MILLENNIUM MILESTONES & MEMORIES: TIME CAPSULES

Historical Events in Church Annals for January 8:

• 1198 A.D.
  
• Death of Pope Celestine III, 175th successor of Peter whose pontificate lasted seven years. He sustained the indissolubility of marriage and gave official approval to the Order of the Teutonic Knights whose principal duty was to defend the pilgrims in the Holy Land.

• 1198 A.D.
  
• Election of Pope Innocent III, 176th successor of Peter. He was elected on the very same day his predecessor died, even though he did not officially take control until February 22nd. He was a man of great quality and would to on to exert an enormous influence, reestablishing his temporal authority within the Papal states and actively promoting the Fourth Crusade as well as calling the 12th Ecumenical Council in 1215, also called Lateran IV.

• 1455 A.D.
  
• Death of Saint Laurence Giustiniani, Archbishop and Patriarch of Venice whose preaching and good works to all the people made him legendary in northern Italy. Also known as Lorenzo Justiniani, he died in Venice on this date and was canonized by Pope Clement X in 1670.

• 1642 A.D.
  
• Death of Galileo Galilei at 77 years-old. This Italian physicist and astronomer's theories clashed with Rome at the time during an age when faith and reason weren't exactly meshing. It would be centuries before the Holy See would reconcile with Galileo who many consider the father of the modern sciences.

• 1904 A.D.
  
• Pope Saint Pius X decides low cut dresses are not appropriate in church since it not only distracts others but goes against the virtues and example of the Blessed Virgin Mary and thus, the holy 257th successor of Peter bans all low-cut bodices at Holy Mass. Today the Vatican still prohibits any shorts, mini-skirts or low-cut dresses or bikini-tops inside St. Peter's, including tourists.

Historical Events in Church Annals for January 9:

• 710 A.D.
  
• Death of Saint Adrian, African-born Archbishop and abbot who became archbishop of Canterbury where he died on this date. His tomb became renowned to pilgrims for the miraculous occurrences through his intercession.

• 1522 A.D.
  
• Election of Pope Hadrian VI, 218th successor of Peter. He was the only Dutch Pope ever elected, having been born in Utrecht, Holland. He would engage in a deep struggle against those who harassed the Church druing the midst of the Protestant Reformation and also had to deal with the Turkish threat. On both fronts he would meet with little success.

• 1554 A.D.
  
• Birth of Alessandro Ludovisi in Bologna, Italy. He would go on to become a priest in the new Society of Jesus, then bishop and Cardinal and finally become the first Jesuit-trained Pope when he was appointed the 234th successor of Peter as Pope Gregory XV on February 9, 1621.

Historical Events in Church Annals for January 10:

• 236 A.D.
  
• Election of Pope Saint Fabian, 20th successor of Peter. At the moment of his election a dove, symbol of the Holy Spirit, alighted on his head confirming to the his electors that they had chosen wisely and God was greatly pleased. During his fourteen year pontificate the exodus from Rome would be so great in order to flee from the persecution of the Roman Emperor Decius that it prompted the beginning of the hermitical life of the anchorites.

• 681 A.D.
  
• Death of Pope Saint Agatho, 79th successor of Peter. During his three year papacy he maintained strong relations with the English Bishops and encouraged Ireland as a center of culture. He called the Sixth Ecumenical Council at Constantinople which condemned Monothelitism and censured Honorius. Agatho received the title of "Healer" because of the many miracles he worked.

• 1276 A.D.
  
• Death of Blessed Pope Gregory X, 184th successor of Peter. Born in Piacenza, Italy, he was elected on March 27, 1272. There was almost a three year vacancy because of disagreements at the conclave of Viterbo. The people finally removed the roof of the conclave and put the cardinals on bread and water until they should come to a decision which they did in choosing Gregory. He convened the Fourteenth Ecumenical Council at Lyons, France which is also called Lyons II in which some of the Greek sects were reunited with the Western Church and disciplinary reforms enacted.

• 1890 A.D.
  
• Pope Leo XIII publishes his 34th encyclical Sapientiae Christianae on Christians as citizens.

January 8-10, 1999       volume 10, no. 5
TIME CAPSULES
DAILY CATHOLIC