Saturday Basics

Optional Memorial of St. Ephrem, deacon and doctor:

St. Ephrem, called "the Harp of the Holy Spirit", is the great classic Doctor of the Syrian church. As deacon at Edessa, he vigorously combated the heresies of his time, and to do so more effectively wrote poems and hymns about the mysteries of Christ, the blessed Virgin and the saints. He had a great devotion to our Lady. He was a commentator on Scripture and a preacher as well as a poet, and has left a considerable number of works, which were translated into other Eastern languages as well as into Greek and Latin. He died in 373. Benedict XV proclaimed him a Doctor of the Church in 1920.

Today in Catholic History:

328 Athanasius (ca. 293–373) was elected bishop of Alexandria, where he would suffer many attacks and be forced into exile five times.

793 Vikings attacked the monastery at Lindisfarne, Scotland. The date is often considered the first event of the "Viking Age."

1191 King Richard I ("the Lionhearted," 1157–1199) of England arrived at the besieged Palestinian port city of Acre (Acco) during the Third Crusade (1189–1192).

1290 The death of Beatrice (b. 1266), the woman he had worshiped from afar, caused Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) to begin philosophic studies that no doubt influenced his eventual production of his great Christian epic poem The Divine Comedy.

1310 - Duccio's Maestà Altarpiece, a seminal artwork of the early Italian Renaissance, is unveiled and installed in the Siena Cathedral in Siena, Italy.

Birthdays:

1865 - Carl August Nielsen, Danish conductor, violinist, and composer (d. 1931)

1900 - Fred Waring, American bandleader (d. 1984)

1916 - Robert McNamara, United States Secretary of Defense and president of the World Bank

1939 - Dick Vitale, American sportscaster

1973 - Tedy Bruschi, American Football Player

1993 - Danielle Chuchran, American actress

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