Today in History: A princess is born

It was a day like today.

On November 12, 1929 was born Grace Kelly – the American actress who starred in movies such as To Catch a Thief and Rear Window and who became the Princess of Monaco. Born on this date in 1840 was French sculptor Auguste Rodin, famous for his works “The Thinker” and “The Burghers of Calais.”

Death came for the English pirate and navigator John Hawkins on this date in 1595. Serving under English corsair Sir Francis Drake, Hawkins was hit by a Spanish cannonball during the siege of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Drake emerged unscathed during the attack even while another cannon ball swept away the stool he was sitting on.

The western church commemorates St. Josaphat on this date, the first Eastern saint to be officially canonized by the papacy. Born in Poland, he became a monk of the Order of St. Basil in Lithuania. Later ordained a priest of the Byzantine rite in 1609, he became a compelling preacher and advocate of the union of the Ukrainian Church with Rome. After becoming bishop of Vitebsk, Russia, he set about the reform of his diocese as dissident priests and fellow bishops opposed improved relations with Rome. Insisting on his right to utilize the Byzantine liturgy, and receiving little support from Latin-rite bishops in Poland, he went back to Vitebsk to meet with his opposition. In 1623, at the instigation of a mob, Josaphat released a rebellious priest who had been locked up by a deacon. Josaphat was beaten to death by the mob and his body thrown into the Divina River.

Words of Wisdom

Wrote Bishop Fulton J. Sheen in Life is Worth Living (Series 2), “Pity is an aristocratic virtue; it looks down on the suffering of others. Compassion is the democratic virtue; it shares suffering and pain and feels it as its own.”