The Story of Chosroes II. The life of Chosroes II Parvitz is a story of rise and fall. Although he later became a symbol of the power of Persia and its ancient independence, Chosroes II encountered numerous difficulties from the very moment he ascended the throne. Chosroes II took power in circumstances that today remain obscure – as was frequently the case at the Persian court - and was raised to the throne by a coup. The rebel was inspired by an attempt of his father, Hormizd IV, to oust one of the generals, Bahrama Cobin, which provoked a powerful reaction among the Persian aristocracy. The question concerning Chosroes II’s involvement in the conspiracy still remains unanswered; however, Chosroes II was raised to the throne by the same magnates, who had rebelled against his father. Soon after, Hormizd IV died in prison in ambiguous circumstances. An Arabic historian, al-Tabari, claimed that Chosroes was oblivious of the rebellion. However, al-Tabari works were written several centuries later, at a time when the legend of the shah was already deeply rooted in the consciousness of the people. A Greek historian, Theophylaktos Simokatta, appears to have been more familiar with these events, and claimed in his works that Chosroes II had known about the plot. Soon after being crowned, Chosroes II, later called "the Ever Victorious", has to struggle to keep the throne.

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The outstanding Redemptorist and the Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Propaganda Fidei Cardinal Willelm van Rossum (1854-1932), having read one of the books concerning the history of his Congregation, said proudly, ‘I have never imagined such richness!’… Two years ago the whole Congregation celebrated solemnly the 100th anniversary of the canonisation of Saint Clement Maria Hofbauer. And the 260th anniversary of his birth falls this year. The unique role St Clement played in the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer and his merits for the Congregation are undisputed and have been described on many occasions.

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‘The past is now – though somewhat far’. Using these words the Polish national bard Cyprian Kamil Norwid (1821-1883) formulated one of the most accurate and simplest definitions of the past, which is a constant ingredient of identity and cultural identification of nations, communities and particular individuals. The need to preserve their traditions and the sources of their charismas is a special obligation for religious communities. In this context one should see a happy coincidence that this year the Polish Redemptorists celebrate a double jubilee: the 100th anniversary of the canonisation of St Clement Maria Hofbauer (1751-1820) and the 100th anniversary of the existence of the Redemptorist Province of Warsaw as an independent structure. These anniversaries have also become a source of inspiration and encouragement for the contemporary generation of the Redemptorists to carry out a thorough study of their past and source of identity. This presentation is only a humble attempt to show the beginnings of the historical heritage of the Polish Province of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer and a fragment of various media events, publications and researches, which will fill the jubilee celebrations under the motto ‘Faithful to the legacy of St Clement – open to the signs of the times.

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In the year 1772 the three neighbouring countries Austria, Prussia and Russia partitioned Poland for the first time. In the year 1795 the Polish state, plundered by the three monarchies, ceased to exist on the political map of Europe. The lands taken by Austria were called Galicia and Lodomeria. The local Catholic Church was immediately annexed to the all-powerful political-ecclesiastical Austrian system called Josephinism. The system, formed on the basis of the Enlightenment, aimed at complete submission of the Church to the state and introducing her internal reform independently of the ecclesiastical authorities. The thorough reform of the system of theological education carried out by Abbot Franz Rautenstrauch limited scholastics to a considerable extent. It extended the biblical studies, patrology and Church history. It introduced pastoral theology as a separate discipline. The priestly formation aimed at educating priests as loyal state officials. The manuals, which were written in the spirit of Febronianism and Josephinism and were obligatory at the theological institutions of higher education, served the above-mentioned purposes.

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The pontifical is a liturgical book used by the bishop. It contains prayer formulas and the rites proper to the liturgical confection of the sacraments and sacramental reserved solely to the bishop. The pontifical arose from a practical necessity - the use of only one book during holy functions. It was formed from three different ancient books of the Church: the sacramental ( Liber sacramentorum), a collections of euchological formula (formulary prayer) ; books describing celebrations and rules pertaining to pontifical liturgical functions (Ordines Romani) ; the collections of blessings (Benedictionale), used by the bishops in the Gallic liturgy. A new type of book, which became the first pontifical combining the Roman and Gallic tradition, arose in the X century (in the year 950-961/3) in Mainz , in the monastery of Saint Alban and was called the Roman-Germanic Pontifical (Pontificale Romano-Germanicum). In a short time the said pontifical became very popular, especially became many copies of it were made, of which many remain till this day. Many copies of pontifical, coming primarily from the Mainz ecclesiastical province, have wandered to varies parts of Germany, France, England and Italy.

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Abstract. The concept of personhood has been recently strongly criticized by some bioethicists. The present article aims at refuting these criticisms. In order to show how the notion of personhood operates in bioethics, two understandings of it proposed by an Italian bioethicist MaurizioMori are sketched: a person as a part of the cosmological order and a person as an autonomous-like entity. It is argued that none of the proposed understandings is adequate. The cosmological concept perceives the person as a derivative of the empirical processes.

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Le matériel archéologique dégagé sur le site permet de tracer une premiere image d'ensemble de la réalité ethnique et des croyances de la population du quartier étudié. La principale base de données est constituée des terres cuites qui présentent des traits stylistiques variés et évoquent des conotations religieuses tres diverses. L'examen plus approfondi de leurs particularités laisse apparaitre la présence au sein de cet ensemble de trois courants sylistiques, religieux et coutumiers, caractéristiques sans doute de nombreux autres centres urbains du temps des Lagides, a savoir: courant hellénistique, courant égyptien et courant ptolémaique réunissant, dans différentes variantes, les traits des deux premiers.

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