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TODAY IN HISTORY

21 November 1916

The HMHS Britannic sank in the Aegean Sea after being recommissioned as a World War I hospital ship.

It was initially a luxury liner and sister ship to the Titanic, but it struck a mine or was torpedoed on its way to pick up wounded soldiers on the Island of Lemnos.

Of the 1,065 people aboard, over 1,000 were rescued due to relatively calm seas and close proximity of other ships at the time.

Despite design improvements since the Titanic, the Britannic sank in just 55 minutes.

The wreck was later discovered by Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997) on 3 December 1975.

The vessel is the largest intact passenger ship on the seabed in the world.

It was bought in August 1996 and is currently owned by Simon Mills, a maritime historian.

NOTE:

37°42′05″N 24°17′02″E in about 400 feet (122 m) of water

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The Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrated annually on November 21st, commemorates the presentation of the Blessed Virgin as a child by her parents in the Temple in Jerusalem.

Before Mary's birth, her parents received a heavenly message that they would bear a child.

In thanksgiving for God's gift of Mary's birth, they brought her to the Temple to consecrate their only daughter to The Lord.

The celebration of the Feast is first documented in the 11th century within the Byzantine Catholic Church.

It was introduced into the Roman Catholic Church in the 15th century by Pope Gregory XI, then removed from the calendar by Pope Pius V in the mid 16th century.

Pope Sixtus V later reestablished the feast in 1585.

It is still celebrated today, commemorating the faith of her parents, Joachim and Anne, and the purity of Mary.

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🤍🌟🤍

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Our view of Earth from space has improved a lot in a short amount of time. 🌏

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SAINT OF THE DAY (November 20)

Saint Bernward served as the thirteenth Bishop of Hildesheim in Germany from 993 until his death in 1022.

His grandfather was Athelbero, Count Palatine of Saxony. After having lost his parents, Bernward was sent to live with his uncle Volkmar, who was the Bishop of Utrecht. 

His uncle enlisted the assistance of Thangmar, the pious and well-educated director of the cathedral school at Heidelberg, to help with Bernward's education.

Under the instruction of Thangmar, Bernward made rapid progress in Christian piety as well as in the sciences.

He became very proficient in mathematics, painting, architecture, and particularly in the manufacture of ecclesiastical vessels and ornaments made of silver and gold.

Bernward completed his studies at Mainz, where he was then ordained a priest.

In lieu of being placed in the diocese of his uncle, Bishop Volkmar, he chose to remain near his grandfather Athelbero to comfort him in his old age. 

Upon his grandfather’s death in 987, he became chaplain in the imperial court.

Empress-Regent Theophano quickly appointed him to be tutor of her son Otto III, who was only six years old at the time.

Bernward remained at the imperial court until 993, when he was elected Bishop of Hildesheim.

A man of extraordinary piety, he was deeply devoted to prayer as well as the practice of mortification.

His knowledge and practice of the arts were employed generously in the service of the Church.

Shortly before his death on 20 November 1022, he was vested in the Benedictine habit.

He was canonized by Pope Celestine III on 8 January 1193. 

One of the most famous examples of Bernward's work is a monumental set of cast bronze doors known as the Bernward doors.

Bernward doors are now installed at St. Mary's Cathedral, which are sculpted with scenes of the Fall of Man (Adam and Eve) and the Salvation of Man (Life of Christ).

Bernward was also instrumental in the construction of the early Romanesque Michaelskirche.

St. Michael's Church was completed after Bernward's death, and he is buried in the western crypt.

These projects commissioned by Bernward are now considered as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

© The image is under the copyright of the Museum of Fine Arts

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IN PICTURES: Rafael Nadal

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Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a retired Spanish professional tennis player.

He was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 209 weeks and finished as the year-end No. 1 five times.

Nadal won 22 Grand Slam men's singles titles, including a record 14 French Open titles.

He won 92 ATP-level singles titles, including 36 Masters titles and an Olympic gold medal, with 63 of these on clay courts.

Nadal is one of three men to complete the career Golden Slam in singles.

His 81 consecutive wins on clay constitute the longest single-surface win streak in the Open Era.

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xxx

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SAINT OF THE DAY (November 19)

Saint Raphael Kalinowski was born on 1 September 1835 as Joseph, son of Andrew and Josepha Kalinowski, in present day Lithuania.

Raphael felt a call to the priesthood early in his life but decided to complete his education.

He studied zoology, chemistry, agriculture, and apiculture at the Institute of Agronomy in Hory Horki and Academy of Military Engineering in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Raphael became a Lieutenant in the Russian Military Engineering Corps in 1857.

During his post, he was responsible for the planning and supervised construction of the railway between Kursk and Odessa.

He was promoted to captain in 1862 and stationed in Brest-Litovsk.

In Bret-Litovsk, he started, taught and covered all the costs of a Sunday school, accepting anyone interested.

In 1863, he supported the Polish insurrection. He resigned from the Russian army and became the rebellion's minister of war for the Vilna region.

He only took the commission with the understanding that he would never hand out a death sentence nor execute a prisoner.

He was soon arrested by Russian authorities. In June 1864, he was condemned to death for his part in the revolt.

Fearing they would be creating a political martyr, they commuted his sentence to ten years of forced labour in the Siberian salt mines.

Part of his sentence was spent in Irkutsk, where his relics have been moved to sanctify the new cathedral.

Upon his release in 1873, he was exiled from his home region in Lithuania.

He moved to Paris and worked there as a tutor for three years.

In 1877, he finally answered the long-heard call to the religious life and joined the Carmelite Order at Graz, Austria, taking the name Raphael.

He studied theology in Hungary and then joined the Carmelite house in Czama, Poland. He was ordained on 15 January 1882.

Raphael worked to restore the Discalced Carmelites to Poland and for church unity.

In 1889, he founded a convent at Wadowice in Poland and worked alongside Blessed Alphonsus Mary Marurek.

He was a noted spiritual director for both Catholics and Orthodox.

He was considered  an enthusiastic parish priest and spent countless hours with his parishioners in the confessional.

Raphael died of tuberculosis on 15 November 1907.

Pope John Paul II beatified him on 22 June 1983 and canonized on 17 November 1991.

Raphael is considered the patron saint of soldiers and officers of Poland and of Polish exiles in Siberia.

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Chicken vs Camera Stabilizer. 🐔◀️📹

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Bear dug a sitting pit to watch her favorite duckies. 🐻🪿🤎

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📍: Balloon Festival in Nonthaburi, Thailand

15-17 November 2024

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Our December issue, with @ChrisJack_Getty front cover, is on the way to subscribers.

Online on 19 November 2024; on sale in the UK from 21 November 2024

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Exclusive: Inside the 'sisterly bond' shared by Princess Kate and Duchess Sophie

18 November 2024

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SAINT OF THE DAY (November 18)

St. Rose Philippine Duchesne was born into a family with wealth and political connections on 29 August 1769 in Grenoble, France.

Her father, Pierre Francois Duchesne, was a lawyer, businessman and prominent civic leader in Grenoble, while her mother, Rose Perier, was a member of a leading family from the Dauphine region.

From the young age of eight, Rose had a desire to evangelize in the Americas, sparked by hearing a Jesuit missionary speak of his work there.

She received basic education at home from tutors and religious education from her mother.

Educated from age 12 at the convent of the Visitation nuns in Grenoble, Rose joined them in 1788 at age 19 without the permission or knowledge of her family.

Initially, they were violently opposed to her choice but finally gave in.  

In 1804, she joined the Society of the Sacred Heart, which sent her to the United States in 1818.

From the convent and school she founded at St. Charles, Mo. — later moved to Florissant, Mo. — she traveled over a wide area, founding schools for girls, doing charitable work, and finally ministering to Native Americans.

Rose was a valiant missionary and a well-known benefactress.

She spent her last ten years in retirement in a tiny shack at the convent in Saint Charles, Missouri, where she lived austerely and in constant prayer.

She died on 18 November 1852.

She was beatified by Pope Pius XII on 12 May 1940. She was canonized by Pope John Paul II on 3 July 1988.

She is often referred to as "The Lady of Mercy," or " Woman Who Prays Always."

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But recent suggestions about Chopin’s private life collided awkwardly with Poland’s staunchly conservative traditions – and caused some to question whether the story of Chopin that Poles are told from a young age is true.

According to a Swiss radio documentary released in 2020, the composer had relationships with men.

Those relationships were left out of history by successive historians and biographers; a potentially thorny charge in one of Europe’s worst countries for LGBTQ rights.