MILLENNIUM MILESTONES & MEMORIES: TIME CAPSULES

Historical Events in Church Annals for November 20:

1168 A.D.


Death of the antipope Paschal III who was set on the throne by the meddling, disobedient and excommunicated Emperor Frederick Barbarossa against the recognized soveriegn pontiff Pope Alexander III, 170th successor of Peter. Paschal, Frederick's puppet, had locked himself in a stronghold next to St. Peter's for protection and died there on this date.

1761 A.D.


Birth of Francisco Castiglioni in Cingoli, Italy. He would go on to become a priest and cardinal and on April 5, 1829 be elected the 253rd successor of Peter taking the name Pope Pius VIII. His greatest strength was expanding missionary activity throughout the world.

1890 A.D.


Pope Leo XIII issues his 36th encyclical Catholicae Ecclesiae dealing with slavery in the missions in declaring it totally against God's Holy Will.

1947 A.D.


Pope Pius XII releases his 12th encyclical Mediator Dei on the sacred liturgy.

Historical Events in Church Annals for November 21:

Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

• 235 A.D.
  
• Pope Saint Anterus becomes the 19th successor of Peter. This Grecian born pontiff's reign would be short-lived, being martyred by the Emperor Maximus, a barbarian from Thrace, on January 3, 236. Before giving up his life for Our Lord, Anterus ordered that the acts and relics of the martyrs be gathered together and kept in churches in a place called the "scrinium."

• 496 A.D.
  
• Death of Pope Saint Gelasius I, 49th successor of Peter. During his four-and-a-half-year papacy he instituted the Code for the uniforming of ceremonies and rites. Because of his charity he was called the "Father of the Poor." He maintained the supremacy of the Church over that of kings and inserted the "Kyrie eleison" into the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Historical Events in Church Annals for November 22:

SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING and
Feast of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr

365 A.D.


Death of Saint Felix II the antipope who was a good and holy man and history shows he was a staunch supporter of the Nicene Creed and opposed Arianism, even though it was the Arians who put him on the throne. He is the only antipope who was declared a saint in the Roman martyrology.

498 A.D.


Pope Saint Symmachus begins his reign as the 51st successor of Peter. During his sixteen year pontificate he would consolidate Church property refering to it as permanent benefices for the use of the clergy. He also was known for ransoming all the slaves and giving them their freedom. It is Symmachus who is attributed with the first construction of the Vatican Palace.

1221 A.D.


Pope Honorius III crowns Frederick II of Hohenstaufen Holy Roman Emperor. This would come back to haunt not just the Pope but all of Holy Mother Church in the great struggles between the Guelphs who represented the pro-papal party and the Ghibbelines who were pro-imperial and against the Church.

1963 A.D.


Death of the John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the first Catholic president of the United States. He was shot while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas.

1987 A.D.


Pope John Paul II beatifies 85 martyrs who died for their faith during the persecution of Catholics in the British Isles between 1584 and 1689.

1992 A.D.


Pope John Paul II beatifies Blessed Cristobal Magellanes and his 24 companion Mexican martyrs along with Blessed Maria de Jesus Sacramentado Venegas.

November 20-22, 1998       volume 9, no. 228
TIME CAPSULES
DAILY CATHOLIC