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
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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
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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
A German Protestant sect which derives its name from "Michel", the popular designation of its founder Johann Michael Hahn, b. of peasant parentage, 2 February, 1758, at Altorf near Stuttgart; d. at Sindlingen near Herrenberg in Würtemberg, 20 January, 1819. Naturally of a deeply religious disposition, he claimed to have been favoured at the age of seventeen with a vision lasting for the space of three hours. From that time on he led a strictly retired life and was a regular attendant at the meetings of the Pietists. His peculiarities drew forth the energetic disapproval of his father, who even resorted to physical violence against him. But as parental opposition resulted in driving the son from home without changing his manner of life, it was soon abandoned as useless. After a seven weeks' vision, alleged to have occurred in 1780, Hahn began to proclaim his beliefs through speech and writing. Large audiences flocked to his preaching and both the ecclesiastical and the civil authorities instituted proceedings against him. He sought quiet in foreign lands, notably in Switzerland, where he met Lavater. From 1794 until his death, he devoted his time, undisturbed, to religious propaganda, living on the estate of Duchess Frances at Sindlingen. While he entertained for some time the idea of establishing a distinct community, a plan which was realized at Kornthal near Stuttgart, after his death, neither he nor his followers ever separated completely and permanently from the state Church. The Bible, interpreted not in a literal but a mystical, allegorical sense, occupies, in his religious system, the position of supreme guide in matters of faith. The Trinity of Persons in God is replaced by a threefold manifestation of one and the same deity. A double fall of man is admitted, for Adam fell first in seeking a consort for the multiplication of the human species, and again in yielding to her suggestion of disobedience. Hence the necessity of redemption by Jesus Christ, a redemption which is understood mainly in a physical sense, in as much as the Redeemer exudes, in his bloody-sweat, the coarse, sensual elements in man to whom he restores a spiritualized body. A second and proximate advent of Christ is taught; also the ultimate universal salvation of all beings, the fallen angels included. Among the sources of his belief Hahn mentions only the Bible and special personal illumination; his ideas, however, are undoubtedly related to the views of the theosophists Böhme and Ötinger. His followers, found chiefly among the rural population, are scattered over Würtemberg, Baden, and the Palatinate. Their approximate number is 15,000 souls divided into 26 districts, each of which holds semi-annual conferences. The works of Hahn, comprising 15 volumes, were published posthumously at Tübingen, 1819 sqq.
STAUDENMEYER, Michael Hahn (Wilferdingen, 1893); PALMER, Gemeinschaften und Sekten Wurttembergs (Tübingen, 1877); FUNK in Kirchenlex., VIII, 1501-03; KOLB in New Schaff-Herzog Encycl., V (New York, 1909), 117.
N.A. WEBER