Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/609

Rh ANNUNCIATION

543

ANQUETIL

tretti, neroltlus, 13G.) The schismatic Armenians now celebrate tliis feast on the 7th of April. .Since i^pipliany for theni is the feast of the l)irth of Christ, the Armenian Cliuroli formerly assifjnetl the Annun- ciation to 5 January, the vigil of Kpiphany. This feast was always a holy day of obligation in the I'niversal Cliurch. As such it has been abrogalcrl for I'rance anil the French ilepencleiicics, for the I'nited States, for England and Scotland, though not for Ireland. By a decree of the S. H. ('., 2:{ .\pril, l,s;).3, the rank of the feast was raised from a double of the second cla.ss to a double of the first class. If this feast falls within Holy Week or Easter Week, its office is transferred to the Monday after the octave of Easter. In some tSerman churches it was the custom to keep its office the Saturday before I'alm Similay if the '2'>th of March fell in Holy Week. The (ireek Church, when the L'oth of March occurs on one of the three last days in Holy Week, transfers the Annunciation to Easter Monday; on all other days, even on Easter Sunday, its office is kept together wnth the office of the day. Although no octaves are permitted in Lent, the Dioceses of Lori'lo and of the Province of Venice, the Car- melites, Dominicans, Servites, and Redemptorists, celebrate this feast with an octave.

J\KLL.\KR, Ueortolot/ie (Kreil)urg, 1901), 14(j; IIoi.wkck, Fnali Mariani (Herder, 1892), 45; Schhod, in Kirchentex., VUI. 82.

Fhederick G. Holweck.

Annunciation, The Milit.\hy Oudehs of the. See .Mii.iT vuv Okdeus.

Annunciation, The Oudehs of the. — I. Annux- ciADKs, a iieiiitential order founded by St. Jeanne de Valois (b. Ut>4; d. 4 February, 1.30.')), daughter of Louis XI of France, anil wife of the Dulce of Orleans, later Louis XIL .\fter the annulment of I'.er marriage with Louis XTI she retired to Hourges, where, overcoming the opposition of her confes.sor F'athcrOilbert Xicolai.and the coimsellorsof the Pope, she succeeded in her design of founding an order in honour of the .\imimeialion of the Bles.sed Virgin Marj'. She herself composed the Rule, entitled "The Ten Virtues of the Blessed Virgin", the imita- tion of which she i)ri)posed as the aim of the order. It was confirmed l)y .\lexander VI (l.')01),and .S Octo- ber, l.")_', the first five members receiveil the veil, the foumlress herself taking solemn vows 4 June, l.')03. Father (iaijriel Kicolai, whose name was changed by Brief of .Mexander VI toGabriele Maria, was constituted Superior, and after rcvi.sing the constitutions, presented them for confirmation to Leo X (1.517), who placed the Order under the jurisdiction of the Order of St. F'rancis. In addition to the triple vow of poverty, chastity, and obedience, the memoers were bound to the recitation of the Office, the ob.servance of cloistral rule, and the wear- ing of the habit. This is grey with scarlet scapular and white mantle. Foimdations were made in France, but tliil not sur\-ive the Revolution. During its most flourishing period the Order po.sse.s.sed fortj'-five cotivents in FVance anil Belgium, of which .several still exist in the latter country. The found- ress was canonized in 1775.

II. .\nni'nci.^de.s. Celestial, a religious order for women founded by Bl. Mari.a Vittoria Fornari (b. l.-)0'.'; d. 1.') December, l(il7) at Genoa. The death of her husband, .\ngelo Strata, left her the care of .six children, and it wa.s only after they h.ad entered the religious life that she w.a.s free to carrj- out her life work, for which she hail been preparing by retirement and the practice of austere virtue. Her lack of temporal means for some time caused her director. I'ather Bernardino Zannoni of the Society of Jesus, and the .Vrchbishop of Genoa to withhold their consent, which, however, wa.s finally obtained (1602), anil a convent was erected at the expense of

one of her companions, Vincenza LomcUini. Father Zannoni drew up the constitutions for the religious. Clement VI II approved them in 1(J04, placing the Order under the Rule of St. Augustine. In the same year tim members were receiveil, each aiKling the name -Maria .Vnnunziata to her baptismal or religions name, and they made their .soliiun vows 7 .September, Kit)."). The second foundation was made in Kill', and the third a little later in Burgundy; after which the Order spread through Frame, Ger- many, ami Denmark. The constitutions were confirmed l)y Paul V (lOLi), Gregorj' XV, and Urban VIII (Hi:}!). The cloister is unusually rigid, and the members ilevote much of their time to pre- paring vestments and altar linen for poor churdies.

III. .\.\Nu.N'ci.\TES OF LoMii.\Ki)V, a religious order of lyombardy known as .Vmbrosians, Sisters of St. Ambro.se, or Sisters of St. Marcellina, organized at Pa via in 140H by young women from Venice and Pavia, under the direction of Father Beccaria, O.S.B., for the care of the sick, and at a later date placed under the Rule of .St. .\ugustine. The constitutions, providing for a prioress-general assisted by three visitors, were approved by Nicholas V but atnended by Pius V. Eventually each convent became sub- ject to the ordinary of its own diocese. Among the many saints belonging to this Order is St. Catherine Fieschi of Genoa.

IV. Ahchconfr.vternity of the Annunci.\tion, established in 14(10 in Rome in order to provide dowries for poor girls. During the pontificate of Pius II it was connected with the Dominican Church of the Minerva in w'hich was built later the beautiful chapel of the .Vnmmciation. At an earlier period the Pope himself iiresided at the annual ceremonies held 25 March, and presented with his own hand the documents entitling the recipients to the dower. This association has received large bequests, and benefits on an average four lumilred persons yearly. The money gift is now twenty-five scudi (S25.00) for those about to marry, and fifty for those entering a religious order.

V. .Vn'nunziata, a name by which the Servites are sometimes known, their chief monastery at I'lorence, Italy, being deilicated to the .Ajinunciation.

B.\CKli in KirchenleT,; Acta .S.S.. -t Feb.; Spinoi.a. Vita delta Ten. Maria Vittoria (Ciuiioa 1049); \'ictor. Tableau de Pari«, II, 1184; i\i:h\OT, Hint, des ordres mona9tiquc8, relif/ieux, etc. (Paris, 1714); Touron. Ili«t, dvs hommca illuatres de I'ordre de SI. Dominique (Paris, 1746) III, 435.

F. M. RuDOE.

Annus Sanctus. See Juiulee Year.

Anointing. See Baitism; Co.nfirmatiox; Ex- Ti'.E.Mi-; I.mtion; Order.

Anquetil, Louis-Pierre, a French historian, b. in Paris. 21 Feb., 1723; d. 6 Sept., ISOG. He entered the Congregation of Sainte-Genevidve when seventeen anil became a priest. He taught theology ami letters there; then became director of the seminary at Reims, and wrote a history of that city, his first historical work. In 1759 he became prior of the abbey of La Roe, in .\njou. and soon after was ap- pointed director of the college of Scnlis, which be- longed to his order. Here he wrote his "Histoire de la Ligue". In 17(iC he obtained a priory at CliAteau-Renard and abandoned teaching. Auout the time of the Revolution he became curi5 of La Villette near Paris. During the Reign of Terror he was imprisoned for some time at Saint Lazare where he workeil on his " HLstoire I'niverselle". When releaseil after 9 Thermidor he finished it. His last work, "Histoire de France", states in the preface that .\nquctil midertook it at Napoleon's request. It reveals the weakening of his powers by old age. .\uguslin Thierry (tjuatri^mc let t re sur I'llistoirc de F'rance) calls the work "cold and colourless" and says .\nquetil compares unfavour-