St Peter Canisius, priest, doctor of the Church [SJ] Observed on Dec 21 in the Gen. Cal. Outside SJ churches weekday of Easter Texts in the Jesuit Supplement. (Download Mass texts and Divine Office texts here)
Memorial
Mass of the memorial; preface of Easter I - V, or of the saint.
Cycle II
[268] Acts 4:32-37;Ps 93:1ab, 1cd-2, 5; John 3:7b-15.
Hours of the memorial
[RM]
Traditionally on this day, we remember from Scripture St. Simeon, second bishop of Jerusalem (whom may have been the one journeying with Cleopas along the road to Emmaus.) (cf. Mt. 13:55) [from the Roman Martyrology].
Anniversary:
68th anniversary of the death of P. Edward Ennis (73) d. 1992 at London, England.
On this day in our Jesuit history...
St. Mary Anne de Parades (1618-45) the lily of Quito, Ecuador. Her feast is in the Jesuit martyrology. She was directed by Jesuits.
St. Mary Anne de Parades (1618-45) the lily of Quito, Ecuador. Her feast is in the Jesuit martyrology. She was directed by Jesuits.
Saint Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Memorial)
Peter Canisius (1521-1597) was born in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1543, the first Dutchman to do so. In 1547 he served as theological consultant at the Council of Trent. In 1548 he was assigned to the first Jesuit school in Messina. In 1549 he was sent to teach at the University of Ingolstadt, Germany. In 1552, he was transferred to Vienna, where he did pastoral ministries and began writing his famous Catechism. In 1556, he was appointed Provincial Superior of the newly created Upper German Province. Canisius was one of the giants of the young Society of Jesus. He is honoured as a Doctor of the Church for his heroic defense of Catholicism through teaching, preaching and writing.
1548
Peter Canisius was sent to Messina to teach rhetoric at the newly opened first college of the Society explicitly for lay students.
1593
Jerome Lalemant is born. The successor to Jean de Brebeuf, he wrote much in the Jesuit Relations.
1859
At Florence, acting under pressure from the Freemasons, the Society of Jesus is banished.
1880
At Amiens, on occasion of the visit of Jules Ferry, shouts were raised under the Jesuit College windows: "Les Jesuites a la guillotine."
1990
Vincent McCorry dies. He gave retreats and for many years wrote the Word column for America magazine.
