, Luther challenged the abuses he saw in the church, and his work eventually led to the Protestant Reformation. Luther's accomplishments included liturgical reform, translation of the Bible, and creation of the Small and Large Catechisms.<br />