Category: History

It’s not a miracle, but it is a sweet way to express our nostalgia for the Servant of God, Pope John Paul II.

Pope John Paul II visited the US on October 1, 1979, starting here in Boston. Post your recollections of the visit in the comments.
Update: for the “young adult” readers who don’t remember the occasion (Hi, John!), here’s a post from five years ago with my recollections.

85 years ago, the atheistic Soviet state confiscated the bells of the Danilov Monastery in Moscow, and offered them for sale as scrap bronze. An American industrialist bought the bells and gave them to Harvard to prevent their destruction; since then they have hung in the tower of Lowell House, ringing to celebrate football victories and commencements. Soon they will go back to Russia and ring for the glory of God.
More at Harvard Gazette.

A couple of years ago, BBC Radio 4’s history series “In Our Time” presented a very worthwhile discussion on an important period of Church history: the founding of the great mendicant orders, the Franciscans and the Dominicans. You can read about the program and replay it (41 minutes) at Radio 4’s website.
Considering how shallow some BBC treatment of religion is, the show’s producers deserve credit for presenting something so informative, non-polemical, and respectful of the audience.

LiveScience has some handy pieces on-line debunking myths about the practice of justice in the Middle Ages: Medieval Justice Not So Medieval and 10 Biggest Myths about medieval torture.
While we’re setting things straight, researchers have apparently confirmed that the Spanish weren’t making it all up when they reported that Aztec and Maya societies engaged in human sacrifice.