OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Niche

From volume 11 of the work.
A recess for the reception of a statue, so designed as to give it emphasis, frame it effectively, and afford some measure of protection. It hardly existed prior to the twelfth century, and is one of the chief decorative characteristics of Gothic architecture. The constant and often lavish use of sculptured images of the saints was an essential part of the great style that was so perfectly to express the Catholic Faith, and that had its beginnings in Normandy as a result of the great Cluniac reformation; and from the moment the roughly chiselled bas-relief swelled into the round and detached figure, the unerring artistic instinct of the medieval builders taught them — as it had taught the Greeks — that figure sculpture becomes architectural only when it is incorporated with the building of which it is a part, by means of surrounding architectural forms that harmonize it with the fabric itself. In Romanesque work this frame is little more than flanking shafts supporting an arch, the statue being treated as an accessory, and given place wherever a space of flat wall appeared between the columns and arches of the structural decoration. The convenience, propriety and beauty of the arrangement were immediately apparent, however, and thenceforward the development of the niche as an independent architectural form was constant and rapid. Not only did the canopied niche assimilate the statue in the architectural entity and afford it that protection from the weather so necessary in the north; it also, in conjunction with the statue itself, produced one of the richest compositions of line, light, and shade known to art. The medieval architects realized this and seized upon it with avidity, using it almost as their chief means for obtaining those spots and spaces of rich decoration that gave the final touch of perfection to their marvellous fabrics. In the thirteenth century the wall became recessed to receive the statue, the flanking shafts became independent supports for an arched and gabled canopy, while a pedestal was introduced, still further to tie the sculpture into the architecture. Later the section of the embrasure became hexagonal or octagonal, the arched canopy was cusped, the gable enriched with crockets and pinnacles, and finally in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the entire feature became almost an independent composition, the canopy being developed into a thing of marvellous complexity and richness, while it was lavished on almost every part of the building, from the doors to the spires, and within as well as without. Protestant and revolutionary iconoclasm have left outside of France few examples of niches properly filled by their original statues, but in such masterpieces of art as the cathedrals of Paris, Chartres, Amiens, and Reims, one may see in their highest perfection these unique manifestations of the subtlety and refinement of the perfect art of Catholic civilization.
Ralph Adams Cram.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Diocese of Wiener-Neustadt

From volume 15 of the work.
(NEOSTADTIENSIS).
A suppressed see in Lower Austria. Upon the request of Frederick III it was erected by Paul II on 14 January, 1469, and was immediately subject to the Holy See. At first it was coterminous with the town of Wiener-Neustadt, but in 1769 the new parish of Theresienfeld was added and in 1784 its territory was extended from Wiener-Neustadt to the boundary of Styria. On 21 April, 1785, the see was incorporated in the Archdiocese of Vienna by Joseph II. Its last bishop, Heinrich Johann Kerens, S.J. (1775-85), and his cathedral chapter was transferred to the newly erected diocese of Sankt Pölten. Of the twenty-three bishop of Wiener-Neustadt the most noteworthy were: Melchior Klesl, also Bishop of Vienna and cardinal (1614-30); Leopold, Count von Kollonitsch (1670-85), later Bishop of Raab, and Christopher Royas von Spinola (1686-95).
WIEDERMANN, Beitrage zur Gesch. des Bis. Wiener-Neustadt, in Oesterreich, Vierteljahrsschrift fur kath. Theol. (Vienna, 1864-9).
MICHAEL OTT
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Diocese of Wilcannia

From volume 15 of the work.
(WILCANIENSIS).
Located in New South Wales, one of the six suffragan sees of Sydney; consists for the most part of the western portions of the older diocese of Bathurst, Armidale, and Goulburn. It is composed of nearly one-half of the State of New South Wales, its area being 150,000 sq. miles. Its sparsely scattered population is engaged principally in pastoral pursuits, though of late years a couple of important and flourishing mining centres have sprung up. When formed, in 1887, its Catholic population was estimated at about 7000, with 8 priests, and an average attendance of 800 children in Catholic schools. The official return for 1912 shows a population of 19,000 Catholics, including 19 secular priests, and 2960 children in Catholic schools under the care of 146 religious teachers. Owing to various causes, namely, the dry climate, the form of land tenure (which favours vast areas of pastoral holdings or "Squattages"), and the uncertainty of the mining industry, the material progress of the diocese has not been such as was anticipated on its establishment. But, with increased railway facilities, scientific wheat growing, and irrigation farming along the great rivers of the western plains, the possibilities of development are very great. Within this vast area are contained mineral deposits of great value which only await the advance of settlement and population for their successful development. The chief mining districts at present are Broken Hill, in Western Corner, and Cobar, in the centre of the diocese. The silver and lead mines of Broken Hill are famous and support the largest purely mining population in Australia. Broken Hill has a population of 40,000 and is a well laid out and thoroughly equipped city. At Cabar, Cambelego, and Wymagee there are gold and copper mines of importance and well-established permanency.
The Very Rev. John Dunne, parish priest of Albury and Vicar-General of the Diocese of Goulburn, was chosen in 1887 to administer this newly formed and vast diocese. He was born in King's Co., Ireland, in 1846; educated at Carlow College; and ordained priest in 1870. After his arrival in Australia he laboured in the Diocese of Goulburn for sixteen years, and was consecrated Bishop of Wilcannia by Cardinal Moran, on 14 Aug., 1887. As there was no residence for a bishop in the town of Wilcannia, from which the diocese was named, nor means to support one, Bishop Dunne resided for a short time at Hay. Seeing, however, the prospects of the new mining city of Broken Hill, he took up his residence there in 1889, and since has administered the diocese from this centre. The city has a handsome cathedral, two convents, an orphanage, and three suburban schools and churches.
A. Killian.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Diocese of Vizagapatam

From volume 15 of the work.
Located in the east of India, suffragan to Madras. It is bounded on the north by the River Mahanadi, on the south by the Godavery river, on the west by the Diocese of Nagpur, and on the east by the Bay of Bengal.
History
Although this district was included within the confines of the Portuguese Diocese of Mylapur from the year 1606, and since 1834 formed part of the Vicariate Apostolic of Madras, next to nothing of missionary work was done here until the year 1845, when it was erected into a vicariate. The first fathers arriving at Vizagapatam found there one old priest, a Theatine, the last survivor of what was known as the Golconda mission. There was only a scattering of Catholics in a few places, mostly either European troops or camp followers. In 1850 their number was estimated at about 4000 at a time when the vicariate included the whole of the Nagpur districts in addition to those of the present diocese. These Nagpur districts were divided off and made into a diocese in 1887, when Vizagapatam also became a diocese, both suffragan to Madras.
Succession of Prelates to 1910 (Vicars Apostolic)
Ernest R. Hull.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Diocese of Waitzen

From volume 15 of the work.
(VÄCZ or VACIENSIS).
Located in Hungary; suffragan of Gran; probably founded by King St. Stephen. Nothing is definitely known about the year of foundation or the first bishops, whose names were Clement, Lazarus, and Aaron. It is said that Lazarus was bishop from 1075-77. In 1102 lived Bishop Stephen, and beginning with Marcellus (1105-19) the series of bishops is uninterrupted. Among the bishops of Waitzen in earlier times are particularly notable: Johannes de Surdis (1363-73), ambassador of King Louis I to Italy in 1369, later on Archbishop of Gran; Vincent Szilassy (1450-73), a member of the embassy which brought the newly-elected King Matthias Corvinus from Prague to Waitzen; Wladislaw Szalkai (1514-23), chancellor of King Louis II and afterwards Archbishop of Gran; Martinus Pethe (1582-86), transferred to Kalocsa. Among the late bishops are mentioned: Sigismund Kolonits (1709-16), transferred to Vienna, and first Archbishop of Vienna; Count Michael Althann (1718-34), sent as viceroy to Sicily by Emperor Charles VI, and afterwards cardinal; Count Christopher Migazzi, cardinal and Archbishop of Vienna, twice Bishop of Waitzen (1756-57); 1762-82); Augustinus Roskoványi (1851-59), an eminent theological writer, transferred to Neutra in 1859. He was succeeded by Anthony Peitler, 1859-85, who founded the library at Waitzen. Since 1900 Count Charles Csaky is bishop. In 1514, when the Turks conquered Waitzen, the chapter ceased to exist, but was re-established in 1700. The diocese includes parts of the counties of Nograd, Pesth, Csongrád, and Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, and is divided into three archdeaconries and nineteen vice-archdeaconries. Within the diocese are five titular abbeys, four provostships, and six titular provostships. The chapter has twelve canons and six titular canons. The number of parishes is 123; that of the clergy, 266. The right of patronage is exercised by 44 patrons. The diocese includes 7 monasteries and 12 nunneries, with altogether 232 inmates. The Catholic population is 757,827.
DESERICIUS, De episcopatu Vaciensi historia (Budapest, 1770); PRAY, Specimen hierarchiae Hungariae, II, 330-358; Schematismus episcopatus Vaciensis pro 1911; A katolikus Magyarorsqag (Budapest, 1902), in Hungarian.
A. ALDÁSY
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Sts. John and Paul

From volume 8 of the work.
Martyred at Rome on 26 June. The year of their martyrdom is uncertain according to their Acts, it occurred under Julian the Apostate (361-3). In the second half of the fourth century, Byzantius, the Roman senator, and Pammachius, his son, fashioned their house on the Cælian Hill into a Christian basilica. In the fifth century the presbyteri tituli Byzantii (priests of the church of Byzantius) are mentioned in an inscription and among the signatures of the Roman Council of 499. The church was also called the titulus Pammachii after Byzantius's son, the pious friend of St. Jerome. In the ancient apartments on the ground-floor of the house of Byzantius, which were still retained under the basilica, the tomb of two Roman martyrs, John and Paul, was the object of veneration as early as the fifth century. The Sacramentarium Leonianum already indicates in the preface to the feast of the saints, that they rested within the city walls ("Sacr. Leon.", ed. Feltoe, Cambridge, 1896, 34), while, in one of the early itineraries to the tombs of the Roman martyrs, their grave is assigned to the church on the Cælian (De rossi, "Roma sotterrania", I, 138, 175). The titulus Byzantii or Pammachii was consequently known at a very early date by the names of the two martyrs (titulus SS. Joannis et Pauli). That the two saints are martyrs of the Roman Church, is historically certain; as to how and when their bodies found a resting-place in the house of Pammachius under the basilica, we only know that it certainly occurred in the fourth century. The year and circumstances of their martyrdom are likewise unknown. According to their Acts, which are of a purely legendary character and without historical foundation, the martyrs were eunuchs of Constantina, daughter of Constantine the Great, and became acquainted with a certain Gallicanus, who built a church in Ostia. At the command of Julian the Apostate, they were beheaded secretly by Terentianus in their house on the Cælian, where their church was subsequently erected, and where they themselves were buried. The rooms on the ground-floor of the above-mentioned house of Pammachius were rediscovered under the Basilica of SS. Giovanni e Paolo in Rome. They are decorated with important and interesting frescoes, while the original tomb (confessio) of Sts. John and Paul is covered with paintings of which the martyrs are the subject. The rooms and the tomb form one of the most important early Christian memorials in Rome. Since the erection of the basilica, the two saints have been greatly venerated, and their names have been inserted in the Canon of the Mass. Their feast is kept on 26 June.
MOMBRITIUS, Sanctuarium, I, 317 sq.; Acta SS., V, June, 159-60 — cf. ibid., 37-9; Bibl. hagior. latina, ed. BOLLANDISTS, I, 484 sq. (s. v. Gallicanus); GERMANO DI S. STANISLAO, La casa celimontana dei ss. martiri Giovanni e Paolo (Rome, 1894); DUFOURCQ, Gesta mart. rom. (Paris 1900), 145-52; ALLARD, Etudes d'histoire et d'archéologie (Paris, 1899), 159 sqq.; FRANCHI DE' CAVALIERI, Nuove note agiografiche in Studi e testi, IX (Rome, 1902).
J. P. KIRSCH
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Sts. Julian and Basilissa

From volume 8 of the work.
Husband and wife; died at Antioch or, more probably, at Antinoe, in the reign of Diocletian, early in the fourth century, on 9 January, according to the Roman Martyrology, or 8 January, according to the Greek Menaea. We have no historically certain data relating to these two holy personages, and more than one this Julian of Antinoe has been confounded with Julian of Cilicia. The confusion is easily explained by the fact that thirty-nine saints of this name are mentioned in the Roman Martyrology, eight of whom are commemorated in the one month of January. But little is known of this saint, one we put aside the exaggerations of his Acts. Forced by his family to marry, he agreed with his spouse, Basilissa, that they should both preserve their virginity, and further encouraged her to found a convent for women, of which she became the superior. while he himself gathered a large number of monks and undertook their direction. Basilissa died a very holy death, but martyrdom was reserved for Julian. During the persecution of Diocletian he was arrested, tortured, and put to death at Antioch, in Syria, by the order of the governor, Martian, according to the Latins, at Antinoe, in Egypt, according to the Greeks, which seems more probable. Unfortunately, the Acts of this martyr belong to those pious romances so much appreciated in early times, whose authors, unearned only for the edification of their readers, drowned the few known facts in a mass of imaginary details. Like many similar lives of saints, it offers miracles, prodigies, and improbable utterances, that lack the least historical value. In any ease these two saints must have enjoyed a great reputation in antiquity, and their veneration was well established before the eighth century. In the "Martyrologium Hieronymianum" they are mentioned under 6 January; Usuard, Ado, Notker, and others place them under the ninth, and Rabanus Maurus under the thirteenth of the same month, while Vandelbert puts them under 13 February, and the Menology of Canisius under 21 June, the day to which the Greek Menaea assign St. Julian of Caesarea. There used to exist at Constantinople a church under the invocation of these saints, the dedication of which is inscribed in the Greek Calendar under 5 July.
Acta SS. Bolland. Jan.. I (1643), 570-75; MARCHINI, I SS. Giuliano e Basilissa sposi, vergini e martiri, protettori dei conjugati (Genoa, 1873); |TILLEMONT, Memoires pour servir a l'hist. eccl. V (Paris, 1698), 799 sqq.; SURIUS, Vit. Sanct., I (Venice 1581), 61-62.
LEON CLUGNET
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Sts. Kieran

From volume 8 of the work.
There are many Irish saints of this name, but the most celebrated is St. Kieran of Clonmacnoise (see CLONMACNOISE). Of the others, St. Kieran of Seir-Kieran and St. Kieran of Disert-Kieran are the best known. The former is founder of Seir-Kieran, Kings County (about A.D. 450), and also of the See of Ossory (see OSSORY, DIOCESE OF). His history is obscure, but he flourished during the greater part of the fifth century, and is venerated in England, Brittany, Wales, and Scotland, on 5 March. St. Kieran of Disert-Kieran, Co. Meath, called by the Irish annalists "Kieran the Devout", wrote a "Life of St. Patrick." He died in 775 on 14 June, on which day his feast is celebrated. St. Kieran, patron of Clonsost, is commemorated on 30 April, and St. Kieran, son of Colga, on 19 May.
W. H. Grattan-Flood.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Sts. Maris, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum

From volume 9 of the work.
All martyred at Rome in 270. Maris and his wife Martha, who belonged to the Persian nobility, came to Rome with their children in the reign of Emperor Claudius II. As zealous Christians, they sympathized with and succoured the persecuted faithful, and buried the bodies of the slain. This exposed them to the imperial vengeance; they were seized and delivered to the judge Muscianus, who, unable to persuade them to abjure their faith, condemned them to various tortures. At last, when no suffering could subdue their courage, Maris and his sons were beheaded at a place called Nymphæ Catabassi, thirteen miles from Rome, and their bodies burnt. Martha was cast into a well. A Roman lady named Felicitas, having succeeded in securing the half-consumed remains of the father and Sons and also the mother's body from the well, had the sacred relics secretly interred in a catacomb, on the thirteenth before the Kalends of February (20 January). The commemoration of these four martyrs, however, has been appointed for 19 February, doubtless so as to leave the twentieth for the feast of St. Sebastian.
Acta SS. (1643), II Jan., 214-6; BARONIUS, Annales (1589), 270, 2-9, 12-16; BOSCO, Una famiglia di martiri ossia vita dei SS. Mario, Marta, Audiface ed Abaco (Turin, 1892); MOMBRITIUS, Sanctuarium (1479), II, cxxxi-iii; SURIUS, De vitis sanctorum (Venice, 1581), I, 309-10; TILLEMONT, Mém, pour servir à l'hist. ecclés. (1696), IV, 675-7.
LÉON CLUGNET.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Sts. Innocentius

From volume 8 of the work.
Innocentius, Saints.—A number of saints are to be found bearing the name Innocentius, but only three besides Pope Innocent I seem to deserve special mention.
St. Innocentius, Bishop of Tortona, in Italy, probably in the fourth century. A legendary "Vita" of St. Innocentius relates that he was thrown into a dungeon during the persecution of Diocletian, and later fled to Rome, where he was afterwards made a deacon of the Roman Church by Pope Sylvester, and was finally consecrated Bishop of Tortona. The narrative, however, rests on no historical foundation and is of comparatively late origin, probably appearing for the first time in the twelfth century. As a matter of fact, however, Innocentius was one of the first, if not actually the first of the bishops of Tortona. From the earliest times, the Church of Tortona celebrated not only the day of his death, April 17, but also the day of his consecration as bishop, September 24. It is to be remarked that the custom of celebrating in a special manner the day of consecration of a bishop became widespread in the fourth and fifth centuries. Moreover, the tomb of Innocentius is beneath the high altar of the old cathedral of Tortona. These special distinctions accorded to the holy bishop can best be explained by regarding him as the first bishop of that city.
Positive chronological proof exists of the occupation of the See of Tortona by one Exuperantius, who attended the Council of Aquileia in 381. From a letter written in exile by Eusebius of Vercelli to his community in 356, we are further informed that at that time Tortona still belonged to the Diocese of Vercelli. The episcopate, therefore, of St. Innocentius, whom we presume to have been the first Bishop of Tortona, is to be placed somewhere in the period between 360 and 380.
St. Innocentius, according to legend, Bishop of Justiniana (Adrumetum?) in Africa, in the fourth century. He is venerated at Gaeta in Italy. It would seem that towards the end of his life he went to Italy, where he died; and that his body was afterwards translated to Gaeta. The commemoration of his feast takes place on May 7.
St. Innocentius (Innocens), Bishop of Le Mans, France; d. 559. He was the seventh bishop, and assisted at the Synods of Orleans held in 533 and 541. In all probability, he was bishop as early as 524. According to the "Acta" of the bishops of Le Mans, he restored the cathedral and other churches, and founded or endowed many convents in his diocese. Gregory of Tours mentions his death. His feast is observed on June 19.
J. P. Kirsch.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Sts. Fintan

From volume 6 of the work.
St. Fintan of Clonenagh
A Leinster saint, b. about 524; d. 17 February, probably 594, or at least before 597. He studied under St. Columba of Terryglass, and in 550 settled in the solitude of the Slieve Bloom Mountains, near what is now Maryborough, Queen's County. His oratory soon attracted numerous disciples, for whom he wrote a rule, and his austerities and miracles recalled the apostolic ages. Among his pupils was the great St. Comgall of Bangor. When he attained his seventieth year he chose Fintan Maeldubh as his successor in the Abbey of Clonenagh. He has been compared by the Irish annalists to St. Benedict, and is styled "Father of the Irish Monks".
St. Fintan (Munnu) of Taghmon
Son of Tulchan, an Ulster saint, d. at Taghmon, 636. He founded his celebrated abbey at Taghmon (Teach Munnu) in what is now County Wexford, in 599. He is principally known as the defender of the Irish method of keeping Easter, and, in 630, he attended the Synod of Magh Lene, at which he dissented from the decision to adopt the Roman paschal method. Another synod was held somewhat later at Magh Ailbe, when St. Fintan again upheld his views in opposition to St. Laserian (Mo Laisre). But the views of the University Church prevailed. His feast is observed on 21 October. The beautiful stone cross of "St. Munn" still stands in the churchyard of the village.
W. H. Grattan-Flood.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Sts. Gallicanus

From volume 6 of the work.
The following saints of this name are commemorated on 25 June:
(1) St. Gallicanus
Roman Martyr in Egypt, 363-363, under Julian. According to his Acts (in "Acta SS.", June, VII, 31), which are not very reliable, he was a distinguished general in the war against the Persians, was consul with Symmachus,333 (perhaps also once before with Bassus, 317). After his conversion to Christianity he retired to Ostia, founded a hospital and endowed a church built by Constantine. Under Julian he was banished to Egypt, and lived with the hermits in the desert. A small church was built in his honour in the Trastevere of Rome. His relics are at Rome in the church of Sant' Andrea della Valle. The legend of his conversion was dramatized by Roswitha.
(2) St. Gallicanus I
Seventh bishop of Embrun, was represented at the Fourth Council of Arles in 524, assisted in person at that of Carpentras in 527; perhaps also at the Second Council of Orange in 529, and at the Third Council of Vaison in the same year.
(3) St. Gallicanus II
Ninth bishop of Embrun, assisted at the Fourth Council of Orléans, 541 and was represented by Probus at the fifth of Orléans. He is said to have consecrated the church of the Spanish martyrs Vincent, Orontius, and Victor, built at Embrun by Palladius. It is probable, however, that Palladius never existed (he is not known except from some hagiographical documents of little value), and that Gallicanus governed the diocese from 518 to 549 and perhaps until 554.
FRANCIS MERSHMAN