Ante Diem VII Idus November

Modern Date : November 7th

Ante Diem VII Idus November
Seventh Day to the Ides of November

This is one of the dies comitiales when committees of citizens could vote on political or criminal matters.

November is the ninth month (after March) and is a lucky month which is almost free of religious obligation.


Re-Imagining Conference
An important day in modern spiritual history, as it was on this day in 1993 that the Re-Imagining Conference emphasized the importance of the feminine principles of Holy Wisdom (Sophia) and the sacredness of female spirituality within the mainstream Christian tradition.


St. John Duns Scotus
(c.1270-1308) Founder and leader of the Scotist School of philosophy, died Cologne, Germany. It is not known whether he was of Irish or Scottish origin or whether Duns was a family or a place name. He became a Franciscan, c.1290, taught at Oxford, and distinguished himself for his learning at the universities of Paris and Cologne. Of his numerous works the principal is his commentary on the "Sentences" of Peter Lombard, from which nearly his whole system of philosophy, in which the genuine spirit of scholasticism is pronounced, can be derived. His chief followers were among the Franciscans. He was called "Doctor subtilis."

John pointed out the richness of the Augustinian-Franciscan tradition, appreciated the wisdom of Aquinas, Aristotle and the Muslim philosophers, and still managed to be an independent thinker. His ideas led to the founding of a school of Scholastic thought called Scotism. In 1303 when King Philip the Fair tried to enlist the University of Paris on his side in a dispute with Pope Boniface VIII over the taxation of Church property, but John dissented and was given three days to leave France.

He returned to Paris in 1305, and received his doctorate. He then taught there, and in 1307 so ably defended the Immaculate Conception of Mary that the university officially adopted his position. Drawing on this work, Pope Pius IX solemnly defined the Immaculate Conception of Mary in 1854.