Friedrich Bernard Christian Maassen
United Sees of Macerata and Tolentino
Vicariate Apostolic of Mackenzie
Marie-Edmé-Patrice-Maurice de MacMahon
Joseph-Anna-Marie de Moyria de Mailla
François-Pierre-Gonthier Maine de Biran
Françoise, Marquise de Maintenon
Joseph-Marie, Comte de Maistre
Marcellinus of Civezza, O.F.M.
Margaret of the Blessed Sacrament
Prefecture Apostolic of Mariana Islands
Congregation of the Missionaries of Mariannhill
Sts. Maris, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum
Lucius Perpetuus Aurelianus Marius Maximus
Vicariate Apostolic of Marquesas Islands
Moral and Canonical Aspect of Marriage
Diocese of Marseilles (Massilia)
Vicariate Apostolic of the Marshall Islands
Diocese of Marsico Nuovo and Potenza
Luigi Ferdinando, Count de Marsigli
Missionaries of the Company of Mary
Servants of Mary (Order of Servites)
Society of Mary (Marist Fathers)
St. Mary Frances of the Five Wounds of Jesus
Richard Angelus a S. Francisco Mason
Devises and Bequests for Masses (United States)
Feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus
Caius Julius Verus Maximinus Thrax
Prefecture Apostolic of Mayotte, Nossi-Bé, and Comoro
Charles Joseph Eugene de Mazenod
Abbey and Congregation of Melk
Vicariate Apostolic of Méndez and Gualaquiza
Francisco Sarmiento de Mendoza
Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy
Sisters of Mercy of St. Borromeo
Frédéric-François-Xavier Ghislain de Mérode
Delegation Apostolic of Mesopotamia, Kurdistan, and Armenia
Metal-Work in the Service of the Church
Prince Klemens Lothar Wenzel von Metternich
Francis, Joseph, and Paul Mezger
Military Orders of St. Michael
Giovanni Francesco Pico della Mirandola
Congregation of the Sisters of Misericorde
Prefecture Apostolic of Misocco and Calanca
Congregation of Priests of the Mission
Congregation of Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo
Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales of Annecy
Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle
Mission Indians (of California)
Catholic Indian Missions of Canada
Catholic Indian Missions of the United States
François-Napoléon-Marie Moigno
Diocese of Molfetta, Terlizzi, and Giovinazzo
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Molière
Principality and Diocese of Monaco
Canonical Erection of a Monastery
Monophysites and Monophysitism
Monothelitism and Monothelites
Montagnais Indians (Chippewayans)
Charles-Forbes-René, Comte de Montalembert
Marquis de Louis-Joseph Montcalm-Gozon
Diocese of Monterey and Los Angeles
Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu
Anne, First Duke of Montmorency
Alexis-François Artaud de Montor
Antoine-Jean-Baptiste-Robert Auget, Baron de Montyon
Dioceses of Mostar and Markana-Trebinje
Feast of the Most Pure Heart of Mary
Toribio de Benavente Motolinia
Congregations of Mount Calvary
Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Karl Ernst, Freiherr von Moy de Sons
Johann Chrysostomus Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
St. Clair Augustine Mulholland
Baron Eligius Franz Joseph von Münch-Bellinghausen
Archdiocese of Munich-Freising
Italian poet, b. at Rome, 1698; d. at Vienna, 1782. Of humble origins, his father, once a Papal soldier, was later a pork-butcher; Metastasio was placed in the shop of a goldsmith to learn his craft. By some chance he attracted the attention of the jurisconsult and littérateur, Vincenzo Gravina, who took him in charge, and Græcizing his name of Trapassi, into the synonymous Metastasio, gave him a solid education. At his death in 1718 he left to his protégé a considerable sum of money, which the latter soon dissipated. Then he was compelled to apprentice himself at Naples to a lawyer, who, however, found the apprentice more prone to verse writing than to study legal codes. The beginning of Matastasio's real career is marked by the composition, at the request of the Viceroy of Naples, of his musical drama, the "Orti Esperidi", which had signal success. The leading part therein was played by the famous actress, la Romanina (Marianna Benti-Bulgarelli). She at once became attached to the young poet, commissioned him to write a new play, the "Didone abbandonata", had him taught music by a noted teacher, and took him to Rome and Venice with her on her professional tours. At Vienna the Italian melodramatist, Apostolo Zeno, was about to relinquish his post as imperial poet, and in 1730 he recommended that Metastasio be appointed his successor. With this recommendation and with the aid of the Countess of Althann, who remained his patroness during her lifetime, he obtained the appointment. Thereafter, and especially during the decade between 1730 and 1740, Metastasio was engaged in the composition of his many melodramas (over seventy in number), his oratorios, cantate, canzonette, etc. Among the most noted of his melodramas - which announce the coming opera - are: "Endimione", "Orti Esperidi", "Galatea", "Angelica", "Didone", "Siroe", "Catone", "Artaserse", "Adriano", "Demetrio", "Issipile", "Demofoonte", "Clemenza di Tito", "Semiramide", "Olimpiade", "Temistocle", and the "Attilio Regolo". The last-named is regarded as his masterpiece. All the pieces of Metastasio took the popular fancy, chiefly because he sedulously avoided all unhappy dénouements, and, enlivening his efficacious dialogue with common sense aphorisms, he combined them with arias and ariettas that appealed to the many. His Letters are important in connexion with any study of his artistic development.
The best edition of his works is that of Paris, 1780-82. Additions are found in the Opere Postume, Vienna, 1795. (See also the editions of Florence, 1820 and 1826). His letters were edited by Carducci (Bologna, 1883), and by Antona Traversi (Rome, 1886.)
J.M.D. FORD