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John Berchmans
John Berchmans, SJ ( ; 13 March 1599 – 13 August 1621) was a Belgian Jesuit scholastic and is revered as a saint in the Catholic Church. In 1615, the Jesuits opened a college at Mechelen, Belgium and Berchmans was one of the first to enroll. His spiritual model was his fellow Jesuit Aloysius Gonzaga, and he was influenced by the example of the English Jesuit martyrs. Berchmans is the patron saint of altar servers, Jesuit scholastics, and students. Early life John Berchmans was born on 13 March 1599, in the city of Diest situated in what is now the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant, the son of a shoemaker. His parents were John Charles and Elizabeth Berchmans. He was the oldest of five children and at baptism was named John in honor of John the Baptist. He grew up in an atmosphere of political turmoil caused by a religious war between the Catholic and Protestant parts of the Low Countries. When he was age nine, his mother was stricken with a very long and a very se ...
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Saint
In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denomination. In Anglican Communion, Anglican, Oriental Orthodox, and Lutheranism, Lutheran doctrine, all of their faithful deceased in Heaven are considered to be saints, but a selected few are considered worthy of greater honor or emulation. Official Ecclesiastical polity, ecclesiastical recognition, and veneration, is conferred on some denominational saints through the process of canonization in the Catholic Church or glorification in the Eastern Orthodox Church after their approval. In many Protestant denominations, and following from Pauline usage, ''saint'' refers broadly to any holy Christian, without special recognition or selection. While the English word ''saint'' ...
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Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola and six companions, with the approval of Pope Paul III. The Society of Jesus is the largest religious order in the Catholic Church and has played significant role in education, charity, humanitarian acts and global policies. The Society of Jesus is engaged in evangelization and apostolic ministry in 112 countries. Jesuits work in education, research, and cultural pursuits. They also conduct retreats, minister in hospitals and parishes, sponsor direct social and humanitarian works, and promote Ecumenism, ecumenical dialogue. The Society of Jesus is consecrated under the patron saint, patronage of Madonna della Strada, a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and it is led by a Superior General of ...
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Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalities, 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country. It is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, and is separate from the Flemish Region (Flanders), within which it forms an enclave, and the Walloon Region (Wallonia), located less than to the south. Brussels grew from a small rural settlement on the river Senne (river), Senne to become an important city-region in Europe. Since the end of the Second World War, it has been a major centre for international politics and home to numerous international organisations, politicians, Diplomacy, diplomats and civil servants. Brussels is the ''de facto' ...
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Basilica Of Our Lady Of Scherpenheuvel
The Basilica of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel (; ) is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic parish church and minor basilica in Scherpenheuvel-Zichem, Belgium. The church was consecrated in 1627 and raised to the status of a minor basilica in 1922. It is reputedly the most frequently visited shrine of pilgrimage in Belgium. While the cult on the ''Scherpenheuvel'' (or Sharp Hill) is older, its present architectural layout and its enduring importance are due to the patronage of the Archdukes Archduke Albert, sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands, Albert and Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain, Isabella and the Counter-Reformation. Origins For many years the Marian cult on the ''Scherpenheuvel'' centered on a small statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic), Virgin Mary that hung in an oak tree on top of the hill. According to the foundation legend a shepherd noticed that the image had fallen to the ground and decided to take it home. When he had lifted it, he discovered he was ...
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New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive with a respective county. The city is the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the United States by both population and urban area. New York is a global center of finance and commerce, culture, technology, entertainment and media, academics, and scientific output, the arts and fashion, and, as home to the headquarters of the United Nations, international diplomacy. With an estimated population in 2024 of 8,478,072 distributed over , the city is the most densely populated major city in the United States. New York City has more than double the population of Los Angeles, the nation's second-most populous city.
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Catholic Encyclopedia
''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'', is an English-language encyclopedia about Catholicism published in the United States. It was designed "to give its readers full and authoritative information on the entire cycle of Catholic interests, action and doctrine". The first volume of the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index volume in 1914 and later supplementary volumes. Its successor, the ''New Catholic Encyclopedia'', was first published by the Catholic University of America in 1967. ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' was published by the Robert Appleton Company (RAC) in New York City. RAC was a publishing company incorporated in February 1905 for the express purpose of publishing the ency ...
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Eternal Word Television Network
The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) is an American basic cable television network which presents around-the-clock Catholic programming. It is the largest Catholic television network in America, and is purported to be "the world's largest religious media network", (and according to the network itself) reaching 425 million people in 160 countries, with 11 networks. The network was originally founded by Mother Angelica , in 1980 and began broadcasting on 15 August 1981 from a garage studio at the Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Irondale, Alabama, which Mother Angelica founded in 1962. She hosted her own show, ''Mother Angelica Live'', until health issues led to her retirement in September 2001. As of 2017, Michael P. Warsaw, who is a consultant to the Vatican's Dicastery for Communications, leads EWTN. In addition to its television network, EWTN owns the '' National Catholic Register'' newspaper, which it acquired in January 2011, and Catholic News Agency. The net ...
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John The Baptist
John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist Christianity, Christian traditions, and as the prophet Yahya ibn Zakariya in Islam. He is sometimes referred to as John the Baptiser. John is mentioned by the History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman Jewish historian Josephus, and he is revered as a major religious figure in Christianity, Islam, the Baháʼí Faith, the Druze faith, and Mandaeism; in the last of these he is considered to be the final and most vital prophet. He is considered to be a prophet of God in Abrahamic religions, God by all of the aforementioned faiths, and is honoured as a saint in many Christian denominations. According to the New Testament, John anticipated a messianic figure greater than himself; in the Gospels, he is portrayed as the precursor or forerunn ...
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Flemish Brabant
Flemish Brabant ( ; ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also surrounds the Brussels-Capital Region. Its capital is Leuven. It has an area of which is divided into two administrative districts (''arrondissementen'' in Dutch) containing 65 municipalities. As of January 2024, Flemish Brabant had a population of over 1.19 million. Flemish Brabant was created in 1995 by the splitting of the former province of Brabant into three parts: two new provinces, Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant; and the Brussels-Capital Region, which no longer belongs to any province. The split was made to accommodate the eventual division of Belgium in three regions (Flanders, Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region). The province is made up of two arrondissements. The Halle-Vilvoorde Arrondissement surrounds Brussels a ...
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Jesuit Formation
Jesuit formation, or the training of Jesuits, is the process by which candidates are prepared for ordination or brotherly service in the Society of Jesus, the world's largest male Catholic religious order. The process is based on the Constitution of the Society of Jesus written by Ignatius of Loyola and approved in 1550. There are various stages, from a novice, to studying, to full-time work and a return to studies before ordination as a priest or final profession as a brother. They are formed spiritually, academically and practically for the ministries they offer the Church and world. Stages St. Ignatius was strongly influenced by the Renaissance and wanted Jesuits to be able to offer whatever ministries were most needed at any given moment, and especially, to be ready to respond to missions (assignments) from the Pope. Formation for priesthood normally takes between 8 and 17 years, depending on the man's background and previous education, and final vows are taken several years ...
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Altar Server
An altar server is a laity, lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian liturgy. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helping bring up the gifts, and bringing up the liturgical books, among other things. If young, the server is commonly called an altar boy or altar girl. In some Christian denominations, altar servers are known as acolytes. Latin Church The Second Vatican Council's ''Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy'' confirmed that altar servers featured among those who "exercise a genuine liturgical function" within services such as the Mass. According to the ''General Instruction of the Roman Missal'', "Mass should not be celebrated without a minister, or at least one of the faithful, except for a just and reasonable cause." While the function of altar server is commonly associated with children, it can be and is carried out by people of any age or dignity. The term "acolyte" As ...
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Forty Martyrs Of England And Wales
The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales or Cuthbert Mayne and Thirty-Nine Companion Martyrs are a group of Catholic Church, Catholic, lay and religious, men and women, executed between 1535 and 1679 for treason and related offences under various laws enacted by Parliament during the English Reformation. The individuals listed range from Carthusian monks who in 1535 declined to accept Henry VIII's Act of Supremacy, to seminary priests who were caught up in the alleged Popish Plot against Charles II of England, Charles II in 1679. Many were sentenced to death at show trials, or with no trial at all. Background The first wave of executions came with the reign of Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII and involved persons who did not support the 1534 Acts of Supremacy, Act of Supremacy and dissolution of the monasteries. Carthusian John Houghton and Bridgettine Richard Reynolds died at this time. In 1570 Pope Pius V, in support of various rebellions in England and Ireland, excommun ...
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