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Mary, the mother of Jesus

(Encyclopedia)Mary, in the Bible, mother of Jesus. Christian tradition reckons her the principal saint, naming her variously the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady, and Mother of God (Gr., theotokos). Her name is the He...

Alban, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Alban, Saint ôlˈbən [key], 3d or 4th cent., traditionally the first British martyr. He lived and died at Verulamium, now St. Albans. In 793 an abbey was founded there in his honor. Feast: Roman Cat...

Holy Family

(Encyclopedia)Holy Family, term referring to the child Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. In the Roman Catholic Church the feast in its honor falls usually on the first Sunday after the Epiphany. In art the theme of the Holy...

De Gasperi, Alcide

(Encyclopedia)De Gasperi, Alcide älchēˈdā dā gäˈspārē [key], 1881–1954, Italian premier and a founder of the Christian Democratic party. Born in the Trentino—then under Austria—he represented Italian...

Tone, Theobald Wolfe

(Encyclopedia)Tone, Theobald Wolfe, 1763–98, Irish revolutionary. He was called to the bar in 1789 but soon turned his attention to politics. Inspired by the example of the French Revolution, he helped found (179...

Uri , canton, Switzerland

(Encyclopedia)Uri o͞oˈrē [key], canton (1993 pop. 35,500), 415 sq mi (1,075 sq km), central Switzerland, one of the Four Forest Cantons. Altdorf is the capital. The most sparsely populated of the Swiss cantons, ...

Francis

(Encyclopedia)Francis, 1936–, pope (2013–), an Argentinian (b. Buenos Aires to Italian immigrants) named Jorge Mario Bergoglio; successor of Benedict XVI. Francis, the first non-European to assume the papacy in...

Benedict XVI

(Encyclopedia)Benedict XVI, 1927–2022, pope (2005–13) and Roman Catholic theologian, a German (b. Marktl am Inn, Bavaria) named Josef (or Joseph) Alois Ratzinger;...

Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of

(Encyclopedia)Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of, 1769–1852, British soldier and statesman. Wellington, “the iron duke,” with the soldier's taste for discipline and order and the aristocrat's distrus...

Magnificat

(Encyclopedia)Magnificat măgnĭfˈĭkăt [key] [Lat.,=magnifies], song of the Virgin Mary, beginning “Magnificat anima mea Dominum” [my soul doth magnify the Lord], from Luke 1.46–55. It is the daily vesper ...