MILLENNIUM MILESTONES & MEMORIES: TIME CAPSULES

Historical Events in Church Annals for December 7:

(Feast of Saint Ambrose)

• 283 A.D.
  
• Death of Pope Saint Eutychian, 27th successor of Peter. Born in Rome he was elected on January 5, 269. During his 14-year pontificate he ordered that martyrs' remains should be covered with a "Dalmatic" which was similar to the cloke worn by the Roman emperors. This has evolved to today it is worn by deacons at solemn religious functions. Pope Eutychian also instituted the blessing of the crops.

• 1254 A.D.
  
• Death of Pope Innocent IV, 180th successor of Peter. This celebrated canonist's papacy lasted ten and a half years. His election took place at Anagni after a two year vacancy. He called the 13th Ecumenical Council and instituted the feast of the Visitation as well as undertaking the 5th Crusade with Saint Louis IX, king of France.

• 1598 A.D.
  
• Birth of Giovanni Bernini, the celebrated Italian sculptor of the baroque era, famous for monuments in St. Peter's Square and the statue of Saint Teresa in Ecstasy.

• 1965 A.D.
  
• Pope Paul VI and the Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras I simultaneously lift the mutual excommunication interdicts they had placed on each other in 1054, the year of the Great Schism of East and West.