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midsummer day and midsummer night

(Encyclopedia)midsummer day and midsummer night, names given to the feast of the nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24) and the preceding night (St. John's Eve, June 23). Because midsummer is about the time of ...

Cabrini, Saint Frances Xavier

(Encyclopedia)Cabrini, Saint Frances Xavier zāˈvyər kəbrēˈnē [key], 1850–1917, American nun, founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, b. near Lodi, Italy. Founded in Italy in 1880, h...

Saint-Maur-des-Fossés

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Maur-des-Fossés săN-mōr-dā-fôsāˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 77,492), Val-de-Marne dept., N central France, on the Marne River. An industrial suburb of Paris, it manufactures automobile parts,...

Porres, Saint Martin de

(Encyclopedia)Porres, Saint Martin de märtēnˈ dā pôrˈrās [key], 1579–1639, Peruvian Dominican lay brother, b. Lima. He was the son of a Spanish soldier and a black freedwoman from Panama. Apprenticed to a ...

Margaret Mary, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Margaret Mary, Saint, 1647–90, French nun of the Visitation Convent of Paray-le-Monial, Saône-et-Loire dept., France. Her family name was Alacoque. Jesus appeared to her in a number of visions. In ...

Saint-Germain-des-Prés

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Germain-des-Prés săN-zhĕrmăNˈ-dā-prā [key], historic abbey and church of Paris, on the left bank of the Seine. It was founded (6th cent.) by Childebert I; several Merovingian kings were b...

Saint-Pierre town, Martinique

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Pierre săN pyĕr [key], town (1990 est. pop. 5,550), Martinique, West Indies. Founded by Esnambuc in 1635 and once the chief commercial city of the island, it was engulfed by a mass of flame, l...

Richard of Saint Victor

(Encyclopedia)Richard of Saint Victor, d. 1173, Scottish monk and mystic, prior of the Abbey of St. Victor, Paris. His principal importance is in the history of mystical theology, in which he is a successor to Hugh...

Gregory of Narek, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Gregory of Narek, Saint, c.950–1003, Armenian monk, mystic poet, and theologian, Doctor of the Church. He entered monastic life at an early age, becoming a priest at age 25. Gregory wrote letters, o...