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Pope Sisinnius was the bishop of Rome from 15 January 708 to his death on 4 February, succeeding Pope John VII. He was Syrian and his father was named John, but little else is known of his early life. At the time of his election to the papal throne, Sisinnius suffered from severe gout, leaving him weak. During the course of his twenty-day papacy, he consecrated a bishop for Corsica and ordered the reinforcement of the walls surrounding Rome, the papal capital. The popes of the time were not able to appoint all bishops, nor were they able to effectively govern the Catholic Church: they did not publish encyclicals or catechisms, and were not able to canonize saints or convene ecumenical councils. Like many of his immediate predecessors, Sisinnius was likely not a member of the upper class, but he was respected for his upright, moral disposition and concern for the people of Rome. On his death in Rome, Sisinnius was buried in Old St. Peter's Basilica. He was succeeded by Pope Constantine. (Full article...)

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Annunciation and Nativity on the pulpit in the Pisa Baptistery

... that the pulpit in the Pisa Baptistery (1260) by Nicola Pisano has a relief combining the Annunciation with the Nativity (pictured), with two Virgin Marys beside each other?
... that in 1977, Appalachian folk singer Phyllis Boyens performed at a Christmas benefit concert to support Kentucky coal miners who had been on strike for 17 months?
... that Grandpa Indian, created in the 1930s to replace Santa Claus in Brazil, was portrayed as adorned in colorful bird feathers, bringing gifts to Brazilian children?
... that an early example of the genre of Christmas horror is A Christmas Carol, published in 1843?
... that Jewish refugee Kurt S. Adler, who started one of the largest importers of Christmas decorations to the United States, was called "America’s Father Christmas" by the magazine German Life in 2002?
... that the live-action comedy series Community had a stop motion animated Christmas special?
... that "Verbum caro factum est", a Christmas motet for six voices by Hans Leo Hassler in the Venetian polychoral style, has been arranged for brass ensembles?
... that in Icelandic folklore, the Yule cat eats people who do not receive new clothing for Christmas?

In the news

Pope Francis

A mass shooting in Prague, Czech Republic, leaves 15 people dead.
Pope Francis (pictured) approves a declaration that allows Catholic clergy to bless same-sex couples.
After weeks of earthquakes, a volcanic eruption occurs near Grindavík, Iceland.
An earthquake in Jishishan County, China, leaves more than 140 people dead.
In the parliamentary election, the Serbian Progressive Party regains its parliamentary majority in the National Assembly.

On this day

December 25: Christmas (Western Christianity; Gregorian calendar); Quaid-e-Azam Day in Pakistan

Halley's Comet

AD 36 – After the death of Emperor Gongsun Shu of Chengjia, the empire was conquered by the Eastern Han dynasty.
1758 – Based on predictions by Edmond Halley in 1705, Johann Georg Palitzsch observed a comet that was later named Halley's Comet (pictured).
1927 – The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng, a revolutionary socialist political party that sought Vietnamese independence from French colonial rule, was formed in Hanoi.
1968 – In Tamil Nadu, India, families of striking Dalit workers were massacred by a gang, allegedly led by their landlords.
2000 – Russian president Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill officially adopting a new national anthem, with music by Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov originally composed for the anthem of the Soviet Union.

Makan ibn Kaki (d. 940)
Nina E. Allender (b. 1873)
Sadiq al-Mahdi (b. 1935)
John Pulman (d. 1998)

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James McGuigan

The archbishop of Toronto is the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto, responsible for looking after its spiritual and administrative needs. As the archdiocese is the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province encompassing Southern Ontario and part of Northwestern Ontario, the archbishop of Toronto also administers the bishops who head the suffragan dioceses of Hamilton, London, Saint Catharines, and Thunder Bay. The archdiocese began as the Diocese of Toronto, which was created on December 17, 1841. Michael Power was appointed its first bishop, and under his reign, the construction of St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica in Toronto commenced, with Power laying the cornerstone of the new church. Ten men have been Archbishop of Toronto; another two were bishop of its predecessor diocese. Four archbishops – James McGuigan (pictured), Gerald Emmett Carter, Aloysius Ambrozic, and Thomas Christopher Collins – were elevated to the College of Cardinals. (Full list...)

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The Adoration of the Shepherds is an episode in the story of the Nativity of Jesus in which shepherds are near witnesses to Jesus's birth in Bethlehem. It is based on the account in the Gospel of Luke and follows the Annunciation to the Shepherds, in which the shepherds are summoned by an angel to the scene of the birth. Like the episode preceding it, the Adoration of the Shepherds is a common subject in art, where it is often combined with the Adoration of the Magi. Depictions of the shepherds' adoration of the Christ Child as a subject distinct from that of the biblical Magi began to appear around the 15th century in artworks and altarpieces in the western Christian world. The shepherds are sometimes shown presenting simpler gifts than those of the Magi, such as lambs. This Adoration of the Shepherds is an oil-on-canvas painting by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, a Spanish Baroque artist. Painted around 1650, the work is now in the Museo del Prado in Madrid.

Painting credit: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

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