1.
Portugal
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Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, to the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 kilometres long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, the republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The territory of modern Portugal has been settled, invaded. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Carthaginians and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic, in 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors, making Portugal part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the worlds major economic, political and military powers. Portugal monopolized the trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to almost all its overseas territories, Portugal has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today. Portugal is a country with a high-income advanced economy and a high living standard. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government and it has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France, Spain and Italy. Portugal is a pioneer when it comes to drug decriminalization, as the nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs for use in 2001. The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe, the name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer, Coimbra, the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula. These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and fluvial or marine fishing. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, a few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements were also founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians. Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC, during the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Romes adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies and it suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north
2.
Rule of St. Augustine
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The Rule of St. Augustine, written about the year 400, is a brief document divided into eight chapters and serves as an outline for religious life lived in community. The last is a treatise on eremitical life by Blessed Ælred, Abbot of Rievaulx, England, Saint Augustine wrote this letter in 423 to the nuns in a monastery at Hippo that had been governed by his sister and in which his cousin and niece lived. This letter contains no clear, minute prescriptions as are found in later monastic rules. Nevertheless, the Bishop of Hippo was a law-giver and his letter was to be read weekly and he considered poverty the foundation of the monastic life but attached no less importance to fraternal charity, which consists in living in peace and concord. The superior, in particular, was recommended to practice this virtue, the nuns make their own habits, which consist of a dress, a cincture, and a veil. Prayer, in common, occupies an important place in their life, being said in the chapel at stated hours and according to the forms, and comprising hymns, psalms. Those sisters desiring to lead a contemplative life are allowed to follow special devotions in private. The nuns partook of very frugal fare and, in all probability, the sick and infirm are objects of the most tender care and solicitude, and certain concessions are made in favor of those who, before entering religion, led a life of luxury. During meals some instructive matter is to be read aloud to the nuns, although the Rule of St. Augustine contains but a few precepts, it dwells at great length upon religious virtues and the ascetic life, this being characteristic of all primitive Rules. In his sermons 355 and 356 the saint discourses on the observance of the vow of poverty. Augustine sought to dispel suspicions harboured by the faithful of Hippo against the clergy leading a life with him in his episcopal residence. This was called the Apostolic Rule, aurelius, Bishop of Carthage, was greatly disturbed by the conduct of monks who indulged in idleness under pretext of contemplation, and at his request St. In several of his letters and sermons is found a useful complement to his teaching on the monastic life and duties it imposes. In his treatise, De opere monachorum, he inculcates the necessity of labour, without, however, subjecting it to any rule, the gaining of ones livelihood rendering it indispensable. Monks of course, devoted to the ecclesiastical ministry observe, ipso facto and these, then, are the most important monastic prescriptions found in the rule of and writings of Saint Augustine. De vitâ eremiticâ ad sororem liber is a treatise on eremitical life by St. Ælred, Abbot of Rievaulx, England, Augustine was a monk, this fact stands out unmistakably in the reading of his life and works. There were still other monks who were priests and who exercised the ministry outside of the episcopal, the silence was imposed, however, was not perpetual, and the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were resumed between the Canons and the Hermits but all to no avail. Pierre de Saint-Trond, Prior of the Canons Regular of St. Martin of Louvain, gabriel Pennot, Nicolas Desnos and Le Large uphold the thesis of the Canons, Gandolfo, Lupus, Giles of the Presentation, and Noris sustain that of the Hermits
3.
Monastery of Santa Cruz (Coimbra)
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The Santa Cruz Monastery, best known as Igreja de Santa Cruz, is a National Monument in Coimbra, Portugal. Because the first two kings of Portugal are buried in the church it was granted the status of National Pantheon, founded in 1131 outside the protecting walls of Coimbra, the Santa Cruz Monastery was the most important monastic house during the early days of the Portuguese monarchy. St. Theotonius founded this community of Canons Regular of the Holy Cross of Coimbra, the monastery and church were erected between 1132 and 1223. Its school, with its vast library, was respected in medieval times and was a meeting point for the intellectual. Its scriptorium was used for the consolidation of power by King Afonso Henriques. Nothing remains of the early Romanesque monastery and it is known that it had only one nave and a high tower in the façade, as typical of the Augustinian-Romanesque constructions, but none of those elements subsisted. In the first half of the 16th century, the Monastery was completely renovated by King Manuels order, the architect Diogo de Boitaca was responsible for the layout of the Manueline church and the chapter house with its basket-handled and ribbed ceilings. Marco Pires gave continuity to the work, with the completion of the church, the Capela de São Miguel, the sacristy dates back to the 17th century and keeps some notable 16th-century canvases. Saint Anthony of Lisbon was a member of the community of canons regular and it was in this capacity that he welcomed the remains of the Franciscan protomartyrs, whose remains were being transported back to Assisi, after their deaths in Morocco. This led to his decision to leave the security and ease of the life of a canon for that of the newly founded Franciscans
4.
Theotonius
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Theotonius was an Augustinian canon and royal advisor. He is noted in Portugal, for being the first prior of the Monastery of the Holy Cross in Coimbra and he is celebrated as the reformer of religious life in Portugal, and is the first Portuguese saint. Theotonius was born in the village of Ganfei, in northern Portugal around 1082 and his parents, Oveco and Eugenia were both wealthy and pious. He was called Theotonius, a Greek name meaning godly and his uncle Dom Crescónio, abbot of the Benedictine monastery near Tuy, was his first teacher. When Dom Crescónio became bishop of Coimbra in 1092, he brought the ten-year-old Theotonius with him and entrusted his education to the care of a young seminarian. After the death of Bishop Crescónio in 1098, Theotonius went to Viseu, during his time of preparation for the priesthood, Theotonius progressed through the minor ecclesiastic orders with great diligence and piety. The first of these was that of porter, with the responsibility to open the church and sacristy, after serving a period of time as a lector, he became an exorcist. One of the duties of exorcists was to take part in the baptismal exorcism of catechumens. Completing his term as an Acolyte, Theotonius was ordained a subdeacon, Holy Orders were conferred upon him sometime before the year 1109, by the bishop of Coimbra. The young priest was appointed a canon of the Cathedral Chapter of Viseu, after being ordained a priest, he remained at Viseu, where his service was so well-received that he soon was given the charge of the entire township as archpriest. He resigned so he could make a journey to the Holy Land and he was both an excellent speaker and an advocate for the poor. Deeply devoted to the souls in Purgatory, he would say Mass for them every Friday followed by a procession to the cemetery. Alms were collected as part of this work of mercy. Theotonius was asked many times by Count Henry and Queen Teresa, Theotonius left his parish with a large number of pilgrims and set out once more to Jerusalem. After travelling for ten weeks, the arrived at the port of Saint Nicholas. As they were sailing by the Cape of Malea, they found themselves in a storm, three weeks after leaving Bari, they arrived at the port of Joppa. The pilgrims started at the tomb of Saint George, in Lydda, from there they went to Nazareth, Mount Tabor, and Samaria, and saw the tomb of St. John the Baptist. Upon entering Jerusalem, Theotonius set himself first to see the Cross on Mount Calvary and he also visited the Mount of Olives and Bethany
5.
Monastery
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A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone. A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may be a chapel, church or temple, a monastery complex typically comprises a number of buildings which include a church, dormitory, cloister, refectory, library, balneary and infirmary. These may include a hospice, a school and a range of agricultural and manufacturing such as a barn. In English usage, the monastery is generally used to denote the buildings of a community of monks. In modern usage, convent tends to be applied only to institutions of female monastics, historically, a convent denoted a house of friars, now more commonly called a friary. Various religions may apply these terms in specific ways. The earliest extant use of the term monastērion is by the 1st century AD Jewish philosopher Philo in On The Contemplative Life, in England the word monastery was also applied to the habitation of a bishop and the cathedral clergy who lived apart from the lay community. Most cathedrals were not monasteries, and were served by canons secular, however, some were run by monasteries orders, such as York Minster. Westminster Abbey was for a time a cathedral, and was a Benedictine monastery until the Reformation. They are also to be distinguished from collegiate churches, such as St Georges Chapel, in most of this article, the term monastery is used generically to refer to any of a number of types of religious community. In the Roman Catholic religion and to some extent in certain branches of Buddhism, there is a more specific definition of the term. Buddhist monasteries are generally called vihara, viharas may be occupied by males or females, and in keeping with common English usage, a vihara populated by females may often be called a nunnery or a convent. However, vihara can also refer to a temple, in Tibetan Buddhism, monasteries are often called gompa. In Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, a monastery is called a wat, in Burma, a monastery is called a kyaung. A Christian monastery may be an abbey, or a priory and it may be a community of men or of women. A charterhouse is any monastery belonging to the Carthusian order, in Eastern Christianity, a very small monastic community can be called a skete, and a very large or important monastery can be given the dignity of a lavra. The great communal life of a Christian monastery is called cenobitic, as opposed to the life of an anchorite. In Hinduism monasteries are called matha, mandir, koil, or most commonly an ashram, jains use the Buddhist term vihara
6.
Ash Wednesday
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Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting, is the first day of Lent in Western Christianity. It occurs 46 days before Easter and can fall as early as February 4 or as late as March 10, Ash Wednesday is observed by many Western Christians, including Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Roman Catholics. According to the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus Christ spent 40 days fasting in the desert. Lent originated as a mirroring of this, fasting 40 days as preparation for Easter, every Sunday was seen as a commemoration of the Sunday of Christs resurrection and so as a feast day on which fasting was inappropriate. Accordingly, Christians fasted from Monday to Saturday during six weeks and from Wednesday to Saturday in the preceding week, orthodox Christians do this 40 days in a row. The words used traditionally to accompany this gesture are, Remember that you are dust, in the 1969 revision of the Roman Rite, an alternative formula was introduced and given first place, Repent, and believe in the Gospel. The old formula, based on the spoken to Adam and Eve after their sin, reminds worshippers of their sinfulness and mortality and thus, implicitly. The newer formula makes explicit what was implicit in the old. Originally, the ashes were strewn over mens heads, but, in the Catholic Church the manner of imposing ashes depends largely on local custom, since no fixed rule has been laid down. The Ash Wednesday ritual of the Church of England, Mother Church of the Anglican Communion, contains The Imposition of Ashes in its Ash Wednesday liturgy. The corresponding Catholic ritual in the Roman Missal for celebration within Mass merely states, Then the Priest places ashes on the head of those present who come to him, and says to each one. The 1969 revision of the Roman Rite inserted into the Mass the solemn ceremony of blessing ashes and placing them on heads, the Book of Blessings contains a simple rite. While the solemn rite would normally be carried out within a church building, while only a priest or deacon may bless the ashes, laypeople may do the placing of the ashes on a persons head. Even in the rite, lay men or women may assist the priest in distributing the ashes. In addition, laypeople take blessed ashes left over after the collective ceremony, at home the ashes are then placed with little or no ceremony. Even those who have been excommunicated and are forbidden to celebrate sacramentals are not forbidden to receive them. After describing the blessing, the rite of Blessing and Distribution of Ashes states, the Catholic Church does not limit distribution of blessed ashes to within church buildings and has suggested the holding of celebrations in shopping centres, nursing homes, and factories. Such celebrations presume preparation of an area and include readings from Scripture and prayers
7.
Charles Borromeo
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Charles Borromeo was a cardinal who was archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584. Among the great reformers of the sixteenth century, Borromeo, with St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Philip Neri. He was a leading figure during the Counter-Reformation and was responsible for significant reforms in the Catholic Church and he is honoured as a saint in the Catholic Church and his feast day is November 4. Charles biography was written by three of his contemporaries, Agostino Valerio and Carlo Bascape, who wrote their contributions in Latin, and Pietro Giussanno. Father Giussannos account was the most detailed of the three, Charles was a descendant of nobility, the family of Borromeo was one of the most ancient and wealthy in Lombardy, made famous by several notable men, both in the church and state. The aristocratic Borromeo familys coat of arms included the Borromean rings, Charles father Gilbert was Count of Arona, his mother Margaret was a member of the Milan branch of the House of Medici. The third son in a family of six children, he was born in the castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore, thirty-six miles from Milan, Borromeo received the tonsure when he was about twelve years old. At this time his uncle, Julius Caesar Borromeo, turned over to him the income from the rich Benedictine abbey of Sts. Gratinian and Felin, one of the ancient perquisites of this noble family, the young man attended the University of Pavia, where he applied himself to the study of civil and canon law. Due to a slight impediment of speech, he was regarded as slow, yet his thoroughness, in 1554 his father died, and although he had an elder brother, Count Federico, he was requested by the family to take the management of their domestic affairs. After a time, he resumed his studies, and on 6 December 1559 he earned a doctorate in utroque iure, on 25 December 1559, his uncle, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Medici, was raised to the pontificate as Pope Pius IV. The newly elected pope required his nephew Charles Borromeo to come to Rome, shortly thereafter, on 31 January 1560, the pope created him cardinal, and thus Charles as cardinal-nephew was entrusted with both the public and the privy seal of the ecclesiastical state. He was also entrusted in the government of the Papal States and appointed supervisor of the Franciscans, Carmelites, Charles committed to organize the third and last section of the Council of Trent, in 1562-63. He took a share in the creation of the Tridentine Catechism. In 1561, Borromeo founded and endowed a college at Pavia, today known as Almo Collegio Borromeo, on 19 November 1562, his older brother, Federico, suddenly died. His family urged Charles to leave the church to marry and have children, so that the name would not become extinct. Charles was appointed administrator of the Archdiocese of Milan on 7 February 1560, after his decision to put into practice the role of bishop, he decided to be ordained priest and on 7 December 1563 he was consecrated bishop in the Sistine Chapel by Cardinal Giovanni Serbelloni. Charles made his entry into Milan as archbishop on 23 September 1565
8.
Pope Innocent II
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Pope Innocent II, born Gregorio Papareschi, was Pope from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election was controversial and the first eight years of his reign were marked by a struggle for recognition against the supporters of Antipope Anacletus II and he reached an understanding with Lothair II, Holy Roman Emperor who supported him against Anacletus and whom he crowned King of the Romans. Innocent went on to preside over the Second Lateran council, Papareschi came from a Roman family, probably of the rione Trastevere. He was probably one of the clergy in personal attendance on the Antipope Clement III, Pope Paschal II made him a cardinal deacon. In this capacity, he accompanied Pope Gelasius II when he was driven into France and he was consecrated on 14 February, the day after Honorius death. Anacletus mixed group of supporters were powerful enough to control of Rome while Innocent was forced to flee north. Based on a majority of the entire college of cardinals, Anacletus was the canonically elected pope. However, the legislation of Pope Nicholas II pre-empted the choice of the majority of the cardinal priests and this rule was changed by the Second Lateran council of 1139. In October of the year he was duly acknowledged by Holy Roman Emperor Lothair III. Anacletus and his supporters being in control of St. Peters Basilica, the coronation ultimately took place in the Lateran Church. Innocent took as cardinal-nephew first his nephew, Gregorio Papareschi, whom he elevated to cardinal in 1134, and then his brother Pietro Papareschi, another nephew, Cinzio Papareschi, was also a cardinal, raised to the cardinalate in 1158, after Innocents death. By the Second Lateran council of 1139, at which King Roger II of Sicily, Innocent IIs most uncompromising foe, was excommunicated, as a result, Roman factions that wished Tivoli annihilated took up arms against Innocent. This was a keystone in the Templars ever increasing power and wealth, on 22 July 1139, at Galluccio, Roger IIs son Roger III, Duke of Apulia, ambushed the papal troops with a thousand knights and captured Innocent. On 25 July 1139, Innocent was forced to acknowledge the kingship, in 1143, Innocent refused to recognise the Treaty of Mignano with Roger of Sicily, who sent Robert of Selby to march on papal Benevento. The terms agreed upon at Mignano were then recognised, Innocent II died on 24 September 1143 and was succeeded by Pope Celestine II. The doctrinal questions which he was called on to decide were those that condemned the opinions of Pierre Abélard, in 1143, as the Pope lay dying, the Commune of Rome, to resist papal power, began deliberations that officially reinstated the Roman Senate the following year. The Pope was interred in a sarcophagus that contemporary tradition asserted had been the Emperor Hadrians. Bull of Gniezno Pope Innocent II, in, Salvador Miranda, The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, online at fiu. edu, Website of Florida International University, retrieved 3 July 2011
