Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Catherine, Saint kăthˈrən, kăthˈərĭn [key], 4th cent.?, Alexandrian virgin martyr. Nothing certain is known of her life, and in 1969 her name was dropped from the liturgical calendar. According...

(Encyclopedia) Aldhelm, Saint ôldˈhĕlm [key], 639?–709, English churchman and scholar. He was abbot of Malmesbury (from 675) and became the first bishop of Sherborne (705). A distinguished student of the classi...

(Encyclopedia) Clotilda, Saint klətĭlˈdə [key], d. 545, Frankish queen. She converted her husband, Clovis I, to Christianity and built with him in Paris the Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul, later renamed (...

(Encyclopedia) Margaret of Scotland, Saint, d. 1093, queen consort of Malcolm III and sister of Edgar Atheling. She was married to Malcolm c.1070. A deeply religious woman, she worked to replace the Celtic practices...

(Encyclopedia) Willibald, Saint wĭˈlĭbôld [key], d. 787?, English missionary in Germany. He traveled in the East and was sent from Rome on a mission to aid St. Boniface. He was made first bishop of Eichstätt. S...

(Encyclopedia) Saint Moritz sānt môrˈĭts, mərĭtsˈ [key], Ger. Sankt Moritz, town (1990 est. pop. 5,300), Grisons canton, SE Switzerland, in the Upper Engadine, on the Lake of St. Moritz. One of the largest wi...

(Encyclopedia) Paulinus, Saint pôlīˈnəs [key], d. 644, Italian missionary, bishop of York (625–33). He was a Roman monk who went to England with the mission of St. Augustine of Canterbury in 601. For some year...

(Encyclopedia) Simeon Stylites, Saint stīlīˈtēz [key] [Gr.,= of a pillar], d. 459?, Syrian hermit. He lived for more than 35 years on a small platform on top of a high pillar. He had many imitators (called styli...

(Encyclopedia) Christopher, Saint krĭsˈtəfər [key] [Gr.,=Christ bearer], 3d cent.?, martyr of Asia Minor. His characteristic legend is that one day when he was carrying a little child over a river, he felt the c...

(Encyclopedia) Bernadette, Saint bûrnədĕtˈ [key], 1844–79, French peasant girl who reported seeing the Virgin Mary in apparitions at a grotto near Lourdes, her home, in 1858. She was born Marie Bernarde Soubir...