Monday Basics: Pro-life History Highlight, Catholic History, Saint of the Day, Birthdays

Memorial of St. Barnabas, apostle

St. Barnabas, designated by the Holy Spirit to share the charge and mission of the twelve Apostles, is venerated by the Church as one of them. He played an important part in the first extension of Christianity outside the Jewish world. It was Barnabas who presented St. Paul to the other Apostles when, after his long retreat in Arabia, he came to Jerusalem for the first time after his conversion to submit for Peter's approval the mission to the Gentiles entrusted to him by the Master Himself. Barnabas was Paul's companion and helper on his first missionary journey and returned with him to Jerusalem, but left him when he set out on his second journey and went to Cyprus. The name of St. Barnabas is mentioned in the Canon of the Mass.

Name Meaning
son of encouragement; son of consolation

Patronage
against hailstorms; Antioch; Cyprus; invoked as peacemaker; Marino, Italy

Representation
ax; lance; middle-aged bearded apostle, often bearing a book or olive branch; standing on or near a pile of stones while holding a book; stones; with Saint Paul

St. Luke describes Barnabas as a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and of Faith". (Catholic Encyclopedia)

Today in Catholic History:

1294 Roger Bacon, a Franciscan monk and one of the most original thinkers of the Middle Ages, died (b. ca. 1214).

Birthdays:

1403 - John IV, Duke of Brabant (d. 1427), founder of the Catholic University of Leuven

1572 - Ben Jonson, English dramatist (d. 1637)

1672 - Francesco Antonio Bonporti, Italian priest and composer (d. 1749)

1864 - Richard Strauss, German composer and conductor (d. 1949)

1880 - Jeannette Rankin, American politician, first woman elected to the United States House of Representatives and the first female member of Congress. (d. 1973)

1913 - Vince Lombardi, American football coach (d. 1970)

1933 - Gene Wilder, American actor

1956 - Joe Montana. American football player

1959 - Hugh Laurie, English actor and comedian ("House")

Pro-life History Highlight:

1985
Karen Ann Quinlan, a comatose patient whose case prompted a historic right-to-die court decision, died in Morris Plains, N.J., at age 31.
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