Sv. Ivan Kapistran
Sv. Ivan Kapistran (St. John Capistrano) was born to a former German knight and his wife in Italy in 1385. John became a lawyer in Perugia and was appointed governor of that Italian city by King Ladislas of Naples. During Perugia's war with another Italian town in 1416, John was taken prisoner, and while confined, he promised God that he would become a priest if he got out alive. John kept his promise to God, then traveled across Italy establishing new Franciscan communities and spreading the word of God. In 1455, at the age of 70, John was asked by Pope Callistus II to lead troops against invading Turks. Thus, he became the leader of 70,000 Crusaders who in 1456 won the Battle of Belgrade against the enemy. John died 3 months later in Ilok, Croatia, where he is buried. The Mission of San Juan Capistrano founded by Franciscan Brother Junípero Serra in 1776 in Orange County, California, is named after this 15th-century hero, who is the patron saint of jurists.
The Vučedol Dove
The Vučedol Dove,a little pot made around 2500 b.c., is the most famous and popular artifact of Vučedol culture in southeastern Europe. (The culture flourished in this region from 3000 to 2300 b.c., based on a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, with an arts tradition that produced ceramics and possibly worked with copper as well.) The Vučedol Dove is a three-legged bird made of clay, probably originally intended as a fertility symbol. It was uncovered in the early 20th century about 5km (3 miles) south of Vukovar on the Danube. It has been reproduced and kept in almost every home in Croatia since the 1991 war. Regarded as the symbol of Vukovar, after Vukovar’s destruction it was adopted by Croatians (at least the nationalists) as a symbol of their suffering. The original is displayed at the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb.
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