Friedrich Bernard Christian Maassen
United Sees of Macerata and Tolentino
Vicariate Apostolic of Mackenzie
Marie-Edmé-Patrice-Maurice de MacMahon
Joseph-Anna-Marie de Moyria de Mailla
François-Pierre-Gonthier Maine de Biran
Françoise, Marquise de Maintenon
Joseph-Marie, Comte de Maistre
Marcellinus of Civezza, O.F.M.
Margaret of the Blessed Sacrament
Prefecture Apostolic of Mariana Islands
Congregation of the Missionaries of Mariannhill
Sts. Maris, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum
Lucius Perpetuus Aurelianus Marius Maximus
Vicariate Apostolic of Marquesas Islands
Moral and Canonical Aspect of Marriage
Diocese of Marseilles (Massilia)
Vicariate Apostolic of the Marshall Islands
Diocese of Marsico Nuovo and Potenza
Luigi Ferdinando, Count de Marsigli
Missionaries of the Company of Mary
Servants of Mary (Order of Servites)
Society of Mary (Marist Fathers)
St. Mary Frances of the Five Wounds of Jesus
Richard Angelus a S. Francisco Mason
Devises and Bequests for Masses (United States)
Feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus
Caius Julius Verus Maximinus Thrax
Prefecture Apostolic of Mayotte, Nossi-Bé, and Comoro
Charles Joseph Eugene de Mazenod
Abbey and Congregation of Melk
Vicariate Apostolic of Méndez and Gualaquiza
Francisco Sarmiento de Mendoza
Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy
Sisters of Mercy of St. Borromeo
Frédéric-François-Xavier Ghislain de Mérode
Delegation Apostolic of Mesopotamia, Kurdistan, and Armenia
Metal-Work in the Service of the Church
Prince Klemens Lothar Wenzel von Metternich
Francis, Joseph, and Paul Mezger
Military Orders of St. Michael
Giovanni Francesco Pico della Mirandola
Congregation of the Sisters of Misericorde
Prefecture Apostolic of Misocco and Calanca
Congregation of Priests of the Mission
Congregation of Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo
Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales of Annecy
Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle
Mission Indians (of California)
Catholic Indian Missions of Canada
Catholic Indian Missions of the United States
François-Napoléon-Marie Moigno
Diocese of Molfetta, Terlizzi, and Giovinazzo
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Molière
Principality and Diocese of Monaco
Canonical Erection of a Monastery
Monophysites and Monophysitism
Monothelitism and Monothelites
Montagnais Indians (Chippewayans)
Charles-Forbes-René, Comte de Montalembert
Marquis de Louis-Joseph Montcalm-Gozon
Diocese of Monterey and Los Angeles
Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu
Anne, First Duke of Montmorency
Alexis-François Artaud de Montor
Antoine-Jean-Baptiste-Robert Auget, Baron de Montyon
Dioceses of Mostar and Markana-Trebinje
Feast of the Most Pure Heart of Mary
Toribio de Benavente Motolinia
Congregations of Mount Calvary
Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Karl Ernst, Freiherr von Moy de Sons
Johann Chrysostomus Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
St. Clair Augustine Mulholland
Baron Eligius Franz Joseph von Münch-Bellinghausen
Archdiocese of Munich-Freising
(Better known as PETER THE VENERABLE).
Born in Auvergne, about 1092; died at Cluny, 25 December, 1156. His mother, Blessed Raingarde, offered him to God in the monastery of Sauxillanges of the Congregation of Cluny, where he made his profession at the age of seventeen. He was only twenty years old when he was appointed professor and prior of the monastery of Vezelay, and he discharged his duties in that house, and later in the monastery of Domene, with such success that at the age of thirty he was elected general of the order. The order, which then counted not less than 2000 houses throughout Europe, was in need of reform. The abbot had begun this work when his predecessor, the Abbot Pontius, who had been deposed by the pope, attempted to be reinstated in his office by violence. Our saint had to face other attacks made on his order by St. Bernard himself, who did not fail however to acknowledge the eminent virtue of Peter and was the first to call him Venerable. Peter resisted the attacks with both firmness and meekness, and took occasion of them to write the rules of the Congregation of Cluny, one of the most complete and perfect codes of religious life. He was prominent in resisting the schism caused by the antipope Anacletus II, after the death of Honorius II (1130). With St. Bernard, he was the soul and the light of the General Council of Pisa (1134), and having encouraged Innocent II to stand firm in the midst of persecutions, he predicted the end of the schism, which happened in 1138.
During a visit to Spain (1139) he became interested in Mohammedanism and had the Koran for the first time translated into Latin. He made several journeys to Rome, where the popes entrusted him with delicate missions, and he accompanied Eugene III to the Council of Reims (1147), where the doctrines of Gilbert de la Poree were condemned. Kings and emperors came to him for advice and in the midst of his labours he found time to write numerous letters, valuable theological works on the questions of the day, the Divinity of Christ, the Real Presence, against the Jews and the Mohammedans, and concerning the statutes and the privileges of his order, besides sermons and even verses. Theologians praise the precision of his teaching. When Abelard's doctrine had been condemned at Soissons, Peter opened his monastery to him, reconciled him with St. Bernard and with the pope, and had the joy of seeing him spend the rest of his life under his guidance. He died on Christmas Day, according to his wish, "after a sublime sermon to his brethren on the mystery of the day". Honoured as a saint both by the people and his order, he was never canonized; Pius IX confirmed the cult offered to him (1862).
Petri Venerabilis opera in P.L., CLXXXIX; RODULPHUS, Vita Petri Venerabilis in P.L., CLXXXIX, 5 - 27; MARIE AND DUCHESNE, Bibliotheca Cluniacensis, 589-618; MARTENE, Amplissima Collectio, VI, 1187 - 1202; Gallia Christiana, IV, 1137 - 1140; PIGNOT, Histoire de l'ordre de Cluny, III, 49 - 509; DEMI-MUID, Pierre le Venerable et la vie monastique au XIIme siecle (Paris, 1895).
A. FOURNET