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History, Holidays & Observances on December 4

December 4, 2019 by Wolf Howling Leave a Comment

A look at some of the history and holidays on December 4

Holidays & Observances on December 4

Feast of Giovanni Calabria, a 20th century Catholic Priest who dedicated his life to easing the plight of the poor and ill.  He establshed several religious institutions, corresponded in Latin with C.S. Lewis, and during WWII, helped to hide a female Jewish Doctor from the Nazi’s in a nunnery which he oversaw.

 

Major Events on December 4

1563 – Reformation & Counter Reformation:  The Council of Trent

The Church, aware of its problems of corruption, had addressed some of the issues in the 1517 Fifth Council of the Lateran, but it was too little, too late.  On 31 October 1517, the Catholic Priest, Martin Luther, famously nailed his 95 Theses to the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg, setting in motion the chain of events that led to the Protestant Reformation.  Many of Luther’s criticisms of corruption within the Church were valid, with one of the most visible being the sale of indulgences by Pope Leo X to fund the renovation of St. Peter’s Basilica.  Indulgences were a grant of dispensation from divine punishments, often for certain good acts, but increasingly during the Middle Ages, indulgences were sold to bring wealth to the Church.  As one cynic of the era put it, “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.”

The Protestant movement quickly gained momentum and the support of various nobles throughout Europe.  Pope Paul III convened the Council of Trent in 1545, ostensibly to heal the breach between the growing body of Protestant reformers and the Catholic Church.  The Council would meet 25 times, with the last meeting occurring on this date in 1563.  When it was clear that the breach between Catholics and Protestants would not be healed, the Council became “the embodiment of the Counter Reformation.”   The council ended with a condemnation of Protestant heresies and a clarification of Catholic dogma.  Further, the Council addressed many of the issues of corruption raised by Luther and instituted other reforms.  Ultimately, the Council rejected Matin Luther’s central thesis, that faith alone decided one’s fate, while the Catholic Church clarified its position that both faith and good works were necessary for salvation.  Both the Reformation and the Counter Reformation would significantly impact the course of European history in the 16th through the 18th century, and we are still very much living with its reverberations today.

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Filed Under: History Tagged With: 1715, 1745, 95 Theses, Achaemenid Empire, All Saints' Church, American colonies, Andrea Bocelli, Assumption of Mary, Battle of Culloden, Britain, British-occupied India, C.S. Lewis, Campbells, Catholic, Catholic Church, Catholic Priest, Charlemagne, Charles James Napier, Christian dogma, Council of Trent, Counter-Reformation, Cyrus the Great, Derby, Doctor of the Assumption, Doctor of the Church, Earl of Bute, Easter, Eastern Christian Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Europe, Feast of St. Giovanni Calabria Giovanni Calabria, Fifth Council of the Lateran, France, French and Indian War, Game of Thrones, George II, ghost ship, Glencoe Massacre, Glorious Revolution, governor general, Hobbes, House of Stuart, hymns, I Saw Three Ships, icons, Indulgences, Jacobite movement, Jacobite rebellions, Jacobites, James Wilkes, John of Damascus, King Carloman I, King James II, King of the Franks, Law, Leviathan, Luciano Pavarotti, Lutheran Church, MacDonald's, Mannheim Steamroller, Mary Celeste, Matin Luther, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Multiculturalism, music, nasty brutish and short, Persian Empire, Persius, Philosophy, polymath, Pope Leo X, Pope Paul III, Prime Minister, Protestant, Protestant Reformation, Red Wedding, Reformation, Sarah Brightman, Seven Years War, Sleigh Ride, St. Peter's Basilica, Stuart line, Suttee, The Hindu. custom, theology, Thomas Hobbes, United Nations, William Bentick, Wittenberg, WWII

History, Holidays & Observances – November 25

November 25, 2019 by Wolf Howling Leave a Comment

A look at some of the history and holidays on November 25

Holidays & Observances on November 25

Feast of Catherine of Alexandria, born a Princess in the 4th century, she was a scholar who converted to Christianity at age 14.  She converted hundreds of others to the faith over the next several years.  In her 18th year, the pagan Roman Emperor, Maximinus, began a persecution of Christians.  Catherine presented herself before the Emperor and upbraided him for worshiping false gods.  The Catholic Encyclopedia tells the rest of the legend:

Astounded at the young girl’s audacity, but incompetent to vie with her in point of learning the tyrant detained her in his palace and summoned numerous scholars whom he commanded to use all their skill in specious reasoning that thereby Catherine might be led to apostatize. But she emerged from the debate victorious. Several of her adversaries, conquered by her eloquence, declared themselves Christians and were at once put to death. Furious at being baffled, Maximinus had Catherine scourged and then imprisoned. Meanwhile the empress, eager to see so extraordinary a young woman, went with Porphyry, the head of the troops, to visit her in her dungeon, when they in turn yielded to Catherine’s exhortations, believed, were baptized, and immediately won the martyr’s crown. Soon afterwards the saint, who far from forsaking her Faith, effected so many conversions, was condemned to die on the wheel, but, at her touch, this instrument of torture was miraculously destroyed. The emperor, enraged beyond control, then had her beheaded and angels carried her body to Mount Sinai where later a church and monastery were built in her honour.

As the author notes, most of what we know about Catherine is based on fantastical texts that were written to impress an audience, not to recount facts.  As to her burial, the church and monastery built in her honor and housing her remains and relics is the famous St. Catherine’s Monastery, built circa 550 A.D. in the Sinai desert of Egypt, and since visited by Ms. BWR, though don’t ask to see her pictures.

St. Catherine of Alexandria became a major figure of worship in the medieval Church.  “Numberless chapels” were dedicated to her and “her statue was found in nearly all churches.”  Moreover, Joan of Arc claimed to have had a vision of Catherine who appeared to advise Joan in her mission to drive the English out of France during the Hundred Years War.  She came to be the patron saint of young maidens, female students, lawyers, and all who work with a wheel.

Major Events on November 25

571 BC – Servius Tullius, king of Rome, celebrates a triumph.

It was common throughout the history of ancient Rome for military leaders, upon their return form a successful battle or campaign, to celebrate “a triumph” — feasting and a parade through Rome.  On this date in 571 B.C., the Roman King Servius celebrated a triumph for his defeat of the neighboring Etruscans.

Before Rome became an empire, it was a Republic.  And before that, it was a monarchy struggling for its existence among powerful competitors in Italy.  During the monarchy, One of Rome’s most important Kings was Servius Tullius.  Militarily, he expanded Roman territory, defeating the Etruscans and Veii. In terms of administration, he built several temples and is credited with establishing Rome’s first coinage. Politically, he was a populist who expanded the voting franchise to plebs and instituted the “Servian Reforms” that gave the common man more of a say in governing the nation.  These reforms set the stage for the Roman Republic that sprang into existence within three decades after Servius Tullius was assassinated in 535 B.C. by his son-in-law, concluding a 44 year reign.

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Filed Under: History Tagged With: Agatha Christie, American Revolutionary War, Andrew Carnegie, Anglo-Cherokee War, Blacklisting, Britain, Cherokee Indians, Christian persecution, coinage, Communism, Cuba, Egypt, Elian Gonzalez, Emperor Maximinus St. Catherine's Monastery, Etruscans, Ferdinand and Isabella, Fidel Castro, Forbes Expedition, Fort Duquesne, Fort Pitt, France, French and Indian War, George Washington, Granada, Great Commoner, Hollywood Ten, House Unamerican Activities Committee, Hundred Years War, Islam, Joan of Arc, monarchy, Moors, New York City, Ohio Valley, patron saint of all who work with a wheel, patron saint of female students, patron saint of lawyers, patron saint of young maidens, philanthropy, Pittsburgh, Prime Minister, rags to riches, Reconquista, Red Scare, Roman Republic, Servian Reforms, Servius Tullius, Seven Years War, Sinai desert, South Carolina, Spain, St. Catherine of Alexandria, The Mousetrap, theater, tornado Great Appalachian Storm of November 1950, Treaty of Granada, Treaty of Paris, Veii, William Pitt, world war

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