Christmas Every Day

1581

Birth of James Ussher, Anglican bishop in Ireland and author of a famous chronology of the world. Ussher became a priest in 1602 and by 1625 was named Archbishop of Armagh, Anglican Primate of Ireland (a country ruled by England and largely Roman Catholic). Ussher opposed making any concessions to the Catholic majority or weakening the hold of the English crown on the island but he was also opposed to the Arminian innovations Archbishop Laud was making in the Church of England. The Civil War meant that Ussher’s last years were spent mostly in scholarship and particularly the quest to date the age of the world. In Ussher’s opinion, the earth was created in 4004 BC, Solomon’s temple was built in 1004 BC and Christ was born in 4 BC. Though we might snicker at such a viewpoint, his scholarship, given the sources he had, was impressive. Ussher died in 1656 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

1821

Elizabeth Ann Seton, first Catholic saint born in the United States, dies in Maryland. Born into an New York Episcopalian family in 1774, she married at the age of 19 and had five children with her husband William Magee Seton. After his death in 1803 she began to be interested in Roman Catholicism and converted in 1805, but anti-Catholic sentiment in New York caused her to move to Maryland where she opened a school for girls. In 1809 she founded a religious community named the Sisters of Charity, dedicated to the education of poor children. Mother Seton was canonized in 1975.