B
2,066 articles · 45 under Bl · English index · Indice italiano-
Blachernitissa
BLACHERNITISSA: v. MARIA. -
Black Bourse (BORSA NERA)
The buying and selling of goods in violation of rationing laws and at a price considerably higher than the official one or than what is considered normal. The… -
Black Legion (LEGIONE NERA)
LEGIONE NERA : v. KU-KLUX-KLAN. -
Blackmail (RICATTO)
RICATTO: V. ESTORSIONE. -
Blado, Antonio
Celebrated 16th-century printer, b. in Lombardy (Asolo or Piadena?) in 1490, d. in Rome between 17 and 27 March 1567. He practiced his art in Rome, starting… -
Blainville, Henri-Marie Ducrotay de (BLAINVILLE, HENRI-MARIE DUCTROY DE)
Naturalist, b. at Arques near Dieppe on 12 Sept. 1777 and d. in Paris on 1 May 1850. He was Cuvier's substitute at the Collège de France and at the Museum of… -
Blaise, Saint, Martyr (BIAGIO, SANTO, MARTIRE)
The accounts of his life and martyrdom are uncertain and obscure. According to the widely circulated though highly fanciful Passio, he was a physician before… -
Blaj
City of Transylvania (Romania). In 1733 Bishop Innocent Micu transferred there the residence of the new diocese of Făgăraș (v.). Within a few generations B.… -
Blake, William
English poet, engraver, painter, b. in London on 28 Nov. 1757, d. at Strand on 12 Aug. 1827. In childhood he was influenced by Swedenborg's mysticism and was… -
Blampin, Thomas
Benedictine of St. Maur, professor of philosophy and theology, b. at Noyon in 1640, d. at St-Benoît-sur-Loire on 13 Feb. 1710. With other Maurists he edited… -
Blanda, Julia (BLANDA JULIA)
Ancient city of Magna Graecia, on the Tyrrhenian border of Calabria with Lucania. It was a Roman oppidum, mentioned by Livy and by Pliny, who disagree as to… -
Blandina, Saint, Martyr (BLANDINA, SANTA, MARTIRE)
BLANDINA, santa, martire: v. LIONE, MARTIRI di. -
Blanlo, Jean
French Sulpician, immediate disciple of Olier, b. at Bayeux in 1617 and d. at Paris in 1657. He had remained, out of humility, a subdeacon. He is known for a… -
Blasphemy (BESTEMMIA)
Etymologically, b. (from βλάστιο = to harm and φήμη = voice) means "injurious word." In Sacred Scripture this term designates the uttering of insult either… -
Blass, Friedrich
Classical philologist and New Testament scholar, b. at Osnabrück on 22 Jan. 1843, d. at Halle on 5 March 1907. A lecturer in classical philology at Königsberg… -
Blastares, Matteo
Greek canonist of the 14th century and Basilian monk. His principal work is the Syntagma, which comprises 24 sections marked by the 24 letters of the alphabet… -
Blasucci, Domenico, Venerable (BLASUCCI, DOMENICO, VENERABILE)
A Redemptorist student, regarded as the Aloysius Gonzaga of the Redemptorist Missionaries, b. 5 March 1732 at Ruvo del Monte in Lucania, d. 2 Nov. 1752. A… -
Blat, Albert
Of the Order of Preachers, canonist. Born in Valencia on 3 February 1870. Having donned the Dominican habit at a very young age, he completed at the Minerva… -
Blavatsky, Elena Petrovna
Founder of the Theosophical Society, b. at Ekaterinoslav, in southern Russia, on 31 July 1831, d. in London on 8 May 1891. In childhood she was subject to… -
Bleek, Friedrich
One of the best German Protestant exegetes of the 19th century. Born at Arensbök near Lübeck on July 4, 1793, he studied at Lübeck, Kiel and Berlin, where he… -
Blemmydes, Nicephoros (BLEMMYDES, NICEFORO)
Byzantine philosopher and theologian, b. in Constantinople in 1197, d. in 1272. At first an opponent of the Catholic doctrine on the procession of the Holy… -
Blera
BLERA: v. BIEDA. -
Blessed Sword and Hat (STOCCO E BERRETTONE)
The sword is a kind of sword, richly adorned with gold on the hilt, with scabbard and belt, which the Roman pontiffs used to send to sovereigns, princes and… -
Blessed Ursuline (ORSOLINA, BEATA)
B. in Parma on 14 May 1375, d. in Verona on 7 Apr. 1410. Still young, she devoted herself to a life of harsh penance and prayer, and was favored with mystical… -
Blessing of Fire (FUOCO, BENEDIZIONE DEL)
The blessing of fire could have its origins in the early Christian era as a Hebrew custom of offering to God the element that gives light and heat. There is a… -
Blessing of Lambs (AGNELLI, BENEDIZIONE DEGLI)
On the feast of St. Agnes, the celebrant, as the conclusion of the pontifical Mass, blesses on the altar of the Saint two white lambs, whose wool is to be used… -
Blessing of the Mensa (MENSA, BENEDIZIONE DELLA)
It is a prayer added to the Breviary that is used in religious houses before and after lunch and dinner. It begins with the greeting of the superior… -
Blessing of Virgins (VERGINI, BENEDIZIONE DELLE)
An ancient and solemn ceremony of the Latin-Roman rite, for blessing and consecrating religious women who live in perpetual virginity. It is reserved to the… -
Blind (CIECHI)
Scientifically, "blind" must be understood as the individual whose eyes are entirely lacking in the sense of sight, that is, they are not even capable of… -
Blois, Charles de, Blessed (BLOIS, CHARLES DE, BEATO)
Duke of Brittany (from 1341), b. at Blois in 1320, d. 29 Sept. 1364 in the battle of Auray. Piously educated, he married Joan of Penthièvre, daughter and… -
Blois, Diocese of (BLOIS, DIOCESI DI)
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 June 1697, detaching… -
Blois, François-Louis de
BLOIS, FRANÇOIS-LOUIS de: v. BLOSIO. -
Blomevenna (Blommeveen), Petrus
Ascetic-mystical writer, also called Petrus Leydenis, from the city of Leiden (Holland), where he was born on 29 March 1466; he died at Cologne on 30 September… -
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 Italy, where he studied… -
Blondel, David
Calvinist theologian and historian, b. at Châlons-sur-Marne in 1591, d. at Amsterdam on 6 April 1655. He began his ministry at Houdan near Paris. In 1619 he… -
Blondel, Maurice
Philosopher, b. at Dijon on 2 Nov. 1861, d. at Aix-en-Provence on 5 June 1949. From 1897 professor of Philosophy at the University of Aix, from which he took… -
Blood (SANGUE)
The contact of blood, which the experience of primitive peoples considers as the organic element closely bound to life (cf. Lev. 17:14; Deut. 12:23), is held… -
Blood, Transfusion of (SANGUE, TRASFUSIONE DEL)
The first hint of a transfusion of blood, carried out however by taking blood by mouth, can already be glimpsed in the works of Pliny, in the anatomical… -
Blosio (de Blois), François-Louis, Venerable (BLOSIO (DE BLOIS), FRANÇOIS-LOUIS, VENERABILE)
BLOSIO (DE BLOIS), FRANÇOIS-LOUIS, venerable. Benedictine abbot and ascetical writer, b. at Donstiennes (Hainaut) in October 1506 of an ancient and noble… -
Blount, Charles
English deist, b. in 1654, d. in 1693. A rigidly rationalist critic, he devalued every criterion of apologetics of the supernatural, founding his so-called… -
Bloy, Léon
Writer, b. at Périgueux on 11 July 1846 and d. at Bourg-la-Reine on 3 Nov. 1917. A passionately Catholic spirit, unacquainted with gentle tolerance ("tout ce… -
Bludau, Augustin
New Testament exegete and philologist, b. 6 March 1862 at Guttstadt in East Prussia, d. as bishop of Ermland on 9 Feb. 1930, at Frauenberg, his residential… -
Bluefields, Apostolic Vicariate of (BLUEFIELDS, VICARIATO APOSTOLICO DI)
It was erected on 2 Dec. 1913, when it was made autonomous from the diocese of León in Nicaragua; it is a suffragan of Managua and is directed by the… -
Blum, Peter Joseph
Bishop of Limburg, b. at Gelsenheim on 18 Apr. 1808, d. at Limburg on 30 Dec. 1884. He studied philosophy at Würzburg and theology at Bonn, then entered the… -
Flagellants (BATTUTI)
FLAGELLANTS: V. FLAGELLANTI.