Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 14.djvu/177

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SORRENTO


151


SORROWS


ordained, was selected b}' his superiors to establish the Congregation of the Holy Cross in what was then- considered a remote district of the United States.

Accompanied by six brothers, he arrived in New York in the autumn of 1S41, and immediately set out for Indiana, which was destined to be the field, the centre rather, of his apostolate for upwards of half a century. After a short stay at St. Peter's, in the Diocese of Vincennes, he proceeded northward with five of his confreres. In the beginning of an exceptionally rigorous winter, in povcrtj- and priva- tion he began the foundation of Notre Dame, which, under his fostering care, from an Indian missionary station, developed into one of the largest religious and educational institutions in the New World, the centre of far-reaching activities for the work of the Church. Several colleges which Father Sorin founded elsewhere are also in a flourishing condition.

It is a far cry from Indiana to India; but the flour- ishing mission in Eastern Bengal, in charge of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, owes much of its success to Father Sorin 's ardent zeal and active co- operation. Thither he sent its former bi.shop and other priests whose services could ill be spared, together with a band of sisters, the superior of whom, a native of New York, died at her distant post, a victim of her self-sacrifice. The foimding of the Con- gregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross in the United Stales is rightly regarded as one of Father Sorin's most important services to religion. Under his administration and care, this communitj', at first a handful, has become a host, with flourishing estab- lishments in a dozen states. During the Ci\il War, thanks to Father Sorin's forethought, this sisterhood was able to furnish nearly fourscore nurses for sick and wounded .soldiers on transports and in hospitals. A number of jiriests of the Congregation of the Holy Cross served as chaplains at the front. Another of Father Sorin's man\' claims to the grateful remem- brance of English-speaking Cathohcs is the "Ave Maria", which he founded in 186.5.

Father Sorin was elected superior-general of his order in 1868, and held this important office during the rest of his life. In recognition of his work in educational lines, the French Government conferred upon him the insignia of an Officer of Public Instruc- tion (1S8S). Soon after the celebration of his sacer- dotal golden jubilee (the same year), the venerable founder of Notre Dame entered upon a long period of mental and physical suffering, which closed with a peaceful and painless death on the eve of All Saints', 1893.

MoREAr. Le Trh Reverend PSre Basil- Antoitie Moreau (Paris, 1900); A Story of Fifty Years (Notre Dame, 1905); Circular Letters of the Very Rev. Edward Sorin, C, S. C, privately printed.

Daniel E. Hudson.

Sorrento, .\nrnDiorESE of, in the Province of Naples, with one suffragan, Castellamare. The city is situated on the .southern arm of the Gulf of Naples and is protected towards the south by Mount Sant' Angelo, which m:ikes Sorrento a popular summer resort. The jieninsula is bounded on the one side by the Gulf of N:iples, on the other side by the Gulf of .\malfi, and was in Roman antiquity dotted with villiLS. Sorrento is situated at a considerable altitude above the sea, us it were on a pe;ik. The churches are more ornate than beautiful. There are also ruins of certain temples: of Ceres, described by Vitruvius (a. few columns and mo.saics); of \'('nu,s, near the Marina grande; of Sirena; and of Minerva, the latter said to have been built by Ulysses, the re- puted founder of the city, which in ancient times had Its own coins and w.as autonomous. In 312 b. c. it became the ally of Rome; but Hannibal captured it in the Second Punic War. Augustus .sent a colony thither. In a. d. 64.5 Radolfo, Duke of Beneventurn, besieged it in vain; it remained Byzantine, and:is


late as the eighth century had probably a dtix (chief magistrate) of its own, and was almost completely indejiendent of Constantinople. In 890 the Sor- rentines won a naval victory over the inhabitants of Anialfi. In 1035 it was conquered by Guaimario IV, Duke of Salerno, who tnade his brother Guido Duke of Sorrento; but forty years afterwards it fell with Salerno under Norman domination. Sorrento is the birthplace of Torquato Tasso. The Gospel was preached at Sorrento probably as early as the first century; the martyrs Quartus, Quartillus, and their comjjanions are venerated there. Among the known bishops the first is St. Renatus, a native of Angers, at the beginning of the fifth century. His successor was St. Valerius, who died in 453; Rosarius was present at Rome in 499. The Sorrentines venerate other bishops of the see: St. Athanasius, St. Johannes (about 594), St. Amandus (d. 617), St. Baculus (seventh century), St. Hyacinthus (679). In the tenth century it became a metropolitan see, the first archbishop being Leo Parus. Among its bishops were Francesco Remolino (1501), who was made a prisoner by the Turks and ransomed with the treas- ures of the church (in part his own donations), and Filippo Strozzi (1525), said to have been three times rescued from prison in the sack of Rome in 1527. In 1558 the Turks under Pialy Pasha effected a landing at Salerno, and plundered and burned the city, on which occasion the archives perished. The new bi.shop, Giulio Pavesi, sought to repair the dam- ages. Diego Pietra (1680) founded the seminary, afterwards enlarged by Filippo Anastasi (1699); the latter defended the immunities of the Church and was forcibly exiled to Terracina. In 1861 Francesco Apuzzo was, by order of the new Govern- ment, exiled to France. In 1818 the Dioceses of Massa Lubrense, Vico Equense, a suffragan of Amalfi, and Capri were united with Sorrento. Massa is an ancient city, the fame of whose celebrated temple (delubrum) of Juno Argiva is still preserved in the title of the church known as the Madonna della Lobra. It became an episcopal see probably when Sorrento was made metropolitan; the first known bishop was Pietro Orsi, in 1289 delivered from prison in Sicilj'. Vico Equense, the ancient Mqua., destro.yed in the Social War, probably had a bishop at the same time as Massa Lubrense; the first known was Bartolomeo (1294). Paolo Regi (1582), a renowned legist, compiled the lives of the Neapolitan saints, and was a prolific wTiter. The last bi.shop was Michele Natali (1797), condemned to death in 1799 for having taken part in the revolution of that year.

The Island of Capri was even in antiquity cele- brated for its climate. -Augustus acquired it from the Neapolitans, and Tiberius built there his famous villa. Commodus banished thither his wife Crispina. Justinian gave the ishmd to the Benedictines. In 808 it was cajitured by the inhabitants of Amalfi; from 1806-1808 it was in possession of the English. The Archbishop of Amalfi named its first bishop (987), a certain Johannes. Sorrento htis thirty-six parishes, 267 secular and .34 regular clergy, and 56,900 souls; 8 monasteries for men and 21 convents for women, 3 institutes for boys and 10 for girls.

Cappelletti, Le chiese d'ltnlii, XX; .ANASTAaio, Litcttbra- tiones in Sorrentinortim ecclesiastirns civilesQue antiquittites (Rome. 1731); Capasso, Topoffrafia storico-archeologica della penisala sorrrnlina (Naples, 1846); Fasclo, La penisola sorren- lina (Naples, 1900).

II. Benicni.

Sorrows of the Blessed Virg-in Mary, Feasts OP THE Seven. — (1) Friday before Palm Sund.ay, major double; (2) third Sunday in September, double of the second class. The object of these feasts is the spiritual martyrdom of the Mother of God and her compassion with the sufferings of her Divine Son. (1) The seven founders of the Servite Order, in 1239, five years after they established them-