This Week in Christian History: Mayflower, Pope Celestine, 'Sweet Hour of Prayer'

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, September 10, 2017

Mayflower Sets Sail — Sept. 16, 1620

An 1882 painting of the Pilgrim ship the Mayflower, which in 1620 sailed from England to North America. | (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

This week marks the anniversary of when the ship the Mayflower began its journey to North America, leaving England with 102 passengers including businessmen and the Pilgrims.

While originally intended to go to Virginia, a mixture of stormy seas and navigational problems led to them ending up in modern day Massachusetts instead.

"Thirty-five of the Pilgrims were members of the radical English Separatist Church, who traveled to America to escape the jurisdiction of the Church of England, which they found corrupt," noted history.com.

"The Separatists won financial backing from a group of investors called the London Adventurers, who were promised a sizable share of the colony's profits."

Some claim that the anniversary of their departure was Sept. 6. The reason for the different date is because at the time the Pilgrims were still using the old Julian calendar, which listed the date as the Sept. 6, rather than the Gregorian one, widely used today, that noted the day as Sept. 16.