Sunday, March 31, 2013

March 31st in History


1492 - Queen Isabella of Castille issues the Alhambra decree, ordering her 150,000 Jewish and Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity or face expulsion.

1717 - A sermon on "The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ" by Benjamin Hoadly, the Bishop of Bangor, provokes the Bangorian Controversy.

1822 - The massacre of the population of the Greek island of Chios by soldiers of the Ottoman Empire following an attempted rebellion, depicted by the French artist Eugène Delacroix.

1885 - The United Kingdom establishes a protectorate over Bechuanaland.

1889 - The Eiffel Tower is officially opened.

1909 - Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

1909 -Construction of the ill fated RMS Titanic begins.

1918 - Massacre of ethnic Azerbaijanis is committed by allied armed groups of Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Bolsheviks. Nearly 12,000 Azerbaijani Muslims are killed.

1921 - The Royal Australian Air Force is formed.

1942 - World War II: Japanese forces invade Christmas Island, then a British possession.

1959 - The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum.

1964 - A coup d'état in Brazil establishes a military government, under the aegis of general Castello Branco.

1970 - Explorer 1 re-enters the Earth's atmosphere after 12 years in orbit.

1979 - The last British soldier leaves the Maltese Islands. Malta declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien).

1990 - 200,000 protesters take to the streets of London to protest against the newly introduced Poll Tax.

1991 - Georgian independence referendum, 1991: nearly 99 percent of the voters support the country's independence from the Soviet Union.

1994 - The journal Nature reports the finding in Ethiopia of the first complete Australopithecus afarensis skull.

2004 - Iraq War in Anbar Province - In Fallujah, Iraq, 4 American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, are killed after being ambushed.

Famous Birthdays

250 - Constantius Chlorus, Roman Emperor 

1360 - Philippa of Lancaster, Queen of Portugal 

1425 - Bianca Maria Visconti, Duchess of Milan

1499 - Pope Pius IV 

1651 - Karl II, Elector Palatine 

1675 - Pope Benedict XIV 

1819 - Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst

1900 - Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester

1920 - Deborah Cavendish, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire

1933 - Anita Carter, singer

1943 - Christopher Walken, actor

1948 - Al Gore, 45th Vice President of the United States 

1955 - Angus Young, guitarist

1965 - William McNamara, actor

1972 - Evan Williams, businessman, co-founder Twitter

1983 - Melissa Ordway, actress and model

1990 - Kylie Bisutti, model

1990 - Sandra Roma, tennis player








Saturday, March 30, 2013

March 30th in History



1282 - The people of Sicily rebel against the Angevin king Charles I, in what becomes known as the Sicilian Vespers.

1296 - Edward I sacks Berwick-upon-Tweed, during armed conflict between Scotland and England.

1814 - Napoleonic Wars: Sixth Coalition forces march into Paris.

1814 - Joachim Murat issues the Rimini Declaration which would later inspire Italian Unification.


1844 - One of the most important battles of the Dominican War of Independence from Haiti takes place near the city of Santiago de los Caballeros.

1855 - Origins of the American Civil War: Bleeding Kansas – "Border Ruffians" from Missouri invade Kansas and force election of a pro-slavery legislature.

1856 - The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War.

1863 - Danish prince Wilhelm Georg is chosen as King George of Greece.



1867 - Alaska is purchased from Russia for $7.2 million, about 2 cent/acre ($4.19/km²), by United States Secretary of State William H. Seward.

1870 - Texas is readmitted to the Union following Reconstruction.

1912 - Sultan Abdelhafid signs the Treaty of Fez, making Morocco a French protectorate.


1940 - Sino-Japanese War: Japan declares Nanking capital of a new Chinese puppet government, nominally controlled by Wang Ching-wei.

1944 - World War II: Allied bombers conduct their most severe bombing run on Sofia, Bulgaria.


1945 - World War II: Soviet Union forces invade Austria and take Vienna; Polish and Soviet forces liberate Gdańsk.

1949 - A riot breaks out in Austurvöllur square in Reykjavík, when Iceland joins NATO.

1965 - Vietnam War: A car bomb explodes in front of the US Embassy, Saigon, killing 22 and wounding 183 others.


1972 - Vietnam War: The Easter Offensive begins after North Vietnamese forces cross into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of South Vietnam.

1976 - The first Land Day protests are held in Israel/Palestine.

1979 - Airey Neave, a British Member of Parliament, is killed by a car bomb as he exits the Palace of Westminster. The Irish National Liberation Army claims responsibility.

2009 - Twelve gunmen attack the Manawan Police Academy in Lahore, Pakistan

Famous Birthdays


1326 - Ivan II of Russia, Grand Duke of Muscovy

1432 - Mehmed II, Ottoman Sultan

1727 - Tommaso Traetta, composer

1874 - Charles Lightoller, 2nd Officer on the RMS Titanic

1913 - Censu Tabone, 4th President of Malta

1926 - Ingvar Kamprad, entrepreneur, founder of IKEA

1937 - Warren Beatty, actor and director

1942 - Ruben Kun, President of Nauru

1957 - Paul Reiser, actor

1962 - MC Hammer, rapper

1965 - Piers Morgan, journalist and television personality

1976 - Mark McClelland, musician

1979 - Simon Webbe, singer and actor

1986 - Sergio Ramos, footballer

1991 - Kim Grajdek, tennis player









Friday, March 29, 2013

March 29th in History



502 - King Gundobad issues a new legal code (Lex Burgundionum) at Lyon that makes Gallo-Romans and Burgundians subject to the same laws.

1461 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Towton – Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret of Anjou to become King Edward IV of England.

1549 - The city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, is founded.

1632 - Treaty of Saint-Germain is signed returning Quebec to French control after the English had seized it in 1629.

1792 - King Gustav III of Sweden dies after being shot in the back at a midnight masquerade ball at Stockholm's Royal Opera 13 days earlier. He is succeeded by Gustav IV Adolf.

1809 - King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden abdicates after a coup d'état. At the Diet of Porvoo, Finland's four Estates pledge allegiance to Alexander I of Russia, commencing the secession of the Grand Duchy of Finland from Sweden.

1831 - Great Bosnian uprising: Bosniaks rebel against Turkey.

1867 - Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to the British North America Act which establishes the Dominion of Canada on July 1st.

1871 - The Royal Albert Hall is opened by Queen Victoria.

1879 - Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Kambula: British forces defeat 20,000 Zulus.

1886 - Dr. John Pemberton brews the first batch of Coca-Cola in a backyard in Atlanta, Georgia.

1936 - In Germany, Adolf Hitler receives 99% of the votes in a referendum to ratify Germany's illegal reoccupation of the Rhineland, receiving 44.5 million votes out of 45.5 million registered voters.

1942 - The Bombing of Lübeck in World War II is the first major success for the RAF Bomber Command against Germany and a German city.

1945 - World War II: The German 4th Army is almost destroyed by the Soviet Red Army.

1951 - Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage.

1961 - The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C., to vote in presidential elections.

1971 - My Lai massacre: Lieutenant William Calley is convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison.

1973 - Vietnam War: The last United States combat soldiers leave South Vietnam.

1982 - The Canada Act 1982 (U.K.) receives the Royal Assent from Queen Elizabeth II, setting the stage for the Queen of Canada to proclaim the Constitution Act, 1982.

1990 - The Czechoslovak parliament is unable to reach an agreement on what to call the country after the fall of Communism, sparking the so-called Hyphen War.

1993 - Catherine Callbeck becomes premier of Prince Edward Island and the first woman to be elected in a general election as premier of a Canadian province.

2002 - In reaction to the Passover massacre two days prior, Israel launches Operation Defensive Shield against Palestinian militants, its largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War.

2004 - Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia join NATO as full members.

2004 - The Republic of Ireland becomes the first country in the world to ban smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants.

2010 - Two female suicide bombers hit the Moscow Metro system at the peak of the morning rush hour, killing 40.

Famous Birthdays

1735 - Johann Karl August Musäus, author


1790 - John Tyler, 10th President of the United States

1799 - Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1816 - Tsultrim Gyatso, 10th Dalai Lama

1874 - Lou Hoover, First Lady of the United States

1900 - John McEwen, 18th Prime Minister of Australia

1908 - Dennis O'Keefe, actor

1918 - Sam Walton, businessman, founded the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club

1929 - Lennart Meri, writer, film director, and 2nd President of Estonia

1937 - Smarck Michel, 6th Prime Minister of Haiti

1943 - John Major, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1946 - Billy Thorpe, singer

1955 - Brendan Gleeson, actor

1964 - Elle Macpherson, model

1976 - Jennifer Capriati, tennis player

1980 - HRH Prince Hamzah bin Al Hussein of Jordan

1985 - Mickey Pimentel, football player



1991 - Hayley McFarland, actress

1991 - Fabio Borini, footballer







Thursday, March 28, 2013

March 28th in History


37 - Roman Emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, entitled to him by the Senate.


364 - Roman Emperor Valentinian I appoints his brother Flavius Valens co-emperor.

845 - Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.

1795 - Partitions of Poland: The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, a northern fief of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, ceases to exist and becomes part of Imperial Russia.


1809 - Peninsular War: France defeats Spain in the Battle of Medelin.

1854 - Crimean War: France and Britain declare war on Russia.

1860 - First Taranaki War: The Battle of Waireka begins.

1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Glorieta Pass – in New Mexico, Union forces stop the Confederate invasion of New Mexico territory. The battle began on March 26th.

1889 - The Yngsjö murder occurs in Yngsjö, Sweden and Anna Månsdotter is arrested along with her son.

1913 - Guatemala becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

1930 - Constantinople and Angora change their names to Istanbul and Ankara.

1939 - Spanish Civil War: Generalissimo Francisco Franco conquers Madrid after a three-year siege.

1942 - World War II: In occupied France, British naval forces successfully raid the German-occupied port of St. Nazaire.


1951 - First Indochina War: In the Battle of Mao Khe, French Union forces, led by World War II hero Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, inflict a defeat on Việt Minh forces commanded by General Võ Nguyên Giáp.

1959 - The State Council of the People's Republic of China dissolves the Government of Tibet.

1969 - The McGill français movement protest occurs, the second largest protest in Montreal's history with 10,000 trade unionists, leftist activists, CEGEP students, and even some McGill students at McGill's Roddick Gates. This led to the majority of the protesters getting arrested.


1979 - The British House of Commons passes a vote of no confidence against James Callaghan's government, precipitating a general election.

1990 - President George H. W. Bush posthumously awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.

1999 - Kosovo War: Serb paramilitary and military forces kill 146 Kosovo Albanians in the Izbica massacre.


2005 - The 2005 Sumatra earthquake rocks Indonesia, and at magnitude 8.7 is the fourth strongest earthquake since 1965.

2006 - At least 1 million union members, students, and unemployed take to the streets in France in protest at the government's proposed First Employment Contract law.

Famous Birthdays

1515 - St. Teresa of Ávila, Carmelite nun and saint

1569 - Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma

1613 - Empress Xiaozhuangwen of the Qing Dynasty

1819 - Sir Joseph Bazalgette, civil engineer

1892 - Corneille Heymans, physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate

1902 - Flora Robson, actress




1910 - Queen Ingrid of Denmark

1922 - Joey Maxim, boxer

1926 - Doña Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, Duchess of Alba

1943 - Conchata Ferrell, actress

1948 - Milan Williams, musician

1956 - Susan Ershler, public speaker, author and climber of Mount Everest

1961 - Orla Brady, actress

1970 - Vince Vaughn, actor

1976 - Dave Keuning, guitar player

1985 - Stefano Ferrario, footballer

1986 - Lady Gaga, singer and songwriter

1988 - Lacey Turner, actress

1990 - Luca Marrone, footballer




Wednesday, March 27, 2013

March 27th in History



1309 - Pope Clement V imposes excommunication, interdiction, and a general prohibition of all commercial intercourse against Venice, which had unjustly seized on Ferrara, a fief of the Patrimony of Peter.

1329 - Pope John XXII issues his In Agro Dominico condemning some writings of Meister Eckhart as heretical.


1625 - Charles I becomes King of England, Scotland and Ireland as well as claiming the title King of France.

1782 - Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

1794 - Denmark and Sweden form a neutrality compact.

1846 - Mexican-American War: Siege of Fort Texas.

1854 - Crimean War: The United Kingdom declares war on Russia.

1899 - Emilio Aguinaldo leads Filipino forces for the only time during the Philippine-American War at the Battle of Marilao River.


1938 - Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Taierzhuang takes place.

1941 - World War II: Yugoslavian Air Force officers topple the pro-axis government in a bloodless coup.

1945 - World War II: Operation Starvation, the aerial mining of Japan's ports and waterways begins. Argentina declares war on the Axis Powers.

1958 - Nikita Khrushchev becomes Premier of the Soviet Union.

1964 - The Good Friday Earthquake, the most powerful earthquake in U.S. history at a magnitude of 9.2 strikes South Central Alaska, killing 125 people and inflicting massive damage to the city of Anchorage.

1981 - The Solidarity movement in Poland stages a warning strike, in which at least 12 million Poles walk off their jobs for four hours.

2002 - Passover Massacre: A Palestinian suicide bomber kills 29 people partaking of the Passover meal in Netanya, Israel.

2009 - A suicide bomber kills at least 48 at a mosque in the Khyber Agency of Pakistan.

Famous Birthdays


972 - King Robert II of France

1306 - Philip III of Navarre

1702 - Johann Ernst Eberlin, composer

1785 - King Louis XVII of France

1839 - John Ballance, 14th Prime Minister of New Zealand

1871 - Heinrich Mann, writer

1898 - Maria Rasputin, daughter of Grigori Rasputin

1912 - James Callaghan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1931 - David Janssen, actor

1946 - Andy Bown, bass player and songwriter

1950 - Tony Banks, musician

1969 - Kevin Corrigan, actor


1970 - Princess Leila of Iran

1970 - Mariah Carey, singer and actress

1975 - Fergie, singer

1984 - Ben Franks, rugby player

1988 - Brenda Song, actress

1988 - Jessie J, singer

1992 - Pedro Obiang, footballer




Tuesday, March 26, 2013

March 26th in History



590 - Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.

1027 - Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor.

1484 - William Caxton prints his translation of Aesop's Fables.

1830 - The Book of Mormon is published in Palmyra, New York.


1913 - Balkan War: Bulgarian forces capture Adrianople.

1917 - World War I: First Battle of Gaza – British troops are halted after 17,000 Turks block their advance.


1939 - Spanish Civil War: Nationalists begin their final offensive of the war.

1942 - World War II: The first female prisoners arrive at Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.

1971 - East Pakistan declares its independence from Pakistan to form the People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Liberation War begins.

1979 - Anwar al-Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter sign the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty in Washington, D.C.

1991 - Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay sign the Treaty of Asunción, establishing Mercosur, the South Common Market.

2005 - The Taiwanese government calls on 1 million Taiwanese to demonstrate in Taipei, in opposition to the Anti-Secession Law of the People's Republic of China. Around 200,000 to 300,000 attend the demonstration.

Famous Birthdays


603 - K'inich Janaab' Pakal (Pacal II), ruler of the Maya

1031 - Malcolm III of Scotland

1554 - Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne

1856 - William Massey, 19th Prime Minister of New Zealand

1871 - Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole of the Kingdom of Hawaii

1876 - Prince William of Wied

1893 - Palmiro Togliatti, communist leader

1904 - Joseph Campbell, author

1919 - Strother Martin, actor

1926 - Ventsislav Yankov, pianist

1940 - James Caan, actor

1944 - Diana Ross, singer

1948 - Steven Tyler, singer

1956 - Charly McClain, singer

1961 - William Hague, politician

1968 - James Iha, musician

1973 - Lawrence E. Page, computer scientist, Co-Founder of Google

1984 - Stéphanie Lapointe, singer and actress

1985 - Keira Knightley, actress

1989 - Josiah Leming, singer-songwriter







Monday, March 25, 2013

March 25th in History



421 - Venice is founded at twelve o'clock noon, according to legend.

1199 - Richard I is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting France, leading to his death on April 6th.

1306 - Robert the Bruce becomes King of Scotland.

1584 - Sir Walter Raleigh is granted a patent to colonize Virginia.

1634 - The first settlers arrive in Maryland.

1655 - Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is discovered by Christiaan Huygens.

1807 - The Slave Trade Act becomes law, abolishing the slave trade in the British Empire.

1821 - (Julian Calendar) Traditional date of the start of the Greek War of Independence. The war had actually began since 23rd February 1821. The date was chosen in the early years of the Greek state so that it falls on the day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, strengthening the ties between the Greek Orthodox Church and the newly-found state.

1917 - The Georgian Orthodox Church restores its autocephaly abolished by Imperial Russia in 1811.

1918 - The Belarusian People's Republic is established.

1941 - The Kingdom of Yugoslavia joins the Axis powers with the signing of the Tripartite Pact.

1949 - The extensive deportation campaign known as March deportation is conducted in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to force collectivisation by way of terror. The Soviet authorities deport more than 92,000 people from the Baltics to remote areas of the Soviet Union.

1957 - The European Economic Community is established (West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg).

1965 - Civil rights activists led by Martin Luther King, Jr. successfully complete their 4-day 50-mile march from Selma to the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama.

1969 - During their honeymoon, John Lennon and Yoko Ono hold their first Bed-In for Peace at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel

1971 - The Army of the Republic of Vietnam abandon an attempt to cut off the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos.

1988 - The Candle demonstration in Bratislava is the first mass demonstration of the 1980s against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.

1992 - Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev returns to Earth after a 10-month stay aboard the Mir space station.

2006 - Protesters demanding a new election in Belarus, following the rigged Belarusian presidential election, 2006, clash with riot police. Opposition leader Aleksander Kozulin is among several protesters arrested.

Famous Birthdays

1252 - Conradin, Duke of Swabia

1259 - Andronikos II Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor

1297 - Andronikos III Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor

1347 - St. Catherine of Siena T.O.S.D, saint

1541 - Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany

1593 - St Jean de Brébeuf, Jesuit missionary and saint

1782 - Caroline Bonaparte, Queen of Naples

1886 - Athenagoras, Patriarch of Constantinople

1911 - Jack Ruby, killer of Lee Harvey Oswald

1921 - Alexandra of Greece and Denmark, Queen of Yugoslavia

1937 - Tom Monaghan, businessman, founder of Domino's Pizza

1942 - Aretha Franklin, singer

1947 - Elton John, singer and songwriter

1951 - Maizie Williams, singer

1962 - Marcia Cross, actress

1965 - Sarah Jessica Parker, actress

1978 - Gennaro Delvecchio, footballer

1989 - Aly Michalka, actress and singer

1990 - Alexander Esswein, footballer




Sunday, March 24, 2013

March 24th in History


March 24th was the 365th and last day of the year in many European implementations of the Julian calendar.

1401 - Turko-Mongol emperor Timur sacks Damascus.

1603 - Upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England, James VI of Scotland also becomes James I of England.


1663 - The Province of Carolina is granted by charter to eight Lords Proprietor in reward for their assistance in restoring Charles II of England to the throne.

1707 - The Acts of Union 1707 is signed, officially uniting the Kingdoms of England and Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain.

1720 - Count Frederick of Hesse-Kassel is elected King of Sweden by the Riksdag of the Estates, after his consort Ulrika Eleonora has abdicated the throne on 29 February. She has been wanting to rule jointly with her husband in the same manner as William and Mary in the British isles, but after the Riksdag of the Estates has said no to this, she has chosen to abdicate the throne in his favor instead.

1765 - American Revolutionary War: The Kingdom of Great Britain passes the Quartering Act that requires the Thirteen Colonies to house British troops.

1829 - Catholic Emancipation: The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, allowing Catholics to serve in Parliament.

1837 - Canada gives African Canadian men the right to vote.

1882 - Robert Koch announces the discovery of mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis.

1907 - The first issue of the Georgian Bolshevik newspaper Dro is published.

1922 - Irish War of Independence: In Belfast, Northern Irish policemen break into the home of a Catholic family and shoot all eight males inside.


1934 - U.S. Congress passes the Tydings-McDuffie Act allowing the Philippines to become a self-governing commonwealth.

1944 - Ardeatine Massacre: German troops kill 335 Italian civilians in Rome.

1946 - The British Cabinet Mission, consisting of Lord Pethick-Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps and A. V. Alexander, arrives in India to discuss and plan for the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian leadership.

1958 - Rock'N'Roll teen idol Elvis Presley is drafted in the U.S. Army.

1972 - The United Kingdom imposes direct rule over Northern Ireland.

1976 - In Argentina, the armed forces overthrow the constitutional government of President Isabel Perón and start a 7-year dictatorial period self-styled the National Reorganization Process. Since 2006, a public holiday known as Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice is held on this day.

1999 - Mont Blanc Tunnel fire kills 38 people

1999 - Kosovo War: NATO commences air bombardment against Yugoslavia, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.


2003 - The Arab League votes 21-1 in favor of a resolution demanding the immediate and unconditional removal of U.S. and British soldiers from Iraq.

2008 - Bhutan officially becomes a democracy, with its first ever general election.

Famous Birthdays

1494 - Georg Agricola, scientist

1628 - Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Queen of Denmark and Norway

1809 - Joseph Liouville, mathematician

1884 - Eugène Tisserant, Cardinal and Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals

1903 - Adolf Butenandt, chemist, Nobel laureate

1920 - Gene Nelson, actor

1930 - Steve McQueen, actor

1949 - Ruud Krol, footballer

1951 - Pat Bradley, golfer

1970 - Sharon Corr, musician

1973 - Jim Parsons, actor

1977 - Jessica Chastain, actress

1981 - Mark Looms, footballer

1987 - Ramires, footballer

1988 - Matías Martínez, footballer

1992 - Jeremy Rosado, singer



Saturday, March 23, 2013

March 23rd in History


1400 - The Tran Dynasty of Vietnam is deposed after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule by Ho Quy Ly, a court official.

1708 - James Francis Edward Stuart lands at the Firth of Forth.


1801 - Tsar Paul I of Russia is struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death in his bedroom at St. Michael's Castle.

1806 - After travelling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their "Corps of Discovery" begin their arduous journey home.

1821 - Greek War of Independence: Battle and fall of city of Kalamata.


1879 - War of the Pacific: The Battle of Topáter, the first battle of the war is fought between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru.

1888 - In England, The Football League, the world's oldest professional Association Football league, meets for the first time.

1889 - The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is established by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian India.

1905 - Eleftherios Venizelos calls for Crete's union with Greece, and begins what is to be known as the Theriso revolt.


1918 - First World War: On the third day of the German Spring Offensive, the 10th Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment is annihilated with many of the men becoming Prisoners Of War

1919 - In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.

1933 - The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.

1942 - World War II: In the Indian Ocean, Japanese forces capture the Andaman Islands.

1956 - Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world. (Republic Day in Pakistan)

1978 - The first UNIFIL troops arrived in Lebanon for peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line.

1994 - At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez.

1996 - Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President.

2003 - Battle of Nasiriyah, first major conflict during the invasion of Iraq.

Famous Birthdays

1430 - Margaret of Anjou, Queen consort of Henry VI of England

1732 - Princess Marie Adélaïde of France

1869 - Emilio Aguinaldo, First President of the Philippines

1887 - Prince Felix Yusupov, Russian assassin of Rasputin

1895 - Dane Rudhyar, author, composer, astrologer

1921 - Donald Campbell, car and motorboat racer

1944 - Tony McPhee, singer and guitarist

1950 - Corinne Cléry, actress

1956 - José Manuel Barroso, politician

1966 - Marin Hinkle, actress

1976 - Michelle Monaghan, actress

1978 - Perez Hilton, blogger

1983 - Mo Farah, athlete

1990 - HRH Princess Eugenie of York

1992 - Vanessa Morgan, actress and singer




Friday, March 22, 2013

March 22nd in History


238 - Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman Emperors.


1621 - The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony sign a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags.

1622 - Jamestown massacre: Algonquian Indians kill 347 English settlers around Jamestown, Virginia, a third of the colony's population.


1739 - Nadir Shah occupies Delhi in India and sacks the city, stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne.

1765 - The British Parliament passes the Stamp Act that introduces a tax to be levied directly on its American colonies.

1784 - The Emerald Buddha is moved with great ceremony to its current location in Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand.

1873 - A law is approved by the Spanish National Assembly in Puerto Rico to abolish slavery.

1916 - The last Emperor of China, Yuan Shikai, abdicates the throne and the Republic of China is restored.

1939 - World War II: Germany takes Memel from Lithuania.


1943 - World War II: the entire population of Khatyn in Belarus is burnt alive by German occupation forces.

1945 - The Arab League is founded when a charter is adopted in Cairo, Egypt.

1978 - Karl Wallenda of The Flying Wallendas dies after falling off a tight-rope between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

1995 - Cosmonaut Valeriy Polyakov returns to earth after setting a record of 438 days in space.

1997 - The Comet Hale-Bopp has its closest approach to Earth.

2006 - ETA, the armed Basque separatist group, declares a permanent ceasefire.

Famous Birthdays


875 - William I, Duke of Aquitaine

924 - Dinh Bo Linh, the first emperor of Vietnam

1212 - Emperor Go-Horikawa of Japan

1609 - King John II Casimir of Poland


1759 - Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp, Queen of Sweden and Norway

1797 - William I, German Emperor

1837 - Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione

1857 - Paul Doumer, French President

1908 - Jack Crawford, tennis player

1924 - Al Neuharth, businessman, author, and columnist, founder of USA Today

1943 - George Benson, musician

1948 - Randy Jo Hobbs, musician

1948 - Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer

1957 - Stephanie Mills, actress and singer

1976 - Reese Witherspoon, actress and film producer

1985 - Jakob Fuglsang, cyclist

1994 - Aliaksandra Sasnovich, tennis player







Thursday, March 21, 2013

March 21st in History


The traditional first day of the astrological year

537 - Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the Vivarium, by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas and Peranius.

1152 - Annulment of the marriage of King Louis VII of France and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.


1413 - Henry V becomes King of England.

1556 - In Oxford, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is burned at the stake.

1801 - The Battle of Alexandria is fought between British and French forces near the ruins of Nicopolis in Egypt.


1814 - Napoleonic Wars: Austrian forces repel French troops in the Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube.

1821 - Greek War of Independence: First revolutionary act in the monastery of Agia Lavra, Kalavryta.

1871 - Otto von Bismarck is appointed Chancellor of the German Empire.


1918 - World War I: The first phase of the German Spring Offensive, Operation Michael, begins.

1919 - The Hungarian Soviet Republic is established becoming the first Communist government to be formed in Europe after the October Revolution in Russia.

1933 - Construction of Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, is completed.


1943 - Wehrmacht officer Rudolf von Gersdorff plots to assassinate Adolf Hitler by using a suicide bomb, but the plan falls through. Von Gersdorff is able to defuse the bomb in time and avoid suspicion.

1945 - World War II: British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma.

1963 - Alcatraz, a federal penitentiary on an island in San Francisco Bay, closes.

1965 - Martin Luther King, Jr. leads 3,200 people on the start of the third and finally successful civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.


1990 - Namibia becomes independent after 75 years of South African rule.

1999 - Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.

Famous Birthdays

1417 - St Nicholas of Flüe, patron saint of Switzerland

1521 - Maurice, Elector of Saxony

1801 - Maria Theresa of Austria, Queen of Sardinia

1839 - Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, composer

1885 - Pierre Renoir, actor and director

1923 - Philip Abbott, actor

1934 - Al Freeman, Jr., actor

1958 - Sabrina Le Beauf, actress

1962 - Rosie O'Donnell, comedian and actress

1978 - Nick Baines, keyboardist

1989 - Labrinth, singer-songwriter and producer

1989 - Rochelle Wiseman, singer

2004 - His Highborn Count Claus-Casimir of Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg









Wednesday, March 20, 2013

March 20th in History


The Vernal equinox falls on this day

235 - Maximinus Thrax is proclaimed Emperor. He is the first foreigner to hold the Roman throne.


1602 - The Dutch East India Company is established.

1616 - Sir Walter Raleigh is freed from the Tower of London after 13 years of imprisonment.


1815 - After escaping from Elba, Napoleon enters Paris with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his "Hundred Days" rule.

1848 - Revolutions of 1848 in the German states: King Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicates.

1883 - The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property is signed.


1913 - Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese Nationalist Party, is wounded in an assassination attempt and dies 2 days later.

1916 - Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.

1942 - World War II: General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he says: "I came out of Bataan and I shall return".


1952 - The United States Senate ratifies a peace treaty with Japan.

1956 - Tunisia gains independence from France.


1972 - The Troubles: A Provisional IRA car bomb kills seven and injures 148 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was the first of many car bomb attacks by the group.

1974 - Ian Ball attempts, but fails, to kidnap Her Royal Highness Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips in The Mall, outside Buckingham Palace, London.

1988 - Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet.

1993 - The Troubles: A Provisional IRA bomb kills two children in Warrington, England. It leads to mass protests in both Britain and Ireland

2003 - 2003 invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries begin military operations in Iraq.






Famous Birthdays


43 BC - Ovid, Roman poet

1469 - Princess Cecily of York

1725 - Abdul Hamid I, Ottoman Sultan

1736 - Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke, King of Thailand

1811 - Napoleon II, Emperor of the French and King of Rome

1882 - René Coty, the second and last president under the French Fourth Republic

1915 - Rudolf Kirchschläger, 8th President of Austria

1939 - Brian Mulroney, 18th Prime Minister of Canada

1951 - Jimmie Vaughan, guitarist

1963 - Kathy Ireland, model and actress

1971 - Alexander Chaplin, actor

1976 - Chester Bennington, musician

1984 - Fernando Torres, footballer

1986 - Julián Magallanes, footballer

1990 - Oliver Hein, footballer


Tuesday, March 19, 2013

March 19th in History



1279 - A Mongolian victory, the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China.

1563 - The Edict of Amboise is signed, ending the first phase of the French Wars of Religion and granting certain freedoms to the Huguenots.

1861 - The First Taranaki War ends in New Zealand.

1865 - American Civil War: The Battle of Bentonville begins. By the end of the battle two days later, Confederate forces had retreated from Four Oaks, North Carolina.

1918 - The U.S. Congress establishes time zones and approves daylight saving time.

1921 - Irish War of Independence: One of the biggest engagements of the war takes place at Crossbarry, County Cork. About 100 Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteers escape an attempt by over 1,300 British forces to encircle them.


1931 - Gambling is legalized in Nevada.

1932 - The Sydney Harbour Bridge is opened.

1944 - World War II: Nazi forces occupy Hungary.

1945 - World War II: Adolf Hitler issues his "Nero Decree" ordering all industries, military installations, shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in Germany to be destroyed.

1965 - The wreck of the SS Georgiana, valued at over $50,000,000 and said to have been the most powerful Confederate cruiser, is discovered by teenage diver and pioneer underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence, exactly 102 years after its destruction.

1982 - Falklands War: Argentinian forces land on South Georgia Island, precipitating war with the United Kingdom.


2002 - Zimbabwe is suspended from the Commonwealth on charges of human rights abuses and of electoral fraud, following a turbulent presidential election.

2003 - United States President George W. Bush orders the start of war against Iraq.

2004 - 3-19 Shooting Incident: Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian is shot just before the country's presidential election on March 20th.

2011 - Libyan civil war: After the failure of Muammar Gaddafi's forces to take Benghazi, French Air Force launches Opération Harmattan, beginning foreign military intervention in Libya.

Famous Birthdays

1593 - Georges de La Tour, artist

1749 - Princess Louisa of Great Britain, grandchild of George II and sister of George III

1823 - Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria

1888 - Léon Scieur, cyclist

1906 - Adolf Eichmann, Nazi officer and war criminal

1920 - Paul Hagen, actor

1935 - Burt Metcalfe, actor, producer, director.

1947 - Glenn Close, actress

1955 - Bruce Willis, actor

1971 - Sébastien Godefroid, sailor

1975 - Lucie Laurier, actress

1982 - Eduardo Saverin, entrepreneur, co-founder of Facebook

1989 - Craig Lamar Traylor, actor

1991 - Aleksandr Kokorin, footballer




Monday, March 18, 2013

March 18th in History


37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius's will and proclaims Caligula Emperor.


235 - Emperor Alexander Severus and his mother Julia Mamaea are murdered by legionaries near Moguntiacum (modern Mainz). The Severan dynasty ends.

1229 - Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor declares himself King of Jerusalem during the Sixth Crusade.


1438 - Albert II of Habsburg becomes Holy Roman Emperor.

1584 - Tsar Ivan IV (the Terrible) of Russia dies

1608 - Susenyos is formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia.

1766 - American Revolution: The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act.


1848 - The March Revolution goes onin the German Confederation; in Berlin a struggle between citizens and military occurs, costing ca. 300 lives. This starts the revolution in Northern Germany.

1850 - American Express is founded by Henry Wells and William Fargo.


1913 - King George I of Greece is assassinated in the recently liberated city of Thessaloniki.

1915 - World War I: Massive naval attack in Battle of Gallipoli. Three battleships are sunk during a failed British and French naval attack on the Dardanelles.

1922 - In India, Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience. He would serve only 2 years.

1937 - Spanish Civil War: Spanish Republican forces defeat the Italians at the Battle of Guadalajara.

1940 - World War II: Axis Powers – Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.

1945 - World War II: 1,250 American bombers attack Berlin.

1959 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law allowing for Hawaiian statehood, which would become official on August 21st.

1970 - Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.

1974 - Oil embargo crisis: Most OPEC nations end a five-month oil embargo against the United States, Europe and Japan.


1989 - In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found nearby the Pyramid of Cheops.

1990 - The Germans in the German Democratic Republic are called to the first democratic elections in this former communist dictatorship.

1992 - White South Africans vote overwhelmingly in favour, in a national referendum, to end the racist policy of Apartheid.

1994 - Bosnia's Bosniaks and Croats sign the Washington Agreement, ending warring between the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and establishing the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

1997 - The tail of a Russian Antonov An-24 charter plane breaks off while en route to Turkey causing the plane to crash and killing all 50 on board and leading to the grounding of all An-24s.

Famous Birthdays

1496 - Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VII of England; wife of Louis XII of France

1555 - François, Duke of Anjou

1609 - King Frederick III of Denmark

1837 - Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President of the United States

1848 - Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom

1869 - Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1893 - Wilfred Owen, poet

1912 - Art Gilmore, actor

1931 - John Fraser, actor

1941 - Wilson Pickett, singer

1950 - Rod Milburn, athlete

1960 - James MacPherson, actor

1963 - Vanessa L. Williams, beauty queen, actress, and singer

1968 - Prince Eudes, Duke of Angoulême

1970 - Queen Latifah, singer and actress

1976 - Giovanna Antonelli, actress

1979 - Adam Levine, singer

1983 - Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro, tennis player

1985 - Marvin Humes, singer

1989 - Francesco Checcucci, footballer

1991 - Constantinos Hilas, actor and director










Sunday, March 17, 2013

St. Patrick - The Apostle of Ireland


St Patrick  is the patron saint of the island of Ireland. He is one of Christianity's most widely known figures. But for all his celebrity, his life remains somewhat of a mystery. Many of the stories traditionally associated with St. Patrick, including the famous account of his banishing all the snakes from Ireland, are false, the products of hundreds of years of exaggerated storytelling.

Who is he then...

He was born in Wales in the year 387. His parents were Calphurnius and Conchessa. The language of the time was Latin and his given name was Patricus. His father belonged to a Roman family of high rank and held the office of decurio in Briton. Conchessa was a near relative of the great patron of Gaul, St. Martin of Tours.

In his sixteenth year, Patrick was carried off into captivity by Irish marauders and was sold as a slave to a chieftain named Milchu in Dalriada, a territory of the present county of Antrim in Ireland, where for six years he tended his master's flocks in the valley of the Braid and on the slopes of Slemish, near the modern town of Ballymena.
He relates in his "Confessio" that during his captivity while tending the flocks he prayed many times in the day: "the love of God", he added, "and His fear increased in me more and more, and the faith grew in me, and the spirit was roused, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers, and in the night nearly the same, so that whilst in the woods and on the mountain, even before the dawn, I was roused to prayer and felt no hurt from it, whether there was snow or ice or rain; nor was there any slothfulness in me, such as I see now, because the spirit was then fervent within me." In the ways of a benign Providence the six years of Patrick's captivity became a remote preparation for his future apostolate. He acquired a perfect knowledge of the Celtic tongue in which he would one day announce the glad tidings of Redemption, and, as his master Milchu was a Druidical high priest, he became familiar with all the details of Druidism from whose bondage he was destined to liberate the Irish race.



Admonished by an angel he, after six years, fled from his cruel master and bent his steps towards the west. He relates in his "Confessio" that he had to travel about 200 miles; and his journey was probably towards Killala Bay and onwards thence to Westport. He found a ship ready to set sail and after some rebuffs was allowed on board. In a few days he was among his friends once more in Briton, but now his heart was set on devoting himself to the service of God in the sacred ministry. We meet with him at St. Martin's monastery at Tours, and again at the island sanctuary of Lérins which was just then acquiring widespread renown for learning and piety; and wherever lessons of heroic perfection in the exercise of Christian life could be acquired, thither the fervent Patrick was sure to bend his steps. No sooner had St. Germain entered on his great mission at Auxerre than Patrick put himself under his guidance, and it was at that great bishop's hands that Ireland's future apostle was a few years later promoted to the priesthood. It is the tradition in the territory of the Morini that Patrick under St. Germain's guidance for some years was engaged in missionary work among them. When Germain commissioned by the Holy See proceeded to Briton to combat the erroneous teachings of Pelagius, he chose Patrick to be one of his missionary companions and thus it was his privilege to be associated with the representative of Rome in the triumphs that ensued over heresy and Paganism, and in the many remarkable events of the expedition, such as the miraculous calming of the tempest at sea, the visit to the relics at St. Alban's shrine, and the Alleluia victory. Amid all these scenes, however, Patrick's thoughts turned towards Ireland, and from time to time he was favoured with visions of the children from Focluth, by the Western sea, who cried to him: "O holy youth, come back to Erin, and walk once more amongst us."



Saint Patrick, The Apostle of Ireland, was born at what is now Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387; died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, 17 March, 493. At the time of his birth it was known at Briton and ruled by Rome. His parents were Calphurnius and Conchessa. The language of the time was latin and his given name was Patricus. His father belonged to a Roman family of high rank and held the office of decurio in Briton. Conchessa was a near relative of the great patron of Gaul, St. Martin of Tours. Kilpatrick still retains many memorials of Saint Patrick, and frequent pilgrimages continued far into the Middle Ages to perpetuate there the fame of his sanctity and miracles
In his sixteenth year, Patrick was carried off into captivity by Irish marauders and was sold as a slave to a chieftan named Milchu in Dalriada, a territory of the present county of Antrim in Ireland, where for six years he tended his master's flocks in the valley of the Braid and on the slopes of Slemish, near the modern town of Ballymena. He relates in his "Confessio" that during his captivity while tending the flocks he prayed many times in the day: "the love of God", he added, "and His fear increased in me more and more, and the faith grew in me, and the spirit was roused, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers, and in the night nearly the same, so that whilst in the woods and on the mountain, even before the dawn, I was roused to prayer and felt no hurt from it, whether there was snow or ice or rain; nor was there any slothfulness in me, such as I see now, because the spirit was then fervent within me." In the ways of a benign Providence the six years of Patrick's captivity became a remote preparation for his future apostolate. He acquired a perfect knowledge of the Celtic tongue in which he would one day announce the glad tidings of Redemption, and, as his master Milchu was a druidical high priest, he became familiar with all the details of Druidism from whose bondage he was destined to liberate the Irish race.

Admonished by an angel he, after six years, fled from his cruel master and bent his steps towards the west. He relates in his "Confessio" that he had to travel about 200 miles; and his journey was probably towards Killala Bay and onwards thence to Westport. He found a ship ready to set sail and after some rebuffs was allowed on board. In a few days he was among his friends once more in Briton, but now his heart was set on devoting himself to the service of God in the sacred ministry. We meet with him at St. Martin's monastery at Tours, and again at the island sanctuary of Lérins which was just then acquiring widespread renown for learning and piety; and wherever lessons of heroic perfection in the exercise of Christian life could be acquired, thither the fervent Patrick was sure to bend his steps. No sooner had St. Germain entered on his great mission at Auxerre than Patrick put himself under his guidance, and it was at that great bishop's hands that Ireland's future apostle was a few years later promoted to the priesthood. It is the tradition in the territory of the Morini that Patrick under St. Germain's guidance for some years was engaged in missionary work among them. When Germain commissioned by the Holy See proceeded to Briton to combat the erroneous teachings of Pelagius, he chose Patrick to be one of his missionary companions and thus it was his privilege to be associated with the representative of Rome in the triumphs that ensued over heresy and Paganism, and in the many remarkable events of the expedition, such as the miraculous calming of the tempest at sea, the visit to the relics at St. Alban's shrine, and the Alleluia victory. Amid all these scenes, however, Patrick's thoughts turned towards Ireland, and from time to time he was favoured with visions of the children from Focluth, by the Western sea, who cried to him: "O holy youth, come back to Erin, and walk once more amongst us."

It was probably in the summer months of the year 433, that Patrick and his companions landed at the mouth of the Vantry River close by Wicklow Head. The Druids were at once in arms against him. But Patrick was not disheartened. The intrepid missionary resolved to search out a more friendly territory in which to enter on his mission. First of all, however, he would proceed towards Dalriada, where he had been a slave, to pay the price of ransom to his former master, and in exchange for the servitude and cruelty endured at his hands to impart to him the blessings and freedom of God's children. He rested for some days at the islands off the Skerries coast, one of which still retains the name of Inis-Patrick, and he probably visited the adjoining mainland, which in olden times was known as Holm Patrick. Tradition fondly points out the impression of St. Patrick's foot upon the hard rock -- off the main shore, at the entrance to Skerries harbour. Continuing his course northwards he halted at the mouth of the River Boyne. A number of the natives there gathered around him and heard with joy in their own sweet tongue the glad tidings of Redemption. There too he performed his first miracle on Irish soil. Leaving one of his companions to continue the work of instruction so auspiciously begun, he hastened forward to Strangford Loughand there quitting his boat continued his journey over land towards Slemish. He had not proceeded far when a chieftain, named Dichu, appeared on the scene to prevent his further advance. He drew his sword to smite the saint, but his arm became rigid as a statue and continued so until he declared himself obedient to Patrick. Overcome by the saint's meekness and miracles, Dichu asked for instruction and made a gift of a large sabhall (barn), in which the sacred mysteries were offered up. This was the first sanctuary dedicated by St. Patrick in Erin. It became in later years a chosen retreat of the saint. A monestary and church were erected there, and the hallowed site retains the name Sabhall (pronounced Saul) to the present day. Continuing his journey towards Slemish, the saint was struck with horror on seeing at a distance the fort of his old master Milchu enveloped in flames. The fame of Patrick's marvelous power of miracles preceeded him. Milchu, in a fit of frenzy, gathered his treasures into his mansion and setting it on fire, cast himself into the flames. An ancient record adds: "His pride could not endure the thought of being vanquished by his former slave".

Returning to Saul, St. Patrick learned from Dichu that the chieftains of Erin had been summoned to celebrate a special feast at Tara by Leoghaire, who was the Ard-Ri (High King) of Ireland. This was an opportunity which Patrick would not forego; he would present himself before the assembly, to strike a decisive blow against the Druidism that held the nation captive, and to secure freedom for the glad tidings of Redemption of which he was the herald. As he journeyed on he rested for some days at the house of a chieftain named Secsnen, who with his household joyfully embraced the Faith. The youthful Benen, or Benignus, son of the chief, was in a special way captivated by the Gospel doctrines and the meekness of Patrick. Whilst the saint slumbered he would gather sweet-scented flowers and scatter them over his bosom, and when Patrick was setting out, continuing his journey towards Tara, Benen clung to his feet declaring that nothing would sever him from him. "Allow him to have his way", said St. Patrick to the chieftain, "he shall be heir to my sacred mission." Thenceforth Benen was the inseparable companion of the saint, and the prophecy was fulfilled, for Benen is named among the "comhards" or successors of St. Patrick in Armagh. It was on 26 March, Easter Sunday, in 433, that the eventful assembly was to meet at Tara, and the decree went forth that from the preceding day the fires throughout the kingdom should be extinguished until the signal blaze was kindled at the royal mansion. The chiefs and Brehons came in full numbers and the druids too would muster all their strength to bid defiance to the herald of good tidings and to secure the hold of their superstition on the Celtic race, for their demoniac oracles had announces that the messenger of Christ had come to Erin. St. Patrick arrived at the hill of Slane, at the opposite extremity of the valley from Tara, on Easter Eve, in that year the feast of the Annunciation, and on the summit of the hill kindled the Paschal fire. The druids at once raised their voice. "O King", (they said) "live for ever; this fire, which has been lighted in defiance of the royal edict, will blaze for ever in this land unless it be this very night extinguished." By order of the king and the agency of the druids, repeated attempts were made to extinguish the blessed fire and to punish with death the intruder who had disobeyed the royal command. But the fire was not extinguished and Patrick shielded by the Divine power came unscathed from their snares and assaults. On Easter Day the missionary band having at their head the youth Benignus bearing aloft a copy of the Gospels, and followed by St. Patrick who with mitre and crozier was arrayed in full episcopal attire, proceeded in processional order to Tara. The druids and magicians put forth all their strength and employed all their incantations to maintain their sway over the Irish race, but the prayer and faith of Patrick achieved a glorious triumph. The druids by their incantations overspread the hill and surrounding plain with a cloud of worse then Egyptian darkness. Patrick defied them to remove that cloud, and when all their efforts were made in vain, at his prayer the sun sent forth its rays and the brightest sunshine lit up the scene. Again by demoniac power the Arch-Druid Lochru, like Simon Magus of old, was lifted up high in the air, but when Patrick knelt in prayer the druid from his flight was dashed to pieces upon a rock. Thus was the final blow given to paganism in the presence of all the assembled chieftains. It was, indeed, a momentous day for the Irish race. Twice Patrick pleaded for the Faith before Leoghaire. The king had given orders that no sign of respect was to be extended to the strangers, but at the first meeting the youthful Erc, a royal page, arose to show him reverence; and at the second, when all the chieftains were assembled, the chief-bard Dubhtach showed the same honour to the saint. Both these heroic men became fervent disciples of the Faith and bright ornaments of the Irish Church. It was on this second solemn occasion that St. Patrick is said to have plucked a shamrock from the sward, to explain by its triple leaf and single stem, in some rough way, to the assembled chieftains, the great doctrine of the Trinity. On that bright Easter Day, the triumph of religion at Tara was complete. The Ard-Righ granted permission to Patrick to preach the Faith throughout the length and breadth of Erin, and the Druidical prophecy like the words of Balaam of old would be fulfilled: the sacred fire now kindled by the saint would never be extinguished.



The beautiful prayer of St. Patrick, popularly known as "St. Patrick's Breast-Plate" , is supposed to have been composed by him in preparation for this victory over Paganism. The following is a literal translation from the old Irish text:


I bind to myself today 
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity: 
I believe the Trinity in the Unity 
The Creator of the Universe. 

I bind to myself today 
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism, 
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial, 
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension, 
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day. 

I bind to myself today 
The virtue of the love of seraphim, 
In the obedience of angels, 
In the hope of resurrection unto reward, 
In prayers of Patriarchs, 
In predictions of Prophets, 
In preaching of Apostles, 
In faith of Confessors, 
In purity of holy Virgins, 
In deeds of righteous men. 

I bind to myself today 
The power of Heaven, 
The light of the sun, 
The brightness of the moon, 
The splendour of fire, 
The flashing of lightning, 
The swiftness of wind, 
The depth of sea, 
The stability of earth, 
The compactness of rocks. 

I bind to myself today 
God's Power to guide me, 
God's Might to uphold me, 
God's Wisdom to teach me, 
God's Eye to watch over me, 
God's Ear to hear me, 
God's Word to give me speech, 
God's Hand to guide me, 
God's Way to lie before me, 
God's Shield to shelter me, 
God's Host to secure me, 
Against the snares of demons, 
Against the seductions of vices, 
Against the lusts of nature, 
Against everyone who meditates injury to me, 
Whether far or near, 
Whether few or with many. 

I invoke today all these virtues 
Against every hostile merciless power 
Which may assail my body and my soul, 
Against the incantations of false prophets, 
Against the black laws of heathenism, 
Against the false laws of heresy, 
Against the deceits of idolatry, 
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids, 
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man. 

Christ, protect me today 
Against every poison, against burning, 
Against drowning, against death-wound, 
That I may receive abundant reward. 

Christ with me, Christ before me, 
Christ behind me, Christ within me, 
Christ beneath me, Christ above me, 
Christ at my right, Christ at my left, 
Christ in the fort, 
Christ in the chariot seat, 
Christ in the poop, 
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me, 
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me, 
Christ in every eye that sees me, 
Christ in every ear that hears me. 

I bind to myself today 
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity, 
I believe the Trinity in the Unity 
The Creator of the Universe.

St. Patrick remained during Easter week at Slane and Tara, unfolding to those around him the lessons of Divine truth. Meanwhile the national games were being celebrated a few miles distant at Tailten (now Telltown) in connection with the royal feast. St. Patrick proceeding thither solemnly administered baptism to Conall, brother of the Ard-Righ Leoghaire, on Wednesday, 5 April. Benen and others had already been privately gathered into the fold of Christ, but this was the first public administering of baptism, recognized by royal edict, and hence in the ancient Irish Kalendars to the fifth of April is assigned "the beginning of the Baptism of Erin". This first Christian royal chieftain made a gift to Patrick of a site for a church which to the present day retains the name of Donagh-Patrick. The blessing of heaven was with Conall's family. St. Columba is reckoned among his descendants, and many of the kings of Ireland until the eleventh century were of his race. St. Patrick left some of his companions to carry on the work of evangelization in Meath, thus so auspiciously begun. He would himself visit the other territories. Some of the chieftains who had come to Tara were from Focluth, in the neighbourhood of Killala, in Connaught, and as it was the children of Focluth who in vision had summoned him to return to Ireland, he resolved to accompany those chieftains on their return, that thus the district of Focluth would be among the first to receive the glad tidings of Redemption. It affords a convincing proof of the difficulties that St. Patrick had to overcome, that though full liberty to preach the Faith throughout Erin was granted by the monarch of Leoghaire, nevertheless, in order to procure a safe conduct through the intervening territories whilst proceeding towards Connaught he had to pay the price of fifteen slaves. On his way thither, passing through Granard he learned that at Magh-Slecht, not far distant, a vast concourse was engaged in offering worship to the chief idol Crom-Cruach. It was a huge pillar-stone, covered with slabs of gold and silver, with a circle of twelve minor idols around it. He proceeded thither, and whith his crosier smote the chief idol that crumbled to dust; the others fell to the ground. At Killala he found the whole people of the territory assembled. At his preaching, the king and his six sons, with 12,000 of the people, became docile to the Faith. He spent seven years visiting every district of Connaught, organizing parishes, forming dioceses, and instructing the chieftains and people. One the occasion of his first visit to Rathcrogan, the royal seat of the kings of Connaught, situated near Tulsk, in the County of Roscommon, a remarkable incident occurred, recorded in many of the authentic narratives of the saint's life. Close by the clear fountain of Clebach, not far from the royal abode, Patrick and his venerable companions had pitched their tents and at early dawn were chanting the praises of the Most High, when the two daughters of the Irish monarch -- Ethne, the fair, and Fedelm, the ruddy -- came thither, as was their wont, to bathe. Astonished at the vision that presented itself to them, the royal maidens cried out: "Who are ye, and whence do ye come? Are ye phantoms, or fairies, or friendly mortals?" St. Patrick said to them: "It were better you would adore and worship the one true God, whom we announce to you, than that you would satisfy your curiosity by such vain questions." And then Eithne broke forth into the questions:


"Who is God?" 
"And where is God?" 
"Where is His dwelling?" 
"Has He sons and daughters?" 
"Is He rich in silver and gold?" 
"Is He everlasting? is He beautiful?" 
"Are His daughters dear and lovely to the men of this world?" 
"Is He on the heavens or on earth?" 
"In the sea, in rivers, in mountains, in valleys?" 
"Make Him known to us. How is He to be seen?" 
"How is He to be loved? How is He to be found?" 
"Is it in youth or is it in old age that He may be found?"

But St. Patrick, filled with the Holy Ghost, made answer:


"God, whom we announce to you, is the Ruler of all things." 
"The God of heaven and earth, of the sea and the rivers." 
"The God of the sun, and the moon, and all the stars." 
"The God of the high mountains and of the lowlying valleys." 
"The God who is above heaven, and in heaven, and under heaven." 
"His dwelling is in heaven and earth, and the sea, and all therein." 
"He gives breath to all." 
"He gives life to all." 
"He is over all." 
"He upholds all." 
"He gives light to the sun." 
"He imparts splendour to the moon." 
"He has made wells in the dry land, and islands in the ocean." 
"He has appointed the stars to serve the greater lights." 
"His Son is co-eternal and co-equal with Himself." 
"The Son is not younger than the Father." 
"And the Father is not older than the Son." 
"And the Holy Ghost proceeds from them." 
"The Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost are undivided." 
"But I desire by Faith to unite you to the Heavenly King, as you are daughters of an earthly king."



Saint Patrick, The Apostle of Ireland, was born at what is now Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387; died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, 17 March, 493. At the time of his birth it was known at Briton and ruled by Rome. His parents were Calphurnius and Conchessa. The language of the time was latin and his given name was Patricus. His father belonged to a Roman family of high rank and held the office of decurio in Briton. Conchessa was a near relative of the great patron of Gaul, St. Martin of Tours. Kilpatrick still retains many memorials of Saint Patrick, and frequent pilgrimages continued far into the Middle Ages to perpetuate there the fame of his sanctity and miracles
In his sixteenth year, Patrick was carried off into captivity by Irish marauders and was sold as a slave to a chieftan named Milchu in Dalriada, a territory of the present county of Antrim in Ireland, where for six years he tended his master's flocks in the valley of the Braid and on the slopes of Slemish, near the modern town of Ballymena. He relates in his "Confessio" that during his captivity while tending the flocks he prayed many times in the day: "the love of God", he added, "and His fear increased in me more and more, and the faith grew in me, and the spirit was roused, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers, and in the night nearly the same, so that whilst in the woods and on the mountain, even before the dawn, I was roused to prayer and felt no hurt from it, whether there was snow or ice or rain; nor was there any slothfulness in me, such as I see now, because the spirit was then fervent within me." In the ways of a benign Providence the six years of Patrick's captivity became a remote preparation for his future apostolate. He acquired a perfect knowledge of the Celtic tongue in which he would one day announce the glad tidings of Redemption, and, as his master Milchu was a druidical high priest, he became familiar with all the details of Druidism from whose bondage he was destined to liberate the Irish race.

Admonished by an angel he, after six years, fled from his cruel master and bent his steps towards the west. He relates in his "Confessio" that he had to travel about 200 miles; and his journey was probably towards Killala Bay and onwards thence to Westport. He found a ship ready to set sail and after some rebuffs was allowed on board. In a few days he was among his friends once more in Briton, but now his heart was set on devoting himself to the service of God in the sacred ministry. We meet with him at St. Martin's monastery at Tours, and again at the island sanctuary of Lérins which was just then acquiring widespread renown for learning and piety; and wherever lessons of heroic perfection in the exercise of Christian life could be acquired, thither the fervent Patrick was sure to bend his steps. No sooner had St. Germain entered on his great mission at Auxerre than Patrick put himself under his guidance, and it was at that great bishop's hands that Ireland's future apostle was a few years later promoted to the priesthood. It is the tradition in the territory of the Morini that Patrick under St. Germain's guidance for some years was engaged in missionary work among them. When Germain commissioned by the Holy See proceeded to Briton to combat the erroneous teachings of Pelagius, he chose Patrick to be one of his missionary companions and thus it was his privilege to be associated with the representative of Rome in the triumphs that ensued over heresy and Paganism, and in the many remarkable events of the expedition, such as the miraculous calming of the tempest at sea, the visit to the relics at St. Alban's shrine, and the Alleluia victory. Amid all these scenes, however, Patrick's thoughts turned towards Ireland, and from time to time he was favoured with visions of the children from Focluth, by the Western sea, who cried to him: "O holy youth, come back to Erin, and walk once more amongst us."

It was probably in the summer months of the year 433, that Patrick and his companions landed at the mouth of the Vantry River close by Wicklow Head. The Druids were at once in arms against him. But Patrick was not disheartened. The intrepid missionary resolved to search out a more friendly territory in which to enter on his mission. First of all, however, he would proceed towards Dalriada, where he had been a slave, to pay the price of ransom to his former master, and in exchange for the servitude and cruelty endured at his hands to impart to him the blessings and freedom of God's children. He rested for some days at the islands off the Skerries coast, one of which still retains the name of Inis-Patrick, and he probably visited the adjoining mainland, which in olden times was known as Holm Patrick. Tradition fondly points out the impression of St. Patrick's foot upon the hard rock -- off the main shore, at the entrance to Skerries harbour. Continuing his course northwards he halted at the mouth of the River Boyne. A number of the natives there gathered around him and heard with joy in their own sweet tongue the glad tidings of Redemption. There too he performed his first miracle on Irish soil. Leaving one of his companions to continue the work of instruction so auspiciously begun, he hastened forward to Strangford Loughand there quitting his boat continued his journey over land towards Slemish. He had not proceeded far when a chieftain, named Dichu, appeared on the scene to prevent his further advance. He drew his sword to smite the saint, but his arm became rigid as a statue and continued so until he declared himself obedient to Patrick. Overcome by the saint's meekness and miracles, Dichu asked for instruction and made a gift of a large sabhall (barn), in which the sacred mysteries were offered up. This was the first sanctuary dedicated by St. Patrick in Erin. It became in later years a chosen retreat of the saint. A monestary and church were erected there, and the hallowed site retains the name Sabhall (pronounced Saul) to the present day. Continuing his journey towards Slemish, the saint was struck with horror on seeing at a distance the fort of his old master Milchu enveloped in flames. The fame of Patrick's marvelous power of miracles preceeded him. Milchu, in a fit of frenzy, gathered his treasures into his mansion and setting it on fire, cast himself into the flames. An ancient record adds: "His pride could not endure the thought of being vanquished by his former slave".

Returning to Saul, St. Patrick learned from Dichu that the chieftains of Erin had been summoned to celebrate a special feast at Tara by Leoghaire, who was the Ard-Righ, that is, the Supreme Monarch of Ireland. This was an opportunity which Patrick would not forego; he would present himself before the assembly, to strike a decisive blow against the Druidism that held the nation captive, and to secure freedom for the glad tidings of Redemption of which he was the herald. As he journeyed on he rested for some days at the house of a chieftain named Secsnen, who with his household joyfully embraced the Faith. The youthful Benen, or Benignus, son of the chief, was in a special way captivated by the Gospel doctrines and the meekness of Patrick. Whilst the saint slumbered he would gather sweet-scented flowers and scatter them over his bosom, and when Patrick was setting out, continuing his journey towards Tara, Benen clung to his feet declaring that nothing would sever him from him. "Allow him to have his way", said St. Patrick to the chieftain, "he shall be heir to my sacred mission." Thenceforth Benen was the inseparable companion of the saint, and the prophecy was fulfilled, for Benen is named among the "comhards" or successors of St. Patrick in Armagh. It was on 26 March, Easter Sunday, in 433, that the eventful assembly was to meet at Tara, and the decree went forth that from the preceeding day the fires throughout the kingdom should be extinguished until the signal blaze was kindled at the royal mansion. The chiefs and Brehons came in full numbers and the druids too would muster all their strength to bid defiance to the herald of good tidings and to secure thehold of their superstition on the Celtic race, for their demoniac oracles had announces that the messenger of Christ had come to Erin. St. Patrick arrived at the hill of Slane, at the opposite extremity of the valley from Tara, on Easter Eve, in that year the feast of the Annunciation, and on the summit of the hill kindled the Paschal fire. The druids at once raised their voice. "O King", (they said) "live for ever; this fire, which has been lighted in defiance of the royal edict, will blaze for ever in this land unless it be this very night extinguished." By order of the king and the agency of the druids, repeated attempts were made to extinguish the blessed fire and to punish with death the intruder who had disobeyed the royal command. But the fire was not extinguished and Patrick shielded by the Divine power came unscathed from their snares and assaults. On Easter Day the missionary band having at their head the youth Benignus bearing aloft a copy of the Gospels, and followed by St. Patrick who with mitre and crozier was arrayed in full episcopal attire, proceeded in processional order to Tara. The druids and magicians put forth all their strength and employed all their incantations to maintain their sway over the Irish race, but the prayer and faith of Patrick achieved a glorious triumph. The druids by their incantations overspread the hill and surrounding plain with a cloud of worse then Egyptian darkness. Patrick defied them to remove that cloud, and when all their efforts were made in vain, at his prayer the sun sent forth its rays and the brightest sunshine lit up the scene. Again by demoniac power the Arch-Druid Lochru, like Simon Magus of old, was lifted up high in the air, but when Patrick knelt in prayer the druid from his flight was dashed to pieces upon a rock. Thus was the final blow given to paganism in the presence of all the assembled chieftains. It was, indeed, a momentous day for the Irish race. Twice Patrick pleaded for the Faith before Leoghaire. The king had given orders that no sign of respect was to be extended to the strangers, but at the first meeting the youthful Erc, a royal page, arose to show him reverence; and at the second, when all the chieftains were assembled, the chief-bard Dubhtach showed the same honour to the saint. Both these heroic men became fervent disciples of the Faith and bright ornaments of the Irish Church. It was on this second solemn occasion that St. Patrick is said to have plucked a shamrock from the sward, to explain by its triple leaf and single stem, in some rough way, to the assembled chieftains, the great doctrine of the Trinity. On that bright Easter Day, the triumph of religion at Tara was complete. The Ard-Righ granted permission to Patrick to preach the Faith throughout the length and breadth of Erin, and the druidical prophecy like the words of Balaam of old would be fulfilled: the sacred fire now kindled by the saint would never be extinguished.

The beautiful prayer of St. Patrick, popularly known as "St. Patrick's Breast-Plate" , is supposed to have been composed by him in preparation for this victory over Paganism. The following is a literal translation from the old Irish text:

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.

I bind to myself today
God's Power to guide me,
God's Might to uphold me,
God's Wisdom to teach me,
God's Eye to watch over me,
God's Ear to hear me,
God's Word to give me speech,
God's Hand to guide me,
God's Way to lie before me,
God's Shield to shelter me,
God's Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.

I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.

Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ in the poop,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

St. Patrick remained during Easter week at Slane and Tara, unfolding to those around him the lessons of Divine truth. Meanwhile the national games were being celebrated a few miles distant at Tailten (now Telltown) in connection with the royal feast. St. Patrick proceeding thither solemnly administered baptism to Conall, brother of the Ard-Righ Leoghaire, on Wednesday, 5 April. Benen and others had already been privately gathered into the fold of Christ, but this was the first public administering of baptism, recognized by royal edict, and hence in the ancient Irish Kalendars to the fifth of April is assigned "the beginning of the Baptism of Erin". This first Christian royal chieftain made a gift to Patrick of a site for a church which to the present day retains the name of Donagh-Patrick. The blessing of heaven was with Conall's family. St. Columba is reckoned among his descendants, and many of the kings of Ireland until the eleventh century were of his race. St. Patrick left some of his companions to carry on the work of evangelization in Meath, thus so auspiciously begun. He would himself visit the other territories. Some of the chieftains who had come to Tara were from Focluth, in the neighbourhood of Killala, in Connaught, and as it was the children of Focluth who in vision had summoned him to return to Ireland, he resolved to accompany those chieftains on their return, that thus the district of Focluth would be among the first to receive the glad tidings of Redemption. It affords a convincing proof of the difficulties that St. Patrick had to overcome, that though full liberty to preach the Faith throughout Erin was granted by the monarch of Leoghaire, nevertheless, in order to procure a safe conduct through the intervening territories whilst proceeding towards Connaught he had to pay the price of fifteen slaves. On his way thither, passing through Granard he learned that at Magh-Slecht, not far distant, a vast concourse was engaged in offering worship to the chief idol Crom-Cruach. It was a huge pillar-stone, covered with slabs of gold and silver, with a circle of twelve minor idols around it. He proceeded thither, and whith his crosier smote the chief idol that crumbled to dust; the others fell to the ground. At Killala he found the whole people of the territory assembled. At his preaching, the king and his six sons, with 12,000 of the people, became docile to the Faith. He spent seven years visiting every district of Connaught, organizing parishes, forming dioceses, and instructing the chieftains and people. One the occasion of his first visit to Rathcrogan, the royal seat of the kings of Connaught, situated near Tulsk, in the County of Roscommon, a remarkable incident occurred, recorded in many of the authentic narratives of the saint's life. Close by the clear fountain of Clebach, not far from the royal abode, Patrick and his venerable companions had pitched their tents and at early dawn were chanting the praises of the Most High, when the two daughters of the Irish monarch -- Ethne, the fair, and Fedelm, the ruddy -- came thither, as was their wont, to bathe. Astonished at the vision that presented itself to them, the royal maidens cried out: "Who are ye, and whence do ye come? Are ye phantoms, or fairies, or friendly mortals?" St. Patrick said to them: "It were better you would adore and worship the one true God, whom we announce to you, than that you would satisfy your curiosity by such vain questions." And then Eithne broke forth into the questions:

"Who is God?"
"And where is God?"
"Where is His dwelling?"
"Has He sons and daughters?"
"Is He rich in silver and gold?"
"Is He everlasting? is He beautiful?"
"Are His daughters dear and lovely to the men of this world?"
"Is He on the heavens or on earth?"
"In the sea, in rivers, in mountains, in valleys?"
"Make Him known to us. How is He to be seen?"
"How is He to be loved? How is He to be found?"
"Is it in youth or is it in old age that He may be found?"
But St. Patrick, filled with the Holy Ghost, made answer:
"God, whom we announce to you, is the Ruler of all things."
"The God of heaven and earth, of the sea and the rivers."
"The God of the sun, and the moon, and all the stars."
"The God of the high mountains and of the lowlying valleys."
"The God who is above heaven, and in heaven, and under heaven."
"His dwelling is in heaven and earth, and the sea, and all therein."
"He gives breath to all."
"He gives life to all."
"He is over all."
"He upholds all."
"He gives light to the sun."
"He imparts splendour to the moon."
"He has made wells in the dry land, and islands in the ocean."
"He has appointed the stars to serve the greater lights."
"His Son is co-eternal and co-equal with Himself."
"The Son is not younger than the Father."
"And the Father is not older than the Son."
"And the Holy Ghost proceeds from them."
"The Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost are undivided."
"But I desire by Faith to unite you to the Heavenly King, as you are daughters of an earthly king."

The maidens, as if with one voice and one heart, said: "Teach us most carefully how we may believe in the Heavenly King; show us how we may behold Him face to face, and we will do whatsoever you shall say to us."
And when he had instructed them he said to them: "Do you believe that by baptism you put off the sin inherited from the first parents."

They answered: "We believe."

"Do you believe in penance after sin?"

"We believe."

"Do you believe in life after death?" Do you believe in resurrection on the Day of Judgement?"

"We believe."

"Do you believe in the unity of the Church?"

"We believe."

Then they were baptised  and were clothed in white garments. And they besought that they might behold the face of Christ. And the saint said to them: "You cannot see the face of Christ unless you taste death, and unless you receive the Sacrifice." They answered: "Give us the Sacrifice, so that we may be able to behold our Spouse." And the ancient narrative adds: "when they received the Eucharist of God, they slept in death, and they were placed upon a couch, arrayed in their white baptismal robes."

In 440 St. Patrick entered on the special work of the conversion of Ulster. Under the following year, the ancient annalists relate a wonderful spread of the Faith throughout the province. In 444 a site for a church was granted at Armagh by Daire, the chieftain of the district. It was in a valley at the foot of a hill, but the saint was not content. He had special designs in his heart for that district, and at length the chieftain told him to select in his territory any site he would deem-most suitable for his religious purpose. St. Patrick chose that beautiful hill on which the old cathedral of Armagh stands. As he was marking out the church with his companions, they came upon a doe and fawn, and the saint's companions would kill them for food; but St. Patrick would not allow them to do so, and, taking the fawn upon his shoulders, and followed by the doe, he proceeded to a neighbouring hill, and laid down the fawn, and announced that there, in future times, great glory would be given to the Most High. It was precisely upon that hill thus fixed by St. Patrick that, a few years ago, there was solemnly dedicated the new and beautiful Catholic cathedral of Armagh. A representative of the Holy See presided on the occasion, and hundreds of priests and bishops were gathered there; and, indeed, it might truly be said, the whole Irish race on that occasion offered up that glorious cathedral to the Most High as tribute to their united faith and piety, and their never-failing love of God.

From Ulster St. Patrick probably proceeded to Meath to consolidate the organization of the communities there, and thence he continued his course through Leinster. Two of the saint's most distinguished companions, St. Auxilius and St. Iserninus, had the rich valley of the Liffey assigned to them. The former's name is still retained in the church which he founded at Killossy, while the latter is honoroured as the first Bishop of Kilcullen. As usual, St. Patrick's primary care was to gather the ruling chieftains into the fold. At Naas, the royal residence in those days, he baptised two sons of the King of Leinster. Memorials of the saint still abound in the district --- the ruins of the ancient church which he founded, his holy well, and the hallowed sites in which the power of God was shown forth in miracles. At Sletty, in the immediate neighborhood of Carlow, St. Fiacc, son of the chief Brehon, Dubthach, was installed as bishop, and for a considerable time that see continued to be the chief centre of religion for all Leinster. St. Patrick proceeded through Gowran into Ossory; here he erected a church under the invocation of St. Martin, near the present city of Kilkenny, and enriched it with many precious relics which he had brought from Rome. It was in Leinster, on the borders of the present counties of Kildare and Queen's, that Odhran, St. Patrick's charioteer, attained the martyr's crown. The chieftain of that district honoured the demon-idol, Crom Cruach, with special worship, and, on hearing of that idol being cast down, vowed to avenge the insult by the death of our apostle. Passing through the territory, Odhran overheard the plot that was being organized for the murder of St. Patrick, and as they were setting out in the chariot to continue their journey, asked the saint, as a favour, to take thereins, and to allow himself, for the day, to hold the place of honour and rest. This was granted,and scarcely had they set out when a well-directed thrust of a lance pierced the heart of the devoted charioteer, who thus, by changing places, saved St. Patrick's life, and won for himself the martyr's crown.

St. Patrick next proceeded to Munster. As usual, his efforts were directed to combat error in the chief centres of authority, knowing well that, in the paths of conversion, the kings and chieftains would soon be followed by their subjects. At "Cashel of the Kings" he was received with great enthusiasm, the chiefs and Brehons and people welcoming him with joyous acclaim. While engaged in the baptism of the royal prince Aengus, son of the King of Munster, the saint, leaning on his crosier, peirced with its sharp point the prince's foot. Aengus bore the pain unmoved. When St. Patrick, at the close of the ceremony, saw the blood flow, and asked him why he had been silent, he replied, with genuine heroism, that he thought it might be part of the ceremony, a penalty for the joyous blessings of the Faith that were imparted. The saint admired his heroism, and, taking the chieftain's shield, inscribed on it a cross with the same point of the crozier, and promised that that shield would be the signal of countless spiritual and temporal triumphs. Our apostle spent a considerable time in the present County of Limerick. The fame of his miracles and sanctity had gone before him, and the inhabitants of Thomond and northern Munster, crossing the Shannon in their frail coracles, hastened to receive his instruction. When giving his blessing to them on the summit of the hill of Finnime, looking out on the rich plains before him, he is said to have prophesied the coming of St. Senanus: "To the green island in the West, at the mouth of the sea [i.e., Inis-Cathaigh, now Scattery Island, at the mouth of the Shannon, near Kilrush], the lamp of the people of God will come; he will be the head of counsel to all this territory." At Sangril (now Singland), in Limerick, and also in the district of Gerryowen, the holy wells of the saint are pointed out, and the slab of rock, which served for his bed, and the altar on which every day he offered up the Holy Sacrifice. On the banks of the Suit, and the Blackwater, and the Lee, wherever the saint preached during the seven years he spent in Munster, a hearty welcome awaited him. The ancient Life attests: "After Patrick had founded cells and churches in Munster, and had ordained persons of every grade, and healed the sick, and resuscitated the dead, he bade them farewell, and imparted his blessing to them." The words of this blessing, which is said to have been given from the hills of Tipperary, as registered in the saint's Life, to which I have just referred, are particularly beautiful:


A blessing on the Munster people -- 
Men, youths, and women; 
A blessing on the land 
That yields them fruit. 

A blessing on every treasure 
That shall be produced on their plains, 
Without any one being in want of help, 
God's blessing be on Munster. 

A blessing on their peaks, 
On their bare flagstones, 
A blessing on their glens, 
A blessing on their ridges. 

Like the sand of the sea under ships, 
Be the number in their hearths; 
On slopes, on plains, 
On mountains, on hills, a blessing.


Patrick's ministry covered a period of 60 years. He founded 365 churches, and a school arose beside each church. The schools were frequently called monasteries. The monasteries of St. Patrick's day were nothing like the Roman Catholic monasteries of later years. They were not isolated from the world - no vows were taken and the clergy were always allowed to marry. The monasteries were associations of studious men, who occupied their time in transcribing the Scriptures, in cultivating such sciences as were then known, and instructing the young. They were colleges in which the youth were trained for the work of the home ministry and the labors of the foreign mission-field. St. Patrick continued until his death to visit and watch over the churches which he had foundedin all the provinces in Ireland. He comforted the faithful in their difficulties, strengthened them in the Faith and in the practice of virtue, and appointed pastors to continue his work among them. It is recorded in his Life that he consecrated no fewer than 350 bishops. He appointed St. Loman to Trim, which rivalled Armaugh itself in its abundant harvest of piety. St. Guasach, son of his former master, Milchu, became Bishop of Granard, while the two daughters of the same pagan chieftan founded close by, at Clonbroney, a convent of pious virgins, and merited the aureola of sanctity. St. Mel, nephew of our apostle, had the charge of Ardagh; St. MacCarthem, who appears to have been patricularly loved by St. Patrick, was made Bishop of Clogher. The narrative in the ancient Life of the saint regarding his visit to the district of Costello, in the County of Mayo, serves to illustrate his manner of dealing with the chieftains. He found, it says,the chief, Ernasc, and his son, Loarn, sitting under a tree, "with whom he remained, together with his twelve companions, for a week, and they received from him the doctrine of salvation with attentive ear and mind. Meanwhile he instructed Loarn in the rudiments of learning and piety." A church was erected there, and, in after years, Loarn was appointed to its charge.

The manifold virtues by which the early saints were distinguished shone forth in all their perfection in the life of St. Patrick. When not engaged in the work of the sacred ministry, his whole time was spent in prayer. Many times in the day he armed himself with the sign of the Cross. He never relaxed his penetential exercises. Clothed in a rough hair-shirt, he made the hard rock his bed. His disinterestedness is specially commemorated. Countless coverts of high rank would cast their precious ornaments at his feet, but all were restored to them. He had not come to Erin in search of material wealth, but to enrich her with the priceless treasures of the Catholic Faith. From time to time he withdrew from the spiritual duties of his apostolate to devote himself wholly to prayer and penance. One of his chosen places of solitude and retreat was the island of Lough Derg, which, to our own day, has continued to be a favourite resort of pilgrims, and it is known as St. Patrick's Purgatory. Another theatre of his miraculous power and piety and penetential austerities in the west of Ireland merits particular attention. In the far west of Connaught there is a range of tall mountains, which, arrayed in rugged majesty, bid defiance to the waves and storms of the Atlantic. At the head of this range arises a stately cone in solitary grandeur, about 4000 feet in height, facing Crew Bay, and casting its shadow over the adjoining districts of Aghagower and Westport. This mountain was known in pagan times as the Eagle Mountain, but ever since Ireland was enlightened with the light of Faith it is known as Croagh Patrick, or St. Patrick's mountain, and is honoured as the Holy Hill, the Mount Sinai, of Ireland. St. Patrick, in obedience to his guardian angel, made this mountain his hallowed place of retreat. In imitation of the great Jewish legislator on Sinai, he spent forty days on its summit in fasting and prayer, and other penetential exercises. His only shelter from the fury of the elements, the wind and rain, the hail and snow, was a cave, or recess, in the solid rock; and the flagstone on which he rested his weary limbs at night is still pointed out. The whole purpose ofhis prayer was to obtain special blessings and mercy for the Irish race, whom he evangelized. The demons that made Ireland their battlefield mustered all their strength to tempt the saint and disturb him in his solitude, and turn him away, if possible, from his pious purpose. They gathered around the hill in the form of vast flocks of hideous birds of prey. So dense were their ranks that they seemed to cover the whole mountain, like a cloud, and they so filled the air that Patrick could see neither sky nor earth nor ocean. St. Patrick besought God to scatter the demons, but for a time it would seem as if his prayers and tears were in vain. At length he rang his sweet-sounding bell, symbol of his preaching of the Divine truths. Its sound was heard all over the valleys and hills of Erin, everywhere bringing peace and joy. The flocks of demons began to scatter, He flung his bell among them; they took to precipitate flight, and cast themselves into the ocean. So complete was the saint's victory over them that, as the ancient narrative adds, "for seven years no evil thing was to be found in Ireland." The saint, however, would not, as yet, descend from the mountain. He had vanquished the demons, but he would now wrestle with God Himself, like Jacob of old, to secure the spiritual interests of his people. The angel had announced to him that, to reward his fidelity in prayer and penance, as many of his people would be gathered into heaven as would cover the land and sea as far as his vision could reach. Far more ample, however, were the aspirations of the saint, and he resolved to persevere in fasting and prayer until the fullest measure of his petition was granted. Again and again the angel came to comfort him, announcing new concessions; but all these would not suffice  He would not relinquish his post on the mountain, or relax his penance, until all were granted. At length the message came that his prayers were heard

It is sometimes supposed that St. Patrick's apostolate in Ireland was an unbroken series of peaceful triumphs, and yet it was quite the reverse. No storm of persecution was, indeed stirred up to assail the infant Church, but the saint himself was subjected to frequent trials at the hands of the druids and of other enemies of the Faith. He tells us in his "Confessio" that no fewer than twelve times he and his companions were seized and carried off as captives, and on one occasion in particular he was loaded with chains, and his death was decreed. But from all these trials and sufferings he was liberated by a benign Providence. It is on account of the many hardships which he endured for the Faith that, in some of the ancient Martyrologies, he is honoured as a martyr. St. Patrick, having now completed his triumph over Paganism, and gathered Ireland into the fold of Christ, prepared for the summons to his reward. St. Brigid came to him with her chosen virgins, bringing the shroud in which he would be enshrined. It is recorded that when St. Patrick and St. Brigid were united in their last prayer, a special vision was shown to him. He saw the whole of Ireland lit up with the brightest rays of Divine Faith. This continued for centuries, and then clouds gathered around the devoted island, and, little by little, the religious glory faded away, until, in the course of centuries, it was only in the remotest valleys that some glimmer of its light remained. St. Patrick prayed that the light would never be extinguished, and, as he prayed, the angel came to him and said: "Fear not: your apostolate shall never cease."As he thus prayed, the glimmering light grew in brightness, and ceased not until once more all the hills and valleys of Ireland were lit up in their pristine splendour, and then the angel announced to St. Patrick: "Such shall be the abiding splendour of Divine truth in Ireland." At Saul (Sabhall), St. Patrick received the summons to his reward on 17 March, 493. St. Tassach administered the last sacraments to him. His remains were wrapped in the shroud woven by St. Brigid's own hands. The bishops and clergy and faithful people from all parts crowded around his remains to pay due honour to the Father of their Faith. Some of the ancient Lives record that for several days the light of heaven shone around his bier. His remains were interred at the chieftan's Dun or Fort two miles from Saul, where in after times arose the cathedral of Down.

The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters states that by the year 438 Christianity had made such progress in Ireland that the laws were changed to agree with the Gospel. That means that in 6 years a 60 year old man was able to so change the country that even the laws were amended. St. Patrick had no printing press, no finances, few helpers and Ireland had no Roman roads to travel on. Even the 12 apostles with all their miracles never accomplished a feat like that.