#Archbishop of Armagh

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1581 – Birth of prolific scholar and church leader, James Ussher, in Dublin.

James Ussher and His Chronology by Jerry Bergman, Ph.D.    Archbishop James Ussher was one of the most important biblical scholars of the 17th century. His research and scholarly work have even earned high praise from some who are opposed to his conclusions. Called “the greatest luminary of the church of Ireland” and “one of the greatest scholars of his day in the Christian Church,” his work…

[notkingyet2]

John Lynch doesn’t like horror films. He’s not a fan of blood and gore. It’s a genre his Italian mum favoured when he was growing up in the townland of Corrinshego in Co Armagh, but John, not so much. Well, he says that, but his recent body of work might suggest otherwise. In the last few years, he’s appeared in the chilling BBC2 tale, The Terror, British horror film The Banishing and the psychological drama The Head. There’s a sense of something monstrous, supernatural even, at play in all three thrillers. And there’s more gore to come in the new horror flick Boys from County Hell, in which he stars, and which opens in cinemas across Northern Ireland today. “Yes, you’ve got a point,” he laughs, when I present the evidence against his claim that he’s not really a fan of the horror genre. “But for me, it comes down to the scripts and relationships. I worked with the director Christopher Smith before, so when he rang me up about playing a creepy, sinister archbishop in The Banishing, I said yes. “I also worked with Chris Baugh in Canada on two episodes of Tin Star. Both are very talented directors. When Chris Baugh showed me the script for Boys from County Hell, I thought it was really good. It has a lot of dark comedy in it and I’d kept in touch with him after Tin Star, so I thought ‘why not?’. “The Head is set in an Antarctic research centre and everyone ends up dead and The Terror was based on a novel about a real-life expedition with a supernatural element; a mystical creature devouring the men. “Again, they were good scripts, and, in The Terror, I got to play a role I’d never explored before, someone in love with another man. “But yes, I do see a pattern. Perhaps it’s my time of blood.”

"I don't really like horror" says guy who keeps starring in horror projects.

(from the Belfast Telegraph article New film: John Lynch and Jack Rowan in Boys from County Hell)

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Oliver Plunkett

1625 - 1681

Feast Day: July 1

Patronage: Peace and Reconciliation in Ireland

Born in Ireland, he studied for the priesthood in Rome and was ordained there in 1654. After some years of teaching and service to the poor of Rome, he was appointed Archbishop of Armagh in Ireland. Four years later, in 1673, a new wave of anti-Catholic persecution began, forcing Archbishop Plunkett to do his pastoral work in secrecy and disguise and to live in hiding. He was viewed as ultimately responsible for any rebellion or political activity among his parishioners. He was arrested and imprisoned in Dublin Castle in 1679, but his trial was moved to London. A jury found him guilty of fomenting revolt. He was hanged, drawn and quartered in July 1681.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

[camisoledadparis]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … November 29

1628 – John Felton, murderer of George Villiers (King James I's lover) was hanged. Villiers was the last in a succession of handsome young favorites on whom the king lavished affection and patronage, although the personal relationship between the two has been much debated. 

1764 – Percy Jocelyn (d.1843) was Anglican Bishop of Clogher in the Church of Ireland from 1820 to 1822. He was forced from his position due to claims of homosexual practices.

In 1811, Bishop Percy's brother John Jocelyn's coachman, James Byrne, accused Percy of 'taking indecent familiarities' with him (possibly buggery) and of 'using indecent or obscene conversations with him'. The bishop survived this accusation, instead suing the coachman for libel. Byrne was convicted and was sentenced to two years in jail and also to public flogging. Recanting his allegations at the prompting of the bishop's agent, the floggings were stopped. A public subscription was raised in 1822 after Jocelyn's fall from grace to raise money for Byrne to try to make up for this miscarriage of justice.

On 19 July 1822, Percy Jocelyn was caught in a compromising position with a Grenadier Guardsman, John Moverley, in the back room of The White Lion public house, St Albans Place, off The Haymarket, Westminster. He and Moverley were released on bail, provided by the Earl of Roden and others. Jocelyn broke bail and moved to Scotland where he worked as a butler under an assumed name. He was declared deposed in his absence by the Metropolitan Court of Armagh in October 1822 for "the crimes of immorality, incontinence, Sodomitical practices, habits, and propensities, and neglect of his spiritual, judicial, and ministerial dutie."

A political cartoon of the time

Jocelyn was the most senior British churchman to be involved in a public homosexual scandal in the 19th century. It became a subject of satire and popular ribaldry, resulting in more than a dozen illustrated satirical cartoons, pamphlets, and limericks, such as:

The Devil to prove the Church was a farce Went out to fish for a Bugger. He baited his hook with a Soldier's arse And pulled up the Bishop of Clogher.

The scandal was so great, that in the days following, "it was not safe for a bishop to show himself in the streets of London", according to Charles Manners-Sutton, Archbishop of Canterbury at the time. In August 1822, Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, who was both the Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons, had an audience with King George IV saying he was being blackmailed, and that "I am accused of the same crime as the Bishop of Clogher."

1931 – Leo Martello (d.2000) was an American Wiccan priest, gay rights activist, and author. He was a founding member of the Strega Tradition, a form of the modern Pagan new religious movement of Wicca which drew upon his own Italian heritage. During his lifetime he published a number of books on such esoteric subjects as Wicca, astrology, and tarot reading.

Born to a working-class Italian American family in Dudley, Massachusetts, he was raised Roman Catholic although became interested in esotericism as a teenager. He later claimed that when he was 21, relatives initiated him into a tradition of witchcraft inherited from their Sicilian ancestors; this conflicts with other statements that he made, and there is no independent evidence to corroborate his claim.

During the 1950s, he was based in New York City, where he worked as a graphologist and hypnotist. After beginning to publish books on paranormal topics in the early 1960s, he publicly began identifying as Wiccan in 1969, and stated that he was involved in a New York coven.

After the Stonewall riots of 1969, Martello – himself a gay man – involved himself in gay rights activism, becoming a member of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF). Leaving the GLF following an internal schism, he became a founding member of the Gay Activist Alliance (GAA) and authored a regular column, "The Gay Witch", for its newspaper.

In 1970 he founded the Witches International Craft Associates (WICA) as a networking organization for Wiccans, and under its auspices organized a "Witch In" that took place in Central Park at Halloween 1970, despite opposition from the New York City Parks Department. To campaign for the civil rights of Wiccans, he founded the Witches Anti-Defamation League, which was later renamed the Alternative Religions Education Network.

In 1973, he visited England, there being initiated into Gardnerian Wicca by the Gardnerian High Priestess Patricia Crowther. He continued practicing Wicca into the 1990s, when he retreated from public life, eventually succumbing to cancer in 2000.

1968 – Jonathan Knight is an American singer. Knight is part of the boyband New Kids on the Block. The band also includes Donnie Wahlberg, Joey McIntyre, Danny Wood and Jonathan's younger brother Jordan. He is the oldest member of the group and was the first to leave the group in 1994 prior to their official disbanding. The band reunited briefly in 2008.

Jonathan Knight was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Canadian parents. (His father, an Episcopal priest, is from Meaford, Ontario; his mother is from Dunnville, Ontario.) He is one of six children, including Allison, Sharon, David, Christopher and Jordan.

In the early 1990s, Knight was linked to teen pop singer Tiffany. Both denied dating at the time. In 2009, The National Enquirer published an article from a man claiming to be Knight's ex-boyfriend, and outing him as gay. In a January 2011 interview, singer Tiffany stated that Knight is gay, which Knight then confirmed, saying "I have lived my life very openly and have never hidden the fact that I am gay." n a statement on the NKOTB blog, he added "Apparently the prerequisite to being a gay public figure is to appear on the cover of a magazine with the caption 'I am gay'. I apologize for not doing so if this is what was expected!"

Since 2008, Knight has been in a relationship with Harley Rodriguez, best known for playing Manny Lopez in the Sweet Valley High television series. The two participated in the 26th season of the reality competition series The Amazing Race, which aired on CBS in early 2015, where they placed 9th. On November 15, 2016, while vacationing in Africa, the two became engaged when Knight proposed to Rodriguez. In March 2021, Knight began hosting the HGTV television show Farmhouse Fixer, in which he restores old New England farmhouses for clients.

On August 25, 2022, it was revealed that Knight and Rodriguez had married.

1971 – Steve May is a former politician from Arizona, where he served in the Arizona House of Representatives. He was openly gay when he ran for and served in the legislature. He was nevertheless recalled to active duty in the military. He came to national attention in 1999 when the U.S. Army attempted to discharge him from the United States Army Reserve under the gay-exclusionary law known as "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT).

May was born and grew up in a Mormon household in Phoenix, Arizona, in the district he later represented in the state legislature. He was an Eagle Scout. He entered the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1989 at the age of 17 at Claremont McKenna College and received his commission as an U.S. Army officer in 1993. He served for two and a half years at Fort Riley, Kansas. His assignments included managing the integration of women into an all-male platoon. He left the Army with an honorable discharge in 1995. May ran unsuccessfully for the House in 1996 before winning a seat in 1998, as a Republican. He ran as an openly gay man and had secured the endorsement of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, a political action committee dedicated to helping elect openly LGBT candidates to public office. He and his family have engaged in protracted lawsuits about their competing business interests.

On February 3, 1999, May spoke to a committee of the Arizona House about pending legislation that would prevent local jurisdictions from providing benefits to the domestic partners of their employees. He said:

I know many of you expected me to sit quietly in my office, but I cannot sit quietly in my office when another member attacks my family and attempts to steal my freedom. And furthermore if this legislature intends to take my gay tax dollars, which work just as well as your straight tax dollars, then treat me fairly under the law.

A few weeks later, as the Kosovo crisis was developing, he was recalled by the Army Reserves, where he attained the rank of First Lieutenant. He returned to duty in April and in May a local magazine reported on him under the headline "Gay Ring Wing Mormon Steve May is a Walking Talking Contradiction". In July the Army notified him that he was under investigation for homosexuality.

An Army spokesman commented in August: "I don't think that the individual has been, shall we say, keeping this under wraps, as to his sexual orientation." In March 2000, the Army asked him to resign and he refused.

He said of this period:

That was in December of 1999 and I continued to serve my soldiers and my unit. My soldiers were very cooperative. They treated me just like they would any other officer, gay or straight. In March, I sent 18 kids off to Kosovo. When I came home from sending those kids out, I received a letter from the Army “inviting” me to resign. Not only did they invite me to resign, they wrote a letter of resignation for me. I wasn’t about to let the Army have the satisfaction of me just going away. The fact is, the Army called me back into service when they felt they needed me. I was willing to give my life for my country and now the Army was telling me that my life was no longer worthy to give. Not because of anything that I did, but because of who I am. Well, they should have known who I was before they asked me to me back. I refused to resign.

On September 17, 2000, an Army panel recommended May be given an honorable discharge under DADT. May fought to remain in service and in January 2001 the Army terminated its discharge proceedings. May received an honorable discharge in May 2001 at the scheduled conclusion of his term of service.

During his time in office, May served as the chairman of the House Ways and Means committee and was instrumental in getting Arizona's sodomy law repealed.In 2002, May lost his bid for re-election. In 2010, May joined the race for Arizona's 17th District House seat as a write-in candidate. Following the revelation of a 2009 guilty plea to a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol, for which May served ten days in jail and received three years of probation, May dropped out of the race.

1981 – John Milhiser is an American actor and comedian. Milhiser first garnered attention for his work as a member of the Upright Citizens Brigade sketch group Serious Lunch, before achieving widespread success for his brief stint as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live for the 2013–2014 season.

He has been a regular performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater since 2005, where he was a member of the sketch comedy group Serious Lunch, who have been featured on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and Attack of the Show. Milhiser is a native of Belle Mead, New Jersey and he graduated in 2000 from Montgomery High School in Skillman, New Jersey. He later attended Hofstra University, where he graduated in 2004 as a Film Studies and Production major and was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity.

Milhiser made his debut on Saturday Night Live on the September 28, 2013, season premiere hosted by Tina Fey. His celebrity impressions included Jon Cryer, Matthew McConaughey, Verne Troyer (as Mini-Me from the Austin Powers movies), and Billie Joe Armstrong. On July 15, 2014, it was announced that Milhiser's contract with SNL was not renewed and he would not be returning as a cast member.

In 2014, Milhiser appeared in a supporting role in the indie film Camp Takota. He has also made guest appearances on television programs such as Adam Ruins Everything, 2 Broke Girls, Netflix Original Series Love, and Other Space.

Milhiser was Saturday Night Live's second openly gay male cast member (after Terry Sweeney), as well as the one of the few LGBTQ cast members overall.

1984 – Less than a month after being established as a city, West Hollywood approved a gay rights ordinance.

1990 – US President George H.W. Bush signs an immigration bill ending the gay ban.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Today in Christian History

Today is Thursday, March 21st, 2024. It is the 81st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; Because it is a leap year, 285 days remain until the end of the year.

1526: In Zurich, Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, and George Blaurock escape from prison down a rope. Pacifist Anabaptists, they believed Christians should not hold power, but had been condemned to life imprisonment on concocted charges of fomenting revolution. Captured again that year, Manz and Blaurock will be again imprisoned, and Manz will be executed by drowning in 1527.

1556: Archbishop Thomas Cranmer is burned alive on orders of Mary Tudor, officially because of his “heresies�� (he had been a leader in the English Reformation), but actually because of his role in providing King Henry VIII with a divorce from Mary’s mother Catherine many years earlier.

1656: Death of the archbishop of Armagh, James Ussher. His Annales Veteris et Novi Testamenti proposed a biblical chronology that placed the creation of the world in 4004 BC, and his dates will be incorporated into the notes of many Bible versions.

1806: Burial of David Dale, a Scottish manufacturer and philanthropist who sought to alleviate the condition of the poor by providing food, housing, and education at his mills. He had opened new mills to provide work for the unemployed. Strongly evangelical, he served as a lay preacher and headed many philanthropic endeavors, and was known as a lenient magistrate.

1843: Gungaram Mundel contracts cholera. He had been the first convert at Khari Baptist Church, Calcutta, and his profession of faith had eased the way for other Indians of the area to follow Christ.

1863: Death of Davis Griffiths, a missionary to Madagascar, who had translated the Bible into the Malagasy language.

1965: Baptist minister Martin Luther King, Jr (pictured above). leads more than three thousand civil rights demonstrators on a march from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery. By the time they reach their destination four days later, the number of protesters will have swelled to twenty-five thousand.

1979: Muslim militants burn down the fifth-century historical Coptic Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in Old Cairo.

1994: The people of Augusta, Georgia, dedicate a monument on Green Street to the memory of Christian philanthropist Emily Harvey Thomas Tubman.

2007: Teacher Christianah Oluwasesin of Nigeria is beaten to death by a mob on an accusation that she touched a student’s handbag which had a Koran in it, thus defiling the Koran.

[maturemenoftvandfilms]

Timothy M. Dolan Archbishop of New York

Cardinal Dolan still on his pilgrimage to Ireland at the St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh! You all know I have a rock hard boner for Cardinal Dolan, but I want more of that priest in the background.

Cardinal Dolan visited St. Malachy’s, a vibrant parish in Belfast and was honored to use one of their Penal chalices.

Penal chalices. Hahaha… penis.

What? I'm a child sometimes.

Cardinal Dolan kissing the Penal chalices. Hahaha… penis.

[werewolfetone]

Mentioned this but not explained it, so--differences between different groups of Catholic activists in late 18th century Ireland:

Catholic Committee:

Established in 1757, by Charles O'Conor and several other people, including the future Archbishop of Dublin

In about the mid 1770s, the Viscount Kenmare, one of the last wealthy Catholic aristocrats, took it over

Under Kenmare it took a very pro-government stance and worked against the Whiteboys and American rebels

It also worked in tandem with the 1782 Catholic Relief Act, again as part of its pro-government schtick, and was content to ask for small concessions from the Protestant-only Irish parliament rather than forcibly taking them

In 1790, John Keogh became the chairman

Also in 1790, there was an election for members, which led to a shift in demographics on the committee--for the first time, middle class tradesmen outnumbered the aristocrats, but the ideas of the committee were still heavily dictated by those of the aristocrats

At the end of 1790, a debate took place where several people including Theobald Wolfe Tone, Richard McCormick, and Dr. Theobald Mckenna declared that they were going to move away from the pro-government stance and demand instead a total repeal of the Penal Laws

Despite their more anti-government stance, the Catholic Committee under Keogh was still not a revolutionary group, they were just less willing to just go along with whatever parliament did rather than making their own demands

Kenmarites:

Lord Kenmare did not like the above declaration, so in December of 1790 he took 69 other members and seceded

Kenmare's group was essentially just... the Catholic Committee as it had been under Kenmare originally. They kept the same pro-government stance and were even less revolutionary than Keogh's Catholic Committee

They were the boogymen to the Catholic Committee proper throughout the 1790s. Every time something bad would happen, the Catholic Committee would expel a bunch of people as "Kenmareites"

Catholic Society:

In 1791, Anglican Theobald Wolfe Tone published An Argument of Behalf of the Catholics in Ireland, which was a pamphlet stressing solidarity between Catholics and Protestants. Though the main target audience was wealthy Protestants, the show that Protestant reformers cared about Catholic issues also convinced a number of Catholics to come to the side of reform

Due to this, and frustrated by Keogh's less than revolutionary stance, another group of Catholic Committee men (around 45 in all) also seceded to form a more revolutionary group called the Catholic Society

This group was much more anti-government and most members were explicitly pro French Revolution

Working with them, Dr. Theobald Mckenna issued a paper calling for solidarity between all religious groups against England, which terrified the British government

Defenders:

Made up mostly of working class Catholics, this group started in Co. Armagh in the mid 1780s and spread throughout Ulster and eventually to adjacent counties

It had no real leaders or manifesto, as it was specifically backlash to Protestant groups such as the Peep of Day Boys and Orange Boys who were going around burning down houses and torturing random Catholics to death. In return for this, Catholics formed the Defenders and started doing... basically the same thing but to Protestants

Their tactics consisted of guerilla warfare, and they were incredibly illegal, so it was a very secret, shadowy, oath-bound society. Apart from the fact that they would get into public fights with their counterpart organisations, nothing about them was allowed to be out in the open

Their ideology can be best summed up by one instance of a Defender oath-- "to be against all kings, against all nations, and to plant to true religion [Catholicism] throughout the world."

Eventually they would merge with the United Irishmen after the Armagh Outrages

[anastpaul]

Saint of the Day – 1 April – Saint Celsus of Armagh (c1080-1129) Archbishop

Saint of the Day – 1 April – Saint Celsus of Armagh (c1080-1129) Archbishop of Armagh, Reformer. He was responsible for the change from lay control of the Church in Ireland, to a Clerical-Episcopal model. Himself a hereditary lay administrator, he decided to seek Priestly Ordination and be embraced celibacy in order that the reform introduced by Pope St Gregory VIII on the Continent, could take…

[silvestromedia]

SAINTS NOVEMBER 03 "There is only one tragedy in this life, not to have been a saint."- Leon Bloy

St. Peter Francis Neron, Roman Catholic Priest and Vietnamese Martyr. He served as the director of the main seminary until he was arrested and beheaded by authorities.

St. Winifred. According to legend, she was the daughter of a wealthy resident of Tegeingl, Flintshire, Wales, and the sister of St. Beuno. She was most impressed by Beuno, was supposedly beheaded on June 22 by one Caradog when she refused to submit to him, had her head restored by Beuno, and sometime later, became a nun of the convent of a double monastery at Gwytherin in Denbigshire. She succeeded an Abbess Tenoy, as Abbess and died there fifteen years after her miraculous restoration to life. A spring supposedly springing up where Winifred's head fell is called Holy Well or St. Winifred's Well and became a great pilgrimage center where many cures have been reported over the centuries. She is also known as Gwenfrewi.

St. Vulganius, 704 A.D. Irish or Welsh missionary and hermit. After working to evangelize the tribes of the Atrebati in France, he became a hermit at Arras.

St. Cristiolus, 7th century. Welsh confessor, the brother of St. Sulian. Cristiolus founded Christian churches, including the parish in Anglesey.

St. Elerius, 6th century. Welsh saint who was a companion of St. Winefred. He was an abbot in a monastery in the north of Wales.

St. Englatius, 966 A.D. A Scottish bishop also called Englat and Tanglen. He lived at Tarves, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

St. Malachy O' More, Bishop famous for writing prophecies of the popes. Also listed as Mael Maedoc ua Morgair or Maolrnhaodhog ua Morgair, Malachy was born in Armagh, Ireland, in 1095. He was ordained by St. Cellach or Celsus of Armagh in 1132 and studied under Bishop St. Maichius of Lismore. Malachy reformed ecclesiastical discipline and replaced the Celtic liturgy with the Roman when he served as abbot of Bangor. In 1125 he was made bishop of Connor, using Bangor as his seat. He also established a monastery at Iveragh, Kerry. He was named archbishop of Armagh in 1129. In 1138, he resigned and made a pilgrimage to Rome. He visited St. Bernard at Clairvaux, France, wanting to be a monk there, but returned to Ireland to found Mellifont Abbey, also serving as papal legate to Ireland. He returned to Clairvaux and died on November 2 in St. Bernard’s arms. St. Bernard declared him a saint, an action confirmed in 1190 by Pope Clement III. Malachy is known for many miracles, including healing the son of King David I of Scotland. Malachy’s prophecies did not appear until 1597. Tradition states that Malachy wrote them while in Rome and that they were buried in papal archives until 1597, when Dom Arnold de Wyon discovered them. Serious doubts remain as to the true authorship of the prophecies.

ST. SYLVIA, MOTHER OF ST. GREGORY THE GREAT

St. Martin de Porres, Dominican lay brother at the Dominican Friary at Lima and spent his whole life there-as a barber, farm laborer, almoner, and infirmarian among other things. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/11/03/st--martin-de-porres--dominican.html

[theirishaesthete]

Out of Service

After Monday’s account of Bessbrook, here is what might be classified as one of the casualties of the town’s success: the former St Jude’s church a couple of miles to the south-west. The building dates from 1772 and has been attributed to architect Thomas Cooley since by that date he had begun receiving commissions from Richard Robinson, Archbishop of Armagh (and who carried on employing Cooley…

[brookston]

Holidays 3.27

Holidays

Aglet Day

Amniotic Fluid Embolism Awareness Day

Armed Forces Day (Myanmar)

Beeching Day (UK)

Beer Writers Day

Birch Day (French Republic)

Celebrate Exchange Day

Commemoration of Sen no Rikyu (Omotesenke School of the Japanese Tea Ceremony; Japan)

Corkscrew Day

Day of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania (Romania)

Downtown Day

Funky Winkerbean Day

Internal Troops and National Guard Servicemen's Day (Russia)

International Day of Multilingualism

International Medical Science Liaison Day

Lazy Moocher's Day

Mariah Day

Muslim Women’s Day

National Acoustic Soul Day

National Blunt Day

National Camp at Home Day

National Cleavage Day

National Detroit Day

National Guard Forces Command Day (Russia)

National "Joe" Day

National Medical Science Liaison Day

National Scribble Day

National Supported Internship Day (UK)

National Terrier Day (UK)

Performing Arts Day (Iran)

Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day

Resistance Day (Burma/Myanmar)

Sakura Day (Japan)

Semana Santa (Nicaragua)

Sen no Rikyu (Way of Tea School commemoration; Japan)

Shoelace Patent Day

Skyscraper Day

Suve Ajale üleminek (Summer Time; Belgium, Estonia, Moldova, Netherlands)

327 Day

Urinal Day

Viagra Day

World AdTech Day

World Hospital Pharmacy Day

World Railway Workers’ Day

World Theatre Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

International Cheese Day

International Whisk(e)y Day

National Cheese Day (France)

Spanish Paella Day

4th & Last Wednesday in March

American Red Cross Giving Day [4th Wednesday]

Document Freedom Day [Last Wednesday]

International Data Center Day [4th Wednesday]

Jersey Mike’s Day of Giving [Last Wednesday]

Manatee Appreciation Day [Last Wednesday]

National Day of WIL (Canada) [4th Wednesday]

National Governance Professionals Day (Canada) [Last Wednesday]

National Little Red Wagon Day [Last Wednesday]

Red Cross Giving Day [4th Wednesday]

A Whole Day for Whole Grain [Last Wednesday]

Independence & Related Days

Bessarabia (Day of the Union with Romania; 1918)

Federation of the Seven Towers (Declared, 2022) [unrecognized]

Gogania (Declared, 2013) [unrecognized]

Michrenia (Declared, 2013) [unrecognized]

Pugguinia (Declared, 2010) [unrecognized]

Ultamiya (Declared, 2010) [unrecognized]

Festivals Beginning March 27, 2024

Blazing Swan (Kulin, Australia) [thru 4.2]

Maine Restaurant Expo (Portland, Maine)

Melbourne International Comedy Festival (Melbourne, Australia) [thru 4.21]

New York International Auto Show (New York, New York) [thru 4.7]

Oak Mountain State Fair (Pelham, Alabama) [thru 4.14]

Spring Dairy Expo (Columbus, Ohio) [thru 3.30]

Virginia Food and Beverage Expo (Richmond, Virginia)

WiVi: Central Coast (Paso Robles, California)

Feast Days

Aequinoctium Vernum, Day 1 (Pagan)

Albert Marquet (Artology)

Alexander, a Pannonian soldier (Christian; Martyr)

Amador of Portugal (Christian; Saint)

Augusta of Treviso (Christian; Saint)

Barley Harvest Festival (Jehovah, Protector of the Barley)

Charles Henry Brent (Episcopal Church (USA))

Christine (Muppetism)

Clear Energy Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Edward J. Steichen (Artology)

Edward William Cooke (Artology)

Gauri (Women’s Festival to Goddess of Marriage & Abundance; India)

Geasa Day (Prohibitions; Celtic Book of Days)

Gelasius, Archbishop of Armagh (Christian; Saint)

Guan Shi Yin Pu Sa (Buddhism)

Herophilius (Positivist; Saint)

Jan van Beers (Artology)

John & Patsy Ramsey Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saints)

John Damascene (Christian; Saint)

John of Egypt (Christian; Saint)

Jules Olitski (Artology)

Lavatio (Festival of Cybele and Attis; Ancient Rome)

Liberalia (Ancient Rome; Festival of Liber Pater, Fertility & Wine God)

Patrick McCabe (Writerism)

Paella Day (Pastafarian)

Philetus (Christian; Saint)

Romulus of Nîmes, a Benedictine abbot (Christian; Martyr)

Rupert of Salzburg (Christian; Saint)

Smell the Breezes Day (Sky Goddess Nut; Ancient Egypt)

Vladimir Burliuk (Artology)

Zanitas and Lazarus of Persia (Christian; Saint)

Christian Liturgical Holidays

Black Wednesday (Czech Republic) [Wednesday before Easter]

Holy Wednesday [4 Days before Easter]

Soot-Sweeping Wednesday [Wednesday before Easter]

Ugly Wednesday [Wednesday before Easter]

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Annie Hall (Film; 1977)

April Showers (Film; 1948)

The Bulleteers (Fleischer Cartoon; 1942) [#5]

Child Sociology (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1953)

Consuming Passions (Film; 1992)

The Cutting Edge (Film; 1992)

Design for Leaving (WB LT Cartoon; 1954)

Eaters of the Dead, by Michael Crichton (Novel; 1976)

The Energy Blues (Science Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1979)

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, by Charles Mackay (Psychology Book; 1841)

The Fella with the Fiddle (WB MM Cartoon; 1937)

The Greatest Man in Siam (Swing Symphony Cartoon; 1944)

Home (Animated Film; 2015)

International House (Film; 1933)

Moby Duck (WB LT Cartoon; 1965)

Monsters vs. Aliens (Animated Film; 2009)

The Moonman is Blue or The Inside Story (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S1, Ep. 36; 1960)

Mother, by Meghan Trainor (Song; 2023)

Run-DMC, by Run-DMC (Album; 1984)

Run Silent, Run Deep (Film; 1958)

Singin’ in the Rain (Film; 1952)

The Snowman Cometh or An Icicle Built for Two (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S1, Ep. 35; 1960)

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay (WB Animated Film; 2018)

Thief (Film; 1981)

Thunderball, by Ian Fleming (Novel; 1959) [James Bond #9]

Tiny Toon Spring Break (WB Animated TV Film; 1994)

Tom Thumb (ComicColor Cartoon; 1936)

Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (Disney Animated TV Special; 1959)

Victorious (TV Series; 2010)

What Makes Sammy Run?, by Budd Schulberg (Novel; 1941)

What We Do in the Shadows (Film; 2019)

White Men Can’t Jump (Film; 1992)

Today’s Name Days

Ernst, Frowin, Heimo (Austria)

Lada, Peregrin, Rupert (Croatia)

Dita (Czech Republic)

Kastor (Denmark)

Laide, Laidi, Leia, Leida, Leidi (Estonia)

Saul, Sauli (Finland)

Habib (France)

Augusta, Ernst, Heimo (Germany)

Filitas, Leeda, Lidia, Makedon, Matrona (Greece)

Hajnalka (Hungary)

Augusto, Oliviero, Romolo, Ruperto (Italy)

Audra, Gustavs, Gusts, Talrits (Latvia)

Aleksandras, Alkmenas, Lidija, Rūta (Lithuania)

Rudi, Rudolf (Norway)

Benedykt, Ernest, Ernestyn, Jan, Lidia, Rościmir, Rupert (Poland)

Matroana (Romania)

Alena (Slovakia)

Alejandro, Ruperto (Spain)

Ralf, Rudolf (Sweden)

Acher, Archibald, Archie, Montgomery, Monte, Monty (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 87 of 2024; 279 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of week 13 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Fearn (Alder) [Day 11 of 28]

Chinese: Month 2 (Ding-Mao), Day 18 (Geng-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025)

Hebrew: 17 Adair II 5784

Islamic: 17 Ramadan 1445

J Cal: 27 Green; Sixday [27 of 30]

Julian: 14 March 2024

Moon: 94%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 3 Archimedes (4th Month) [Erasistratus]

Runic Half Month: Ehwaz (Horse) [Day 2 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 9 of 92)

Week: 4th Week of March

Zodiac: Aries (Day 7 of 31)

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1679 – St. Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop of Armagh, is accused of instigating the ‘Irish Popish’ Plot and arrested.

The late 1670s under Charles II were a special time in British history during which religious controversy ran high. The rivalry between the king, who issued a Declaration of Indulgence suspending all laws punishing Roman Catholics and other religious dissenters, and a strongly Anglican Parliament had reached its peak. In Ireland the Catholic Church had slowly been recovering from the Cromwellian…

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 3.27

Holidays

Aglet Day

Amniotic Fluid Embolism Awareness Day

Armed Forces Day (Myanmar)

Beeching Day (UK)

Beer Writers Day

Birch Day (French Republic)

Celebrate Exchange Day

Commemoration of Sen no Rikyu (Omotesenke School of the Japanese Tea Ceremony; Japan)

Corkscrew Day

Day of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania (Romania)

Downtown Day

Funky Winkerbean Day

Internal Troops and National Guard Servicemen's Day (Russia)

International Day of Multilingualism

International Medical Science Liaison Day

Lazy Moocher's Day

Mariah Day

Muslim Women’s Day

National Acoustic Soul Day

National Blunt Day

National Camp at Home Day

National Cleavage Day

National Detroit Day

National Guard Forces Command Day (Russia)

National "Joe" Day

National Medical Science Liaison Day

National Scribble Day

National Supported Internship Day (UK)

National Terrier Day (UK)

Performing Arts Day (Iran)

Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day

Resistance Day (Burma/Myanmar)

Sakura Day (Japan)

Semana Santa (Nicaragua)

Sen no Rikyu (Way of Tea School commemoration; Japan)

Shoelace Patent Day

Skyscraper Day

Suve Ajale üleminek (Summer Time; Belgium, Estonia, Moldova, Netherlands)

327 Day

Urinal Day

Viagra Day

World AdTech Day

World Hospital Pharmacy Day

World Railway Workers’ Day

World Theatre Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

International Cheese Day

International Whisk(e)y Day

National Cheese Day (France)

Spanish Paella Day

4th & Last Wednesday in March

American Red Cross Giving Day [4th Wednesday]

Document Freedom Day [Last Wednesday]

International Data Center Day [4th Wednesday]

Jersey Mike’s Day of Giving [Last Wednesday]

Manatee Appreciation Day [Last Wednesday]

National Day of WIL (Canada) [4th Wednesday]

National Governance Professionals Day (Canada) [Last Wednesday]

National Little Red Wagon Day [Last Wednesday]

Red Cross Giving Day [4th Wednesday]

A Whole Day for Whole Grain [Last Wednesday]

Independence & Related Days

Bessarabia (Day of the Union with Romania; 1918)

Federation of the Seven Towers (Declared, 2022) [unrecognized]

Gogania (Declared, 2013) [unrecognized]

Michrenia (Declared, 2013) [unrecognized]

Pugguinia (Declared, 2010) [unrecognized]

Ultamiya (Declared, 2010) [unrecognized]

Festivals Beginning March 27, 2024

Blazing Swan (Kulin, Australia) [thru 4.2]

Maine Restaurant Expo (Portland, Maine)

Melbourne International Comedy Festival (Melbourne, Australia) [thru 4.21]

New York International Auto Show (New York, New York) [thru 4.7]

Oak Mountain State Fair (Pelham, Alabama) [thru 4.14]

Spring Dairy Expo (Columbus, Ohio) [thru 3.30]

Virginia Food and Beverage Expo (Richmond, Virginia)

WiVi: Central Coast (Paso Robles, California)

Feast Days

Aequinoctium Vernum, Day 1 (Pagan)

Albert Marquet (Artology)

Alexander, a Pannonian soldier (Christian; Martyr)

Amador of Portugal (Christian; Saint)

Augusta of Treviso (Christian; Saint)

Barley Harvest Festival (Jehovah, Protector of the Barley)

Charles Henry Brent (Episcopal Church (USA))

Christine (Muppetism)

Clear Energy Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Edward J. Steichen (Artology)

Edward William Cooke (Artology)

Gauri (Women’s Festival to Goddess of Marriage & Abundance; India)

Geasa Day (Prohibitions; Celtic Book of Days)

Gelasius, Archbishop of Armagh (Christian; Saint)

Guan Shi Yin Pu Sa (Buddhism)

Herophilius (Positivist; Saint)

Jan van Beers (Artology)

John & Patsy Ramsey Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saints)

John Damascene (Christian; Saint)

John of Egypt (Christian; Saint)

Jules Olitski (Artology)

Lavatio (Festival of Cybele and Attis; Ancient Rome)

Liberalia (Ancient Rome; Festival of Liber Pater, Fertility & Wine God)

Patrick McCabe (Writerism)

Paella Day (Pastafarian)

Philetus (Christian; Saint)

Romulus of Nîmes, a Benedictine abbot (Christian; Martyr)

Rupert of Salzburg (Christian; Saint)

Smell the Breezes Day (Sky Goddess Nut; Ancient Egypt)

Vladimir Burliuk (Artology)

Zanitas and Lazarus of Persia (Christian; Saint)

Christian Liturgical Holidays

Black Wednesday (Czech Republic) [Wednesday before Easter]

Holy Wednesday [4 Days before Easter]

Soot-Sweeping Wednesday [Wednesday before Easter]

Ugly Wednesday [Wednesday before Easter]

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Annie Hall (Film; 1977)

April Showers (Film; 1948)

The Bulleteers (Fleischer Cartoon; 1942) [#5]

Child Sociology (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1953)

Consuming Passions (Film; 1992)

The Cutting Edge (Film; 1992)

Design for Leaving (WB LT Cartoon; 1954)

Eaters of the Dead, by Michael Crichton (Novel; 1976)

The Energy Blues (Science Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1979)

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, by Charles Mackay (Psychology Book; 1841)

The Fella with the Fiddle (WB MM Cartoon; 1937)

The Greatest Man in Siam (Swing Symphony Cartoon; 1944)

Home (Animated Film; 2015)

International House (Film; 1933)

Moby Duck (WB LT Cartoon; 1965)

Monsters vs. Aliens (Animated Film; 2009)

The Moonman is Blue or The Inside Story (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S1, Ep. 36; 1960)

Mother, by Meghan Trainor (Song; 2023)

Run-DMC, by Run-DMC (Album; 1984)

Run Silent, Run Deep (Film; 1958)

Singin’ in the Rain (Film; 1952)

The Snowman Cometh or An Icicle Built for Two (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S1, Ep. 35; 1960)

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay (WB Animated Film; 2018)

Thief (Film; 1981)

Thunderball, by Ian Fleming (Novel; 1959) [James Bond #9]

Tiny Toon Spring Break (WB Animated TV Film; 1994)

Tom Thumb (ComicColor Cartoon; 1936)

Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (Disney Animated TV Special; 1959)

Victorious (TV Series; 2010)

What Makes Sammy Run?, by Budd Schulberg (Novel; 1941)

What We Do in the Shadows (Film; 2019)

White Men Can’t Jump (Film; 1992)

Today’s Name Days

Ernst, Frowin, Heimo (Austria)

Lada, Peregrin, Rupert (Croatia)

Dita (Czech Republic)

Kastor (Denmark)

Laide, Laidi, Leia, Leida, Leidi (Estonia)

Saul, Sauli (Finland)

Habib (France)

Augusta, Ernst, Heimo (Germany)

Filitas, Leeda, Lidia, Makedon, Matrona (Greece)

Hajnalka (Hungary)

Augusto, Oliviero, Romolo, Ruperto (Italy)

Audra, Gustavs, Gusts, Talrits (Latvia)

Aleksandras, Alkmenas, Lidija, Rūta (Lithuania)

Rudi, Rudolf (Norway)

Benedykt, Ernest, Ernestyn, Jan, Lidia, Rościmir, Rupert (Poland)

Matroana (Romania)

Alena (Slovakia)

Alejandro, Ruperto (Spain)

Ralf, Rudolf (Sweden)

Acher, Archibald, Archie, Montgomery, Monte, Monty (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 87 of 2024; 279 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of week 13 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Fearn (Alder) [Day 11 of 28]

Chinese: Month 2 (Ding-Mao), Day 18 (Geng-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025)

Hebrew: 17 Adair II 5784

Islamic: 17 Ramadan 1445

J Cal: 27 Green; Sixday [27 of 30]

Julian: 14 March 2024

Moon: 94%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 3 Archimedes (4th Month) [Erasistratus]

Runic Half Month: Ehwaz (Horse) [Day 2 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 9 of 92)

Week: 4th Week of March

Zodiac: Aries (Day 7 of 31)

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Oliver Plunkett

1625 - 1681

Feast Day: July 1

Patronage: Peace and Reconciliation in Ireland

Born in Ireland, he studied for the priesthood in Rome and was ordained there in 1654. After some years of teaching and service to the poor of Rome, he was appointed Archbishop of Armagh in Ireland. Four years later, in 1673, a new wave of anti-Catholic persecution began, forcing Archbishop Plunkett to do his pastoral work in secrecy and disguise and to live in hiding. He was viewed as ultimately responsible for any rebellion or political activity among his parishioners. He was arrested and imprisoned in Dublin Castle in 1679, but his trial was moved to London. A jury found him guilty of fomenting revolt. He was hanged, drawn and quartered in July 1681.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

[juliehowlin]

23 October

In San Antonio, Texas, a burglar sentenced to seven years on this date in 1987 complained that seven was his unlucky number. The judge promptly raised the sentence to eight years.

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 23 October:

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Today in Christian History

Today is Wednesday, March 22nd, the 81st day of 2023. There are 284 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

1556: Cardinal Reginald Pole is consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury, restoring Catholicism to England for a brief time between the Protestant reigns of Edward VI and Elizabeth I.

1593: Arrest of John Penry, an independent Welsh pastor, who will be hanged for sedition. He had criticized Church of England leaders for their neglect of Wales and among his papers was found the draft of a strongly worded letter to Queen Elizabeth.

1621: Hugo Grotius, a Dutch Arminian imprisoned by Calvinists, after spending an hour on his knees praying, steps into a book box by which he will escape prison.

1641: The Archbishop of Armagh convenes a provincial synod at Kells which almost unanimously pronounces the war undertaken by the Catholics of Ireland against the English “just and lawful.”

1720: John Gill is solemnly ordained as a Baptist pastor in Horsleydown in a lengthy public ceremony which involves much prayer and soul searching. Gill will remain at Horsleydown for 51 years and gain recognition as a great controversialist, sharply critical of Wesley’s theology because it placed the decision to follow Christ in a person’s own hands.

1758: Death in New Jersey from smallpox of Jonathan Edwards, Christian pastor, theologian, scientist, and educator.

1814: Beheading of the Orthodox monk Euthymius in Constantinople. He had abandoned Christianity for Islam in his youth but soon regretted it, returned to faith, became a monk on Mt. Athos, and practiced great austerities. Eventually he traveled to Constantinople where he testified of his faith.

1874: Ordination in Calcutta of Mathura Kath Bose, who will minister to the Chandal people of Gopalgunge near the Ganges, winning many to Christ. He lives on a meagre income, having relinquished opportunities for commercial advancement by becoming a Christian.

1918: Death in Berlin of Alexander Merensky, who had served as a missionary to the Transvaal, South Africa, and written many books about missions.

1920: Death in Guayaquil, Ecuador, of George S. Fisher, founder of the Gospel Missionary Union. He had contracted typhoid fever while visiting the work in Ecuador.