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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.
Wadding, Luke - Historian and theologian, born at Waterford, Ireland. (1588-1657)
Wadding, Michael - Mystical theologian, born at Waterford, Ireland. (1591-1644)
Waire, Venerable - English friar and martyr, hanged, drawn, and quartered at St. Thomas Waterings in Camberwell, 8 July, 1539.
Waitzen, Diocese of - Located in Hungary; suffragan of Gran; probably founded by King St. Stephen.
Wakash Indians - A linguistic family inhabiting the western coast of British Columbia, and the west and northwest of Vancouver Island, as well as a small region around Cape Flattery, Washington.
Walafrid - German poet and theologian of the ninth century.
Walburga, Saint - Fairly lengthy biographical article on this abbess of a double monastery, and author, who died in 777.
Waldenses - An heretical sect which appeared in the second half of the twelfth century.
Waldsassen, Abbey of - Cistercian monastery founded by Gerwich von Wolmundstein.
Waldseemüller, Martin - Learned humanist and celebrated cartographer. A canon of St-Dié in Lorraine. (1475-1522)
Walenburch, Adrian and Peter von - Auxiliary bishops of Cologne and celebrated controversial theologians, born at Rotterdam at the beginning of the seventeenth century.
Wales - Located in the western portion of Great Britain.
Walkenried - Cistercian abbey of Germany, situated in the Duchy of Brunswick between Lauterberg and Nordhausen. Founded in 1127 by Countess Adelheid of Klettenberg.
Walla-Walla Indians - A Shahaptian tribe dwelling on the Walla-Walla River and the Columbia in Washington and Oregon, from Snake River to the Umatilla.
War - In its juridical sense, a contention carried on by force of arms between sovereign states, or communities having in this regard the right of states.
Washing of Feet and Hands - Owing to the general use of sandals in Eastern countries the washing of the feet was almost everywhere recognized from the earliest times as a duty of courtesy to be shown to guests.
Washington, State of - One of the Pacific coast states, popularly known as the "Evergreen State".
Water, Liturgical Use of - Besides the holy water which is used in rites of blessing, and the water employed in the washing of feet and hands, and in the baptismal font, water has its recognized place in the ritual of every Mass.
Week, Liturgical - The week was regarded as a sacred institution among the Jews owing to the law of the Sabbath rest and its association with the first chapter of Genesis.
Welsh Church - The term Welsh Church covers "the British Church during the Roman period", "the British Church during the period of Saxon Conquest", and "the Church of Wales".
Whitby, Abbey of - Formerly called Streoneshalh. A Benedictine monastery in the North Riding of Yorkshire, England, founded about 657, as a double monastery, by Oswy, King of Northumberland.
Whitby, Synod of - A conference at the monastery of St. Hilda at Whitby or Streanoeshalch. King Oswy with Bishops Colman and Chad represented the Celtic tradition; Alchfrid, son of Oswy, and Bishops Wilfrid and Agilbert that of Rome.
White, Edward - Grandfather of Stephen Mallory White, born in County Limerick, Ireland, in the latter part of the eighteenth century; died December, 1863.
White Fathers - Missionaries of Our Lady of Africa of Algeria.
William - Abbot of Saint-Bénigne on Dijon. (962-1031)
William, Abbot of Marmoutiers - For a time he was Archdeacon of Nantes, but renounced this dignity and became a monk at the Benedictine monastery of Marmoutiers. (d. 1124)
William Andleby, Blessed - An English convert to Catholicism, he became a priest. He was martyred in 1597.
William, Blessed - Biographical article on this Cluniac, abbot of Hirschau, monastic reformer, astronomer, musician, who died in 1091.
William Filby, Blessed - English priest, martyred in 1582. Article also has details on Bl. Laurence Richardson and St. Luke Kirby, his companions in martyrdom.
William Hart, Blessed - English priest, was betrayed by an apostate on Christmas Day of 1582, chained in an underground dungeon, and martyred at York in 1583.
William Hartley, Blessed - Short biography of the English priest and martyr, who died in 1588. Also some information on his companions in martyrdom John Hewitt, Robert Sutton, and John Harrison.
William Howard, Blessed - Biography of the Viscount Stafford, who headed the list of Catholic lords pursued by Titus Oates in the so-called Popish Plot. Imprisoned in the Tower and tried before the House of Lords, Stafford was executed in 1680.
William Ireland, Blessed - English Jesuit who was arrested by Titus Oates himself, and martyred along with layman John Grove in 1679.
William Lacy, Blessed - English widower, became a priest. He was martyred at York in 1582.
William of Norwich, Saint - William's corpse was found showing signs of a violent death. He is the earliest example of a medieval blood libel saint, having died in 1144. His biographer relied on hearsay, and was "a man of unlimited credulity."
William of Ockham - Biographical article on the fourteenth-century Franciscan philosopher.
William of Sens - A twelfth-century French architect, supposed to have been born at Sens.
William of Shoreham - An English religious writer of the Anglo-Norman period, born at Shoreham, near Sevenoaks, in Kent, in the latter half of the twelfth century.
William of St-Amour - Thirteenth-century theologian and controversialist. (d. 1273)
William Ward, Blessed - Ward, whose real name was William Webster, was over 40 when he began his studies for the priesthood. He labored for 30 years in England, 20 of which were spent in prison. He was martyred in 1641 at the age of about 80, for the crime of being a priest.
Winchester, Ancient See of - This diocese came into existence in 635 when the great missionary Diocese of Dorchester, founded by St. Birinus in 634 for the Kingdom of Wessex, was subdivided into the Sees of Sherborne and Winchester.
Winding Sheet of Christ, Feast of the Holy - In 1206 one of the (supposed) Winding Sheets used at the burial of Christ was brought to Besançon by Otto de La Roche, and the feast of its arrival (Susceptio) was ordered to be kept on 11 July.
Windsor - A town on the Thames, in Berkshire, England; rendered Ventus Morbidus in some medieval documents, the name being really from the Saxon Windels-or, "winding shore".
Winefride, Saint - Seventh-century Welsh niece of St. Beuno. According to legend, she was decapitated by a frustrated suitor and restored to life by her uncle.
Wingham, Thomas - Pianist, organist, composer and teacher. (1846-1893)
Winnebago Indians - A Siouan tribe closely related in speech to the Iowa, Missouri, and Oto, and more remotely to the Dakota and Ponca.
Winnoc, Saint - Early eighth-century Benedictine prior.
Winona, Diocese of - Established in 1889, suffragan of St. Paul, in southern Minnesota.
Wirt, Wigand - Theologian, born at Frankfort about 1460; died at Steyer, 30 June, 1519.
Wisconsin - Known as the "Badger State", admitted to the Union on 29 May, 1848, the seventeenth state admitted, after the original thirteen.
Wisdom, Book of - One of the deutero-canonical writings of the Old Testament, placed in the Vulgate between the Canticle of Canticles and Ecclesiasticus.
Wisdom, Daughters of - Founded at Poitiers by Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort in 1703.
Wood-Carving - Discusses the branch of wood-carving dealing with artistic objects, belonging either to plastic (as statues, crucifixes, and similar carvings), or to industrial art (as arabesques and rosettes), and which serve mainly for the ornamentation of cabinet work.
Worcester, Ancient Diocese of - Located in England, created in 680 when, at the Synod of Hatfield under St. Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, the great Mercian diocese was divided into five sees.
Words (in Canon Law) - Canonists give many rules for the exact acceptation of words, in order that decrees may be correctly understood and the extent of their obligation determined.
World, Antiquity of the - Various attempts have been made to establish the age of the world.
Wounds, The Five Sacred - The revival of religious life and the zealous activity of St. Bernard and St. Francis in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, together with the enthusiasm of the Crusaders returning from the Holy Land, increased devotion to the Passion of Jesus Christ and particularly to practices in honour of the Wounds in His Sacred Hands, Feet, and Side.
Würzburg, University of - John I of Egloffstein (1400-1411), Bishop of Wurzburg, obtained from Pope Boniface IX a charter, dated 10 December, 1492, for the university.
