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Religion and Spirituality - An open forum for the discussion of religion and spirituality. This forum is not intended solely for one religion nor is is intended to bash on any religion. It is for the discussion of any and all religions and forms of spirituality.
Valence, University of - Erected 26 July, 1452, by letters patent from the Dauphin Louis, afterwards Louis XI.
Valencia - Located in Spain; comprises the civil Provinces of Valencia, Alicante, and Castellón.
Valencia, University of - At the request of Jaime I the Conqueror, Innocent IV in 1246, authorized by a Bull the establishment of estudios generales in Valencia.
Valliscaulian Order - Founded towards the end of the twelfth century by Viard, a lay brother of the Carthusian priory of Loubigny, in the Diocese of Langres.
Vallumbrosan Order - Founded by St. John Gualbert, son of the noble Florentine Gualbert Visdomini.
Valona - Titular see, suffragan of Dyrrachium, in Epirus Nova.
Valroger, Hyacinthe de - French oratorian, first studied medicine, and was later ordained priest. (1814-1876)
Valva and Sulmona, Dioceses of - Located in Italy, Valva, a medieval castle belonging to the Bishop of Sulmona, Baron of Valva, is situated near the ancient Corfinium, chief town of the Peligni, a Samnite tribe.
Van der Sandt, Maximilian - Wrote works on philosophy and theology, including a notable controversial reply to the Batavian Calvinist Lawrence in defence of the moral teaching of the Jesuits. (1578-1656)
Vancouver - Archdiocese; includes that part of the mainland of the Province of British Columbia south of 54 ° N. lat. and west of the Straits of Georgia, together with the Queen Charlotte Islands.
Vatican Council - The twentieth and up to 1912, the last ecumenical council, opened on 8 December, 1869, and adjourned on 20 October, 1870.
Vatican Observatory - Gregory XIII ordered a tower to be erected in a convenient part of the Vatican buildings, and to be fitted out with the greatest and best instruments of the time.
Veil, Religious - The bride of Christ, as the vestal virgins had done, adopted the veil, which thus symbolized not so much the purity as the inviolable fidelity to Christ which was to be reverenced in her.
Venezuela - A republic formed out of the provinces which, under Spanish rule, constituted the captaincy general of the same name.
Veni Creator Spiritus - The most famous of hymns, assigned in the Roman Breviary to Vespers (I and II) and Terce of Pentecost and throughout the octave.
Vergil, Polydore - Commissioned by Henry VII to write the history of England.
Vergilius of Salzburg, Saint - Irish-born Abbot of St. Peter's monastery at Salzburg. He held that the earth was round, for which St. Boniface accused him of heresy. Vergilius freed himself of the charge, and went on to become a missionary, dying in 789.
Veronica, Saint - Veronica is a name popularly given to one of the women who accompanied Christ to Calvary. "Veronica" is an abbreviation of "vera icon" (true image), and the woman now called Veronica is said to have offered a towel to Christ, on which he left the imprint of his face.
Verot, Augustin - Third Bishop of Savannah, first of St. Augustine. (1804-1876)
Versailles - Diocese includes the Department of Seine-et-Oise, France.
Versions of the Bible - Article on versions of the Bible in the original languages and in translation. Grouped by source.
Versions of the Bible, Coptic - At least parts of Scripture were translated into all four dialects of the Coptic language, though there is some debate about which of the Coptic versions is oldest.
Verstegan, Richard - Publisher and antiquarian, born at London, about 1548.
Vertin, John - Third Bishop of Marquette, U.S.A. (1844-1899)
Vespers - Historical article on Evening Prayer, one of the two principal canonical hours.
Vespers, Music of - Applies especially to the cathedral Office, i.e., the Liturgy of the Hours in a parish setting.
Vespers, Sicilian - The traditional name given to the insurrection which broke out at Palermo on Easter Tuesday, 31 March, 1282, against the domination of Charles of Anjou.
Vespucci, Amerigo - Biographical article on the Italian navigator (1451-1512).
Vestibule (in Architecture) - A hall projecting in front of the façade of a church, found from the fifth century both in the East and the West.
Vestments - According to the rules of the Church or from ecclesiastical usage, are to be worn by the clergy in performing the ceremonies of the services of the Church.
Veszprém - Diocese in Hungary, suffragan of Gran, one of the sees founded about 1009 by King St. Stephen, or perhaps by Queen Gisela, his wife.
Veto, The Royal - Lord Grenville presented a petition for the Catholics in the Lords, and, in moving for a committee, proposed an effective veto for the king on the appointment of bishops.
Vetter, Conrad - Preacher and polemical writer. (1547-1622)
Vicar - In canon law, the representative of a person clothed with ordinary ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
Vicar Apostolic - In the early ages of the Church, the popes committed to some residentiary bishops the duty of watching over ecclesiastical matters in a certain region.
Vicar Capitular - The administrator of a vacant diocese, elected by a cathedral chapter.
Vicar of Christ - A title of the pope implying his supreme and universal primacy, both of honour and of jurisdiction, over the Church of Christ.
Vicar-General - The highest official of a diocese after the ordinary.
Villers, Cistercian Abbey of - Situated on the confines of Villers and Tilly, Duchy of Brabant, present Diocese of Namur (Belgium), and first monastery of the order in this territory.
Vilna - The capital of Lithuania, situated at the junction of the Rivers Vileika and Vilja.
Vincent de Paul, Saint - Biography of the French priest, founder of the Congregation of the Mission, who died in 1660.
Vincent Ferrer, Saint - Biography of this Spanish-born Dominican missionary, who died in 1419.
Vincent Kadlubek, Blessed - Bishop of Cracow, resigned his office and became the first Pole to join the Cistercians. He died in 1223.
Vincent Mary Pallotti, Saint - Biography of the founder of the Pious Society of Missions, who are commonly known as the Pallottine Fathers. He died in 1850.
Vincent, Saint - Also called Maldegarius, married to St. Waldetrude. Their four children are also among the saints. SS. Vincent and Waldetrude both entered monastic life, he founding the monasteries of Hautmont and Soignies. He died in 677.
Vincent, Saint - Essay on the deacon, a native of Saragossa, martyred in 304.
Virgin Birth of Christ - The dogma which teaches that the Blessed Mother of Jesus Christ was a virgin before, during, and after the conception and birth of her Divine Son.
Virgin Mary, Devotion to the - Devotion to Our Blessed Lady in its ultimate analysis must be regarded as a practical application of the doctrine of the Communion of Saints.
Virginity - Morally, virginity signifies the reverence for bodily integrity which is suggested by a virtuous motive.
Virtue - According to its etymology the word virtue (Latin virtus) signifies manliness or courage.
Vischer, Peter - Sculptor and metal founder. (1460-1529)
Visdelou, Claude de - One of the missionaries sent to China by Louis XIV in 1687.
Visigoths - One of the two principal branches of the Goths.
Visions and Apparitions - The article deals not with natural but with supernatural visions, that is, visions due to the direct intervention of a power superior to man.
Visit ad Limina - The obligation incumbent on certain members of the hierarchy of visiting, the "thresholds of the Apostles", Sts. Peter and Paul, and of presenting themselves before the pope to give an account of the state of their dioceses.
Visitation, Canonical - The act of an ecclesiastical superior who in the discharge of his office visits persons or places with a view of maintaining faith and discipline, and of correcting abuses by the application of proper remedies.
Visitation Order - The nuns of the Visitation of Mary, called also Filles de Sainte-Marie, Visitandines, and Salesian Sisters, were founded in 1610.
Visitors Apostolic - Officials whom canonists commonly class with papal legates.
Visits to the Blessed Sacrament - A devotional practice of relatively modern development, honoring the Real Presence of Christ.
Vitalian, Pope Saint - He tried to win over the Monothelites who then held sway in Constantinople, and was the reigning pope at the time of the Synod of Whitby. He died in 672.
Vladimir the Great, Saint - Biography of the grandson of St. Olga. Grand Duke of Kiev and All Russia, first ruler of Russia to convert to Christianity, d. 1015.
Vocation, Ecclesiastical and Religious - The special gift of those who, in the Church of God, follow with a pure intention the ecclesiastical profession of the evangelical counsels.
Volksverein - Organization of German Catholics opposing heresies and revolutionary tendencies in the social world, and for the defence of Christian order in society.
Votive Mass - A Mass offered for a votum, a special intention.
Votive Offerings - The general name given to those things vowed or dedicated to God, or a saint, and in consequence looked upon as set apart by this act of consecration.
Votive Offices - One not entered in the general calendar, but adopted with a view to satisfying a special devotion.
Vulgate, Revision of - In the spring of 1907 the public press announced that Pius X had determined to begin preparations for a critical revision of the Latin Bible.
