Black Bourse(BORSA NERA)Vol. II, p. 1112 BORSA NERA. - The buying and selling of goods in violation of rationing laws and at a price considerably higher than the official price or that considered…
Black Legion(LEGIONE NERA)Vol. VII, p. 651 LEGIONE NERA : v. KU-KLUX-KLAN.
Blackmail(RICATTO)Vol. X, p. 501 RICATTO: V. ESTORSIONE.
Blado, AntonioVol. II, p. 989 BLADO, ANTONIO. — Celebrated printer of the sixteenth century, born in Lombardy (Asolo or Piadena?) in 1490, died in Rome between 17 and 27 March 1567. He…
Blainville, Henri-Marie Ducrotay de(BLAINVILLE, HENRI-MARIE DUCTROY DE)Vol. II, p. 989 BLAINVILLE, HENRI-MARIE DUCTROY de. – Naturalist, born at Arques near Dieppe on 12 September 1777 and died in Paris on 1 May 1850. He was Cuvier’s substitute…
Blaise, Saint, Martyr(BIAGIO, SANTO, MARTIRE)Vol. II, p. 891 BIAGIO, saint and martyr. — The details of his life and martyrdom are uncertain and obscure. According to the Passio, widely circulated though highly fabulous,…
BlajVol. II, p. 989 BLAJ. – City of Transylvania (Romania). In 1733, Bishop Innocenzo Micu transferred there the residence of the new diocese of Făgăraș (v.). Within a few…
Blake, WilliamVol. II, p. 989 BLAKE, WILLIAM. – English poet, engraver, and painter, b. in Londra on 28 November 1757, d. in Strand on 12 August 1827. In childhood he was influenced by…
Blampin, ThomasVol. II, p. 990 BLAMPIN, THOMAS. — Benedictine of S. Mauro, professor of philosophy and theology, born at Noyon in 1640, died at St-Benoît-sur-Loire on 13 February 1710.…
Blanda, Julia(BLANDA JULIA)Vol. II, p. 990 BLANDA JULIA. – An ancient city of Magna Graecia, on the Tyrrhenian frontier of Calabria with Lucania. It was a Roman oppidum, mentioned by Livy and Pliny, who…
Blandina, Saint, Martyr(BLANDINA, SANTA, MARTIRE)Vol. II, p. 990 BLANDINA, santa, martire: v. LIONE, MARTIRI di.
Blanlo, JeanVol. II, p. 990 BLANLO, JEAN. — French Sulpician, an immediate disciple of Olier, born at Bayeux in 1617 and died in Paris in 1657. Out of humility, he had remained a…
Blasphemy(BESTEMMIA)Vol. II, p. 871 BESTEMMIA. – Etymologically, b. (from βλάστιο = I injure and φήμη = voice) means “injurious word.” In Sacred Scripture this term denotes the utterance of an…
Blass, FriedrichVol. II, p. 990 BLASS, FRIEDRICH. – Classical and New Testament philologist, born in Osnabrück on 22 January 1843, died in Halle on 5 March 1907. Privatdozent in classical…
Blastares, MatteoVol. II, p. 991 BLASTARES, MATTEO. - Greek canonist of the fourteenth century and Basilian monk. His principal work is the Syntagma, written around 1335, comprising 24…
Blasucci, Domenico, Venerable(BLASUCCI, DOMENICO, VENERABILE)Vol. II, p. 991 BLASUCCI, DOMENICO, venerable. - A Redemptorist student, regarded as the Luigi Gonzaga of the Redemptorist Missionaries, born on 5 March 1732 at Ruvo del Monte…
Blat, AlbertVol. II, p. 991 BLAT, ALBERT. — Of the Order of Preachers, canon lawyer. Born in Valencia on 3 February 1870. Having donned the Dominican habit at a very young age, he…
Blavatsky, Elena PetrovnaVol. II, p. 991 BLAVATSKY, ELENA PETROVNA. – Founder of the Theosophical Society, born in Ekaterinoslav, in southern Russia, on 31 July 1831, died in London on 8 May 1891. As…
Bleek, FriedrichVol. II, p. 991 BLEEK, FRIEDRICH. - One of the best German Protestant exegetes of the nineteenth century. Born at Arensbök near Lübeck on 4 July 1793, he studied at Lübeck,…
Blemmydes, Nicephoros(BLEMMYDES, NICEFORO)Vol. II, p. 992 BLEMMYDES, NICEFORO. – Byzantine philosopher and theologian, born in Constantinople in 1197, died in 1272. At first an opponent of Catholic doctrine on the…
Blessed Ursuline(ORSOLINA, BEATA)Vol. IX, p. 248 ORSOLINA, blessed. – Born in Parma on 14 May 1375, died in Verona on 7 April 1410. While still young, she dedicated herself to a life of austere penance and…
Blessing Of Fire(FUOCO, BENEDIZIONE DEL)Vol. V, p. 1085 FIRE, BLESSING OF. — The blessing of fire may have originated in the earliest Christian times as a Jewish custom of offering to God the element that gives…
Blessing of Lambs(AGNELLI, BENEDIZIONE DEGLI)Vol. I, p. 291 AGNELLI, BENEDIZIONE degli. — On the feast of s. Agnese, the celebrant, at the conclusion of the pontifical Mass, blesses on the Saint’s altar two white lambs,…
Blessing of the Mensa(MENSA, BENEDIZIONE DELLA)Vol. VIII, p. 419 TABLE, BLESSING OF. — This is a prayer added to the Breviary, used in religious houses before and after lunch and dinner. It begins with the superior’s…
Blessing of Virgins(VERGINI, BENEDIZIONE DELLE)Vol. XII, p. 808 BLESSING OF VIRGINS, the. - An ancient and solemn ceremony of the Latin-Roman rite for blessing and consecrating religious women living in perpetual virginity.…
Blind(CIECHI)Vol. III, p. 927 CIECHI. — Scientifically, a blind person is understood to be an individual whose eyes are completely devoid of the sense of sight, that is, are not even…
Blind(CIECHI)Vol. III, p. 927 CIECHI. – Scientifically, a blind person is understood to be an individual whose eyes are entirely devoid of the sense of sight, that is, are not even capable…
Blois, Charles de, Blessed(BLOIS, CHARLES DE, BEATO)Vol. II, p. 992 BLOIS, CHARLES de, blessed. - Duke of Brittany (from 1341), b. at Blois in 1320, d. on 29 Sept. 1364 in the battle of Auray. Piously educated, he married…
Blois, Diocese of(BLOIS, DIOCESI DI)Vol. II, p. 992 BLOIS, DIOCESE of. – Capital city of the department of Loir-et-Cher on the Loire, 178 km southwest of Paris. The diocese was erected by Pope Innocent XII on 25…
Blomevenna (Blommeveen), PetrusVol. II, p. 992 BLOMEVENNA (BLOMMEVEEN), PETRUS. – Ascetic-mystical writer, also called Petrus Leydenis, after the city of Leyden (Holland), where he was born on 29 March…
Blondeel, LancelotVol. II, p. 993 BLONDEEL, LANCELOT. - Painter, sculptor, architect, and engineer, b. at Poperinghe in 1496, d. at Bruges on 4 March 1561. It is almost certain that he was in…
Blondel, DavidVol. II, p. 993 BLONDEL, DAVID. - Calvinist theologian and historian, b. at Châlons-sur-Marne in 1591, d. at Amsterdam on 6 Apr. 1655. He began his ministry at Houdan near…
Blondel, MauriceVol. II, p. 993 BLONDEL, MAURICE. – Philosopher, born in Dijon on 2 November 1861, died in Aix-en-Provence on 5 June 1949. From 1897, professor of Philosophy at the University…
Blood(SANGUE)Vol. X, p. 1052 BLOOD. — Contact with blood, which primitive experience regards as the organic element closely bound to life (cf. Lev. 17:14; Deut. 12:23), is held to produce…
Blood, Transfusion of(SANGUE, TRASFUSIONE DEL)Vol. X, p. 1052 BLOOD, TRANSFUSION of. — The first mention of a transfusion of b., although performed by taking the b. by mouth, may already be glimpsed in the works of Pliny,…
Blosio (de Blois), François-Louis, Venerable(BLOSIO (DE BLOIS), FRANÇOIS-LOUIS, VENERABILE)Vol. II, p. 993 BLOSIO (DE BLOIS), FRANÇOIS-LOUIS, venerable. Benedictine abbot and ascetical writer, born at Donstiennes (Hainaut) in October 1506 of an ancient and noble…
Blount, CharlesVol. II, p. 994 BLOUNT, CHARLES. — English Deist, born in 1654, died in 1693. A rigorously rationalist critic, he devalued every criterion of apologetics concerning the…
Bloy, LéonVol. II, p. 994 BLOY, LÉON. — Writer, born at Périgueux on 11 July 1846 and died at Bourg-la-Reine on 3 November 1917. A passionately Catholic spirit, unaware of gentle…
Bludau, AugustinVol. II, p. 994 BLUDAU, AUGUSTIN. - New Testament exegete and philologist, b. 6 March 1862 at Guttstadt in East Prussia, d. Bishop of Ermland on 9 Feb. 1930 at Frauenberg, his…
Bluefields, Apostolic Vicariate of(BLUEFIELDS, VICARIATO APOSTOLICO DI)Vol. II, p. 995 BLUEFIELDS, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF — It was erected on 2 December 1913, when it was made autonomous from the diocese of León in Nicaragua; it is suffragan to…
Blum, Peter JosephVol. II, p. 995 BLUM, PETER JOSEPH. – Bishop of Limburg, b. at Gelsenheim on 18 April 1808, d. at Limburg on 30 December 1884. He studied philosophy at Würzburg and theology…
