Sir John Gayer, Lord Mayor of London in 1646, left money in his will for a sermon to be preached every year at St Katharine Cree in Leadenhall Street. It gave thanks for his escape from a lion he met in a desert while travelling in Turkish lands, which let him pass unharmed. The minister, clerk and sexton were each paid a fee and a sum was shared among the poor of the parish. Hone gave the date as 16 November; the Lion Sermon is still preached at the church, now in October.
The Lion Sermon
16 November · St Katharine Cree, Leadenhall Street, London
Still kept
a Sermon to be annually preached on the 16th of November in commemoration of his happy deliverance from a lion
From Hone's Year Book, col. 1356. Read the original
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