Maassen, Friedrich Bernard Christian Professor of law (1823-1900)

Miracle Plays and Mysteries - These two names are used to designate the religious drama which developed among Christian nations at the end of the Middle Ages

Miracles, Gift of - The gift of miracles is one of those mentioned by St. Paul in his First Epistle to the Corinthians (xii, 9, 10), among the extraordinary graces of the Holy Ghost

Miraculous Medal - The devotion owes its origin to Zoe Labore, a member of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, known in religion as Sister Catherine, to whom the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared three separate times in the year 1830, at the mother-house of the community at Paris

Miraeus, Aubert - Ecclesiastical historian, born at Brussels, 30 Nov., 1573; died at Antwerp, 19 October, 1640

Mirandola, Giovanni Francesco Pico della - Italian philosopher, nephew of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, b. about 1469; d. 1533

Mirandola, Giovanni Pico della - Italian philosopher and scholar (1463-1494)

Miridite, Abbey of - The name of an abbatia nullius in Albania, where there formerly stood a Benedictine abbey, now destroyed, dedicated to St. Alexander, martyr

Miserere - The first word of the Vulgate text of Psalm 1

Misericorde, Congregation of the Sisters of - Founded 16 January, 1848, for the purpose of procuring spiritual and corporal assistance for poor mothers and unfortunate girls

Misocco and Galanca - This prefecture in the canton of Grisons, Switzerland, comprises the valley of the Moesa which starts at the pass of San Bernardino and flows into the Ticino, and also the valley of Calanca, through which the Calasanca flows

Missa Pro Populo - A Mass celebrated for parishioners on all Sundays and holidays of obligation

Missal - The book which contains the prayers said by the priest at the altar as well as all that is officially read or sung in connection with the offering of the holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the ecclesiastical year

Mission, Congregation of Priests of the - A congregation of secular priests with religious vows founded by St. Vincent de Paul

Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo, Congregation of - Founded by John Baptist Scalabrini, Bishop of Piacenza, Italy (d. 1 June, 1905); approved in principle by Leo XIII in a Brief dated 25 November, 1887; constitution definitively approved by a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda, 3 October, 1908

Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales of Annecy - Society of missionary priests

Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle - A community of priests for giving missions and doing other Apostolic works, especially for making converts to the Catholic faith

Mission Indians (of California) - A name of no real ethnic significance, but used as a convenient popular and official term to designate the modern descendants of those tribes of California, of various stocks and languages, evangelized by the Franciscans in the latter part of the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth centuries, beginning in 1769

Missions, California - Divided into Lower or Old California and Upper California

Missions, Catholic - A general survey of the missionary activity of the Catholic Church at the time the article was written (1908)

Missions, Catholic Indian, of Canada - History of the missions

Missions, Catholic Indian, of the United States - Includes the history of the missions and a list of the missionary martyrs

Missions, Catholic Parochial - This term is used to designate certain special exertions of the Church's pastoral agencies, made, for the most part, among Catholics, to instruct them more fully in the truths of their religion, to convert sinners, rouse the torpid and indifferent, and lift the good to a still higher plane of spiritual effort

Mississippi - The state takes its name from the Mississippi River that forms its western boundary

Missouri - The State of Missouri was carved out of the Louisiana Territory, and derives its name from the principal river flowing through its center

Missouri Test-Oath - The terms of the oath required the affiant to deny, not only that he had ever been in armed hostility to the United States, or to the lawful authorities thereof, but that he had ever 'by act or word', manifested his adherence to the cause of the enemies of the United States

Mithraism - A pagan religion consisting mainly of the cult of the ancient Indo-Iranian Sun-god Mithra

Mitre - A kind of folding-cap consisting of two like parts, each stiffened by a lining and rising to a peak; these are sewn together on the sides, but are united above by a piece of material that can fold together

Mittarelli, Nicola Giacomo - A monastic historian, born 2 September, 1707, at Venice; died 4 August, 1777, in the monastery of San Michele di Murano near Venice

Mitylene - A titulary archbishopric on the island of Lesbos

Mivart, St. George Jackson - Corresponding member of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia; Member of the Council of Linnean Society, etc., b. in London, 30 November, 1827, d. there 1 April, 1900

Mixe Indians - A mountain tribe in southern Mexico, noted for their extreme conservatism, constituting together with the neighbouring Zoque, a distinct linguistic stock, the Zoquean

Mixed Marriage - Those between Catholics and non-Catholics, when the latter have been baptized in some Christian sect. The term is also used to designate unions between Catholics and infidels

Mixteca Indians - One of the most important civilized tribes of southern Mexico, occupying an extensive territory in western and northern Oaxaca and extending into Guerrero and Puebla

Moab, Moabites - In the Old Testament, the word Moab designates (1) a son of Lot by his elder daughter (Gen., xix, 37); (2) the people of whom this son of Lot is represented as the ancestor (Ex., xv, 15, etc.), and who are also called 'the Moabites' (Gen., xix, 37); and possibly (3) the territory occupied by the Moabites (Num., xxi, 11)

Mobile - Suffragan of New Orleans, comprises the State of Alabama and western Florida

Mocissus - A titular metropolitan see of Cappadocia

Mocoví Indians - A tribe of the Guaycuran stock closely related linguistically to the Toba, Mbaya, and Abipon, their usual allies, settled principally along the middle and upper Vermejo River

Modalism (Monarchianism) - The so-called Dynamic Monarchians were actually a form of adoptionism. Monarchianism, properly speaking, refers to the Modalists. Denial of the Trinity, assertion that there is only one Divine Person, who appears in three different roles. Noetians and Sabellians were two schools of Modalism

Modena - Located in central Italy, between the rivers Secchia and Panaro

Modernism - Etymologically, modernism means an exaggerated love of what is modern, an infatuation for modern ideas

Modestus, Vitus, and Crescentia, Saints - According to the legend, martyrs under Diocletian

Modigliana - Located in the Province of Florence, in Tuscany

Modra - A titular see of Bithynia Secunda

Mohammedan Confraternities - The countries where Mohammedanism prevails are full of religious associations, more or less wrapped in secrecy, which are also political

Mohammed and Mohammedism - Mohammed, 'the Praised One', the prophet of Islam and the founder of Mohammedanism, was born at Mecca (20 August?) A.D. 570

Mohileff - Latin Catholic archdiocese and ecclesiastical province in Russia

Möhler, Johann Adam - Theologian, b. at Igersheim, 6 April, 1796; d. at Munich, 12 April, 1838

Mohr, Christian - Born at Andernach, 1823; died at Cologne, 1888. He practised his profession of sculptor chiefly at Cologne under the cathedral architect Zwirner

Mohr, Joseph - Born at Siegburg, Rhine Province, 11 Jan., 1834; died at Munich, 7 February, 1892

Moigno, François-Napoléon-Marie - Physicist and author, b. at Guéméné (Morbihan), 15 April, 1804; d. at Saint-Denis (Seine), 14 July, 1884

Molai, Jacques de - Born at Rahon, Jura, about 1244; d. at Paris, 18 March, 1314. A Templar at Beaune since 1265, Molai is mentioned as Grand Master of the Templars as early as 1298

Molesme, Notre-Dame de - A celebrated Benedictine monastery in a village of the same name, Canton of Laignes, ancient Burgundy, on the confines of the Diocese of Langres and Troyes

Molfetta, Terlizzi, and Giovinazzo - Molfetta is a city of the province of Bari, in Apulia, southern Italy, on the Adriatic Sea; its origin is unknown, but many objects of the neolithic, bronze, and the Mycenæan epoch have been found at a place called Pulo, which shows that the site of Molfetta was inhabited in prehistoric times

Molière, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin - French comic poet; b. at Paris, 15 Jan., 1622; d. there 17 Feb., 1673

Molina, Antonio De - A Spanish Carthusian and celebrated ascetical writer, born about 1560, at Villanueva de los infantes; died at Miraflores, 21 September, 1612 or 1619

Molina, Juan Ignacio - Naturalist and scientist; b. 20 July, 1740, at Guaraculen near Talca (Chile); d. 23 Oct (12 Sept.?), 1829, at Imola or Bologna (Italy)

Molina, Luis de - One of the most learned and renown theologians of the Society of Jesus, b. of noble parentage at Cuenca, New Castle, Spain, in 1535; d. at Madrid, 12 October, 1600

Molinism - The name used to denote one of the systems which purpose to reconcile grace and free will

Molinos, Miguel de - Founder of Quietism, born at Muniesa, Spain, 21 December, 1640; died at Rome, 28 December, 1696

Molitor, Wilhelm - A poet, novelist, canonist and publicist, born at Zweibruecken in the Rhine Palatinate, 24 August, 1819; died at Speyer, 11 January, 1880

Molloy, Francis - A theologian, grammarian born in King's County, Ireland, at the beginning of the seventeenth century; died at St. Isidore's, Rome, about 1684

Molloy, Gerald - A theologian and scientist, born at Mount Tallant House, near Dublin, 10 Sept., 1834; died at Aberdeen, 1 Oct., 1906

Molo, Gasparo - Italian goldsmith and planisher, chiefly known as a medalist, born (according to Forrer) in Breglio near Como or (according to older records) in Lugano; date of death unknown

Moloch - A divinity worshipped by the idolatrous Israelites

Molokai - Information about this Hawaiian island and the leper colony there

Molyneux, Sir Caryll - Baronet of Sefton, and third Viscount Molyneux of Maryborough in Ireland, born 1624; died 1699

Mombritius, Bonino - A philologist, humanist, and editor of ancient writings, born 1424; died between 1482 and 1502

Monaco, Principality and Diocese of - Situated on the Mediterranean Sea, surrounded on all sides by the French department of the Maritime Alps, and has an area of 5337 acres

Monad - The word monad is used by the neo-Platonists to signify the One; for instance, in the letters of the Christian Platonist Synesius, God is described as the Monad of Monads

Monarchians - The so-called Dynamic Monarchians were actually a form of adoptionism. Monarchianism, properly speaking, refers to the Modalists. Denial of the Trinity, assertion that there is only one Divine Person, who appears in three different roles. Noetians and Sabellians were two schools of Modalism

Monarchia Sicula - A right exercised from the beginning of the sixteenth century by the secular rulers of Sicily, according to which they had final jurisdiction in purely religious matters, independent of the Holy See

Monasteries, Double - Religious houses comprising communities of both men and women, dwelling in contiguous establishments, united under the rule of one superior, and using one church in common for their liturgical offices

Monasteries in Continental Europe, Suppression of - The suppressions of religious houses (whether monastic in the strict sense or houses of the mendicant orders) since the Reformation

Monasteries in England, Suppression of - From any point of view the destruction of the English monasteries by Henry VIII must be regarded as one of the great events of the sixteenth century

Monastery, Canonical Erection of a - Details the conditions for the legitimate erection of a monastery

Monasticism - The act of 'dwelling alone' (Greek monos, monazein, monachos), has come to denote the mode of life pertaining to persons living in seclusion from the world, under religious vows and subject to a fixed rule, as monks, friars, nuns, or in general as religious

Monasticism, Eastern - Includes the origin and history

Monasticism, Pre-Chalcedonian - Egypt was the Motherland of Christian monasticism. It sprang into existence there at the beginning of the fourth century

Monasticism, Western - The introduction of monasticism into the West may be dated from about A.D. 340 when St. Athanasius visited Rome accompanied by the two Egyptian monks Ammon and Isidore, disciples of St. Anthony

Moncada, Francisco De - Count of Osona, Spanish historian, son of the Governor of Sardinia and Catalonia, born at Valencia, 29 December, 1586; died near Goch, Germany, 1635

Mondino dei Lucci - Anatomist, b. probably at Bologna, about 1275; d. there, about 1327

Mondoñedo - It comprises the civil Provinces of Lugo and Corunna, and is bounded on the north by the Bay of Biscay, on the east by the Austurias, on the south by the Diocese of Lugo, and on the west by the Archdiocese of Compostela (or Santiago de Galicia), of which it has been a suffragan since 1114

Mondovi - Located in Piedmont, province of Cuneo, northern Italy

Mone, Franz - A historian and archeologist, born at Mingolsheim near Bruchsal, Baden, 12 May, 1796; died at Karlsruhe, 12 March, 1871

Moneta - A theologian, born at Cremona, Italy, date unknown; died at Bologna, 1240

Mongolia - The name used to designate an immense uneven plateau, part of the Chinese Empire, extending, roughly speaking, from the Tarbagatal to the great K'ingan chains

Mongus, Peter - Intruded Monophysite patriarch of Alexandria (d. 490)

Monica, Saint - Widow, d. 387. The mother of St. Augustine of Hippo

Monism - A philosophical term which, in its various meanings, is opposed to Dualism or Pluralism

Monita Secreta - A code of instructions alleged to be addressed by Acquaviva, the fifth general of the Society, to its various superiors, and laying down the methods to be adopted for the increase of its power and influence

Monk - A member of a community of men, leading a more or less contemplative life apart from the world, under the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, according to a rule characteristic of the particular order to which he belongs

Monk of Malmesbury, The - Supposed author of a chronicle among the Cottonian manuscripts in the British Museum (Vesp. D. IV. 73) which Tanner states to be only a copy of a chronicle written by Alfred of Beverley in the twelfth century, but which, according to Sir Thomas Hardy, is almost entirely based on that of Geoffrey of Monmouth

Monogram of Christ - By the Monogram of Christ is ordinarily understood the abbreviation of Christ's name formed by combining the first two letters of the Greek form; this monogram was also known as the Chrismon

Monomotapa - Whatever may be the etymological meaning of the word Monomotapa, the origin of which is much disputed, it is certain, at any rate, that the Portuguese of the sixteenth century employed it to denote the paramount chief of the Makaranga, a powerf ul South African tribe dwelling between the Zambesi and Limpopo rivers and extending westward from the Indian Ocean probably as far as the twenty-fifth parallel of east longitude

Monophysites and Monophysitism - Rejected the dual nature of Christ. Rejected by the Council of Chalcedon (451)

Monopoli, Diocese of - A diocese in the Province of Bari, in Apulia, southern Italy

Monopoly, Moral Aspects of - According to its etymology, monopoly (monopolia) signifies exclusive sale, or exclusive privilege of selling. Present usage, however, extends the term to any degree of unified control over a commodity sufficient to enable the person or corporation in control to limit supply and fix price

Monotheism - A word coined in comparatively modern times to designate belief in the one supreme God, the Creator and Lord of the world, the eternal Spirit, All-powerful, All-wise, and All-good, the Rewarder of good and the Punisher of evil, the Source of our happiness and perfection

Monothelitism and Monothelites - A modification of Monophysitism proposing that Christ had no human free will. Rejected by the Third Council of Constantinople (680)

Monreale - In the province of Palermo, Sicily, on the skirts of Mount Caputo

Monroe, James - A soldier, convert, born in Albemarle county, Virginia, U.S.A., 10 Sept., 1799; died at Orange, New Jersey, 7 Sept., 1870

Monsabré, Jacques-Marie-Louis - A celebrated pulpit orator, born at Blois, France, 10 Dec., 1827; died at Havre, 21 Feb., 1907

Monseigneur - A French honorific appellation, etymologically corresponding to the English 'my lord,' and the Italian monsignore

Monsell, William, Baron Emly - Politician, born 21 Sept., 1812; died at Tervoe, Co. Limerick, Ireland, 20 April, 1894

Monsignor - As early as the fourteenth century it was the custom to address persons high in rank or power with the title Monseigneur or Monsignore

Monstrance (Ostensorium) - A vessel designed for the exhibition of some object of piety

Monstrelet, Enguerrand de - A French chronicler, born about 1390 or 1395; died in July, 1453

Montagna, Bartolomeo - Italian painter, chief representative of the Vicenza School, b. at Orzinuovi about 1450; d. at Vicenza, 11 October, 1523

Montagnais Indians (Quebec) - The collective designation of a number of bands speaking dialects of a common language of Algonquian stock, and ranging over the sores of the St. Lawrence River and Gulf, from about the St. Maurice River to Cape Whittle, and inland to about the main divide at the heads of the rivers

Montagnais Indians (Chippewayans) - A name given in error to the Chippewayans, owing to a fancied resemblance to the Montagnais Indians of Quebec

Montaigne, Michel-Eyquen de - A concise study of the thinker, by Georges Bertrin

Montalcino - Montalcino is a small town about twenty miles from Siena, some 1900 feet above sea-level and overlooking the valley of the Ombrone

Montalembert, Charles-Forbes-René - Born in London, 15 April, 1810; died in Paris 13 March, 1870

Montalto - Located in Ascoli Piceno

Montana - Includes geography, history, statistics, education, and religious information

Montañés, Juan Martínez - A noted Spanish sculptor of the seventeenth century, died 1649, sometimes called 'the Sevillian Phidias.'

Montanists - Schismatics of the second century, first known as Phrygians, or 'those among the Phrygians' (oi kata Phrygas), then as Montanists, Pepuzians, and (in the West) Cataphrygians

Montanus, Benedictus Arias - Orientalist, exegete, and editor of the 'Antwerp Polyglot', born at Frejenal de la Sierra in Estremadura, Spain, 1527; died at Seville, 1598

Montauban - A suffragan of Toulouse, comprises the entire department of Tarn and Garonne

Montault, Xavier Barbier De - Wrote numerous articles for other reviews as well as several separate works on iconography, ecclesiastical furniture, liturgy, and canon law (1830-1901)

Montboissier, Blessed Peter of - Better known as Peter the Venerable. General of the Cluniac order, prominent at the General Council of Pisa, commissioned the first Latin translation of the Koran. Renowned for his virtue and learning. Died in 1156

Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis de Louis-Joseph - A French general, born 28 Feb., 1712, at Candiac; died at Quebec 14 Sept., 1759

Monte Cassino, Abbey of - An abbey nullius situated about eighty miles south of Rome, the cradle of the Benedictine Order

Montefeltro - Located in the province of Urbino, in the Marches, Central Italy

Montefiascone - Located in the province of Rome

Montemayor, Jorge De - A writer, born at Montemôr, province of Coimbra, Portugal, about 1520; died at Turin, 26 February, 1561

Montenegro - A kingdom in the Balkan Peninsula, on the east coast of the Adriatic Sea; the territory was in ancient times a portion of the Roman province of Dalmatia

Montepulciano - Diocese in the province of Siena, in Tuscany

Monterey and Los Angeles - Comprises that part of the State of California which lies south of 37 deg. 5 min. N. lat. and covers an area of 80,000 square miles

Montesa, Military Order of - This order was established in the Kingdom of Aragon to take the place of the Order of the Temple, of which it was in a certain sense the continuation

Montesino, Antonio - A Spanish missionary, date of birth unknown; died in the West Indies, 1545

Montesinos, Luis de - Spanish theologian (d. 1621)

Montes Pietatis - Charitable institutions of credit that lend money at low rates of interest, or without interest at all, upon the security of objects left in pawn, with a view to protecting persons in want from usurers

Montesqieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de - Detailed study of this writer's intellectual career, by Antoine Degert

Monteverde, Claudio - A distinguished musician, born at Cremona, May, 1567; died at Venice, 29 Nov., 1643

Monte Vergine - History of the abbey near Mercogliano, Italy, established by William of Vercelli

Montevideo - Located in Uruguay, comprises the whole of the republic

Montfaucon, Bernard de - French scholar, b. 1655; d. 1741

Montfort, Simon de - An Earl of Leicester, date of birth unknown, died at Toulouse, 25 June, 1218

Montgolfier, Joseph-Michel - Inventor; b. at Vidalon-lez-Annonay, 26 August, 1740; d. at Balaruc-les-Bains, France, 26 June, 1810

Months, Special Devotions for - A list of the more common devotions with the indulgences attached

Montmagny, Charles Huault De - The second French Governor of Canada, born in France towards the end of the sixteenth century, of Charles Huault and Antoinette du Drac; died in the Antilles after 1651

Montmirail, John de - Son of Andrew, Lord of Montmirail and Ferté-Gaucher, and Hildiarde d'Oisy, born in 1165; died 29 Sept., 1217

Montmorency, Anne, First Duke of - Born at Chantilly, 15 March, 1492; died at Paris, 12 November, 1567. He belonged to that family of Montmorency whose members from 1327 held the title of first Barons of France

Montor, Alexis-François Artaud De - A diplomat and historian, born at Paris, 31 July, 1772; died at Paris, 12 Nov., 1849

Montpellier - The Diocese of Montpellier (Montis Pessulani) comprises the department of Hérault, and is a suffragan of Avignon

Montreal, Archdiocese of - Metropolitan of the ecclesiastical Province of Montreal. Suffragans: the Dioceses of Saint-Hyacinthe, Sherbrooke, Valleyfield, and Joliette

Montreuil - Charterhouse of Notre-Dame-des-Pres, at Montreuil, in the Diocese of Arras, Department of Pas-de-Calais, France, founded by Robert, Count of Boulogne and Auvergne

Montreuil Abbey - A former convent of Cistercian nuns in the Diocese of Laon, now Soissons, France

Mont-St-Michel - A Benedictine Abbey, in the Diocese of Avranches, Normandy, France

Montyon, Antoine-Jean-Baptiste-Robert Auget, Baron de - French philanthropist; b. at Paris, 23 December, 1733; d. there 29 December, 1820

Moore, Arthur - Count, b. at Liverpool, 1849; d. at Mooresfort, Tipperary, Ireland, 1904

Moore, Michael - Priest, preacher, and professor, b. at Dublin, Ireland, 1640; d. at Paris, 22 Aug., 1726

Moore, Thomas - Poet and biographer, b. 28 May, 1779, at Dublin, Ireland; d. 26 February, 1852, at Devizes, England

Mopsuestia - A titular see of Cilicia Secunda in Asia Minor and suffragan of Anazarbus

Mor, Antonis Van Dashort - Dutch painter, b. at Utrecht in 1519; d. at Antwerp, between 1576 and 1578