The Seven Martyrs at Samosata, 297. St Leocadia, virgin and martyr, 304.   Born. - Gutsavus Adolphus the Great, of Sweden, 1594; Philip V. of Spain, 1683, Versailles. Died. - Pope Pius IV., 1565; Sir Anthony Vandyke, painter, 1641, London; Pope Clement IX., 1669; John Reinhold Forster, naturalist, and voyager, 1798, Halle; Charles Macfarlane, historian, … Continue reading 9th of December →

The Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. St Romaric, abbot, 653.   Born. - Mary, Queen of Scots, 1542, Linlithgow; Queen Christina of Sweden, 1626; Johann George Von Zimmermann, celebrated author of treatise on Solitude, 1728, Brug, Switzerland. Died. - Emperor Sigismund of Germany, 1437; Scaramouche, celebrated zany, 1694, Paris; Barthélemi d’Herbelot, distinguished orientalist, 1695, … Continue reading 8th of December →

St Ambrose, bishop and confessor, doctor of the church, 397. St Fara, virgin and abbess, 655.   Born. - Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, architect and sculptor, 1598, Naples; Rev. Richard Valpy, D.D., compiler of classic grammars, &c., 1754, Jersey. Died. - Cicero, Roman orator, assassinated 43 B.C.; Marshal Ney, general of Napoleon, shot at Paris, 1815; … Continue reading 7th of December →

St Theophilus, bishop of Antioch, confessor, 190. St Nicholas, confessor, archbishop of Myra, 342. Saints Dionysia, Dativa, Aemilianus, Boniface, Leontin, Tertius, and Majoricus, martyrs, 484. St Peter Paschal, bishop and martyr, 1300.   Born. - Baldassarre Castiglione, diplomatist and man of letters, 1478, Casatico, near Mantua; Sir David Baird, hero of Seringapatam, 1757, Newbyth, Scotland. … Continue reading 6th of December – St Nicholas’ Day →

St Crispina, martyr, 304. St Sabas, abbot, 532. St Nicetus, bishop of Triers, confessor, about 566.   Died. - Francis II. of France, husband of [Mary,] Queen of Scots, 1560; Johann Wolfgang Theophilus Mozart, celebrated composer, 1792, Vienna; Carlo Giovanni Maria Denina, historical writer, 1813, Paris; Leopold Frederick, Count Stolberg, poet and miscellaneous writer, 1819, … Continue reading 5th of December →

St Clement of Alexandria, father of the church, beginning of 3d century. St Barbara, virgin and martyr, about 306. St Maruthas, bishop and confessor, 5th century. St Peter Chrysologus, archbishop of Ravenna, confessor, 450. St Siran or Sigirannus, abbot in Berry, confessor, 655. St Anno, archbishop of Cologne, confessor, 1075.   Born. - Thomas Carlyle, … Continue reading 4th of December →

St Lucius, king and confessor, end of second century. St Francis Xavier, Apostle of the Indies, confessor, 1552.   Born. - Luigi Pulci, Italian poet, 1431, Florence; John Gruter, eminent scholar and critic, 1560, Antwerp. Died. - Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, distinguished commander, 1592; Giovanni Belzoni, explorer of Egyptian antiquities, 1823, Gato, in Guinea; … Continue reading 3rd of December →