DAILY CATHOLIC    FRI-SAT-SUN     February 26-28, 1999     vol. 10, no. 40

MILLENNIUM MILESTONES & MEMORIES: TIME CAPSULES

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Historical Events in Church Annals for February 26:

  • 251 A.D.
  • Death of Saint Nestor of Perga, Bishop of Pamphylia was arrested by the governor of Lycia and crucified because of his faith and zeal during the persecution of the Roman emperor Decius.

  • 303 A.D.
  • Death of Saint Dionysius, First Bishop of Augsburg, Germany. Ordained by Saint Narcissus he was fleshed out by Roman soldiers and martyred during the terrible reign of Diocletian.

  • 327 A.D.
  • Death of Saint Alexander of Alexandria, Bishop of Alexandria who died two years after the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in which he took part and saw the fruition of his efforts to eradicate Arianism, quite prevalent in his diocese, by the Council's formal condemnation of the Arian heresy.

  • 1154 A.D.
  • Death of Sicilian and Anjou king Roger II Guiscard who was a constant thorn in the side of the Holy See throughout his reign.

  • 1266 A.D.
  • Death of Manfred, illegitimate son of the emperor Frederick Hohenstaufen whom Manfred's mother had entrusted to the Holy See to raise. But Manfred, like his father and grandfather, turned on Rome. Two years after his death the last of the Hohenstaufen's - Conradin would die and thus bring to an end the line of the house of Hohenstaufen and a chance for peace in Italy and Sicily.

  • 1361 A.D.
  • Birth of Wenceslaus of Bohemia who would go on to become the Holy Roman Catholic German emperor from 1378 to 1400.

  • 1732 A.D.
  • The first Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated in the first American Catholic church in Philadelphia on this date.


Historical Events in Church Annals for February 27:

  • @280 A.D.
  • Birth of Constantine to Saint Helena who would go on to find the true cross while her son would convert at the sign in the sky - "In hoc signo vinces" and go on to liberate Christians, proclaiming it the state religion of the Roman empire and contributing much to furthering the faith throughout the vast empire after three centuries of persecutions.

  • 1862 A.D.
  • Death of Saint Gabriele dell' Addolorata, patron of Italian Catholic youth who died in Abruzzi, Italy at the age of 24. The eleventh of thirteen children born to the Possenti family, he was christened Francis Possenti. His family was very wealthy and he became spoiled. In his mid-teens he fell very ill and pledged to enter religious life if he was healed. He was and he fulfilled that promise, but the stronger he got, the more he procrastinated entering the Jesuit novitiate and making that final commitment. Guess what? He fell ill again and once again, in desperation, made the same pledge and this time made good on his promise, becoming a Passionist priest in 1861. Almost immediately he contracted TB and, though in great pain, offered it all up cheerfully for he had learned from his own mistakes that God allows these sufferings for good. He prayed for all and it has been documented that another Italian saint Saint Gemma Galgani was cured of her TB because of his intercession. Throughout Italy Gabriele is considered the patron saint of students, seminarians and young priests. He was canonized in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.


Historical Events in Church Annals for February 28:

  • 468 A.D.
  • Death of Pope Saint Hilary*, 46th successor of Peter. Born in Cagliari, Italy, Hilary's pontificate lasted seven years. In his political thought he followed his great predecessor Saint Leo the Great. He decided that a certain level of culture was needed in order to become a priest, and that Popes and Bishops should not nominate their successors.

  • 869 A.D.
  • The Eighth Ecumenical Council closes at Constantinople in which the Eastern Patriarch Photius was deposed and the Greek schism ended.

  • 1468 A.D.
  • Birth of Alessandro Farnese* in Canino, Italy. He would go on to become a prized student at Pisa, become treasurer for the Church, then cardinal-deacon before being selected Pope Paul III on October 13, 1534 as the 220th successor of Peter.

  • 1759 A.D.
  • Pope Clement XIII allows the Bible to be translated into more languages for the benefit of evangelizing to all peoples.

    *=sometimes attributed to February 29th, but when no leap year are lumped with February 28th.


February 26-28, 1999       volume 10, no. 40
TIME CAPSULES
DAILY CATHOLIC

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