The Victoria Cross: A Grand Occasion.

The Victoria Cross.

Awarded to 

Boatswain’s Mate, Henry Curtis VC 

- Royal Navy (Naval Brigade ).

Illustration: VICTORIA CROSS

Queen Victoria Awards The Victoria Cross 

To Recipients In Hyde Park, London.

Artist: George Housman Thomas.

Date: 1857. 

Royal Collection Trust.

Illustration: LONDON HISTORIANS’ BLOG

Queen Victoria Awards The Victoria Cross 

To Recipients In Hyde Park, London.

Artist: George Housman Thomas.

Date: 1857. 

Royal Collection Trust.

Illustration: LONDON HISTORIANS’ BLOG

This Article is taken from, and can be read in full at,
London Historians' Blog
HERE

The Victoria Cross: A Grand Occasion

By: Mike Paterson.

Today, 26 June, marks the first public presentation in 1857 of the new Victoria Cross. 

The carefully-planned and choreographed open-air event took place in Hyde Park, London, where sixty-two of the earliest recipients of the Medal assembled to receive their award. 

The Queen — who, with Prince Albert, had been closely involved in every stage of the Victoria Cross’s (VC’s) introduction — insisted on pinning the VCs, personally, on the chests of her brave Servicemen. 

Her Majesty was on horseback. Seemingly to the surprise of the organisers. 

This may explain an unfortunate mishap when it is said Her Majesty had inadvertently pierced both the tunic and living flesh of Commander Henry Raby of the Royal Navy. 

Of course, the courageous Sailor endured it manfully, no doubt through gritted teeth. 

The full list of recipients may be viewed here.

Commander Henry RABY. 

Royal Navy.

Commander John BYTHESEA. 

Royal Navy.

Commander Hugh BURGOYNE. 

Royal Navy.

Lieutenant Charles LUCAS. 

Royal Navy.

Lieutenant William HEWETT. 

Royal Navy.

Gunner John ROBARTS. 

Royal Navy.

Boatswain Joseph KELLAWAY. 

Royal Navy.

Boatswain Henry COOPER. 

Royal Navy.

Seaman Joseph TREWAVAS. 

Royal Navy.

Seaman Thomas REEVES. 

Royal Navy.

Bosun’s Mate Henry CURTIS. 

Royal Navy.

Captain-of-the-Mast George INGOUVILLE. 

Royal Navy.

Lieutenant George DOWELL. 

Royal Marine Artillery.

Bombadier Thomas WILKINSON. 

Royal Marine Artillery.

Sergeant-Major John GRIEVE. 

2nd Dragoons.

Private Samuel PARKES. 

4th Dragoons.

Lieutenant Alexander DUNN. 

11th Hussars.

Troop-Sergeant-Major John BERRYMAN. 

17th Lancers.

Colonel Collingwood DICKSON. 

Royal Artillery.

Captain Andrew HENRY. 

Royal Artillery.

Captain Gronow DAVIS. 

Royal Artillery.

Master-Gunner Daniel CAMBRIDGE. 

Royal Artillery.

Gunner Thomas ARTHUR. 

Royal Artillery.

Lieutenant Gerald GRAHAM. 

Royal Engineers.

Corporal John ROSS. 

Royal Engineers.

Corporal William LENDRIM. 

Royal Engineers.

Sapper John PERIE. 

Royal Engineers.

Colonel Henry PERCY. 

Grenadier Guards.

Brevet-Major Charles RUSSELL. 

Grenadier Guards.

Sergeant Alfred ABLETT. 

Grenadier Guards.

Private Anthony PALMER. 

Grenadier Guards.

Brevet-Major Gerald GOODLAKE. 

Coldstream Guards.

Brevet-Major John CONOLLY. 

Coldstream Guards.

Private George STRONG. 

Coldstream Guards.

Brevet-Major Robert LINDSAY. 

Scots Fusilier Guards.

Sergeant James MCKECHNIE. 

Scots Fusilier Guards.

Private William REYNOLDS. 

Scots Fusilier Guards.

Private Thomas GRADY. 

4th Regiment (King’s Own Regiment).

Lieutenant William HOPE. 

7th Regiment (Royal Fusiliers).

Assistant Surgeon Thomas HALE. 

7th Regiment (Royal Fusiliers).

Private Matthew HUGHES. 

7th Regiment (Royal Fusiliers).

Private William NORMAN. 

7th Regiment (Royal Fusiliers).

Ensign Andrew MOYNIHAN. 

8th Regiment (King’s (Liverpool) Regiment).

Private Samuel EVANS. 

19th Regiment (Yorkshire Regiment).

Private John LYONS. 

19th Regiment (Yorkshire Regiment).

Lieutenant Luke O’CONNOR. 

23rd Regiment (Royal Welch Fusiliers).

Corporal Robert SHIELDS. 

23rd Regiment (Royal Welch Fusiliers).

Private William COFFEY. 

34th Regiment (Border Regiment).

Private John SIMS. 

34th Regiment (Border Regiment).

Sergeant William MCWHEENEY. 

44th Regiment (Essex Regiment).

Sergeant George WALTERS. 

49th Regiment (Royal Berkshire Regiment).

Corporal James OWENS. 

49th Regiment (Royal Berkshire Regiment).

Brevet-Major Charles LUMLEY. 

97th Regiment 

(Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment).

Sergeant John COLEMAN. 

97th Regiment 

(Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment).

Brevet-Major Henry CLIFFORD. 

1st Battalion The Rifle Brigade.

Private Joseph BRADSHAW. 

2nd Battalion The Rifle Brigade.

Private Francis WHEATLEY. 

2nd Battalion The Rifle Brigade.

Captain William CUNINGHAME. 

2nd Battalion The Rifle Brigade.

Lieutenant John KNOX. 

2nd Battalion The Rifle Brigade.

Private Roderick MCGREGOR. 

2nd Battalion The Rifle Brigade.

Private John HUMPSTON. 

2nd Battalion The Rifle Brigade.

Brevet-Major Claud BOURCHIER. 

3rd Battalion The Rifle Brigade.

NOT PERMITTED TO ATTEND THE INVESTITURE 

OWING TO HAVING BEEN RECENTLY PUNISHED BY 

HIS COMMANDING OFFICER FOR THEFT.

Private William STANLAKE. 

Coldstream Guards.

All of the VCs awarded in this Ceremony were 

for Actions in the recently-concluded Crimean War. 

It was from this particular conflict that the 

grim conditions Servicemen had to endure 

in far-flung Wars came to be fully appreciated 

by all sections of society. 

This was largely thanks to the advent of the telegraph 

and, for the first time, “embedded” News Reporters, 

notably in this case William Howard Russell of The Times.

Unlike other European powers, Britain lacked 

any Military Award open to All Ranks. 

Questions were asked in Parliament, 

to which The War Office was obliged to reply. 

The Queen and her Consort, Prince Albert, 

became involved very early on. 

Prince Albert was virtually in daily 

correspondence with Ministers, leading to the swift establishment of the eponymous Bronze Medal for Valour, Officially Warranted on 29 January 1856. 

The London Jewellers, Hancocks, were commissioned 

by the Minister for War Lord Panmure to produce the VC. 

They have done so ever since.

The Queen described 26 June 1857 as being: 

“A thick, heavy, morning. The heat was very great, 

but I felt it less than I expected.”

She was accompanied by Albert, several of 

her children, Lord Panmure, other Government 

Ministers, plus sundry noteworthies. 

And, of course, the recipients themselves, 

some of whom were by now dressed in civilian clothing. 

Including the public, the entire attendance 

was estimated at around 100,000. 

The whole event was enthusiastically accompanied by Military Bands and copious cheering from the audience. 

This was an auspicious beginning for the Victoria Cross, 

which has subsequently and rightly become a powerful component in this Nation’s Military Story.

The first Victoria Cross. 

Quick-thinking Lieutenant Charles Lucas 

of the Royal Navy, who attended the Ceremony, 

throws an enemy bomb overboard. 

21 June 1854.

Illustrated London News.

Illustration: LONDON HISTORIANS’ BLOG

The LONDON HISTORIANS' BLOG can be read

HERE

The Vigil (Anticipated) Of The Feast Of Saint Peter And Saint Paul. Violet Vestments.

 

Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Vigil Of The Feast Of Saint Peter And Saint Paul.
   28 June.

   (In 2026, this Feast is “Anticipated” on 27 June.)

Violet Vestments.

Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

Illustration: CATHOLICTRADITION.ORG

The Church Celebrates, tomorrow, The Feast of The Two Apostles who are the two foundations on which she is solidly established (Collect).

"The rigour to which a people subjects itself by certain days of preparation,", writes Dom Guéranger, "is a mark of The Faith which it has preserved, showing that it understands the greatness of the object proposed by The Holy Liturgy for its Worship." ["The Liturgical Year". By: Dom Guéranger. The Vigil of The Holy Apostles.]

Peter, raised to his Cross (Introit, Gospel), like Christ, rises above the World. He seals, in his blood, his confession of Faith (Gospel of tomorrow) and Love (Gospel) in Jesus, and, henceforth, it will be in His name (Ibid.), and as His Vicar, that he will be king of Souls.

Paul, by sharing his labours and Martyrdom, shares his kingship and his triumph.

Mass: Dicit Dóminus.

The Vigil (Anticipated) Of The Holy Apostles, Saint Peter And Saint Paul. 27 June. Violet Vestments.

Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

Illustration: CATHOLICTRADITION.ORG

Please note: In 2026, this Vigil is “Anticipated” on 27 June.

Text is from “The Liturgical Year”.

   By: Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.

   Volume 12.

   Time After Pentecost.

   Book III.

Saint John the Baptist, placed on the confines of the two Testaments, closes The Prophetic Age, The Reign of Hope, and opens The Era of Faith., which possesses the long-expected God, though, as yet, without beholding Him in His Divinity.

Thus, even before The Octave is ended, wherein we pay our homage to the son of Zachary, The Confession of The Apostles is added to The Precursor's testimony to The Word, The Light.

Tomorrow, all Heaven will re-echo with the Solemn protestation first heard at Cæsarea Philippi: “Thou art Christ, The Son of The Living God”; and Simon Bar-Jona, because of this oracle uttered by him, will be The Chosen Rock, supporting The Divine Structure, The Church.

Tomorrow, he will die, sealing his glorious declaration with his blood; but, he will live on, in the person of each Roman Pontiff, that he may thus guard this precious testimony in all its integrity, even to the day when Faith will give place to The Eternal Vision.

Coupled with Peter in all his labours, The Doctor of The Gentiles shares his triumph this day; and Rome, more indebted to these two Princes than to all her stout warriors of old, who laid the World prostrate at her feet, beholds their double victory which fixes for ever upon her noble brow the diadem of Spiritual Royalty.

Let us, then, recollect ourselves, preparing our hearts in union with Holy Mother Church, by faithfully observing this Vigil. When the obligation of thus keeping up certain days of preparation previous to the festivals is strictly maintained by a people, it is a sign that Faith is still living amongst them; it proves that they understand the greatness of that which The Holy Liturgy proposes to their homage.

Christians in The West, we who make the glory of Saint Peter and Saint Paul our boast, let us remember the Lent in honour of The Apostles begun by Greek schismatics on the close of The Paschal Solemnities, and continued up to this day.

 The contrast between them and ourselves will be of a nature to stir up our fervour, and to control those tendencies wherein softness and ingratitude hold too large a share. If certain concessions have, for grave reasons, been reluctantly made by The Church, so that The Fast of this Vigil is no longer observed, let us see therein a double motive for holding fast to her precious Tradition.

Let us make up by fervour, thanksgiving, and love, for the severity lacking in our observance, which is yet still maintained by so many Churches notwithstanding their schismatical separation from Rome.

The recital of the following beautiful formulas will help to inspire us with the spirit of The Feast. The first is taken from The Gothic-Gallic Missal: It is The Benediction which, according to the ancient rite used in France, was given to the people before the Communion on The Feast of The Apostles. The Prayers which follow it are from The Leonine Sacramentary.

THE BENEDICTION.

Deus, qui membris Ecclesiæ, velut gemellum lumen quo caveantur tenebræ, fecisti Petri lacrymas, Pauli litteras, coruscare.

Amen.

Hanc plebem placitus inspice: Qui cœlos facis aperire Petro in clave, Paulo in dogmate.

Amen.

Ut præviantibus ducibus, illic grex possit accedere, quo pervenerunt pariter tam ille Pastor suspendio, quam iste Doctor per gladium in congresso.

Per Dominum nostrum . . .

O God, Who to keep the members of Thy Church from darkness, hast made to shine forth, like twin fountains of light, the tears of Peter and the writings of Paul.

Amen.

In Thy clemency, look upon Thy people, O Thou Who givest the Heavens to be opened, by Peter with the key, and by Paul with the sword.

Amen.

So that the leaders going first, thither may the flock at length come, whither have already arrived by one same step, both the Pastor by the gibbet, and the Teacher by the sword.

Through Our Lord . . .

PRAYERS.

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui ineffabili sacramento jus apostolici principatus in Romani nominis arce posuisti, unde se evangelica veritas per tota mundi regna diffunderet: Præsta, ut quod in orbem terrarum eorum prædicatione manavit, christianæ devotionis sequatur universitas.

Præsta quæsumus Ecclesiæ tuæ, Domine, de tantis digne gaudere principibus, et illam sequi pia devotione doctrinam, qua delectos tibi greges sacris mysteriis imbuerunt.

Per Dominum . . .

O Almighty and Eternal God, Who, by an ineffable Mystery hast fixed the right of Apostolic Princedom on the proud summit of the name of Rome, whence evangelic truth may diffuse itself through all the Earth: Grant that what by their preaching hath percolated through the whole World all may follow with Christian devotedness.

Grant to Thy Church, we beseech Thee, O Lord, both worthily to rejoice at having such great Princes, and to follow with loving devotion that teaching of theirs, whereby Thy chosen flocks have been initiated into The Sacred Mysteries.

Through Our Lord . . .

Within The Octave Of Saint John The Baptist. Today, 27 June. White Vestments.

Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Within the Octave of Saint John the Baptist.
   27 June.

White Vestments.

English: The “Voice in the Desert”.

Artist: James Tissot (1836-1902).

Date: Between 1886 and 1894.

Current location:  Brooklyn Museum ,  New York City

Credit line: Purchased by public subscription.

Source/Photographer:

Online Collection Brooklyn Museum

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint John the Baptist.

Illustration:  PINTEREST

The Church, honouring The Saints in proportion to the part they played in the Mystery of The Incarnation of The Word, gives to Saint John the Baptist a special place.

[Editor: The Rubrics which accompany the Papal Bull “Divino Afflatu”, of Pope Saint Pius X, establish the following order among the Feast Days: “The Feasts of The Lord; of The Blessed Virgin Mary; of the Angels; of Saint John the Baptist; of Saint Joseph; of the Holy Apostles.”]

Each day in The Mass, as well as the Confiteor, at “the Suscipe” and at “the Nobis Quoque Peccatoribus”, the name of Saint John the Baptist precedes that of the Apostles.

It is the same in the Litany of The Saints. His Feast Day immediately precedes that of the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul. By ending the Mission of the Prophets and commencing that of the Apostles, he is the link between The Old Testament and The New Testament.

Let us, also, give to Saint John the Baptist the place of honour which is due to him in our Veneration of the Saints. The Veneration must, indeed, be hierarchically ordered so that we may never forget that Jesus is the principal author of our Redemption, and that the Saints are, more or less, great as they are more or less united to Him as secondary instruments.

The Feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist falls in the Season when The Cycle shows us that The Church, which, as this Saint foretold, was born in the Baptism of The Holy Ghost and of fire at Pentecost, and goes on continually developing herself. It is, indeed, to The Holy Precursor that she owes it to have known Jesus, The Spouse that makes her the fruitful mother of many Souls.

As with the Jews, a friend was the intermediary between the bride and the spouse and prepared the wedding-feast. Saint John the Baptist is called, in the Gospel, “the friend of The Spouse”. It is he whom God has chosen to prepare for The Lord, by his Preaching and Baptism of Penance, a perfect people.

And, after having adorned the bride, he presents The Spouse to her. “John was the man sent as a witness, so that, through him, all should believe in Jesus.”

Jesus comes to him in the waters of The River Jordan and, at this Divine Contact, the water acquired the Virtue which, in Baptism, causes our Souls to be born to supernatural life. As Saint John the Baptist Baptises Christ in The Jordan, he hears the voice of The Father proclaiming that Jesus is His well-beloved Son. He sees The Holy Ghost hovering over Him in the form of a Dove and he reveals that Jesus is “The Lamb of God”.

Let us remember that, after having Baptised The Master, the one who is called John the Baptiser has also presided over our own Christening, for all the Baptistries (particularly that of Saint John Lateran, in Rome) are dedicated to him, and his image is to be used for the adornment of Baptismal Fonts.

Having thus been brought by him to Jesus, let us also, through Saint John the Baptist, approach The Eucharist, reciting the words of the Agnus Dei, by which he indicated The Saviour.

Mass: As on the Feast Day.

Absurd Victorian Occupations.

John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836–1893). The Victorian-Era Artist From Leeds, England.

"Nightfall on The Thames".

Artist: John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836–1893).

Date: 1880.

Current location: Leeds City Art Gallery, England.

Source/Photographer: 

Direct link via Leeds Museum & Galleries.

(Wikimedia Commons)

John Atkinson Grimshaw (6 September 1836 – 13 October 1893) was a Victorian-era artist, a "remarkable and imaginative painter" known for his City night-scenes and landscapes.

His early paintings were signed "JAG," "J. A. Grimshaw," or "John Atkinson Grimshaw," though he finally settled on "Atkinson Grimshaw."

John Atkinson Grimshaw was born Leeds, England. In 1856, he married his Cousin, Frances Hubbard (1835–1917). In 1861, at the age of twenty-four, to the dismay of his parents, he left his job as a Clerk for The Great Northern Railway to become a painter.

He first exhibited in 1862, mostly paintings of birds, fruit and blossom, under the patronage of The Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society. He became successful in the 1870s and rented a second home in Scarborough, which became a favourite subject of his paintings.

Several of his children, Arthur E. Grimshaw (1864–1913), Louis H. Grimshaw (1870–1944), Wilfred Grimshaw (1871–1937) and Elaine Grimshaw (1877–1970) became painters.

"November".

Artist: John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836–1893).

Date: 1879.

This File: 19 September 2013.

User: Austriacus

(Wikimedia Commons)

"A Moonlit Evening".

Artist: John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836–1893).

Date: 1880.

Current location: Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum,

Madrid, Spain.

Source/Photographer: 

Posted to Flickr as John Atkinson Grimshaw -

A Moonlit Evening, 1880 

at Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza Madrid Spain

with a Copy Fraud License by Flickr user mbell1975.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint John And Saint Paul. Martyrs. Feast Day, Today, 26 June. Red Vestments.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saints John and Paul.
   Martyrs.
   Feast Day 26 June.

Double.

Red Vestments.

English: Basilica of The Holy Martyrs, John and Paul, 

Mount Coelius, Rome. The Lenten Station, for Friday 

after Ash Wednesday, is held at this Basilica.

Français: Vue d'ensemble de la Basilique

Santi Giovanni e Paolo de Rome sur le Celio.

Photo: May 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: LPLT

(Wikimedia Commons)

The two brothers, John and Paul, were Romans and in the service of Constantia, daughter of Emperor Constantine. Julian the Apostate, having invited them to be among his familiar friends, they refused, so as to remain faithful to Jesus.

Ten days were allowed for them to deliberate, and they used them in distributing all they possessed to the Poor. They were then arrested and “without fearing those who can only kill the body, and beyond that can do nothing more” (Gospel), they became, in 362 A.D., brothers more than ever, by the same Faith and the same Martyrdom (Collect, Gradual, Alleluia).

The Church compares them “to the two olive-trees and to the two candle-sticks, mentioned in the Apocalypse, which shine before The Lord.” [Response at Matins.]

Basilica of Saint John and Saint Paul

(Santi Giovanni e Paolo), Martyrs. Rome.

Available on YouTube

HERE

“These Just Men,” she [Editor: The Church] adds, “have 

stood before The Lord and have not been separated from one another.” [Antiphon at the Magnificat.] Wherefore, both their names, mentioned in the Canon of The Mass (First List), pass on from generation to generation, while their bodies rest in peace (Epistle) in the ancient Church erected in their honour on Mount Coelius at Rome. It is there that the Station is held on the Friday after Ash Wednesday.

Let us enjoy today, with The Church, the double triumph 

of Saints John and Paul (Collect) and let us, like them, courageously confess Jesus before Men, so that He may recognise us for His own before His Angels (Gospel).

Mass: Multæ tribulatiónes.
Commemoration: The Octave of Saint John the Baptist.

English: Basilica of The Holy Martyrs John and Paul.

Italiano: SS. Giovanni e Paolo - Roma.

Photo: July 2006.

Source: Flickr

Author: Patrick Denker

Reviewer: Mac9

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

John and Paul were Saints in the Roman Empire.
They were Martyred at Rome on 26 June. They should not 

be confused with the famous Apostles of the same names
(see Saint Paul; Saint John the Apostle). The year of their Martyrdom is uncertain. According to their Acts, it occurred under Julian the Apostate (361 A.D. – 363 A.D.).

In the second half of the 4th-Century A.D., Byzantius, the Roman Senator, and Saint Pammachius, his son, fashioned their house on the Cælian Hill into a Christian Basilica. In the 5th-Century A.D., the Presbyteri Tituli Byzantii (Priests of the Church of Byzantius) are mentioned in an Inscription and among the signatures of the Roman Council of 499 A.D. The Church was also called the Titulus Pammachii, after Byzantius’s son, the pious friend of Saint Jerome.

In the ancient apartments on the ground-floor of the house of Byzantius, which were still retained under the Basilica, the tomb of two Roman Martyrs, John and Paul, was the object of Veneration as early as the 5th-Century A.D.

The “Sacramentarium Leonianum” already indicates, in the Preface to the Feast of the Saints, that they rested within the City walls (“Sacr. Leon.”, ed. Feltoe, Cambridge, 1896, 34), while, in one of the early itineraries to the tombs of the Roman Martyrs, their grave is assigned to the Church on the Cœlian (De rossi, “Roma sotterrania”, I, 138, 175).

Basilica di San Zanipolo, Venice, Italy

(Basilica of Saints John and Paul).

Photo taken by Necrothesp, 14 May 2004.

Date: 1 July 2004 (original upload date).

Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons

by Padawane using CommonsHelper

Author: Original uploader was Necrothesp 

at English Wikipedia

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Titulus Byzantii, or Pammachii, was consequently known at a very early date by the names of the two Martyrs (Titulus SS. Joannis et Pauli).

That the two Saints are Martyrs of the Roman Church is historically certain; as to how and when their bodies found a resting-place in the house of Pammachius, under the Basilica, we only know that it certainly occurred in the 4th-Century A.D. The year and circumstances of their Martyrdom are likewise unknown.

According to their Acts, the Martyrs were eunuchs of Constantina, daughter of Constantine the Great, and became acquainted with a certain Gallicanus, who built a Church in Ostia. At the command of Julian the Apostate, they were beheaded secretly by Terentianus in their house on the Cœlian Hill, where their Church was subsequently erected, and where they were buried.

The rooms on the ground-floor, of the above-mentioned house of Pammachius, were rediscovered under the Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Rome. They are decorated with important and interesting frescoes, while the original tomb (“Confessio”) of Saints John and Paul is covered with paintings, of which the Martyrs are the subject. The rooms and the tomb form one of the most important Early-Christian Memorials in Rome.

English: Frescoes in the original Roman house

below the Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Rome.

Italiano: Roma , casa romana sotto la basilica

dei santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio - affreschi.

Photo: 3 October 2004.

Source: Own work.

Author: user:Lalupa

(Wikimedia Commons)

Since the erection of the Basilica, the two Saints have been greatly Venerated, and their names have been inserted in the Canon of The Mass. Their Feast Day 26 June.

The Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, in Rome, is Dedicated to them, as well as the Basilica di San Zanipolo in Venice (“Zanipolo” being Venetian for “John and Paul”).

The Lüeneberg Manuscript (circa 1440–1450) mentions “The Day of John and Paul” in an early German account of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

A small village next to Caiazzo, in the Campania Region of Italy, is named Santi Giovanni e Paolo, in honour of these Martyrs. Many residents of this village bear the family name “San Giovanni,” as do the descendants of immigrants to the United States from this village (in particular, in Michigan, New York, and Florida).

Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica Of The Nativity Of Saint Mary, Milan, Italy. Basilica Cattedrale Metropolitana Di Santi Maria Nascente, Milano. (Part Nine).

English: Milan Cathedral.

Italiano: Milano - Duomo.

This File: 30 January 2014.

Source: Own work.

This file is licensed under the

Creative Commons Attribution-

Share Alike 3.0 Unported Licence.

User: Чаховіч Уладзіслаў

(Wikimedia Commons)

Duomo of Milan.

The Church That Took 600 Years To Finish.

Available on YouTube

HERE

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia, unless stated otherwise.

The Allied bombing of Milan in World War II further delayed construction. Like many other Cathedrals in Cities bombed by the Allied forces, the Duomo suffered some damage, although to a lesser degree compared to other major buildings in the vicinity, such as La Scala Theatre. It was quickly repaired and became a place of solace and gathering for displaced local residents.[14]

The Duomo’s main façade was renovated from 2003 to 2009: as of February 2009, it has been completely uncovered, showing again the colours of the Candoglia Marble.[15]

Milan Cathedral.

Date: August 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: MarkusMark

(Wikimedia Commons)

In November 2012, officials announced a campaign to raise funds for the Cathedral’s preservation by asking patrons to adopt the building’s Spires. The effects of pollution on the 14th-Century building entail regular maintenance, and recent austerity cuts to Italy’s cultural budget have left less money for the upkeep of cultural institutions, including the Cathedral.

To help make up funds, Duomo management launched a campaign offering its 135 Spires for “adoption”. Donors who contribute €100,000 (about $110,000), or more, will have a plaque, with their name engraved on it, placed on the Spire.[16]

The Plan of the Cathedral consists of a Nave with four Side Aisles, crossed by a Transept, and then followed by Choir and Apse. The height of the Nave is about forty-five metres (148 ft), with the highest Gothic Vaults in a completed Church (not as high as the forty-eight metres (157 ft) of Beauvais Cathedral, which was never completed).

The Roof is open to tourists (for a fee), which allows many a close-up view of some spectacular sculpture that would otherwise be unappreciated. The Roof of the Cathedral is renowned for the forest of openwork Pinnacles and Spires, set upon delicate Flying Buttresses.[17]

PART TEN FOLLOWS.