Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/356

ALLAH  of the deceased members at Whitsuntide. In Spain there was such a day on Saturday before Sexagesima or before Pentecost, at the time of St. Isidore (d. 636). In Germany there existed (according to the testimony of Widukind, Abbot of Corvey, c. 980) a time-honoured ceremony of praying to the dead on 1 October. This was accepted and sanctified by the Church. St. Odilo of Cluny (d. 1048) ordered the commemoration of all the faithful departed to he held annually in the monasteries of his congregation. Thence it spread among the other congregations of the Benedictines and among the Carthusians. Of the dioceses, Liège was the first to adopt it under Bishop Notger (d. 1008). It is then found in the martyrology of St. Protadius of Besançon (1053–66). Bishop Otricus (1120–25) introduced it into Milan for the 15 October. In Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, priests on this day say three Masses. A similar concession for the entire world was asked of Pope Leo XIII. He would not grant the favour but ordered a special Requiem on Sunday, 30 September, 1888. In the Greek Rite this commemoration is held on the eve of Sexagesima Sunday, or on the eve of Pentecost. The Armenians celebrate the passover of the dead on the day after Easter.

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Allah, the name of God in Arabic. It is a compound word from the article, 'al, and ilāh, divinity, and signifies "the god" par excellence. This form of the divine name is in itself a sure proof that ilāh was at one time an appellative, common to all the local and tribal gods. Gradually, with the addition of the article, it was restricted to one of them who took precedence of the others; finally, with the triumph of monotheism, He was recognized as the only true God. In one form or another this Hebrew root occurs in all Semitic languages as a designation of the Divinity; but whether  was originally a proper name, pointing to a primitive monotheism, with subsequent deviation into polytheism and further rehabilitation, or was from the beginning an appellative which became a proper name only when the Semites had reached monotheism is a much debated question. It is certain, however, that before the time of Mohammed, owing to their contact with Jews and Christians, the Arabs were generally monotheists. The notion of Allah in Arabic theology is substantially the same as that of God among the Jews, and also among the Christians, with the exception of the Trinity, which is positively excluded in the Koran, cxii: "Say God, is one God, the eternal God, he begetteth not, neither is he begotten and there is not any one like unto him." His attributes, denied by the heterodox Motazilites, are ninety-nine in number. Each one of them is represented by a bead in the Moslem chaplet, while on the one hundredth and larger bead, the name of Allah itself is pronounced. It is preposterous to assert with Curtiss (Ursemitische Religion, 119) that the nomadic tribes of Arabia, consider seriously the Oum-el-Gheith, "mother of the rain", as the bride of Allah and even if the expression were used such symbolical language would not impair, in the least, the purity of monotheism held by those tribes. (Cf. Revue Biblique, Oct., 1906, 580 sqq.) Let it be noted that although Allah is an Arabic term, it is used by all Moslems, whatever be their language, as the name of God.

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Allahabad,, suffragan of the Archdiocese of Agra, India, is included between 28° and 30° north lat., and 77° and 88° long. east of Greenwich. It has an area of 150,000 square moles. East and west it is situated between the Archdioceses of Calcutta and Agra, and north and south between the Prefecture-Apostolic of Bettiah and the Himalaya Mountains and Nagpur. The mission dates its origin from 1669, when the Right Rev. Dr. Matheus de Castro, an Indian from Goa by race, and a Brahmin by caste, was entrusted by the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda with the spiritual care of the kingdom of the Great Mogul. This field of labour was, however, too vast, and the labourers too few. Hence it was that, by a decree of Propaganda, the Prefecture of Tibet and adjoining countries was erected, in 1703, and entrusted to the Capuchin Fathers of the March of Ancona (Marca d'Ancona) province. The Diocese of Allahabad is an offshoot of that prefecture, and its more or less complete history is as follows: The Vicariate-Apostolic of Patna (now Diocese of Allahabad) when founded was entrusted to the Capuchin Fathers. It was erected in 1845. The first vicar-apostolic was Dr. Anastasius Hartmann, O.M.C., who was nominated by Pope Gregory XVI. His consecration as titular Bishop of Derbe took place in the cathedral of Agra, 13 March, 1846. Dr. Hartmann remained at his post till 16 August, 1849, in which year he was appointed Administrator-Apostolic of Bombay. He took charge of the new office the same year, and held it till 1854, when he was made vicar-apostolic. He ruled over the destinies of the Bombay Mission till June, 1858. When Dr. Athanasius Zuber, O.M.C., who had suceeded Hartmann at Patna in 1849, resigned his office, the latter was nominated a second time Vicar-Apostolic of Patna, 24 January, 1860. The following year the provinces of Oudh were given by the Agra Mission to his vicariate. His death took place at Coorjee (Bankipore), 24 April, 1866. This zealous prelate, who spent ten hard years in organizing the Patna Mission, was born at Hitzkirch, a village in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland, 24 February, 1803. He entered the Franciscan novitiate at the age of eighteen, and was ordained priest in 1826. As he had taught logic, natural philosophy, and theology for eleven years, he was deeply versed in those sciences and was quite in his element whenever any scientific subject was the topic of conversation. After Dr. Hartmann's death, Father John Baptist of Malegnano became pro-vicar-apostolic. He was succeeded by Father Benedict of Assisi as administrator, in 1867. On 9 February 1868, Dr. Paul Josi, O.M.C., was elected Bishop of Rhodiopolis and Vicar-Apostolic of Patna. He was consecrated on 28 June of the same year, but was transferred in 1881 to the newly-erected Vicariate-Apostolic of the Punjaub. Dr. Francis Pesci, O.M.C., was chosen to take his place in the Patna Mission and consecrated on 14 August, 1881. On the establishment of the hierarchy in India by His Holiness Pope Leo XIII, 1 September, 1886, the Vicariate of Patna was constituted into the Diocese of Allahabad, of which Dr. Pesci then became the first bishop. On the 24th of February, 1887, the Papal Delegate, Monsignor Antonio Agliardi, solemnly proclaimed the establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in India, in St. Joseph's cathedral, Allahabad, at a meeting attended by the vicars-apostolic of northern India. The same year, the newly-erected diocese parted with the districts of Darjeeling, Purneah, and the Pergunnas, in favour of the Calcutta Mission. The year 1890 was