215 Years Ago Today...

The 16 Carmelite martyrs of Compiègne were guillotined during the French Revolution.

You can read more about them in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

Also recommended are:

The Song at the Scaffold by Gertrud Von Le Fort (Neumann Press) - approriate for high school or adult

To Quell the Terror: The Mystery of the Vocation of the Sixteen Carmelites of Compiegne Guillotined July 17, 1794 by William Bush (not yet reviewed for age-appropriateness)

Anniversary of the Battle of Lepanto (1571)

G.K. Chesterton wrote a very moving poem about the battle (best as a read-aloud) which you can read here.

Wikipedia has really detailed and interesting information about this battle.

Because Our Lady was implored throughout the empire by praying the Rosary, the anniversary of this decisive battle was named the feast of Our Lady of Victory, later changed to Our Lady of the Rosary.

The Incarnation Fills History with Meaning

The coming of the Messiah, foretold by the Prophets, is qualitatively the most important event of all history, on which it confers its ultimate and full meaning. It is not historical and political coordinates that condition God's choice, but on the contrary, the event of the Incarnation that "fills" history with value and meaning.

We, who come 2,000 years after that event, can affirm this, so to speak, also a posteriori, after having known the whole life of Jesus, until his death and Resurrection. We are witnesses at the same time of his glory and his humility, of the immense value of his coming and of God's infinite respect for us human beings and for our history.

He did not fill time by pouring himself into it from on high, but "from within", making himself a tiny seed to lead humanity to its full maturation.

from the Pope's New Year's Eve Homily

hat-tip The CIN Blog

Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)

Picture Books:

For the Children: Words of Love and Inspiration from His Holiness Pope John Paul II (Scholastic Press)
Pope John Paul II Comic Book by Toni Pagot, illustrated by Sergio Toppi (Pauline Books & Media)

Grade School:

The Young Life of Pope John Paul II by Claire Jordan Mohan (b. 1920)

Teen/Adult:

Chapters on Pope John Paul II and the modern papacy, PF pgs. 111-118
Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II by George Weigel

Movies:

Pope John Paul II (1984 - Albert Finney)
Witness to Hope: The Life of Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II (2002 - documentary)
Pope John Paul II (2005)

Writings on the Web:

Official Vatican Site

Blessed Miguel Pro (1891-1923)

Jose Finds the King: A Blessed Miguel Pro Story by Ann Ball (1923)

Blessed Miguel Pro by Ann Ball

Miguel Pro (1891-1927) was a young priest in Mexico during the persecution of the Church in the 1920s. He used interesting disguises to slip past authorities in order to celebrate Mass in secret and otherwise minister to his people. He fearlessly continued such dangerous missions despite health problems and eventually was arrested and martyred for his faith.The reader will learn a lot about the politics, culture and religion of his time. Also included in the book are a number of black and white photos of Blessed Miguel Pro - including several of him in disguise and those taken at his execution and his funeral. The government allowed photographers to be present at the execution in order to make an example of the martyr, but later tried to prevent their release. The appendix includes prayers and poems written by Blessed Miguel Pro, a novena and chaplet composed in his honor, and ideas for a celebration for his Feast Day, November 23.

Reviewed by Alicia Van Hecke
Available from Aquinas and More and the St. John Fisher Forum

Our Lady of Fatima (Portugal, 1917)

Grade School:

The Children of Fatima by Mary Fabyan Windeatt
Our Lady Came to Fatima by Ruth Fox Hume

Teen/Adult:

Our Lady of Fatima by William Thomas Walsh

Movies:

Apparitions at Fatima
The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952)

On the Web:

EWTN's Fatima Page

Our Lady of Lourdes (France, 1858)

Grades 5-8:

Bernadette and the Lady by Hertha Pauli

Teen/Adult:

The Song of Bernadette by Franz Werfel

Movies:

Bernadette: Princess of Lourdes (CCC Animated Video)

The Song of Bernadette (1943 - Vincent Price - won four Academy Awards in 1944)

The Miracle of Bordeaux (France, 1822)

"The Miracle of Bordeaux, France", Eucharistic Miracles, pgs. 171-178 (1822)

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)

Napoleonic Wars: (approximately 1799-1815)

The Midshipman Quinn Collection by Showell Styles (1803-1805)
The Flying Ensign by Showell Styles (1809)


Imprisonment of Popes Pius VI and Pius VII:

Pope Pius VI from the Catholic Encyclopedia
Pope Pius VII from Patron Saints Index
Napoleon Bonaparte from Catholic Encyclopedia (see especially the sections: "The Campaign in Italy" and "The Great Victories; Occupation of Rome; Imprisonment of Pius VII (1805-09)")

Act of Settlement - 1701

This act banned Catholics (or anyone married to a Catholic) from ruling Great Britain.

That all and every person and persons, who shall or may take or inherit the said Crown, by virtue of the limitation of this present act, and is, are or shall be reconciled to, or shall hold communion with, the See or Church of Rome, or shall profess the popish religion, or shall marry a papist, shall be subject to such incapacities.

Catch the details here

Saint Edmund Campion (1540-1581)

Grade School:

Edmund Campion: Hero of God's Underground by Harold Gardiner, S.J.

Teen/Adult:

Edmund Campion by Evelyn Waugh
Tyborne and the Gem of Christendom by Mother Mary Magdalen Taylor
The Martyrdom of Father Campion and His Companions by William Cardinal Allen

Primary Sources:

Challenge to the Privy Council by Edmund Campion

Saint Thomas More (1478-1535)

St. Thomas More of London by Elizabeth Ince

The King's Good Servant but God's First by James Monti

Sir Thomas More attributed to William Shakespeare

Primary Sources:

Utopia by Saint Thomas More

The Sadness of Christ by Saint Thomas More

On the Web:

Center for Thomas More Studies

Movies:

A Man for All Seasons (1966 - Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Orson Welles)

Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556)

Grade School:

St. Ignatius and the Company of Jesus by August Derleth (1491-1556)

High School/Adult:

St. Ignatius of Loyola by Francis Thompson
St. Ignatius of Loyola by James Broderick, S.J.
The Golden Thread: A Novel about St. Ignatius by Louis de Wohl

Saint Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)

Picture Books:
Francis: The Poor Man of Assisi by Tomie de Paola

Grade School:
Francis and Clare: Saints of Assisi by Helen Walker Homan

Teen/Adult:
St. Francis of Assisi by G.K. Chesterton
The Joyful Beggar: A Novel about St. Francis of Assisi by Louis de Wohl

Primary Sources:
The Sermon to the Birds The Book of Virtues 761-762
Writings of St. Francis of Assisi TC pgs. 201-233

13th Century AD

The Lost Baron by Allen French (1200)
The Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green (King John 1167-1216)
Big John's Secret by Eleanore Jewett (The 5th Crusade, 1218)
Saint Dominic: Preacher of the Rosary and Founder of the Dominican Order by Mary Fabyan Windeatt
Saint Dominic and the Rosary by Catherine Beebe (1170-1221)
"The Miracle of Alatri, Italy", EM pgs 30-37 (1228)
"The Miracle of Santarem, Portugal", EM 38-46 (early 13th century)
"The Two Miracles of Florence, Italy", EM 47-49 (1230)
Saint Elizabeth's Three Crowns by Blanche Thompson (1207-1231)
Saint Anthony and the Christ Child by Helen Walker Homan (1195-1231)
"The Miracle of Daroca, Spain", EM 50-52 (1239)
"The Miracle of Olmutz, Czechoslovakia", EM 53-55 (1242)
Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction by David Macaulay
St. Hyacinth of Poland: The Story of the Apostle of the North by Mary Fabyan Windeatt
"The Miracle of Regensburg, Germany", EM 56-58 (1257)
"The Two Miracles of Paris, France", EM 63-65 (1274 and 1290)
He Went with Marco Polo by Louise Andrews Kent (1271-1295)
"The Miracle of Slavonice, Czechoslovakia", EM 66-69 (1280)
"The Miracle of Offida, Italy", EM 70-83 (1280)
Castle by David Macaulay (1283)
Women in the Days of the Cathedrals by Régine Pernoud

Architecture:

Chartres Cathedral, Chartres, France (construction 1195-1220)

8th Century A.D.

Picture Books:

The Silk Route: 7,000 Miles of History by John S. Major, illustrated by Stephen Fieser (concentrates on a journey in 700 AD)

Grade School:

"The Miracle of Lanciano, Italy" EM pgs 3-18 (700 AD)
Son of Charlemagne by Barbara Willard (Charlemagne 768-814)

Architecture:

Temple at Borobudur, Java, Indonesia (constructed in the 8th or 9th century)

Saint Benedict (Italy, 480-547)

The Holy Twins: Benedict and Scholastica by Kathleen Norris (illustrated by Tomie de Paola)

Saint Benedict: Hero of the Hills by Mary Fabyan Windeatt

Citadel of God: A Novel about Saint Benedict by Louis de Wohl

Pope Saint Gregory the Great (circa 540-604 AD)

Pope Fiction by Patrick Madrid, pgs. 152-157

The Battle of Milvian Bridge (312 AD)

This is the battle in which Constantine received a dramatic sign which led to his conversion to Christianity and, the following year, the Edict of Milan, which legalized Christianity.

Read more about it here.

hat-tip The Way of the Fathers