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
(Mol. or Molin).
Naturalist and scientist; b. 20 July, 1740, at Guaraculen near Talca (Chile); d. 23 Oct. (12 Sept.?), 1829, at Imola or Bologna (Italy). Molina first studied in Santiago and became a Jesuit when only fifteen. The young scholastic excelled in languages (he composed a number of poems), and in the natural sciences. In 1767 he was sent to Italy which grew to be his second home; he was ordained at Imola soon after, and then lived as a tutor in Bologna. In his leisure time he devoted himself especially to the study of the natural sciences, although his chief distinction lies in having become the most prominent historian and geographer of his native American home. Molina published his works in Italian; they all appeared at Bologna, the first one anonymously. He treats of Chile in: (1) "Compendio della storia geografica, naturale e civile del regno del Chile" (1776), 8vo, 245 pp., 1 map, 10 tables; (2) "Saggio sulla storia naturale del Chile" (1782), 8vo, 368 pp., 1 map, 2nd enlarged edition (1810), 4to; (3) "Saggio della storia civile del Chile" (1787), 8vo, 333 pp., 2nd enlarged edition (1810), 4to, 306 pp. These three works have been translated into German (Leipzig, 1786-91); French (Paris); Spanish (2 vols., Madrid, 1788-95, the most complete edition; English (Middletown, Conn., 1808; London, 1809, 1825). The original and several of the translations contain Molina's portrait. As an expression of her gratitude Chile named the town of Molina after him. If these works evidence his learning as a student of natural history, this is equally true of his "Memorie di storia naturale lette in Bologna" (Bologna, 1821, 8vo, 2 vols. with 16 essays), which Molina as a member laid before the Instituto Pontificio. Another work, "Analogia de los tres reinos de la naturalezza", is of considerable interest, as it was written by Molina in Spanish, and because it was not published, although Mezzofanti procured the imprimatur in 1820. Molina was highly esteemed by the botanists; Schrank in 1789 named after him a genus of the Gramineæ, well known throughout Europe, Molinia; and Jussieu in the same year classified the genus Molinæa; other generic names (as Molina) are no longer used.
SOMMERVOGEL, Biblioth. de la Comp. de Jésus, V (1894); SACCARDO, La Botanica in Italia (Venice, 1895, 1901).
Joseph Rompel.