In Rome today in 2014, two dead Popes were canonised with the help of two living ones. John Paul II and John XIII were made saints together, with Pope Francis celebrating mass, and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI lending a hand. The event drew a crowd of half a million people into St Peter’s Square, not to mention 150 cardinals and 700 bishops.
‘They were priests, bishops and popes of the 20th century. They lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not overwhelmed by them. For them, God was more powerful; faith was more powerful – faith in Jesus Christ the Redeemer of man and the Lord of history.’ Pope Francis
John Milton signed the publishing contract for his epic poem Paradise Lost today in 1667, which enabled it to be published six months later. The printer, Samuel Simmons, paid him £5 up front. In all, Milton earned £10 from Paradise Lost before he died seven years later.
It is St Zita’s day, the patron saint of servants. Zita was a Tuscan servant from the 13th century who lent her master’s cloak to an old man in church, who went off with it and then later came back. On this basis, he was later realised to be an angel.
Archaeologists announced their discovery of the long-lost tomb of Herod the Great, today in 2007, at the Herodium, the ancient king’s palace fortress south of Jerusalem. They had excavated a slab of high quality pink limestone, and further digging unearthed an ornate sarcophagus, which the archaeologists said was fit for a king. The discovery has since been questioned, but no rival site has yet been found.
Samuel Morse, telegraph pioneer and co-inventor of Morse Code, was born today in 1791. He wrote in support of slavery, saying it was ordained by God.
‘My creed on the subject of slavery is short. Slavery per se is not sin. It is a social condition ordained from the beginning of the world for the wisest purposes, benevolent and disciplinary, by Divine Wisdom.’ Samuel Morse, ‘An Argument on the Ethical Position of Slavery’
Image: Jeffrey Bruno