1.
Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Dili
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The Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Dili is the main church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dili, East Timor. Plans to build the cathedral began in 1984 with the Indonesian Government providing funding totalling about US$235,000, the cathedral, situated on a 10, 000-square-meter plot, measures 1,800 square meters and can hold 2,000 people. Indonesian President Soeharto on 2 November 1988 officially inaugurated Dilis new Catholic cathedral, the ceremony was attended by Dilis apostolic administrator, Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo. In October 1989 it was blessed by Pope John Paul II, the Church of San Antonio de Motael was the pro-cathedral of Dili before the cathedral was constructed. Mary, Our Lady of Fatima is the Patroness of East Timor, among those welcoming the statue were Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, Bishop Basilio do Nascimento and other religious representatives. Father Jose Maia was the parish priest of Immaculate Conception Cathedral in 2009
2.
East Timor
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East Timor or Timor-Leste, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a sovereign state in Maritime Southeast Asia. It comprises the half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse. The countrys size is about 15,410 km2, nine days later, it was invaded and occupied by Indonesia and was declared Indonesias 27th province the following year. The Indonesian occupation of East Timor was characterised by a highly violent decades-long conflict between separatist groups and the Indonesian military, in 1999, following the United Nations-sponsored act of self-determination, Indonesia relinquished control of the territory. East Timor became the first new state of the 21st century on 20 May 2002 and joined the United Nations. In 2011, East Timor announced its intention to gain status in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations by applying to become its eleventh member. It is one of two predominantly Christian nations in Southeast Asia, the other being the Philippines. In Indonesian, the country is called Timor Timur, thus using the Portuguese name for the island followed by the word for east, the official names under the Constitution are Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste in English, República Democrática de Timor-Leste in Portuguese and Repúblika Demokrátika Timór-Leste in Tetum. Humans first settled in East Timor 42,000 years ago, descendants of at least three waves of migration are believed still to live in East Timor. The first is described by anthropologists as people of the Veddo-Australoid type, around 3000 BC, a second migration brought Melanesians. The earlier Veddo-Australoid peoples withdrew at this time to the mountainous interior, finally, proto-Malays arrived from south China and north Indochina. Hakka traders are among those descended from this final group, Timorese origin myths tell of ancestors that sailed around the eastern end of Timor arriving on land in the south. Some stories recount Timorese ancestors journeying from the Malay Peninsula or the Minangkabau highlands of Sumatra, austronesians migrated to Timor, and are thought to be associated with the development of agriculture on the island. Thirdly, Proto-Malays arrived from south China and north Indochina, before European colonialism, Timor was included in Chinese and Indian trading networks, and in the 14th century was an exporter of aromatic sandalwood, slaves, honey, and wax. It was the abundance of sandalwood in Timor that attracted European explorers to the island in the early 16th century. During that time, European explorers reported that the island had a number of small chiefdoms or princedoms, the Portuguese established outposts in Timor and Maluku. Effective European occupation of a part of the territory began in 1769, when the city of Dili was founded. For the Portuguese, East Timor remained little more than a trading post until the late nineteenth century, with minimal investment in infrastructure, health
3.
Raphael
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Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Raphael was enormously productive, running a large workshop and, despite his death at 37. Many of his works are found in the Vatican Palace, where the frescoed Raphael Rooms were the central, the best known work is The School of Athens in the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura. After his early years in Rome much of his work was executed by his workshop from his drawings and he was extremely influential in his lifetime, though outside Rome his work was mostly known from his collaborative printmaking. Raphael was born in the small but artistically significant central Italian city of Urbino in the Marche region and his poem to Federico shows him as keen to show awareness of the most advanced North Italian painters, and Early Netherlandish artists as well. In the very court of Urbino he was probably more integrated into the central circle of the ruling family than most court painters. Under them, the court continued as a centre for literary culture, growing up in the circle of this small court gave Raphael the excellent manners and social skills stressed by Vasari. Castiglione moved to Urbino in 1504, when Raphael was no longer based there but frequently visited, Raphael mixed easily in the highest circles throughout his life, one of the factors that tended to give a misleading impression of effortlessness to his career. He did not receive a humanistic education however, it is unclear how easily he read Latin. His mother Màgia died in 1491 when Raphael was eight, followed on August 1,1494 by his father, Raphael was thus orphaned at eleven, his formal guardian became his only paternal uncle Bartolomeo, a priest, who subsequently engaged in litigation with his stepmother. He probably continued to live with his stepmother when not staying as an apprentice with a master and he had already shown talent, according to Vasari, who says that Raphael had been a great help to his father. A self-portrait drawing from his teenage years shows his precocity and his fathers workshop continued and, probably together with his stepmother, Raphael evidently played a part in managing it from a very early age. In Urbino, he came into contact with the works of Paolo Uccello, previously the court painter, and Luca Signorelli, according to Vasari, his father placed him in the workshop of the Umbrian master Pietro Perugino as an apprentice despite the tears of his mother. The evidence of an apprenticeship comes only from Vasari and another source, an alternative theory is that he received at least some training from Timoteo Viti, who acted as court painter in Urbino from 1495. An excess of resin in the varnish often causes cracking of areas of paint in the works of both masters, the Perugino workshop was active in both Perugia and Florence, perhaps maintaining two permanent branches. Raphael is described as a master, that is to say fully trained and his first documented work was the Baronci altarpiece for the church of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino in Città di Castello, a town halfway between Perugia and Urbino. Evangelista da Pian di Meleto, who had worked for his father, was named in the commission
4.
Christ Child
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The Christ Child, also known as Divine Infant, Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, Child Jesus, the Holy Child, and Santo Niño, refers to Jesus Christ from his nativity to age 12. Upon reaching 13 years-old he was considered to be an adult in accordance with Jewish custom, the canonical Gospels lack any narration of the years between Jesus infancy and the Finding in the Temple when he was twelve. Commonly these are nativity scenes showing the birth of Jesus, with his mother, Mary, depictions as a baby with the Virgin Mary, known as Madonna and Child, are iconographical types in Eastern and Western traditions. Other scenes from his time as a baby, of his circumcision, presentation at the temple, the adoration of the Magi, scenes showing his developing years are more rare but not unknown. Saint Joseph, Anthony of Padua, and Saint Christopher are often depicted holding the Christ Child, the Christ Child was a popular subject in European wood sculpture beginning in the 1300s. The popularity of the Christ child was known in Spain under the title Montanesino after the santero sculptor Juan Martínez Montañés who began the trend. The growth of images being made were quite popular among nobility, while images were also used to colonize kingdoms such of Spain. The symbolism of the Child Jesus in art reached its apex during the Renaissance, tàladh Chrìosda is a Scottish carol from Moidart, Scotland. The Catholic priest Father Ranald Rankin, wrote the lyrics for Midnight Mass around the year 1855 and he originally wrote 29 verses in Scottish Gaelic, but the popular English translation is limited to five. The melody, Cumha Mhic Arois, is from the Hebrides and was a sung as a charm for the fisherman away at sea. The rhythm mirrors the rhythm of the surf and it is sung in the Hebrides at Midnight Mass of Christmas Eve. A number of texts, the Infancy Gospels grew up with legendary accounts of the intervening period. These stories were intended to show Jesus as having extraordinary gifts of power and knowledge, one common pious tale has the young Jesus animating sparrows out of clay belonging to his playmates. When admonished for doing so on the Sabbath, he causes the birds to fly away, in the seventeenth century veneration of the Christ Child under the title the Little King of Beaune was promoted by French Carmelites. In the late nineteenth century devotion to the Holy Child of Remedy developed in Madrid
5.
Mary, mother of Jesus
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Mary, also known by various titles, styles and honorifics, was a 1st-century Galilean Jewish woman of Nazareth and the mother of Jesus, according to the New Testament and the Quran. The gospels of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament and the Quran describe Mary as a virgin, the miraculous birth took place when she was already betrothed to Joseph and was awaiting the concluding rite of marriage, the formal home-taking ceremony. She married Joseph and accompanied him to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, the Gospel of Luke begins its account of Marys life with the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced her divine selection to be the mother of Jesus. According to canonical gospel accounts, Mary was present at the crucifixion and is depicted as a member of the early Christian community in Jerusalem. According to the Catholic and Orthodox teaching, at the end of her life her body was assumed directly into Heaven. Mary has been venerated since Early Christianity, and is considered by millions to be the most meritorious saint of the religion and she is claimed to have miraculously appeared to believers many times over the centuries. The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches believe that Mary, there is significant diversity in the Marian beliefs and devotional practices of major Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church holds distinctive Marian dogmas, namely her status as the Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, her perpetual virginity, many Protestants minimize Marys role within Christianity, based on the argued brevity of biblical references. Mary also has a position in Islam, where one of the longer chapters of the Quran is devoted to her. Marys name in the manuscripts of the New Testament was based on her original Aramaic name ܡܪܝܡ. The English name Mary comes from the Greek Μαρία, which is a form of Μαριάμ. Both Μαρία and Μαριάμ appear in the New Testament, in Christianity, Mary is commonly referred to as the Virgin Mary, in accordance with the belief that she conceived Jesus miraculously through the Holy Spirit without her husbands involvement. The three main titles for Mary used by the Orthodox are Theotokos, Aeiparthenos as confirmed in the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, Catholics use a wide variety of titles for Mary, and these titles have in turn given rise to many artistic depictions. For example, the title Our Lady of Sorrows has inspired such masterpieces as Michelangelos Pietà, the title Theotokos was recognized at the Council of Ephesus in 431. However, this phrase in Greek, in the abbreviated form ΜΡ ΘΥ, is an indication commonly attached to her image in Byzantine icons. The Council stated that the Church Fathers did not hesitate to speak of the holy Virgin as the Mother of God, some Marian titles have a direct scriptural basis. For instance, the title Queen Mother has been given to Mary since she was the mother of Jesus, the scriptural basis for the term Queen can be seen in Luke 1,32 and the Isaiah 9,6. Queen Mother can be found in 1 Kings 2, 19-20 and Jeremiah 13, other titles have arisen from reported miracles, special appeals or occasions for calling on Mary
6.
Saint Joseph
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Christian tradition places Joseph as Jesus foster father. Some historians state that Joseph was Jesus father, some differing views are due to theological interpretations versus historical views. In both Catholic and Protestant traditions, Joseph is regarded as the saint of workers and is associated with various feast days. In popular piety, Joseph is regarded as a model for fathers and has also become patron of various dioceses and places, several notable images of Saint Joseph have been granted a Canonical coronation by a Pope. In popular religious iconography he is associated with lilies or a spikenard, with the present-day growth of Mariology, the theological field of Josephology has also grown and since the 1950s centers for studying it have been formed. According to the New Testament, Joseph was the father of James, Joses, Judas, Simon, the Pauline epistles make no reference to Jesus father, nor does the Gospel of Mark. The first appearance of Joseph is in the gospels of Matthew, consequently, all the names between David and Joseph are different. Some scholars, such as Harry A. Ironside reconcile the genealogies by viewing the Solomonic lineage in Matthew as Josephs major royal line, the epistles of Paul are generally regarded as the oldest extant Christian writings. These mention Jesus mother, but do not refer to his father, the Book of Mark, the first gospel to be written, with a date about two decades after Paul, also does not mention Jesus father. Joseph first appears in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, both dating from around 80-90 AD, the issue of reconciling the two accounts has been the subject of debate. In Matthew, Joseph obeys the direction of an angel to marry Mary, once Herod has died, an angel tells Joseph to return, but to avoid Herods son he takes his wife and the child to Nazareth in Galilee and settles there. In Luke, Joseph already lives in Nazareth, and Jesus is born in Bethlehem because Joseph, lukes account makes no mention of angels and dreams, the Massacre of the Innocents, or of a visit to Egypt. The last time Joseph appears in person in any Gospel is in the story of the Passover visit to the Temple in Jerusalem when Jesus is 12 years old, no mention is made of him thereafter. The story emphasizes Jesus awareness of his mission, here Jesus speaks to his parents of my father, meaning God. Christian tradition represents Mary as a widow during the ministry of her son. Joseph is not mentioned as being present at the Wedding at Cana at the beginning of Jesus mission, nor at the Passion at the end. If he had been present at the Crucifixion, he would under Jewish custom have been expected to charge of Jesus body. Nor would Jesus have entrusted his mother to the care of John the Apostle if her husband had been alive, in Mark 6,3, they call Jesus Marys son instead of naming his father
7.
New France
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The territory was divided into five colonies, each with its own administration, Canada, Hudsons Bay, Acadia, Newfoundland, and Louisiana. Acadia had a history, with the Great Upheaval, remembered on July 28 each year since 2003. The descendants are dispersed in the Maritime Provinces of Canada, in Maine and Louisiana in the United States, with populations in Chéticamp, Nova Scotia. In the sixteenth century, the lands were used primarily to draw from the wealth of natural resources, in the seventeenth century, successful settlements began in Acadia, and in Quebec by the efforts of Champlain. By 1765, the population of the new Province of Quebec reached approximately 70,000 settlers. In 1763 France had ceded the rest of New France, except the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, to Great Britain and Spain at the Treaty of Paris, in 1800, Spain returned its portion of Louisiana to France under the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso. However, French leader Napoleon Bonaparte in turn sold it to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, New France eventually became part of the United States and Canada, with the only vestige remaining under French rule being the tiny islands Saint Pierre and Miquelon. In the United States, the legacy of New France includes numerous placenames as well as pockets of French-speaking communities. In Canada, institutional bilingualism and strong Francophone identities are arguably the most enduring legacy of New France, the Conquest is viewed differently among Francophone Canadians, and between Anglophone and Francophone Canadians. Around 1523, the Florentine navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano convinced King Francis I, late that year, Verrazzano set sail in Dieppe, crossing the Atlantic on a small caravel with 50 men. After exploring the coast of the present-day Carolinas early the year, he headed north along the coast. The first European to discover the site of present-day New York, he named it Nouvelle-Angoulême in honour of the king, verrazzanos voyage convinced the king to seek to establish a colony in the newly discovered land. Verrazzano gave the names Francesca and Nova Gallia to that land between New Spain and English Newfoundland, in 1534, Jacques Cartier planted a cross in the Gaspé Peninsula and claimed the land in the name of King Francis I. It was the first province of New France, however, initial French attempts at settling the region met with failure. French fishing fleets continued to sail to the Atlantic coast and into the St. Lawrence River, French merchants soon realized the St. Lawrence region was full of valuable fur-bearing animals, especially the beaver, which were becoming rare in Europe. Eventually, the French crown decided to colonize the territory to secure, another early French attempt at settlement in North America took place in 1564 at Fort Caroline, now Jacksonville, Florida. Intended as a haven for Huguenots, Caroline was founded under the leadership of René Goulaine de Laudonnière and it was sacked by the Spanish led by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés who then established the settlement of St. Augustine on 20 September 1565. Acadia and Canada were inhabited by indigenous nomadic Algonquian peoples and sedentary Iroquoian peoples and these lands were full of unexploited and valuable natural riches, which attracted all of Europe
8.
Confraternity
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A confraternity is generally a Christian voluntary association of lay people created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy. They are most common among Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, when a confraternity has received the authority to aggregate to itself groups erected in other localities, it is called an archconfraternity. An example is the Confraternity of the Rosary, the term may have other meanings, Confraternities in Nigeria began as a term for fraternities in the American college sense, university-based social organisations. Each Confraternity organization has a set of rules or by-laws to follow which every member promises to live by, even though the Catholic Church works in harmony with the confraternity, these rules are not religious vows, instead merely rules set up to govern the confraternal organization. Pious associations of laymen existed in ancient times at Constantinople. In France, in the eighth and ninth centuries, the laws of the Carlovingians mention confraternities, but the first confraternity in the modern and proper sense of the word is said to have been founded at Paris by Bishop Odo. It was under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Confraternities had their beginnings in the early Middle Ages, and developed rapidly from the end of the twelfth century. The main object and duty of these societies were, above all, the Purgatorial societies and orders of flagellants were other specialized medieval types. Various other congregations such as of the Holy Trinity, of the Scapular, from the latter century onwards, these pious associations have multiplied greatly. The Archconfraternity of the Gonfalone was a headquartered in the Church of Santa Lucia del Gonfalone, because of their white hooded robes, they were identified as the White Penitents. They were established in 1264 at Rome, st. Bonaventure, at that time Inquisitor-general of the Holy Office, prescribed the rules, and the white habit, with the name Recommendati B. V. Society could not function strictly through government programs because there was also a need to care of matters such as burials. While government can and did maintain programs to handle these needs, each confraternity has its own regulations for membership, stipulating who may join. Some confraternities allow only men, while others allow only women or only youth, the confraternity of Our Lady of the Rosary allows universal membership without regard to race, creed or social status. Orthodox Christian Laity Brotherhoods Confraternities of the Cord
9.
Liturgy
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Liturgy is the customary public worship performed by a religious group, according to its beliefs, customs and traditions. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy is a response to and participation in. Ritualization may be associated with events such as birth, coming of age, marriage. It thus forms the basis for establishing a relationship with a divine agency, methods of dress, preparation of food, application of cosmetics or other hygienic practices are all considered liturgical activities. Technically speaking, liturgy is a subset of ritual, when ritual is undertaken to participate in a divine act or assist a divine action, it is liturgy. If the ritual does not have this purpose it is not liturgy, a daily activity such as the Muslim salah and Jewish synagogue services would be ritual but not liturgy. If the Temple were re-established, the ritual undertaken by the Judaic priesthood within the Temple would be liturgy, for a simple definition, liturgy is basically the pattern/way of worship the worshippers, worship. So you could use orthodox liturgy which would have different aspects to the Eucharistic liturgy or the catholic liturgy. The word liturgy, derived from the term in ancient Greek, leitourgia. In origin it signified the often expensive offerings wealthy Greeks made in service to the people, and thus to the polis, through the leitourgia, the rich carried a financial burden and were correspondingly rewarded with honours and prestige. The leitourgia were assigned by the polis, the State and Roman Empire, the performance of such supported the patrons standing among the elite and the popular at large. The holder of a Hellenic leitourgia was not taxed a specific sum, but was entrusted with a particular ritual, however groups of rich citizens were assigned to pay for expenses such as civic amenities and even payment of warships. Eventually, under the Roman Empire, such obligations, known as munera, devolved into a competitive, Buddhist liturgy is a formalized service of veneration and worship performed within a Buddhist Sangha community in nearly every traditional denomination and sect in the Buddhist world. It is often done once or more times a day and can vary among the Theravada, Mahayana, the liturgy mainly consists of chanting or reciting a sutra or passages from a sutras, a mantra, and several gathas. Depending on what practice the practitioner wishes to undertake, it can be done at a temple or at home, the liturgy is almost always performed in front of an object or objects of veneration and accompanied by offerings of light, incense, water and food. Jewish liturgy are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Rabbinic Judaism and these prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book. In general, Jewish men are obligated to pray three times a day within specific time ranges, while, according to the Talmud, women are only required to pray once daily, as they are generally exempted from obligations that are time dependent. Additional prayers, Musaf are recited by Orthodox and Conservative congregations on Shabbat, major Jewish holidays, a fifth prayer service, Neila, is recited only on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement
10.
Mysterii Paschalis
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Mysterii Paschalis is the incipit of an apostolic letter issued motu proprio by Pope Paul VI on 14 February 1969. It reorganized the liturgical year of the Roman Rite and revised the liturgical celebrations of Jesus Christ, the motu proprio and the decree were included, with an unofficial commentary by the Council for the Proper Implementation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, in the book Calendarium Romanum. The new norms became effective on 1 January 1970, a liturgical day is defined as running from midnight to midnight except for Sundays and solemnities, which begin on the previous evening. Sunday, as the day of the resurrection of Christ, is the primordial feast day, in Advent, Lent and Easter, Sundays outrank even solemnities. With a very few exceptions, other celebrations are as a not to be assigned so that they always fall on a Sunday. A new ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite was established with regard to celebrations of saints, in accordance with the relative importance of the celebrations, they are ranked as solemnities, feasts, or memorials. The solemnities of the Nativity of the Lord and Easter each have an octave, special norms apply also to the Paschal Triduum, Eastertide, Lent, Christmastide, Advent, Ordinary Time, and Rogation and Ember days. Some were feasts of saints who died later than 1568, others were added as devotional feasts or because monarchs and religious institutes wanted their own saints inserted. The devotional feasts of the Lord that have kept with high ranking are Trinity Sunday, Body and Blood of Christ, Christ the King, the Holy Family. The Holy Name of Jesus was at first removed but later restored as an optional memorial, progress in historical and hagiographical studies led to distinguishing three classes of saints included in the 1960 calendar that it seemed better not to keep in the revision. One class is that of the saints about whom there are serious historical problems, a third class is that of the founders of the ancient Roman churches known as tituli and about whom there exists a specific genre of legends. For lack of evidence that they were martyrs or confessors, as pictured in the legends, they were excluded from the revision, a similar selection was made among non-martyr saints, with the result that 30 were removed to particular calendars. For the sake of balance, most of these were Italians. The following are changes introduced in 1969 by removal or transfer of celebrations in the calendar as it immediately before. Celebrations that remained unaltered are not indicated, new celebrations were also added to the calendar, the better to reflect the universality of the Catholic Church. For all of these, see General Roman Calendar, the explanations given are those published in Calendarium Romanum in 1969. By particular calendars are meant those of a particular Church or nation or family of religious, the phrase truly of universal importance is also taken from the Second Vatican Councils Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. For pre-1969 removals and transfers of celebrations in the General Roman Calendar, see General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII, telephorus,5 January, added in 1602, deleted, the feast was originally that of an otherwise unknown martyr, who was not a pope
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Christmas
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In several countries, celebrating Christmas Eve on December 24 has the main focus rather than December 25, with gift-giving and sharing a traditional meal with the family. Although the month and date of Jesus birth are unknown, by the fourth century the Western Christian Church had placed Christmas on December 25. Today, most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar and this is not a disagreement over the date of Christmas as such, but rather a preference of which calendar should be used to determine the day that is December 25. Although it is not known why December 25 became a date of celebration, December 25 was the date the Romans marked as the winter solstice, the shortest, and therefore darkest day of the year. Jesus was identified with the Sun based on an Old Testament verse, the date is exactly nine months following Annunciation, when the conception of Jesus is celebrated. Finally, the Romans had a series of pagan festivals near the end of the year, so Christmas may have been scheduled at this time to appropriate, or compete with, one or more of these festivals. The celebratory customs associated in various countries with Christmas have a mix of pre-Christian, Christian, the economic impact of Christmas has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions of the world. Christmas is a form of Christs mass. It is derived from the Middle English Cristemasse, which is from Old English Crīstesmæsse, crīst is from Greek Khrīstos, a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ, Messiah, meaning anointed, and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist. The form Christenmas was also used, but is now considered archaic and dialectal, it derives from Middle English Cristenmasse. In addition to Christmas, the holiday has been known by other names throughout its history. The Anglo-Saxons referred to the feast as midwinter, or, more rarely, Nativity, meaning birth, is from Latin nātīvitās. In Old English, Gēola referred to the corresponding to December and January. Noel entered English in the late 14th century and is from the Old French noël or naël, itself ultimately from the Latin nātālis, the canonical gospels of Luke and Matthew both describe Jesus as being born in Bethlehem in Judea, to a virgin mother. In the Gospel of Luke account, Joseph and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census and it says that angels proclaimed him a savior for all people, and shepherds came to adore him. In the Matthew account, magi follow a star to Bethlehem to bring gifts to Jesus, King Herod orders the massacre of all the boys less than two years old in Bethlehem, but the family flees to Egypt and later settles in Nazareth. The Nativity stories of Matthew and Luke are prominent in the gospels, the first recorded Christmas celebration was in Rome in 336. Christmas played a role in the Arian controversy of the fourth century, the feast regained prominence after 800, when Charlemagne was crowned emperor on Christmas Day
12.
New Year's Day
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New Years Day, also called simply New Years or New Year, is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar. In pre-Christian Rome under the Julian calendar, the day was dedicated to Janus, god of gateways and beginnings, other global New Years Day traditions include making New Years resolutions and calling ones friends and family. Mesopotamia instituted the concept of celebrating the new year in 2000 BC, celebrated new year around the time of the vernal equinox, the early Roman calendar designated March 1 as the new year. The calendar had just ten months, beginning with March and that the new year once began with the month of March is still reflected in some of the names of the months. September through December, our ninth through twelfth months, were positioned as the seventh through tenth months. Roman legend usually credited their second king Numa with the establishment of the months of January and February and these were first placed at the end of the year, but at some point came to be considered the first two months instead. The January Kalends came to be celebrated as the new year at some point after it became the day for the new consuls in 153 BC. Romans had long dated their years by these consulships, rather than sequentially, still, private and religious celebrations around the March new year continued for some time and there is no consensus on the question of the timing for January 1s new status. Once it became the new year, however, it became a time for family gatherings, in AD567, the Council of Tours formally abolished January 1 as the beginning of the year. These days were also astronomically and astrologically significant since, at the time of the Julian reform, March 25 had been understood as the spring equinox and December 25 as the winter solstice. Medieval calendars nonetheless often continued to display the months running from January to December, among the 7th century pagans of Flanders and the Netherlands, it was the custom to exchange gifts on the first day of the new year. This custom was deplored by Saint Eligius, who warned the Flemish and Dutch, make vetulas, little deer or iotticos or set tables at night or exchange New Year gifts or supply superfluous drinks. Because of the leap year error in the Julian calendar, the date of Easter had drifted backward since the First Council of Nicaea decided the computation of the date of Easter in 325, by the sixteenth century, the drift from the observed equinox had become unacceptable. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII declared the Gregorian calendar widely used today, the Gregorian calendar reform also restored January 1 as New Years Day. Although most Catholic countries adopted the Gregorian calendar almost immediately, it was gradually adopted among Protestant countries. The British, for example, did not adopt the reformed calendar until 1752, until then, the British Empire – and its American colonies – still celebrated the new year on 25 March. Most nations of Western Europe officially adopted 1 January as New Years Day somewhat before they adopted the Gregorian Calendar, in Tudor England, New Years Day, along with Christmas Day and Twelfth Night, was celebrated as one of three main festivities among the twelve days of Christmastide. There, until the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar in 1752, Pope Gregory acknowledged 1 January as the beginning of the new year according to his reform of the Catholic Liturgical Calendar
13.
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
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The Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God is a feast day of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the aspect of her motherhood of Jesus Christ, whom Christians see as the Lord, Son of God. It is celebrated by the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church on 1 January, Christians of Byzantine Rite and of all West Syrian Rite, South Syrian Rites and East Syrian Rites celebrate Mary as Mother of God on 26 December and the Coptic Church does so on 16 January. The Anglican Communion and the Lutheran Church observe the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ on January 1, the feast is a celebration of Marys motherhood of Jesus. The English title Mother of God is a translation of the Latin title Dei Genetricis and this title was dogmatically adopted at the First Council of Ephesus as a way to assert that Jesus is God, and that his mother can therefore be called Mother of God. The title that the 1 January feast celebrates is not only Mariological. The Second Vatican Council stated, Clearly from earliest times the Blessed Virgin is honoured under the title of Mother of God, and at an early stage the Church in Rome celebrated on 1 January a feast that it called the anniversary of the Mother of God. Pope John XXIIIs 1960 rubrical and calendrical revision removed the mention of the circumcision of Jesus and called 1 January simply the Octave of the Nativity. The feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was established in Portugal in 1914 for celebration on 11 October and was extended to the entire Catholic Church by Pope Pius XI in 1931. It removed the 11 October feast, even for Portugal, stating, The Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated on 1 January in the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. In his Apostolic Letter, Marialis Cultus, Pope Paul VI explained, This celebration and it is meant also to exalt the singular dignity which this mystery brings to the holy Mother. through whom we were found worthy to receive the Author of life. Feast of the Circumcision of Christ Mother of God Saints of January 1
14.
Holy card
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In the Christian tradition, holy cards or prayer cards are small, devotional pictures mass-produced for the use of the faithful. They usually depict a scene or a saint in an image about the size of a playing card. The reverse typically contains a prayer, some of which promise an indulgence for its recitation, later engraving or etching were more commonly used. Some had elaborate borders of paper surrounding the images, these were called dévotes dentelles in France. The invention of lithography made it possible to reproduce coloured images cheaply. Belgium and Germany also became centres of the manufacture of holy cards, Catholic printing houses produced large numbers of cards, and often a single design was printed by different companies in different countries. Other specialized holy cards record baptisms, confirmations, and other religious anniversaries, others are not customized, and are circulated to promote the veneration of the saints and images they bear. At the end of the century, some Protestants also produced similar images of their own. The reverse typically held a sermonette instead of a prayer, the Head of Christ painting has been printed more than 500 million times, including pocket-sized cards for carrying in a wallet. In the World War II era, millions of cards featuring the Head of Christ were distributed through the USO by the Salvation Army, during the Cold War, both Catholics and Protestants helped to popularize these cards, presenting a united front against the menace of godless Communism. In Ireland, cards are sold certifying that a Mass has been said for the benefit of sick or dead people, disputes arose over the validity of cards issued by priests living outside Ireland. A court challenge to the new law by a business that sold 120,000 cards a year failed in late 2009, a breach of the law can result in a 10-year prison sentence or a €300,000 fine. Saint symbolism Icon Votive candle Devotional medal Andachtsbilder Andreas Untersberger Ball, Ann Encyclopedia of Catholic Devotions, gärtner, Hans Andachtsbildchen, Kleinode privater Frömmigkeitskultur. München, Verlag Sankt Michaelsbund ISBN 3-920821-45-9 Dipasqua, Sandra & Calamari, new York, Harry N. Abrams ISBN 0-8109-4338-7 Holy card collection, University of Dayton Special Collections
15.
Gospel
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A gospel is an account describing the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Christianity places a value on the four canonical gospels, which it considers to be revelations from God. This position however, requires a view of Biblical inerrancy. The word gospel derives from the Old English gōd-spell, meaning good news or glad tidings, the gospel was considered the good news of the coming Kingdom of Messiah, and of redemption through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, the central Christian message. The Greek word euangelion is also the source of the terms evangelist, the authors of the four canonical Christian gospels are known as the Four Evangelists. Paul the Apostle used the term εὐαγγέλιον when he reminded the people of the church at Corinth of the gospel I preached to you, the earliest extant use of gospel to denote a particular genre of literature dates to the 2nd century. Justin Martyr in the Apology wrote of. the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, more generally, gospels compose a genre of early Christian writings. Gospels that did not become canonical also circulated in Early Christianity, many, such as the work known today as Gospel of Thomas, lack the narrative framework typical of a gospel. Scholars hold a wide spectrum of views on the origins and composition of the gospels, for example, the vast majority of material in Mark is also present in either Luke or Matthew or both, suggesting that Mark was a source for Matthew and Luke. He writes that the four gospels were probably all written by the end of the first century. But they did not yet at that time have a consistent narrative, in 170 Tatian sought to find a solution by composing a single narrative out of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, with some additional oral material. Richies concludes that the gospel passages themselves can be unclear, and some of the messages within are straightforwardly ambiguous, the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are considered synoptic gospels on the basis of many similarities between them that are not shared by the Gospel of John. Synoptic means here that they can be seen or read together, the fourth gospel, the Gospel of John, presents a very different picture of Jesus and his ministry from the synoptics. Of the many gospels written in antiquity, only four came to be accepted as part of the New Testament. An insistence upon there being a canon of four gospels, and no others, was a theme of Irenaeus of Lyons. Irenaeus was ultimately successful in declaring that the four gospels collectively and he also supported reading each gospel in light of the others. This canon, which corresponds to the modern Catholic canon, was used in the Vulgate, Gospel of Matthew Gospel of John Gospel of Luke Gospel of Mark This order is found in the following manuscripts, Bezae, Monacensis, Washingtonianus, Tischendorfianus IV, Uncial 0234. Although there is no set order of the four gospels in patristic lists or discussions, moody Smith suggests that the standard order of Matthew-Mark-Luke-John projects a kind of intention that can scarcely be ignored
16.
Ministry of Jesus
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The Gospel of Luke states that Jesus was about 30 years of age at the start of his ministry. A chronology of Jesus typically has the date of the start of his ministry estimated at around AD 27–29, Jesus Early Galilean ministry begins when after his Baptism, he goes back to Galilee from his time in the Judean desert. The Major Galilean ministry which begins in Matthew 8 includes the commissioning of the Twelve Apostles, the Final Galilean ministry begins after the death of John the Baptist as Jesus prepares to go to Jerusalem. In the Later Judean ministry Jesus starts his journey to Jerusalem through Judea. As Jesus travels towards Jerusalem, in the Later Perean ministry, about one third the way down from the Sea of Galilee along the River Jordan, the Final ministry in Jerusalem is sometimes called the Passion Week and begins with Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The gospels provide more details about the final ministry than the other periods, the gospel accounts place the beginning of Jesus ministry in the countryside of Roman Judea, near the River Jordan. Jesuss Baptism is generally considered the beginning of his ministry and the Last Supper with his disciples in Jerusalem as the end, however, some authors also consider the period between the Resurrection and the Ascension part of the ministry of Jesus. Luke 3,23 states that Jesus was about 30 years of age at the start of his ministry, there have been different approaches to estimating the date of the start of the ministry of Jesus. In the New Testament, the date of the Last Supper is very close to the date of the crucifixion of Jesus, scholarly estimates for the date of the crucifixion generally fall in the range AD 30-36. The three Synoptic Gospels refer to just one passover during his ministry, while the Gospel of John refers to three passovers, suggesting a period of three years. However, the Synoptic gospels do not require a ministry that lasted one year. The gospels present John the Baptists ministry as the precursor to that of Jesus, John 1,28 specifies the location where John was baptizing as Bethany beyond the Jordan. This is not the village Bethany just east of Jerusalem, but the town Bethany, first-century historian Flavius Josephus also wrote in the Antiquities of the Jews that John the Baptist was imprisoned and then killed in Machaerus on the border of Perea. Assuming that there were two incidences of Cleansing of the Temple, which was located in Jerusalem, a reference to an early Judean ministry may be John 2. The Early Galilean ministry begins when Jesus goes back to Galilee from the Judean desert, after rebuffing the temptation of Satan. In this early period, Jesus preaches around Galilee and, in Matthew 4, 18-20, his first disciples encounter him, begin to travel with him and eventually form the core of the early Church. The Gospel of John includes Marriage at Cana as the first miracle of Jesus taking place in early period of ministry. A few villages in Galilee have been suggested as the location of Cana, the return of Jesus to Galilee follows the arrest of John the Baptist
17.
Gospel of Matthew
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The Gospel According to Matthew is the first book of the New Testament. The narrative tells how the Messiah, Jesus, rejected by Israel, most scholars believe the Gospel of Matthew was composed between AD80 and 90, with a range of possibility between AD70 to 110. The title Son of David identifies Jesus as the healing and miracle-working Messiah of Israel, as Son of Man he will return to judge the world, an expectation which his disciples recognise but of which his enemies are unaware. As Son of God he is God revealing himself through his son, the gospel reflects the struggles and conflicts between the evangelists community and the other Jews, particularly with its sharp criticism of the scribes and Pharisees. The original versions of the Gospel of Matthew and the gospels are lost. The oldest relatively complete extant manuscripts of the Bible are the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus, besides these, there exist manuscript fragments ranging from a few verses to whole chapters. P104 and P67 are notable fragments of Matthew, in the process of recopying, variations slipped in, different regional manuscript traditions emerged, and corrections and adjustments were made. The Gospel of Matthew is anonymous, the author is not named within the text, the consensus is that Papias does not describe the Gospel of Matthew as we know it, and it is generally accepted that Matthew was written in Greek, not in Aramaic or Hebrew. The majority view of scholars is that Mark was the first gospel to be composed. The author of Matthew did not, however, simply copy Mark, an additional 220 verses, shared by Matthew and Luke but not found in Mark, from a second source, a hypothetical collection of sayings to which scholars give the name Quelle, or the Q source. The author also had at his disposal the Greek scriptures, both as book-scrolls and in the form of collections, and, if Papias is correct. The majority view among scholars is that Matthew was a product of the last quarter of the 1st century, the Christian community to which Matthew belonged, like many 1st-century Christians, were still part of the larger Jewish community, hence the designation Jewish Christian to describe them. The author of Matthew wrote for a community of Greek-speaking Jewish Christians located probably in Syria, Matthew, alone among the gospels, alternates five blocks of narrative with five of discourse, marking each off with the phrase When Jesus had finished. The Gospel of Matthew begins with the words The Book of Genealogy of Jesus Christ, John baptizes Jesus, and the Holy Spirit descends upon him. Jesus prays and meditates in the wilderness for forty days, and is tempted by Satan and his early ministry by word and deed in Galilee meets with much success, and leads to the Sermon on the Mount, the first of the discourses. The sermon presents the ethics of the kingdom of God, introduced by the Beatitudes and it concludes with a reminder that the response to the kingdom will have eternal consequences, and the crowds amazed response leads into the next narrative block. From the authoritative words of Jesus the gospel turns to three sets of three miracles interwoven with two sets of two stories, followed by a discourse on mission and suffering. Opposition to Jesus comes to a head with accusations that his deeds are done through the power of Satan, Jesus in turn accuses his opponents of blaspheming the Holy Spirit
18.
Gospel of Luke
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The Gospel According to Luke, also called the Gospel of Luke, or simply Luke, is the third of the four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, Luke is the second-longest of the four gospels, and together with Acts of the Apostles, the pair make up a two-volume work from the same pen, called Luke–Acts. The cornerstone of Luke-Acts theology is salvation history, the understanding that Gods purpose is seen in the way he has acted. The gospels sources are the Gospel of Mark, the collection called the Q source, and a collection of material called the L source. Luke-Acts does not name its author, the most probable date for its composition is around 80–100 AD, and there is evidence that it was still being revised well into the 2nd century. Autographs of Luke and the other Gospels have not been preserved, as is typical for ancient documents, the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles make up a two-volume work which scholars call Luke–Acts. The author is not named in either volume and he admired Paul, but his theology was significantly different from Pauls on key points and he does not represent Pauls views accurately. The eclipse of the attribution to Luke the companion of Paul has meant that an early date for the gospel is now rarely put forward. Luke-Acts is a history of the Founder of the church and his successors. All three authors anchor the histories of their respective peoples by dating the births of the founders and narrate the stories of the founders births from God, each founder taught authoritatively, appeared to witnesses after death, and ascended to heaven. Crucial aspects of the teaching of all three concerned the relationship between rich and poor and the question of whether foreigners were to be received into the people. The author used as his sources the gospel of Mark, the collection called the Q source. Mark, written around 70 AD, provided the narrative outline, for these Luke turned to Q, which consisted mostly, although not exclusively, of sayings. Mark and Q account for about 64% of Luke, the remaining material, known as the L source, is of unknown origin and date. Most Q and L-source material is grouped in two clusters, Luke 6, 17-8,3 and 9, 51-18,14, Luke was written to be read aloud to a group of Jesus-followers gathered in a house to share the Lords supper. The author assumes an educated Greek-speaking audience, but directs his attention to specifically Christian concerns rather than to the Greco-Roman world at large. He begins his gospel with a preface addressed to Theophilus, the name means Lover of God, here he informs Theophilus of his intention, which is to lead his reader to certainty through an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us. He did not, however, intend to provide Theophilus with a justification of the Christian faith – did it happen
19.
Circumcision of Jesus
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The circumcision of Jesus is an event from the life of Jesus according to the Gospel of Luke, which states in verse 2,21 that Jesus was circumcised eight days after his birth. This is in keeping with the Jewish law which holds that males should be circumcised eight days after birth during a Brit milah ceremony, at which they are also given their name. The circumcision of Christ became a common subject in Christian art from the 10th century onwards. It was initially only as a scene in larger cycles. The event is celebrated as the Feast of the Circumcision in the Eastern Orthodox Church on January 1 in whichever calendar is used, a number of relics claiming to be the Holy Prepuce, the foreskin of Jesus, have surfaced. However, this account is extremely short, particularly compared to Paul the Apostles much fuller description of his own circumcision in the chapter of his Epistle to the Philippians. In addition to the account in the Gospel of Luke. And the old Hebrew woman took the foreskin, and preserved it in an alabaster-box of old oil of spikenard. And she had a son who was a druggist, to whom she said, Take heed thou sell not this alabaster box of spikenard-ointment, although thou shouldst be offered three hundred pence for it. Now this is that alabaster-box which Mary the sinner procured, and poured forth the ointment out of it upon the head and feet of our Lord Jesus Christ, and wiped it off with the hairs of her head. The circumcision controversy in early Christianity was resolved in the 1st century, Saint Paul, the leading proponent of this position, discouraged circumcision as a qualification for conversion to Christianity. Circumcision soon became rare in most of the Christian world, except the Coptic Church of Egypt, one of the earliest depictions to survive is a miniature in an important Byzantine illuminated manuscript of 979-984, the Menologion of Basil II in the Vatican Library. This has a scene which shows Mary and Joseph holding the baby Jesus outside a building, probably the Temple of Jerusalem and this is typical of the early depictions, which avoid showing the operation itself. Like most later depictions these are taking place in a large building, probably representing the Temple. Medieval pilgrims to the Holy Land were told Jesus had been circumcised in the church at Bethlehem, the scene gradually became increasingly common in the art of the Western church, and increasingly rare in Orthodox art. Various themes in theological exegesis of the event influenced the treatment in art. As the first drawing of Christs blood, it was seen as a forerunner of, or even the first scene of, the Passion of Christ. Other interpretations developed based on it as the naming ceremony equivalent to Christian baptism, such an arrangement is seen in a miniature from a German Pentateuch in Hebrew from about 1300, showing the Circumcision of Isaac
20.
Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
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The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple is an early episode in the life of Jesus that is celebrated by the Church on the holiday of Candlemas. It is described in the Gospel of Luke of the New Testament in the Christian Bible, within the account, Lukes narration of the Presentation in the Temple combines the purification rite with the Jewish ceremony of the redemption of the firstborn. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the presentation of Jesus at the temple is celebrated as is one of the twelve Great Feasts, and is sometimes called Hypapante. In Western Christianity, the name for the day is Candlemas, which is also known as the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin. In some liturgical churches, Vespers on the Feast of the Presentation marks the end of the Epiphany season, in the Catholic Church, the Presentation is the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. The event is described in the Gospel of Luke, Luke explicitly says that Joseph and Mary take the option provided for poor people, sacrificing a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. Leviticus 12, 1–4 indicates that this event should take place forty days after birth for a male child, upon bringing Jesus into the temple, they encountered Simeon. The Gospel records that Simeon had been promised that he should not see death before he had seen the Lords Christ. Simeon then prophesied to Mary, Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. The elderly prophetess Anna was also in the Temple, and offered prayers and praise to God for Jesus, and spoke to everyone there of His importance to redemption in Jerusalem. Early images concentrated on the moment of meeting with Simeon, typically shown at the entrance to the Temple, and this is continued in Byzantine art and Eastern Orthodox icons to the present day. In the West, Simeon is more often already holding the infant, or the moment of handover is shown, the Lutheran church of the Baroque observed the feast as Mariae Reinigung. Johann Sebastian Bach composed several cantatas to be performed in the service of the day. In the Roman Catholic Church, it is known as the Presentation of the Lord in the books first issued by Paul VI. It is known as the Presentation of Our Lord in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod observes 2 February as The Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Our Lord. In some Protestant churches, the feast is known as the Naming of Jesus, traditionally, Candlemas had been the last feast day in the Christian year that was dated by reference to Christmas. Subsequent moveable feasts are calculated with reference to Easter, Candlemas occurs 40 days after Christmas. In Poland the feast is called Święto Matki Bożej Gromnicznej and this name refers to the candles that are blessed on this day, called gromnice, since these candles are lit during storms and placed in windows to ward off storms
21.
Flight into Egypt
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The flight into Egypt is a biblical event described in the Gospel of Matthew. The episode is shown in art, as the final episode of the Nativity of Jesus in art. Within the narrative tradition, iconic representation of the Rest on the Flight into Egypt developed after the 14th century, when the Magi come in search of Jesus, they go to Herod the Great in Jerusalem and ask where to find the newborn King of the Jews. Herod becomes paranoid that the child will threaten his throne, Herod initiates the Massacre of the Innocents in hopes of killing the child. But an angel appears to Joseph in a dream and warns him to take Jesus, after a time the holy family returns from Egypt. The text states that Herod had died, Herod is believed to have died in 4 BC, and while Matthew does not mention how, the Jewish historian Josephus vividly relates a gory death. It is, however, to Judah that they are described as initially returning, although upon discovering that Archelaus had become the new king, they went instead to Galilee. Historically, Archelaus was such a violent and aggressive king that in the year 6 AD he was deposed by the Romans, in response to complaints from the population. Galilee was ruled by a much calmer king, Herod Antipas, Matthew 2,15 cites Hosea 11,1 as prophetically fulfilled in the return of Joseph, Mary and Jesus from Egypt. and out of Egypt I called My son. Matthews use of Hosea 11,1 has been explained in several ways, a sensus plenior approach states that the text in Hosea contains a meaning intended by God and acknowledged by Matthew, but unknown to Hosea. A typological reading interprets the fulfillment as found in the history of Israel. Matthews use of typological interpretation may also be seen in his use of Isaiah 7,14 and 9,1, the Septuagint reading may be explained as having been made to conform to the plurals of Hosea 11,2, they and them. See also Hermeneutics and Jewish exegesis, in these later tales the family is joined by Salome as Jesus nurse. The most important of these is the church of Abu Serghis, the Gospel of Luke does not recount this event, relating instead that the Holy Family went to the Temple in Jerusalem, and then directly home to Nazareth. Followers of the liberal and unorthodox Jesus Seminar thus conclude that both Lukes and Matthews birth and infancy accounts are fabrications, a theme of Matthew is likening Jesus to Moses for a Judean audience, and the Flight into Egypt illustrates just that theme. The Flight into Egypt was a subject in art, showing Mary with the baby on a donkey, led by Joseph. Before about 1525, it formed part of a larger cycle, whether of the Nativity. The family are often accompanied by angels, and in earlier images sometimes an older boy who may represent James the Brother of the Lord, interpreted as a son of Joseph, by a previous marriage
22.
Finding in the Temple
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The Finding in the Temple, also called Christ among the Doctors or the Disputation, was an episode in the early life of Jesus depicted in the Gospel of Luke. It is the event of the later childhood of Jesus mentioned in a Gospel. The episode is described in Luke 2, 41-52, Jesus at the age of twelve accompanies Mary, Joseph and a large group of their relatives and friends to Jerusalem on pilgrimage, following the custom of the feast - that is, Passover. On the day of their return, Jesus lingered in the Temple, Mary and Joseph headed back home and after a day of travel realised Jesus was missing, so they returned to Jerusalem, finding Jesus three days later. He was found in The Temple in discussion with the elders and they were amazed at his learning, especially given his young age. When admonished by Mary, Jesus replied, Why did you seek Me, did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business. The story was elaborated in later literature, such as the apocryphal 2nd-century Infancy Gospel of Thomas. The losing of Jesus is the third of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, and this event is frequently shown in art, and was a common component in cycles of the Life of the Virgin as well as the Life of Christ. In early Christian depictions, Jesus is usually shown in the center, seated on a dais surrounded by the elders. The gesture usually made by Jesus, pointing to his upraised thumb and these depictions derive from classical compositions of professors of philosophy or rhetoric with their students, and are similar to medieval depictions of contemporary university lectures. This composition can appear until as late as Ingres and beyond, from the Early Medieval period the moment shown is usually assimilated to the finding itself, by the inclusion of, initially, Mary, and later Joseph as well, usually at the left of the scene. Typically, Jesus and the doctors, intent on their discussions, have not noticed them yet, from the 12th century Jesus is often seated in a large throne-like chair, sometimes holding a book or scroll. From the High Renaissance onwards, many painters showed a close-up of the scene, with Jesus closely surrounded by gesticulating scholars, as in Dürers version of the subject. Seven Sorrows of Mary G. Schiller, Iconography of Christian Art, Vol. I,1971, Lund Humphries, London, pp. 124–5 & figs, ISBN 0-85331-270-2
23.
Jerusalem
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Jerusalem is a city located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is considered a city in the three major Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, the part of Jerusalem called the City of David was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent, today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage Site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger, Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the Old Citys boundaries. These foundational events, straddling the dawn of the 1st millennium BCE, the sobriquet of holy city was probably attached to Jerusalem in post-exilic times. The holiness of Jerusalem in Christianity, conserved in the Septuagint which Christians adopted as their own authority, was reinforced by the New Testament account of Jesuss crucifixion there, in Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina. As a result, despite having an area of only 0, outside the Old City stands the Garden Tomb. Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, West Jerusalem was among the captured and later annexed by Israel while East Jerusalem, including the Old City, was captured. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed it into Jerusalem, one of Israels Basic Laws, the 1980 Jerusalem Law, refers to Jerusalem as the countrys undivided capital. All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset, the residences of the Prime Minister and President, the international community does not recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, and the city hosts no foreign embassies. Jerusalem is also home to some non-governmental Israeli institutions of importance, such as the Hebrew University. In 2011, Jerusalem had a population of 801,000, of which Jews comprised 497,000, Muslims 281,000, a city called Rušalim in the Execration texts of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt is widely, but not universally, identified as Jerusalem. Jerusalem is called Urušalim in the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba, the name Jerusalem is variously etymologized to mean foundation of the god Shalem, the god Shalem was thus the original tutelary deity of the Bronze Age city. The form Yerushalem or Yerushalayim first appears in the Bible, in the Book of Joshua, according to a Midrash, the name is a combination of Yhwh Yireh and the town Shalem. The earliest extra-biblical Hebrew writing of the word Jerusalem is dated to the sixth or seventh century BCE and was discovered in Khirbet Beit Lei near Beit Guvrin in 1961. The inscription states, I am Yahweh thy God, I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem, or as other scholars suggest, the mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem
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Pope Leo XIII
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Pope Leo XIII reigned as Pope from 20 February 1878 to his death. He was the oldest pope, and had the third longest pontificate, behind that of Pius IX and he is the most recent pontiff to date to take the pontifical name of Leo upon being elected to the pontificate. He is well known for his intellectualism and his attempts to define the position of the Catholic Church with regard to modern thinking. In his famous 1891 encyclical Rerum novarum, Pope Leo outlined the rights of workers to a wage, safe working conditions. He influenced Roman Catholic Mariology and promoted both the rosary and the scapular, Leo XIII issued a record of eleven Papal encyclicals on the rosary earning him the title as the Rosary Pope. In addition, he approved two new Marian scapulars and was the first pope to fully embrace the concept of Mary as Mediatrix and he was the first pope to never have held any control over the Papal States, after they had been dissolved by 1870. He was briefly buried in the grottos of Saint Peters Basilica before his remains were transferred to the Basilica of Saint John Lateran. Born in Carpineto Romano, near Rome, he was the sixth of the seven sons of Count Ludovico Pecci and his brothers included Giuseppe and Giovanni Battista Pecci. Until 1818 he lived at home with his family, in which counted as the highest grace on earth, as through her. Together with his brother Giuseppe, he studied in the Jesuit College in Viterbo and he enjoyed the Latin language and was known to write his own Latin poems at the age of eleven. In 1824 he and his older brother Giuseppe were called to Rome where their mother was dying, Count Pecci wanted his children near him after the loss of his wife, and so they stayed with him in Rome, attending the Jesuit Collegium Romanum. In 1828, Giuseppe entered the Jesuit order, while Vincenzo decided in favour of secular clergy and he studied at the Academia dei Nobili, mainly diplomacy and law. In 1834 he gave a student presentation, attended by several cardinals, for his presentation he received awards for academic excellence, and gained the attention of Vatican officials. Cardinal Secretary of State Luigi Lambruschini introduced him to Vatican congregations, during a cholera epidemic in Rome he ably assisted Cardinal Sala in his duties as overseer of all the city hospitals. Pope Gregory XVI appointed Pecci on 14 February 1837, as personal prelate even before he was ordained priest on 31 December 1837, by the Vicar of Rome and he celebrated his first mass together with his priest brother Giuseppe. He received his doctorate in theology in 1836 and doctorates of civil, shortly thereafter, Gregory XVI appointed Pecci as legate to Benevento. The smallest of papal provinces, Benevento included about 20,000 people, the main problems facing Pecci were a decaying local economy, insecurity because of widespread bandits, and pervasive Mafia or Camorra structures, who often were allied with aristocratic families. Pecci arrested the most powerful aristocrat in Benevento, and his troops captured others, with the public order restored, he turned to the economy and a reform of the tax system to stimulate trade with neighboring provinces
25.
Epiphany (holiday)
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Epiphany, also Theophany or Three Kings Day, is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally the visit of the Magi to the Christ child, moreover, the feast of the Epiphany, in some Western Christian denominations, also initiates the liturgical season of Epiphanytide. Eastern Christians, on the hand, commemorate the baptism of Jesus on both sides of the Jordan River, seen as his manifestation to the world as the Son of God. Qasr el Yahud in the West Bank, and Al-Maghtas in Jordan on the east bank, Al-Maghtas is considered to be the site of the baptism of Jesus. The traditional date for the feast is January 6, however, since 1970, the celebration is held in some countries on the Sunday after January 1. In many Western Christian Churches, the eve of the feast is celebrated as Twelfth Night, the Monday after Epiphany is known as Plough Monday. Popular Epiphany customs include Epiphany singing, chalking the door, having ones house blessed, consuming Three Kings Cake, winter swimming, the word Epiphany is from Koine Greek ἐπιφάνεια, epiphaneia, meaning manifestation or appearance. It is derived from a meaning to appear. In classical Greek it was used of the appearance of dawn, of an enemy in war, in the Septuagint the word is used of a manifestation of the God of Israel. In the New Testament the word is used in 2 Timothy 1,10 to refer either to the birth of Christ or to his appearance after his resurrection, and five times to refer to his Second Coming. Epiphany may have originated in the Greek-speaking eastern half of the Roman Empire as a feast to honor the baptism of Jesus, around 200, Clement of Alexandria wrote that, But the followers of Basilides celebrate the day of His Baptism too, spending the previous night in readings. And they say that it was the 15th of the month Tybi of the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, and some say that it was observed the 11th of the same month. The Egyptian dates given correspond to January 6 and 10, the Basilides were a Gnostic sect. The reference to readings suggests that the Basilides were reading the Gospels, in ancient gospel manuscripts, the text is arranged to indicate passages for liturgical readings. If a congregation began reading Mark at the beginning of the year, it might arrive at the story of the Baptism on January 6, If Christians read Mark in the same format the Basilides did, the two groups could have arrived at the January 6 date independently. The earliest reference to Epiphany as a Christian feast was in A. D.361, the holiday is listed twice, which suggests a double feast of baptism and birth. The Nativity was assigned to the date as the birth because Luke 3,23 was misread to mean that Jesus was exactly 30 when he was baptized. Epiphanius of Salamis says that January 6 is Christs Birthday, that is, His Epiphany and he also asserts that the Miracle at Cana occurred on the same calendar day
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General Roman Calendar of 1960
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This article lists the feast days of the General Roman Calendar as reformed on 23 July 1960 by Pope John XXIIIs motu proprio Rubricarum instructum. Rubricarum instructum replaced the former classifications of Doubles, Semidoubles, and Simples with I, II, and III class feasts and commemorations. It removed a few feasts, in particular duplications such as the Feast of the Cross, the Chair of Peter, Saint Peter, Saint John the Evangelist, Saint Michael, see General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII. Feasts previously ranked as doubles of the I class were reclassified as feasts of the I class, feasts previously ranked as doubles of the II class were reclassified as feasts of the II class. Feasts previously ranked as doubles, doubles, and simples were reclassified as feasts of the III class. Feasts that had formerly been ranked as simples and had reduced to commemorations in Pius XIIs 1955 revision of the calendar remained commemorations. The Sundays of Advent, Lent, and Passiontide, and Low Sunday were classified as Sundays of the I class, All other Sundays of the year—excluding those perpetually impeded by feasts of the I class—became Sundays of the II class. Ash Wednesday, the ferias of Holy Week, the Paschal Triduum, the ferias of Advent, excluding 17–23 December, were ranked as ferias of the III class, as were the ferias of Lent and Passiontide. The remaining ferias of the year were classified ferias of the IV class, the following feasts were reduced to commemorations, St. George Martyr Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel St. Alexis Confessor Ss. Cyriacus, Largus, and Smaragdus Martyrs The Impression of the Sacred Stigmata of St. Francis Confessor Ss, sergius, Bacchus, Marcellus, and Apuleius Martyrs was transferred from 7 to 8 October. 1, Octave of the Nativity of the Lord, I class,5, Commemoration of St. Telesphorus Pope and Martyr, Comm. 6, On the Epiphany of the Lord, I class,11, Commemoration of St. Hyginus Pope and Martyr, Comm. 13, On the Commemoration of the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ,14, St. Hilary Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor of the Church, III class, Com. of St. Felix Priest and Martyr. 15, St. Paul first hermit, Confessor, III class,16, St. Marcellus I Pope and Martyr, III class. 17, St. Anthony Abbot, III class,18, Commemoration of St. Prisca Virgin and Martyr, Comm. Marius, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum Martyrs, Comm, fabian Pope and Sebastian Martyrs, III class. 21, St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, III class 22, Vincent and Anastasius Martyrs, III class. 23, St. Raymund of Peñafort Confessor, III class, Com. of St. Emerentiana Virgin,24, St. Timothy Bishop and Martyr, III class
27.
Roman Missal
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The Roman Missal is the liturgical book that contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Before the high Middle Ages, several books were used at Mass, a Sacramentary with the prayers, one or more books for the Scriptural readings, and one or more books for the antiphons and other chants. Gradually, manuscripts came into being that incorporated parts of more than one of these books, such a book was referred to as a Missale Plenum. In 1223 Saint Francis of Assisi instructed his friars to adopt the form that was in use at the Papal Court and they adapted this missal further to the needs of their largely itinerant apostolate. Its use spread throughout Europe, especially after the invention of the printing press, printing also favoured the spread of other liturgical texts of less certain orthodoxy. The Council of Trent recognized that an end must be put to the resulting confusion, some corrections to Pope Pius Vs text proved necessary, and Pope Clement VIII replaced it with a new typical edition of the Roman Missal on 7 July 1604. A further revised edition was promulgated by Pope Urban VIII on 2 September 1634. Beginning in the seventeenth century, France and neighbouring areas saw a flurry of independent missals published by bishops influenced by Jansenism and Gallicanism. This ended when Bishop Pierre-Louis Parisis of Langres and Abbot Guéranger initiated in the century a campaign to return to the Roman Missal. Pope Leo XIII then took the opportunity to issue in 1884 a new edition that took account of all the changes introduced since the time of Pope Urban VIII. Pope Pius X also undertook a revision of the Roman Missal, in the part of the Missal thus thoroughly revised, he anticipated some of the changes affecting all days of the year after the Second Vatican Council. These novelties included the first official introduction of the language into the liturgy for renewal of baptismal promises within the Easter Vigil celebration. The Pope also removed from the Vigil of Pentecost the series of six Old Testament readings, with their accompanying Tracts and Collects, the changes this made in the General Roman Calendar are indicated in General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII. After duly weighing the answers of the bishops, he judged that it was time to attack the problem of a general and systematic revision of the rubrics of the breviary and this question he referred to the special committee of experts appointed to study the general liturgical reform. His successor, Pope John XXIII, issued a new edition of the Roman Missal in 1962. This incorporated the revised Code of Rubrics which Pope Pius XIIs commission had prepared, other notable revisions were the omission of the adjective perfidis in the Good Friday Prayer for the Jews and the insertion of the name of Saint Joseph into the Canon of the Mass. They were reflected in the provisional vernacular translations produced in various countries when the language of the people began to be used in addition to Latin, references sometimes met in an English-language context to the 1965 Missal concern these temporary vernacular productions, not the Roman Missal itself. Even countries that had the language used different translations and varied in the amount of vernacular admitted
28.
Joos van Cleve
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Joos van Cleve was a painter active in Antwerp around 1511 to 1540. He is known for combining traditional Netherlandish painting techniques with influences of more contemporary Renaissance painting styles, an active member and co-deacon of the Guild of Saint Luke of Antwerp, he is known mostly for his religious works and portraits of royalty. As a skilled technician, his art shows sensitivity to color and he was one of the first to introduce broad landscapes in the backgrounds of his paintings, which would become a popular technique of sixteenth century northern Renaissance paintings. He was the father of Cornelius or Cornelis van Cleve who was also a painter and is believed to have suffered from an illness and was therefore referred to as Sotte Cleef. Joos van Cleve was born around 1485, the birthplace of Joos van Cleve is not precisely known. In various Antwerp legal documents he is referred to as van der Beke alias van Cleve’. It is therefore likely that he came from the Lower Rhenish region or city named Kleve, Joos van Cleve is believed to have moved to Bruges between 1507 -1511 since his painting style is similar to that of the painters of Bruges. Later he moved to Antwerp, and in 1511 became a master in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke. He was co-deacon of the guild for several years around 1520 and it is possible he spent time in France at the court in 1529 or 1535. He may also have made a trip to Italy around this time and he had two children from his first marriage, a daughter and a son. His son Cornelis became a painter, although the date of his death is unknown, Joos van Cleve drew up a will and testament on 10 November 1540, and his second wife was listed as a widow in April 1541. From the seventeenth to the centuries, the name of Joos van Cleve as an artist was lost. The paintings now attributed to Joos van Cleve were, at time, known as the works of “the Master of the Death of the Virgin. In 1894 it was discovered that the monogram on the back of the triptych was that of Joos van der Beke, the influence of Kalkar and Bruges are seen in many of Joos van Cleve’s early works, such as Adam and Eve. The Death of the Virgin shows the influence of several artists. It has the intense emotionality of Hugo van der Goes, and iconographic ideas of Jan van Eyck, a strong influence of Italian art combined with Joos van Cleve’s own color and light sensitivity make his works especially unique. The “Antwerp Mannerist” style is identifiable in the Adoration of the Magi and it is thought that the “Antwerp Mannerists” were in turn influenced by Joos van Cleve. Like Quentin Matsys, a fellow artist active in Antwerp, Joos van Cleve appropriated themes and techniques of Leonardo da Vinci and this is apparent in the use of sfumato in the Virgin and Child
29.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially the Met, is located in New York City and is the largest art museum in the United States, and is among the most visited art museums in the world. Its permanent collection contains two million works, divided among seventeen curatorial departments. The main building, on the edge of Central Park along Manhattans Museum Mile, is by area one of the worlds largest art galleries. A much smaller second location, The Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan, contains a collection of art, architecture. On March 18,2016, the museum opened the Met Breuer museum at Madison Avenue in the Upper East Side, it extends the museums modern, the Met maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, Indian, and Islamic art. The museum is home to collections of musical instruments, costumes and accessories, as well as antique weapons. Several notable interiors, ranging from first-century Rome through modern American design, are installed in its galleries, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870. The founders included businessmen and financiers, as well as leading artists and thinkers of the day and it opened on February 20,1872, and was originally located at 681 Fifth Avenue. The Met maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, the museum is also home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, costumes and accessories, and antique weapons and armor from around the world. A number of interiors, ranging from 1st century Rome through modern American design, are permanently installed in the Mets galleries. In addition to its permanent exhibitions, the Met organizes and hosts traveling shows throughout the year. The director of the museum is Thomas P. Campbell, a long-time curator and it was announced on February 28th,2017 that Campbell will be stepping down as the Mets director and CEO, effective June. On March 1st,2017 the BBC reported that Daniel Weiss shall be the acting CEO until a replacement is found, Beginning in the late 19th century, the Met started to acquire ancient art and artifacts from the Near East. From a few tablets and seals, the Mets collection of Near Eastern art has grown to more than 7,000 pieces. The highlights of the include a set of monumental stone lamassu, or guardian figures. The Mets Department of Arms and Armor is one of the museums most popular collections. Among the collections 14,000 objects are many pieces made for and used by kings and princes, including armor belonging to Henry VIII of England, Henry II of France, Rockefeller donated his more than 3, 000-piece collection to the museum. The Mets Asian department holds a collection of Asian art, of more than 35,000 pieces, the collection dates back almost to the founding of the museum, many of the philanthropists who made the earliest gifts to the museum included Asian art in their collections
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Michelangelo
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Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. Considered to be the greatest living artist during his lifetime, he has since described as one of the greatest artists of all time. A number of Michelangelos works of painting, sculpture, and architecture rank among the most famous in existence and he sculpted two of his best-known works, the Pietà and David, before the age of thirty. As an architect, Michelangelo pioneered the Mannerist style at the Laurentian Library, at the age of 74, he succeeded Antonio da Sangallo the Younger as the architect of St. Peters Basilica. Michelangelo transformed the plan so that the end was finished to his design, as was the dome, with some modification. Michelangelo was unique as the first Western artist whose biography was published while he was alive, in his lifetime he was often called Il Divino. One of the qualities most admired by his contemporaries was his terribilità, the attempts by subsequent artists to imitate Michelangelos impassioned and highly personal style resulted in Mannerism, the next major movement in Western art after the High Renaissance. Michelangelo was born on 6 March 1475 in Caprese near Arezzo, at the time of Michelangelos birth, his father was the Judicial administrator of the small town of Caprese and local administrator of Chiusi. Michelangelos mother was Francesca di Neri del Miniato di Siena, the Buonarrotis claimed to descend from the Countess Mathilde of Canossa, this claim remains unproven, but Michelangelo himself believed it. Several months after Michelangelos birth, the returned to Florence. There Michelangelo gained his love for marble, as Giorgio Vasari quotes him, If there is good in me. Along with the milk of my nurse I received the knack of handling chisel and hammer, as a young boy, Michelangelo was sent to Florence to study grammar under the Humanist Francesco da Urbino. The young artist, however, showed no interest in his schooling, preferring to copy paintings from churches, the city of Florence was at that time the greatest centre of the arts and learning in Italy. Art was sponsored by the Signoria, by the merchant guilds and by patrons such as the Medici. The Renaissance, a renewal of Classical scholarship and the arts, had its first flowering in Florence, the sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti had laboured for fifty years to create the bronze doors of the Baptistry, which Michelangelo was to describe as The Gates of Paradise. The exterior niches of the Church of Orsanmichele contained a gallery of works by the most acclaimed sculptors of Florence – Donatello, Ghiberti, Andrea del Verrocchio, and Nanni di Banco. The interiors of the churches were covered with frescos, begun by Giotto. During Michelangelos childhood, a team of painters had been called from Florence to the Vatican, among them was Domenico Ghirlandaio, a master in fresco painting, perspective, figure drawing, and portraiture who had the largest workshop in Florence at that period
31.
Uffizi
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The Uffizi Gallery is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in central Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy. The building of Uffizi complex was begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de Medici so as to accommodate the offices of the Florentine magistrates, hence the name uffizi, the construction was later continued by Alfonso Parigi and Bernardo Buontalenti and completed in 1581. The niches in the piers that alternate with columns filled with sculptures of artists in the 19th century. The Uffizi brought together under one roof the administrative offices, the Tribunal and the Archivio di Stato, the state archive. He commissioned from the architect Buontalenti the design of the Tribuna degli Uffizi that collected a series of masterpieces in one room, over the years, more sections of the palace were recruited to exhibit paintings and sculpture collected or commissioned by the Medici. The gallery had been open to visitors by request since the sixteenth century, because of its huge collection, some of its works have in the past been transferred to other museums in Florence—for example, some famous statues to the Bargello. A project was finished in 2006 to expand the exhibition space some 6,000 metres² to almost 13,000 metres². On 27 May 1993, a car exploded in Via dei Georgofili and damaged parts of the palace. The most severe damage was to the Niobe room and classical sculptures and neoclassical interior, the identity of the bomber or bombers are unknown, although it was almost certainly attributable to the Sicilian Mafia who were engaged in a period of terrorism at that time. Today, the Uffizi is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Florence, in high season, waiting times can be up to five hours. In early August 2007, Florence experienced a heavy rainstorm, the Gallery was partially flooded, with water leaking through the ceiling, and the visitors had to be evacuated. There was a more significant flood in 1966 which damaged most of the art collections in Florence severely. Here is a selection from the collection, The collection also contains some ancient sculptures, such as the Arrotino. Collections of the Uffizi Official website Uffizi – Google Art Project
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Florence
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Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the Metropolitan City of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants, Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, from 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy. The Historic Centre of Florence attracts 13 million tourists each year and it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture, the city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florences artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in 2008, the city had the 17th highest average income in Italy. Florence originated as a Roman city, and later, after a period as a flourishing trading and banking medieval commune. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, it was politically, economically, and culturally one of the most important cities in Europe, the language spoken in the city during the 14th century was, and still is, accepted as the Italian language. Starting from the late Middle Ages, Florentine money—in the form of the gold florin—financed the development of all over Europe, from Britain to Bruges, to Lyon. Florentine bankers financed the English kings during the Hundred Years War and they similarly financed the papacy, including the construction of their provisional capital of Avignon and, after their return to Rome, the reconstruction and Renaissance embellishment of Rome. Florence was home to the Medici, one of European historys most important noble families, Lorenzo de Medici was considered a political and cultural mastermind of Italy in the late 15th century. Two members of the family were popes in the early 16th century, Leo X, catherine de Medici married king Henry II of France and, after his death in 1559, reigned as regent in France. Marie de Medici married Henry IV of France and gave birth to the future king Louis XIII, the Medici reigned as Grand Dukes of Tuscany, starting with Cosimo I de Medici in 1569 and ending with the death of Gian Gastone de Medici in 1737. The Etruscans initially formed in 200 BC the small settlement of Fiesole and it was built in the style of an army camp with the main streets, the cardo and the decumanus, intersecting at the present Piazza della Repubblica. Situated along the Via Cassia, the route between Rome and the north, and within the fertile valley of the Arno, the settlement quickly became an important commercial centre. Peace returned under Lombard rule in the 6th century, Florence was conquered by Charlemagne in 774 and became part of the Duchy of Tuscany, with Lucca as capital. The population began to again and commerce prospered
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Giulio Romano
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Giulio Romano, also known as Giulio Pippi, was an Italian painter and architect. A pupil of Raphael, his stylistic deviations from high Renaissance classicism help define the 16th-century style known as Mannerism, Giulio Romano was born in Rome, the Romano refers to this. He also collaborated on the decoration of the ceiling of the Villa Farnesina, increasingly he became the masters right-hand man, despite his relative youth. After the death of Raphael in 1520, he helped complete the Vatican frescoes of the life of Constantine as well as Raphaels Coronation of the Virgin, in Rome, Giulio decorated the Villa Madama for Cardinal Giuliano de Medici, afterwards Clement VII. The crowded Giulio Romano frescoes lack the stately and serene simplicity of his master, from 1522 he was courted by Federico Gonzaga, ruler of Mantua, who wanted him as court artist, apparently especially attracted by his skill as an architect. In late 1524 Giulio agreed to move to Mantua, where he remained for the rest of his life and he thus avoided the disaster of the Sack of Rome in 1527, which hugely disrupted artistic patronage in Rome and dispersed the remains of Raphaels workshop. Vasari tells how Baldassare Castiglione was delegated by Federico Gonzaga to procure Giulio to execute paintings and architectural and his masterpiece of architecture and fresco painting in that city is the suburban Palazzo Te, with its famous illusionistic frescos. He also helped rebuild the palace in Mantua, reconstructed the cathedral. Sections of Mantua that had been flood-prone were refurbished under Giulios direction, and his studio became a popular school of art. In Renaissance tradition, many works of Giulios were only temporary and he traveled to France in the first half of the 16th century and brought concepts of the Italian style to the French court of Francis I. It is rumored that he contributed to the drawings upon which the album I Modi was engraved by Marcantonio Raimondi and he died in Mantua in 1546. According to Giorgio Vasari, his best pupils were Giovanni dal Lione, Raffaellino dal Colle, Benedetto Pagni, Figurino da Faenza, Giovanni Battista Bertani and his brother Rinaldo, Giulio Romano has the distinction of being the only Renaissance artist to be mentioned by William Shakespeare. In Act V, Scene II of The Winters Tale Queen Hermiones statue is by that rare Italian master, Julio Romano, Giulio was on the whole more influential as an architect than as a painter, and his works had an enormous impact on Italian Mannerist architecture. Planned on a scale, it was incomplete by the Sack of Rome. The Villa Lante al Gianicolo was a suburban villa in Rome. Romano made the building suggest lightness and elegance to exploit the ridge-top position. The orders are delicate, with Tuscan or Doric columns and pilasters in pairs on the main floor, alternate loggia openings are heightened by arches above the entablature. Romanos willingness to play with the conventions of the orders is already in evidence
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Getty Center
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The Getty Center, in Los Angeles, California, is a campus of the Getty Museum and other programs of the Getty Trust. The $1.3 billion Center opened to the public on December 16,1997 and is known for its architecture, gardens. The Center sits atop a hill connected to a parking garage at the bottom of the hill by a three-car. Located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, the Center is one of two locations of the J. Paul Getty Museum and draws 1.3 million visitors annually. In addition, the Museum’s collection at the Center includes outdoor sculpture displayed on terraces and in gardens, among the artworks on display is the Vincent Van Gogh painting Irises. Designed by architect Richard Meier, the campus houses the Getty Research Institute, the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Foundation. The Centers design included provisions to address concerns regarding earthquakes and fires. Originally, the Getty Museum started in J. Paul Gettys house located in Pacific Palisades in 1954 and he expanded the house with a museum wing. In the 1970s, Getty built a replica of an Italian villa on his homes property to house his collection. After Gettys death in 1976, the property was turned over to the Getty Trust for museum purposes. However, the collection outgrew the site, which has since renamed the Getty Villa. In 1984, Richard Meier was chosen to be the architect of the Center, after an extensive conditional-use permit process, construction by the Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company began in August 1989. The construction was delayed, with the planned completion date moved from 1988 to 1995. By 1995, however, the campus was described as more than halfway complete. The Center ultimately opened to the public on December 16,1997, although the total project cost was estimated to be $350 million as of 1990, it was later estimated to be $1.3 billion. After the Center opened, the Villa closed for renovations and reopened on January 28,2006, to focus on the arts and cultures of ancient Greece, Rome. Currently, the Museum displays collections at both the Getty Center and the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, the trust agreed to appoint an outside monitor to review future expenditures. The Getty Trust experienced financial difficulties in 2008 and 2009 and cut 205 of 1,487 budgeted staff positions to reduce expenses, although the Getty Trust endowment reached $6.4 billion in 2007, it dropped to $4.5 billion in 2009
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Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
36.
Josephology
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Josephology is the theological study of Saint Joseph, the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Records of devotions to Joseph go back to the year 800, with the growth of Mariology, the theological study of Joseph also grew and in the 1950s specific centers for it were formed. The modern study of the theology concerning Joseph is one of the newest theological disciplines, Saint Jeromes Against Helvidius paved the way for aspects of future Josephite devotion with his assertion that Joseph was always a virgin. The earliest record of a formal devotional following for Saint Joseph in the Western Church is in the abridged Martyrology of Rheinau in Northern France, the Josephology of Aquinas often proceeded with the juxtaposition of Joseph and Mary. In the 15th century, major steps were taken by Saint Bernardine of Siena, Pierre dAilly, and Jean Gerson, Gerson wrote a lengthy treatise in French titled Consideration sur Saint Joseph and a 120-verse poem in Latin about Saint Joseph. In 1416 to 1418, Gerson preached sermons on Saint Joseph at the Council of Constance in which he borrowed heavily from Marian themes. The spread of his following is shown by the publication of the first Litany of St. Joseph in Rome in 1597. These were then followed by the Chaplet of St. Joseph in 1850, the formal veneration of the Holy Family began in the 17th century by Mgr François de Laval. From the 16th century onwards, a number of Catholic saints prayed to Saint Joseph, invoked his help and protection and encouraged others to do so. In Introduction to the Devout Life St. Francis de Sales included Joseph along with the Virgin Mary as saints to be invoked during prayers following an examination of conscience, Saint Teresa of Avila attributed her recovery of health to Joseph and recommended him as an advocate. The three saints mentioned in this paragraph were all Doctors of the Church, in 1870, Pope Pius IX proclaimed Saint Joseph Patron of the Universal Church. Joseph is also the patron of fighting communism. In 1889, Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical Quamquam pluries in which he urged Catholics to pray to Joseph as patron of the Church and this was in view of challenges facing the Church, such as the growing depravity of morals in the young generation. He prescribed that every October, a prayer to Saint Joseph be added to the Rosary, with the growth of Mariology, the theological study of Joseph also began to grow to discuss his role in the Economy of Salvation. Three centers for Josephology were formed in the 1950s, the first in Valladolid Spain, the second at Saint Josephs Oratory in Montreal, during the centenary of Quamquam pluries in 1989, Pope John Paul II delivered the Apostolic exhortation Redemptoris custos. This exhortation is part of the documents issued by the pope. It discusses the importance of Saint Joseph in the Holy Family, John Paul II positions Saint Joseph as breaking the old vice of paternal familial domination, and suggests him as the model of a loving father
37.
Guido Reni
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Guido Reni was an Italian painter of high-Baroque style. Born in Bologna into a family of musicians, Guido Reni was the son of Daniele Reni, as a child of nine, he was apprenticed under the Bolognese studio of Denis Calvaert. Soon after, he was joined in studio by Albani. He may also have trained with a painter by the name of Ferrantini, when Reni was about twenty years old, the three Calvaert pupils migrated to the rising rival studio, named Accademia degli Incamminati, led by Lodovico Carracci. They went on to form the nucleus of a prolific and successful school of Bolognese painters who followed Lodovicos cousin Annibale Carracci to Rome, like many other Bolognese painters, Renis painting was thematic and eclectic in style. By late 1601, Reni and Albani had moved to Rome to work with the led by Annibale Carracci in fresco decoration of the Farnese Palace. During 1601–1604, his patron was Cardinal Paolo Emilio Sfondrati. By 1604–1605, he received an independent commission for an altarpiece of the Crucifixion of St. Peter, after a few year sojourn in Bologna, he returned to Rome to become one of the premier painters during the papacy of Paul V. From 1607–1614, he was one of the painters patronized by the Borghese family, Renis frescoed ceiling of the large central hall of garden palace, Casino dellAurora located in the grounds of the Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi, is considered his masterpiece. The casino was originally a pavilion commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the massive fresco is framed in quadri riportati and depicts Apollo in his Chariot preceded by Dawn bringing light to the world. The work is restrained in classicism, copying poses from Roman sarcophagi, there is little concession to perspective, and the vibrantly colored style is antithetical to the tenebrism of Caravaggios followers. Payments showed that he was paid in 247 scudi and 54 baiocchi upon completion on 24 September 1616, the two families were in rather bad relations, and the reason for such friction was their constant quest for temporal power. Also the Popes brother, Antonio Barberini, was a cardinal, in those days, the main church of the Capuchins in Rome was St. Nicholas, rather small and dating back to the Middle Ages. The Archangel Michael trampling Satan, wears a late Roman military cloak,1636, held in Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, Rome. According to a legend, Reni became aware that Cardinal Giovanni Battista Pamphilj had slandered him, so, Reni, sensing an opportunity, decided to avenge himself by means of his own talent, at the same time pleasing his client, who belonged to the opposing family. According to existing portraits of him, Cardinal Pamphilj had a face, with thin hair, a scanty beard and a somewhat strange look in his eyes. Therefore, the face that Archangel Michael crushes under his foot looks almost identical to that of Giovanni Battista Pamphilj and this turned out even more embarrassing a few years later, when in 1644 the cardinal was elected Pope Innocent X. According to rumor, the chapel of Montecavallo was assigned to Reni to paint
38.
Marriage of the Virgin
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The Marriage of the Virgin is the subject in Christian art depicting the marriage of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The marriage is not mentioned in the canonical Gospels but is covered in several apocryphal sources, unlike many other scenes in Life of the Virgin cycles, it is not a feast in the church calendar. In art the subject could be covered in different scenes. Wedding processions are also shown, especially in the Early Medieval period, the High Priest ordered them to each bring a rod, he that owned the rod which would bear flowers was divinely ordained to become Marys husband. After the Holy Spirit descended as a dove and caused Josephs rod to blossom, he and it is unclear whether this story was set before or after the Annunciation which, in the New Testament account, occurred after their betrothal but before their marriage. In the Gospel of James it comes after the Annunciation, but in the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, of the espousals of the Mother of God Sansonvino, Andrea. The Wedding, marble sculpture, Loretto, Italy
39.
Saint Joseph's dreams
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All four dreams relate to the Nativity of Jesus and his early life. These dreams have been the subject of works of art by several well-known artists. The four dreams are as follows, First dream, In Matthew 1, 20-21, Joseph is told not be afraid to take Mary as his wife, second dream, In Matthew 2,13, Joseph is warned to leave Bethlehem and flee to Egypt. Third dream, In Matthew 2, 19-20, while in Egypt, fourth dream, In Matthew 2,22, because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee instead of going to Judea. Gospel harmony Nativity of Jesus James Hall, A History of Ideas and Images in Italian Art,1983, John Murray, London, ISBN 0-7195-3971-4
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Saint Joseph's Day
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Saint Josephs Day, March 19, the Feast of Saint Joseph is in Western Christianity the principal feast day of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He is the foster-father of Jesus Christ and it has the rank of a solemnity in the Roman Catholic Church, Catholics who follow the Missal of 1962 celebrate it as a first class feast. Previous to 1962 it was celebrated as a feast of the rank of double of the first class and it is a feast or commemoration in the provinces of the Anglican Communion, and a feast or festival in the Lutheran Church. Saint Josephs Day is the Patronal Feast day for Poland as well as for Canada, persons named Joseph, Josephine, etc. for religious institutes, schools and parishes bearing his name, and for carpenters. It is also Fathers Day in some Catholic countries, mainly Spain, Portugal, March 19 was dedicated to Saint Joseph in several Western calendars by the 10th century, and this custom was established in Rome by 1479. Pope Pius V extended its use to the entire Roman Rite by his Apostolic Constitution Quo primum, since 1969, Episcopal Conferences may, if they wish, transfer it to a date outside Lent. Originally celebrated on the third Sunday after Easter with an octave, after Divino Afflatu of Saint Pius X, the feast was also retitled The Solemnity of Saint Joseph. This celebration and its accompanying octave was abolished during the modernisation and simplification of rubrics under Pope Pius XII in 1955 and it is still maintained by Catholics who follow the missals of before then. Until this time,1 May had been the Feast of the Apostles Saint Philip and James, the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Saint Joseph on the Sunday after Christmas. March 19 always falls during Lent, and traditionally it is a day of abstinence and this explains the custom of Saint Joseph tables being covered with meatless dishes. If the feast day falls on a Sunday other than Palm Sunday, it is observed on the next day, usually Monday, March 20. Since 2008, if Saint Josephs Day falls during Holy Week, it is moved to the closest possible day before 19 March, usually the Saturday before Holy Week. This decision does not apply to those using the 1962 Missal according to the provisions of Summorum Pontificum, according to legend, there was a severe drought at the time, and the people prayed for their patron saint to bring them rain. They promised that if he answered their prayers, they would prepare a large feast to honor him, the rain did come, and the people of Sicily prepared a large banquet for their patron saint. The fava bean was the crop which saved the population from starvation and is a part of Saint Josephs Day altars. Giving food to the needy is a Saint Josephs Day custom, in some communities it is traditional to wear red clothing and eat a Neapolitan pastry known as a zeppola on Saint Josephs Day. Maccu di San Giuseppe is a traditional Sicilian dish that consists of various ingredients, maccu is a foodstuff and soup that dates to ancient times which is prepared with fava beans as a primary ingredient. Upon a typical Saint Josephs Day altar, people place flowers, limes, candles, wine, fava beans, specially prepared cakes, breads, and cookies, foods are traditionally served containing bread crumbs to represent saw dust since Joseph was a carpenter
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Novena to Saint Joseph
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The Novena to Saint Joseph is a Roman Catholic Novena prayed to Saint Joseph. Like all other Novenas it is prayed on nine days with a specific intention. Confiding therefore in thy goodness, I come before thee, oh, despise not my petitions, foster-father of the Redeemer, but graciously receive them
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