MILLENNIUM MILESTONES & MEMORIES: TIME CAPSULES

Historical Events in Church Annals for January 4:

• 236 A.D.
  
• Election of Pope Saint Eutychian, 27th successor of Peter. During his eight-year pontificate he would order that martyrs' remains should be covered with the "Dalmatic" similar to the cloak worn by the Roman Emperors and representing the sacred vestments worn by deacons at solemn Masses and religious functions today. It was Eutychian who would institute the blessing of the crops. He, too, would die as a martyr on December 7, 283 at the hands of Aurelian.

• 1493 A.D.
  
• Christopher Columbus embarks on his return trip to Spain from the New World.

• 1821 A.D.
  
• Death of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious foundress of the American Daughters of Charity. She became the first North American-born saint when Pope Paul VI canonized her in 1975. For more on her, see LITURGY OF THE DAY.

January 4, 1999       volume 10, no. 1
TIME CAPSULES
DAILY CATHOLIC