Nobility and Analogous Traditional Elites

St. Lawrence and the Siege of Székesfehérvár

October 12, 2026

A view of the Siege of Stuhlweissenberg on 9 October 1601.

…The October of 1601 came – that same month, thirty years ago exactly, the Turks had their pride broken at Lepanto. Now they had crossed the Danube, and in numbers, variously estimated between 80,000 and 90,000, they were drawn up a few miles from Albareale. Laurence, on horseback, in his Capuchin habit and cross in hand, had been haranguing the Christian army, drawn up before him in line of battle. They were less than thirty thousand strong. His burning words went home, to such effect that the soldiers could scarcely be induced to wait for the command to charge. His promise of victory was explicit. Meantime, in a council of war, some of the imperial officers were urging violently the madness of risking an engagement. The enemy had all the high ground, and outnumbered them almost as three to one. They must beat a retreat as best they could. Matthias was perplexed. What was he to do? Father Laurence had better be sent for – part of his commission, in the brief appointing him, was to give advice when advice was needed.

Laurence came into the council, his heart still burning with the words from which he had been preaching to the soldiers, “Fear ye not, and be not dismayed. Tomorrow you shall go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.” (2 Paral. 20:17) He made short work of the waverers; and, indeed, there was something about his certainty of victory different from mere human certainty, and making their halting policy look foolish and out of place. They decided to give battle.

On the day of battle a monk was again or horseback, cross in hand, in advance of the front rank. No need to say the monk was Father Laurence. He speaks a few words that he knows so well how to drive straight home to a soldier’s heart, and with a fury that baffles all description they charge upon the infidel. The Turks were not so easily broken, and for hours the battle raged fast and furiously, till at last a final charge from the Christian side broke up the Turkish ranks, and they fled in extreme confusion. The Christian forces got possession of the rising: ground – seized all their large artillery, and by evening had gained a decisive victory. That was October 11th, 1601.

“St. Lawrence of Brindisi at the Battle of Albareale” by Giuseppe Grandi (1843-1894) Italian, Pinacoteca, Vatican City, Rome, Italy.

Decisive as the battle was, Mahomet III would not recognise as yet that he had been hopelessly defeated. Three days afterwards he hazarded another battle. It was on this occasion (not on the 11th as Rohrbacher represents) that our Saint in a moment of reverie or prayer, was hurried by his horse into the thick of the fray, and before he had time to collect himself, he was surrounded by the enemy. Two colonels, Bosbourg and Attain, rescued him. This was no place for him, they reminded him, and begged him to go to the rear. “This is my place,” was his answer, “and here I will stay. Soldiers, another charge.” Quick as lightning they charged, and, before long, panic had seized the Turks, and another Christian victory had been won. When Mahomet recrossed the Danube, he had lost thirty thousand pf his finest soldiers – “Next to God and Our Lady,” said De Mercurio, second in command to Matthias, “we owe that victory to Father Laurence.” And on the day of his beatification (1783) the scene painted over the great door of Saint Peter’s, was the battle of Albareale. Underneath ran the legend, “When Austria was in sorest straits. Blessed Laurence of Brindisi, Cross in hand, struck terror into the enemies of Christ and put them to flight.” One soldier who had witnessed his wonderful power, and no less wonderful escapes, begged to be admitted among his monks as a lay-brother, and as Brother Francis of Gorizia, crowned an edifying life by a saintly death. It is worth noticing, too, that of the many heretical soldiers, who before the battle of the eleventh had made no attempt to conceal their contempt for the soldier-monk, not one was contemptuous or disrespectful when he appeared at their head on the day of the fourteenth. Indeed, many fell on their knees and with the faith and humility of Catholic soldiers begged for a special benediction.

The interior of the Holy House of Mary, Mother of God, as it is today in Loreto, Italy.

However, with the retreat of Mahomet his work, as soldier-priest, was at an end, and he made at once for Italy. A great part of his journey he did on foot, and throughout, he kept his name a strict secret for fear of the enthusiasm his presence would certainly awaken were he once recognised. It was the year of the General Chapter (1602) and he would satisfy his longing to give outward expression to his child-like love for the Blessed Virgin by a visit to Loreto. At Loreto, accordingly, he spent the Lent, serving all the Masses that were said in the Holy House humbly, as though he were still the little Brindisi boy in his Franciscan habit….

Father William Lloyd. “Saint Laurence of Brindisi”. Saints of 1881.

Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 900

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Why celebrate Columbus Day?

October 12, 2026

Columbus and Divine Providence

By Jeremias Wells

Statue of Christopher Columbus in Spain

Christopher Columbus certainly ranks as one of the greatest men of achievement the world has ever known, and also justly one of the most renowned, for the entire history of Europeans in America originated from his vision, religious sense and adventurous spirit. As can be expected in a man with an impassioned nature, many controversies have arisen, but all students of his voyages relate he sincerely believed that almighty God had chosen him to discover portions of the world hitherto shrouded in mystery. And his success, after years of struggle and suffering, lends credence to the historical reality of that statement.

Pope Leo XIII summed it up best in an encyclical of tribute on the Quadricentennial of Columbus’ great discovery. The Pontiff recognized that he sought the improvement of human society through knowledge, “nor did he despise glory . . . an ideal to great souls, nor did he scorn a hope…

Read more here.

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Columbus, and how to make Key Lime Pie

October 12, 2026

When Christopher Columbus discovered the New World on October 12, 1492–a feat that earned for him the title of Admiral of the Indies and for his grandson Louis and his descendants in perpetuity the noble title of Duke of Veragua–he introduced into the Americas the greatest treasure possible: the Catholic Faith…

Read more here.

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October 12 – Martyr King

October 12, 2026

St. Edwin

The first Christian King of Northumbria, born about 585, son of Aella, King of Deira, the southern division of Northumbria; died October 12, 633.

Upon Aella’s death in 588, the sovereignty over both divisions of Northumbria was usurped by Ethebric of Bernicia, and retained at his death by his son Ethelfrid; Edwin, Aella’s infant son, being compelled until his thirtieth year to wander from one friendly prince to another, in continual danger from Ethelfrd’s attempts upon his life. Thus when he was residing with King Redwald of East Anglia, Ethelfrid repeatedly endeavored to bribe the latter to destroy him. Finally, however, Redwald’s refusal to betray his guest led in 616 to a battle, fought upon the river Idle, in which Ethelfrid himself was slain, and Edwin was invited to the throne of Northumbria. On the death of his first wife, Edwin, in 625, asked for the hand of Ethelburga, sister to Eadbald, the Christian King of Kent, expressing his own readiness to embrace Christianity, if upon examination he should find it superior to his own religion. Ethelburga was accompanied to Northumbria by St. Paulinus, one of St. Augustine’s fellow missionaries, who thus became its first apostle. By him Edwin was baptized at York in 627, and thenceforth showed himself most zealous for the conversion of his people.

In instance of this, Venerable Bede tells how, at their royal villa of Yeverin in Northumberland, the king and queen entertained Paulinus for five weeks, whilst he was occupied from morning to night in instructing and baptizing the crowds that flocked to him. By Edwin’s persuasion, moreover, Eorpwald, King of East Anglia, son of his old friend Redwald, was led to become a Christian. In token of his authority over the other kings as Bretwalda, Edwin used to have the tufa (a tuft of feathers on a spear, a military ensign of Roman origin) borne publicly before him, and he received tribute from the Welsh princes. Under him the law was so respected, that it became, as the Venerable Bede attests, a proverb that “a woman might travel through the island with a babe at her breast without fear of insult”.

St. Edwin was slain on October 12, 633, in repelling an attack made on him by Penda, the pagan King of Mercia, who, together with the Welsh prince Cadwallon (a Christian only in name), had invaded his dominion. Perishing thus in conflict with the enemies of the Faith, he was regarded as a martyr and as such was allowed by Gregory XIII to be depicted in the English College church at Rome. His head was taken to St. Peter’s church at York, which he had begun. His body was conveyed to Whitby. Churches are said to have been dedicated to him at London and at Breve in Somerset.

G. E. PHILLIPS

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Social Hierarchy Helps Us Love God

October 12, 2026

If we gauge the issue to its farthest horizon, it encompasses a way of looking at God, a way of the human spirit looking at itself and the reality around it. In other words, it involves a way of looking at the entire universe in its numerous aspects.

Painting by Jules Breton in the Brooklyn Museum

For if we consider God as a transcendent being in relationship to all other beings, it means that He is their final end. His being cannot be conflated with the being of others. On the contrary, He has in the highest possible degree, in an absolute degree, all imaginable perfections, and even mysterious perfections that our spirit cannot understand. At best we can love these perfections, should He reveal them to us. For only with Him revealing these perfections can we know and love them. So, if we understand things like this, we have God, and around Him we have nothing. From this nothing, He created. He brought forth creatures for His own glory because He chose to do this. These creatures were not necessary to Him, only convenient. He created them in His goodness.

Such is goodness; it is that expansiveness whereby He wants what is convenient to Him, not just what is necessary. This abundance, this type of superfluity—[revolutionaries] today speak so much against the superfluous—all of Creation is God’s superfluity. Creation is this kind of superfluity made by God.

God creating the Sun, the Moon and the Stars by Jan Brueghel the Younger.

Now if this is how things are, and there is this abyss between Him and us, then, to imitate well this order of things, Creation must provide that an abyss separate one created being from another; or something like an abyss. This is precisely the point I’m trying to make. It is not an abyss, because we are not infinite beings, and it is not proper for us to be surrounded by an infinite abyss. Rather, it is a distance. It is a perpendicularity without which the relationships between one created being and another will not be a copy of the relationship that exists between creature and God. God is transcendent. Therefore, it is necessary that the created beings beneath Him have a relationship among themselves that is in the line of the transcendent.

This, which is a necessity, can be presented in another way, as follows: All beings created by God—from the first instant of Creation until the moment when History will end, and everything will be in Eternity—all of these beings form a collection, a perfect collection. No single being is superfluous, and no being repeats another.

God would err if one being were to be the repetition of another. In our human conception of things, repetition may seem pleasing. Thus, for example, let’s take these stained glass rondel bottle bottoms that you see here. You could say that one repeats another. But there is an optical illusion at play here. It is not entirely true. If the stained glass is artisan-made, differences will appear because the artisan cannot repeat things perfectly, even though he may try. So, when we look at the stained glass, it delights us in its similarities, but it delights us also in its differences.

If there is an industrial way of manufacturing this stained glass, the inequality will be much less—entirely equal it will never be—but its inequality will be close to indiscernible. When that happens, we look at the stained glass, and it seems monotonous. We put it aside. It is repugnant to our gaze, because complete equality disgusts us since it is contrary to our nature.

In making this collection, to make beings different God had to make them unequal, because whenever there is a difference, you have inequality. Thus, you can see a transcendence that expresses itself through inequality; an inequality that expresses itself in hierarchy; and how does hierarchy express itself? With each lower being representing a step for us to understand better the superior being.

That is how we cross this abyss, this difference that separates beings one from another. So we know and don’t know fully at the same time.

Let’s imagine, for example, the least of Englishmen; an Englishman from one of those islands of fishermen between Great Britain and Ireland. I don’t recall the name of that sea, but it has some fishing islands there. Well, an Englishman lives there. He is a simple man, weathered, rough, etc. He watches the wedding of Prince Charles on TV and is enchanted. Why is this?

Sark is a royal fief, which forms part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of laws based on Norman law and its own parliament. It has a population of about 500. Sark is one of the few remaining places in the world where cars are banned from roads and only tractors and horse-drawn vehicles are allowed.

It is a whole pulley system. He has on his little island or close to it a gentleman, Mr. something or other, who is very dignified, has good bearing, is honest, and he admires this gentleman. He knows that this Mr. “X” is the friend of a lord who lives at such and such a place on the shore nearby and whom he has seen already. This is how he crosses over the abysses and his remote attention becomes focused on the queen and the future king.

These various relationships form a channel of understanding for him. He raises himself to it, and is enchanted. It is the transcendent inequalities that take him to the consideration of this plenitude, and he becomes enchanted. It fills his soul. It does good to his soul.

This relationship is one of the temporal order, of temporal society. However, because it imitates God in His relationship with individuals, this social relationship of the temporal order has the densest spiritual content.

In other words, when souls are accustomed to seeing things like this, they easily tend to love a God who is supreme, perfect, eternal. And they have the need to meet a being at the top of the hierarchy which is being itself [“I AM who am”] and is the keystone for everything else. His spirit is already prepared to reach this conclusion.

(Excerpt from a Symposium for the Hipotecas, Monday, October 12, 1981 – Nobility.org translation. Neither the original talk’s transcript nor this translation was reviewed by the author. – Ed.)

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October 12 – Difficulties in his youth prepared him for later trials

October 12, 2026

St. Wilfrid

Bishop of York, son of a Northumbrian thegn, born in 634; died at Oundle in Northamptonshire, 709. He was unhappy at home, through the unkindness of a stepmother, and in his fourteenth year he was sent away to the Court of King Oswy, King of Northumbria. Here he attracted the attention of Queen Eanfleda and by her, at his own request, he was sent to the Monastery of Lindisfarne. After three years spent here he was sent for, again through the kindness of the queen, to Rome, in the company of St. Benedict Biscop. At Rome he was the pupil of Boniface, the pope’s archdeacon. On his way home he stayed for three years at Lyons, where he received the tonsure from Annemundas, the bishop of that place. Annemundas wanted him to remain at Lyons altogether, and marry his niece and become his heir, but Wilfrid was determined that he would be a priest. Soon after persecution arose at Lyons, and Annemundas perished in it. The same fate nearly came to Wilfrid, but when it was shown that he was a Saxon he was allowed to depart, and came back to England. In England he received the newly founded monastery at Ripon as the gift of Alchfrid, Oswy’s son and heir, and here he established the full Benedictine Rule. The Columbite monks, who had been settled previously at Ripon, withdrew to the North. It was not until he had been for five years Abbot of Ripon, that Wilfrid became a priest. His main work at Ripon was the introduction of Roman rules and the putting forward of a Roman practice with regard to the point at issue between the Holy See and the Scottish monks in Northumbria; to settle these questions the synod of Whitby was held in 664. Chiefly owing to Wilfrid’s advocacy of the claims of the Holy See the votes of the majority were given to that side, and Colman and his monks, bitterly disappointed, withdrew from Northumbria. Wilfrid, in consequence of the favours he had then obtained, was elected bishop in Colman’s place, and, refusing to receive consecration from the northern bishops, whom he regarded as schismatics, went over to France to be consecrated at Compiègne. He delayed some time in France, whether by his own fault or not is not quite clear, and on his return in 666 was driven from his course by a storm and shipwrecked on the coast of Sussex, where the heathen inhabitants repelled him and almost killed him. He succeeded in landing, however, in Kent not far from Sandwich. Thence he made his way to Northumbria, only to find that, owing to his long absence, his see had been filled up, and that a St. Chad was bishop in his place. He retired to his old monastery at Ripon, and from thence went southwards and worked in Mercia, especially at Lichfield, and also in Kent.

“In 686 King Caedwalla issued a charter confirming the rights and territories previously given to St. Wilfrid by king Aethelwealh and the estate of the Hundred of Pagham including Shripney, Charlton, Bognor, Bersted, Crimsham, Mundham and Tangmere. The handing over of the charter is brilliantly depicted in the Lambert Barnard mural in the south transept of Chichester Cathedral commissioned by Bishop Robert Sherburne c 1508-1536.”

In 669 Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury visited Northumbria, where he found Chad working as bishop. He pointed out to him the defects of his position and, at his instigation, St. Chad withdrew and Wilfrid once more became Bishop of York. During his tenure of the see, he acted with great vigour and energy, completing the work of enforcing the Roman obedience against the Scottish monks. He founded a great many monasteries of the Benedictine Order, especially at Henlam and at Ripon, and completely rebuilt the minster at York. In all that he did he acted with great magnificence, although his own life was always simple and restrained. So long as Oswy lived all went well, but with Ecgfrid, Oswy’s son and successor, Wilfrid was very unpopular, because of his action in connection with Ecgfrid’s bride Etheldrida, who by Wilfrid’s advice would not live with her husband but retired into a monastery. It was just at this juncture that Theodore, possibly exceeding his powers as Archbishop of Canterbury, proceeded to subdivide the great diocese over which Wilfrid ruled, and to make suffragan bishops of Lindisfarne, Hexham, and Witherne. Wilfrid, whether or not he approved of the principle of subdivision, refused to allow Theodore’s right to make it, and appealed to the central authority at Rome, whither he at once went. Theodore replied by consecrating three bishops in Wilfrid’s own church at York and dividing his whole bishopric between them. An attempt was made by his enemies to prevent Wilfrid from reaching Rome, but by a singular coincidence Winfrid, Bishop of Lichfield, happened to be going to Rome at the same time, and the singularity of the name led to his being stopped while Wilfrid got through safely. At Rome a council was called by Pope Agatho to decide the case, and Wilfrid appeared before it in person, while Theodore was represented. The case was decided in Wilfrid’s favour, and the intruding bishops were removed. Wilfrid was to return to York, and since subdivision of his diocese was needed, he was to appoint others as his coadjutors. He came back to Northumbria with this decision, but the king, though not disputing the right of Rome to settle the question, said that Wilfrid had brought the decision and put him in prison at Bambrough. After a time this imprisonment was converted to exile, and he was driven from the kingdom of Northumbria. He went south to Sussex where the heathen inhabitants had so inhospitably received him fifteen years before, and preached as a missionary at Selsey.

In 686 a reconciliation took place between Theodore and Wilfrid, who had then been working in Sussex for five years. Through Theodore’s good offices Wilfrid was received back in Northumbria, where Aldfrid was now king. He became Bishop of Hexham at once, and before long, when York again fell vacant, he took possession there once more. For some years all went well, but at the end of that time great difficulties arose with the king because Wilfrid utterly refused to recognize what had been done by Theodore but annulled by Rome in the matter of the subdivision of his diocese, and he once more left York and appealed to Rome. He reached Rome for the third and last time in 704. The proceedings at Rome were very lengthy, but after some months Wilfrid was again victorious. Archbishop Brihtwald was to hold a synod and see justice done. Wilfrid started again for England but on his way was taken ill at Meaux and nearly died. He recovered, however, and came back to England, where he was reconciled to Brihtwald. A synod was held, and it was decided to give back to Wilfrid, Hexham and Ripon, but not York, a settlement which, though unsatisfactory, he decided to accept, as the principle of Roman authority had been vindicated. Beyond all others of his time, St. Wilfrid stands out as the great defender of the rights of the Holy See. For that principle he fought all through his life, first against Colman and the Scottish monks from Iona, and then against Theodore and his successor in the See of Canterbury; and much of his life was spent in exile for this reason. But to him above all others is due the establishment of the authority of the Roman See in England, and for that reason he will always have a very high place among English saints. Eddius, the biographer of St. Wilfrid, was brought by that saint from Canterbury when he returned to York in 669. His special work was to be in connection with the music of the church of York, and he was to teach the Roman method of chant. He was an inmate of the monastery of Ripon in 709, when St. Wilfrid spent his last days there, and he undertook the work of writing the life of the saint at the request of Acca, St. Wilfrid’s successor in the See of Hexham. The best edition of the work is in Raines, “Historians of the Church of York” (Rolls Series). ARTHUR S. BARNES

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October 13 – Reign of almost unbroken peace

October 12, 2026

St. Edward the Confessor

King of England, born in 1003; died 5 January, 1066.

St. Edward the confessor

God often gives bad princes in his wrath; but in a good king he bestows a great public blessing on a nation. A wise king is the upholding of his people. (1) As the judge of the people is himself, so are his officers: and what manner of man the ruler of the city is, such also are they that dwell therein. An unwise king destroyeth his people; but through the prudence of them that are in authority, the city shall be inhabited. (2) The happiness of the reign of St. Edward the Confessor is itself a panegyric of his virtue.

This prince was son of King Ethelred II who left by Elgiva, his first wife, Edmund Ironside, who was his successor; and, by his second wife, Emma, daughter to Richard I and sister to Richard II the third and fourth Dukes of Normandy, he had Alfred and Edward. In his unhappy and weak reign, the Danes, who from the time of King Athelstan had, for about sixty years, left this island unmolested, committed in all parts of it most horrible ravages. To redeem the country from these vexations, Ethelred engaged to pay them a tax, called Danegelt, of forty thousand pounds a-year, which was raised at the rate of twelve pence upon each hide of land, or as much as could be tilled with one plough in a year. Swein or Sweno, King of the Danes, conquered all England soon after, in 1015; but died the same year, leaving here his son Knute or Canute.

Ethelred, who had fled into Normandy, returned upon his death and recovered his kingdom; but, dying in 1016, left Mercia and some other parts in the hands of the Danes. Edmund Ironside, after several battles, came to an agreement, which was concluded in the isle Alney, in the Severn, near Gloucester, by which he consented to divide the kingdom with Canute, yielding up to him the kingdoms of Mercia, Northumberland, and the East-Angles. Shortly after, he was treacherously assassinated by the contrivance of Edric Strean, a Dane, Count of Mercia, on whom he had bestowed the greatest favours, and by whom he had been before often betrayed.

Combat between Canute the Dane and Edmund Ironside.

Canute took this opportunity to seize the whole kingdom, and ordered the late king’s two infant sons, Edmund and Edward, to be conveyed into Denmark, there to be privately made away with. The officer who conducted them was moved to compassion, and carried them into Sweden, where the king sent them to his cousin Solomon, king of Hungary. When they were grown up, Solomon gave in marriage to Edmund one of his own daughters, and to Edward his sister-in-law Agatha. Emma was retired with her two sons, Alfred and Edward, into Normandy. Canute demanded her of her brother, Duke Richard, in marriage, and his request was agreed to. But the two princes remained in Normandy, where Richard II. was succeeded, 1026, by his son Richard III. He reigned only one year, and by his death his brother Robert became duke of Normandy, who, at his death left no other issue than a bastard, known afterwards by the name of William the Conqueror.

Edith of Wessex, wife of St. Edward the Confessor

Canute reigned in England nineteen years, and was magnificent, liberal, valiant, and religious, though no virtues could excuse his ambition. Dying in 1036, he left Norway to his eldest son, Sweno, England to his son Harold, and Denmark to his son Hardicanute, whom he had by Emma. The two Saxon princes, Alfred and Edward, came over from Normandy to see their mother at Winchester. Godwin, duke or general of West-Sex, who had been the chief instrument in establishing Harold’s interest in that part of England, agreed with the king that the two princes should be invited to court, in order to be secretly made away with. Emma was startled at this message, which was sent to them at Winchester, and was apprehensive of a snare; she therefore contrived to send only Alfred, and, upon some pretences, to keep Edward with her. Godwin met Alfred at Guilford, where the young prince was seized, put first into the castle, and thence conducted to Ely, where his eyes were pulled out: he was shut up in a monastery, and died a few days after.

October 13 – They denounced the religion of Mahomet

October 12, 2026

St. Daniel and Companions

Friars Minor and martyrs; dates of birth unknown; died 10 October, 1227. The martyrdom of St. Berard and his companions in 1219 had inflamed many of the religious of the Order of Friars Minor with the desire of preaching the Gospel in heathen lands; and in 1227, the year following St. Francis’s death, six religious of Tuscany, Agnellus, Samuel, Donulus, Leo, Hugolinus, and Nicholas, petitioned Brother Elias of Cortona, then vicar-general of the order, for permission to preach the Gospel to the infidels of Morocco. The six missionaries went first to Spain, where they were joined by Daniel, Minister Provincial of Calabria, who became their superior. They set sail from Spain and on 20 September reached the coast of Africa, where they remained for a few days in a small village inhabited mostly by Christian merchants just beyond the walls of the Saracen city of Ceuta. Finally, very early on Sunday morning, they entered the city, and immediately began to preach the Gospel and to denounce the religion of Mahomet. They were soon apprehended and brought before the sultan who, thinking that they were mad, ordered them to be cast into prison. Here they remained until the following Sunday when they were again brought before the sultan, who, by promises and threats, endeavoured in vain to make them deny the Christian religion. They were all condemned to death. Each one approached Daniel, the superior, to ask his blessing and permission to die for Christ. They were all beheaded. St. Daniel and his companions were canonized by Leo X in 1516. Their feast is kept in the order on the thirteenth of October.

STEPHEN M. DONOVAN (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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What Our Lady Said at Fatima on October 13, 1917

October 12, 2026

By Antonio A. Borelli*

The three seers, Lúcia Santos and her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto.

The Apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima

The Sixth Apparition — October 13, 1917

As on the other occasions, the seers first saw a bright light, and then they saw Our Lady over the holm oak.

Lúcia: What does Your Grace wish of me?

Our Lady: I wish to tell you that I want a chapel built here in my honor. I am the Lady of the Rosary. Continue to pray the Rosary everyday. The war is going to end, and the soldiers will soon return to their homes.

Lúcia: I have many things to ask you: if you would cure some sick persons, and if you would convert some sinners….¹

Our Lady: Some yes, others no. They must amend their lives and ask forgiveness for their sins.

“Becoming sadder, she added, ‘Let them offend Our Lord no more, for He is already much offended.’

“Then, opening her hands, Our Lady shone the light issuing from them onto the sun, and as she rose, her own radiance continued to be cast onto the sun.”

At that moment, Lúcia cried, “Look at the sun!”

Photo of the Miracle of the Sun, October 13, 1917.

Once Our Lady had disappeared in the expanse of the firmament, three scenes followed in succession, symbolizing first the joyful mysteries of the Rosary, then the sorrowful mysteries, and, finally, the glorious mysteries. Lúcia alone saw the three scenes; Francisco and Jacinta saw only the first.

First scene: Saint Joseph appeared beside the sun with the Child Jesus and Our Lady of the Rosary. It was the Holy Family. The Virgin was dressed in white with a blue mantle. Saint Joseph was also dressed in white, and the Child Jesus in light red. Saint Joseph blessed the crowd, making the Sign of the Cross three times. The Child Jesus did the same.

Second scene: This was followed by the vision of Our Lady of Sorrows, without the sword in her breast, and of Our Lord overwhelmed with sorrow on the way to Calvary. Our Lord made the Sign of the Cross to bless the people.

Lúcia could only see the upper part of Our Lord’s body.

Third scene: Finally, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth, appeared in a glorious vision with the Child Jesus in her bosom.

While these scenes took place, the great throng of about seventy thousand spectators witnessed the miracle of the sun.

It had rained all during the apparition. At the end of the conversation between Our Lady and Lúcia — when the Blessed Virgin rose and Lúcia shouted, “Look at the sun!” — the clouds opened up, revealing the sun as an immense silver disk. It shone with an intensity never before seen, but was not blinding. This lasted only an instant. Then the immense ball began to “dance.” The sun began to spin rapidly like a gigantic circle of fire. Then it stopped momentarily, only to begin spinning vertiginously again. Its rim became scarlet; whirling, it scattered red flames across the sky. Their light was reflected on the ground, on the trees, on the bushes, and on the very faces and clothing of the people, which took on brilliant hues and changing colors.

After performing this bizarre pattern three times, the globe of fire seemed to tremble, shake, and then plunge in a zigzag toward the terrified crowd.

All this lasted about ten minutes. Finally, the sun zigzagged back to its original place and once again became still and brilliant, shining with its everyday brightness. The cycle of the apparitions had ended.

Many people noticed that their clothes, soaking wet from the rain, had suddenly dried.

The miracle of the sun was also seen by numerous witnesses up to twenty-five miles away from the place of the apparition.²

* * *

This account is based on the book: Our Lady at Fatima: Prophecies of Tragedy or Hope for America and the World?* Now available in E-book form!

“The Miracle of the Sun” in Fatima, October 13, 1917

1. In a letter of May 18, 1941 to Father José Bernardo Gonçalves, S.J., Sister Lúcia clarifies this point by explaining that Our Lady said she would grant some of these graces within the year, and others not. (See Memoirs, 442.)

2. See Memoir II, 162, and IV, 348, 350; De Marchi, 165-166; Walsh, 129-131; Ayres da Fonseca, 91-93; Galamba de Oliveira, 95-97.

Source: American TFP

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October 14 – Barber Family

October 12, 2026

Daniel Barber

Daniel Barber, soldier of the Revolution, Episcopalian minister and convert, b. at Simsbury, Connecticut, U.S.A., 2 October, 1756; d. at Saint Inigoes, Maryland, 1834. The conversion of the Barber family, despite the prejudices of a Puritan education and environment, was one of the most notable and far-reaching in its results of any recorded in the early annals of the church in New England. Daniel Barber has left a “History of My Own Times” (Washington, 1827), in which he states that his father and mother were Congregational Dissenters of strict Puritanic rule and he continued in that sect until his twenty-seventh year, when he joined the Episcopalians. Previous to this he had served two terms as a soldier in the Continental army. In his thirtieth year he was ordained a minister of the Episcopalian Church at Schenectady, New York. He married Chloe Case, daughter of Judge Owen of Simsbury, Connecticut, and about 1787, with his wife, his three sons, and a daughter, moved to Claremont, New Hampshire. He exercised the duties of the ministry for thirty years without doubt concerning the soundness of his ordination, when one day the chance reading of a Catholic book opened up for him the whole issue of the validity of Anglican orders, by impugning Parker’s consecration. This doubt was further increased by a visit for conference to the famous Bishop Cheverus, then a priest in Boston, and the inability of his Episcopalian associates to offer any satisfactory refutation of the arguments advanced by the Catholic priest. Father Cheverus also gave him a number of Catholic books, which he and the other members of his family read eagerly.

Old St. Mary, First Roman Catholic Church in New Hampshire, built by Father Virgil H. Barber, S.J. 1823-1824. Photo by Bruce Denis.

In 1807, at the instance of her parents, he baptized Fanny, daughter of General Ethan Allen, who subsequently became a convert and died a nun in the convent of the Hotel-Dieu, Montreal. A visit he made there greatly impressed him, and Miss Allen’s change of faith indirectly had much to do with his own conversion. The books Father Cheverus gave him he not only studied carefully himself, but gave them to his wife and children. His son, Virgil Horace, who was a minister in charge of an Episcopalian academy at Fairfield, near Utica, New York, was specially attracted by these books when with his wife he visited his father, and he took Milner’s “End of Controversy” back to New York. This visit resulted in the conversion of both husband and wife in 1817. The following year Virgil returned to Claremont from New York, taking with him Father Charles Ffrench, a Dominican who was officiating there at St. Peter’s church. The priest remained a week in Daniel Barber’s house preaching and saying Mass, with the result that he had seven converts, including Mrs. Daniel Barber and her children, Mrs. Noah Tyler, who was Daniel Barber’s sister, and her eldest daughter Rosetta. Mrs. Tyler was the mother of William Tyler, first Bishop of Hartford, Connecticut. Her husband and six other children were subsequently converted, and four of the daughters became Sisters of Charity.

The grave of Daniel Barber Jr. at Saint Ignatius Church Cemetery in Saint Inigoes, St. Mary’s County, Maryland.

Mrs. Daniel Barber was a woman of great strength of mind and resolution. She died in her seventy-ninth year, 8 February, 1825. Her husband was not baptized with her, but on the fifteenth of November, 1818 gave up his place as minister of the Episcopalian parish of Claremont. He then went to visit friends in Maryland and Washington, where he took the final step and entered the Church. He spent the rest of his life, after the death of his wife, in Maryland and Pennsylvania, near his son Virgil, and he died in 1834 at the house of the Society of Jesus at Saint Inigoes, Maryland. Two pamphlets, printed at Washington, “Catholic Worships and Piety Explained and Recommended in Sundry Letters to a Very Dear Friend and Others” (1821), and “History of My Own Times”, give interesting details of his life and show him to have been honest in his convictions and earnestly desirous of knowing the truth and disposed to embrace it when found.

Virgil Horace Barber

Virgil Horace Barber, son of Daniel, b. at Claremont, New Hampshire, 9 May, 1782; d. at Georgetown, D.C., 25 March, 1847. He himself said that the first step leading to his conversion was the reading through curiosity of a little book “A Novena to St. Francis Xavier” belonging to a pious Irish servant girl who was employed in his house while he was principal of the Episcopalian Academy at Fairfield, New York.

Bishop Benedict Joseph Fenwick, SJ

This raised doubts concerning his Protestant faith, which his bishop, Dr. Hobart, and other Episcopalian ministers could not solve for him. During a visit to New York City, in 1816, he called on Father Benedict J. Fenwick, S.J., with the result that he resigned his Episcopalian charge at Fairfield, and went to New York, where he and his wife Jerusha (b. New Town, Connecticut, 20 July, 1789) were received into the Church with their five children, Mary (b. 1810); Abigail (b. 1811); Susan (b. 1813); Samuel (b. 1814); and Josephine (b. 1816). At first he opened a school in New York, but this lasted only seven months, for both he and his wife determined to enter religious life, he the Society of Jesus, and she the Visitation Order. Under the direction of their friend, Father Fenwick, in June, 1817, they set out for Georgetown, D. C., where Mr. Barber and his son Samuel went to the college of the Jesuit Fathers, and his wife and the three oldest girls were received into the Visitation convent. The youngest child, Josephine, then ten months old, was taken care of by Father Fenwick’s mother. The superior at Georgetown, Father John Grassi, S.J., shortly after sailed for Rome and took Mr. Barber with him as a novice. Mr. Barber remained there a year and then returned to Georgetown, where he continued his studies until December, 1822, when he was ordained a priest at Boston. After his ordination he was sent to his old home, Claremont, New Hampshire, where he built a church and laboured for two years. He then spent some time on the Indian missions in Maine, and was after recalled to Georgetown College, where he passed the remainder of his days.

The grave of Fr. Virgilius Horace “Virgil” Barber, SJ, in Georgetown University Jesuit Cemetery, Washington, DC.

Nearly three years after their separation, 23 February, 1820, husband and wife met in the chapel of Georgetown convent to make their vows in religion. She first went through the formula of the profession of a Visitation nun, and he the vows of a member of the Society of Jesus. Their five children, the eldest being ten and the youngest three and a half years old, were present. Mrs. Barber had been admitted into the Visitation convent on the twenty-sixth of July, 1817, taking the name of Sister Mary Augustine. Her novitiate was one of severe trials, as well on account of her affection for her husband as on account of her children, who were a heavy burden to the community then in a state of extreme poverty. Her pious perseverance triumphed, and she became one of the most useful members of the order, serving in the convents of Georgetown, Kaskaskia, St. Louis, and Mobile, where she died 1 January, 1860. She had the happiness of seeing all her children embrace a religious life. Mary, the eldest, entered the Ursuline convent, Mt. Benedict, near Charlestown, Massachusetts, as Sister Mary Benedicta, 15 August, 1826, and died in the convent of the order in Quebec, 9 May, 1844. Abigail, Susan, and Josephine also became Ursulines. The first died in Quebec, 8 December, 1879, and Susan in the convent at Three Rivers, Canada, 24 January, 1837. Samuel, the son, graduated at Georgetown College in 1831 and immediately entered the Society of Jesus. After his novitiate he was sent to Rome, where he was ordained. He returned to Georgetown in 1840, and died, aged fifty years, at St. Thomas’s Manor, Maryland, 23 February, 1864.

De Goesbriand, Catholic Memoirs of Vermont and New Hampshire (Burlington, Vermont, 1886); Lathrop, A Story of Courage (Boston, 1894); Shea, The Catholic Church in the United States (New York, 1856); Idem, Memorial History of Georgetown College (Washington, 1891); U. S. Cath. Hist. Soc. Records and Studies (New York, October, 1900).

THOMAS F. MEEHAN (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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October 8 – St. Keyne

October 8, 2026

Keyne was a princess, one of the many children of King Brycan of South Wales.

Growing up into a very beautiful young woman she was sought in marriage by many noble lords, but resolutely refused all of them.

Instead, she took a vow of virginity and retired into solitude.

The Well of St. Keyne, painted by Thomas Creswick.

It was after this resolution that she was called “Cain Wyry”, Keyne the Maiden.

Crossing over the Severn, she set up her abode on the left bank. She finally settled in the area of present-day Keynsham, in Somerset.

She lived there for years making many journeys and founding oratories and churches.

Her nephew, St. Cadoc, later convinced her to return to Wales, where she settled near a mountain, at which place she caused a healing well to spring up.

She died on October 8 about the year 505.

(h/t America Needs Fatima)

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October 9 – Superb and valiant knight

October 8, 2026

Baron Athanase-Charles-Marie Charette de la Contrie

Born at Nantes, 3 Sept., 1832; died at Basse-Motte (Ille-et-Vilaine), 9 Oct., 1911.

The four de Charette brothers, three of whom served in the Pontifical Zouaves, and one as a Papal Dragoon.

His father was a nephew of the famous General Charette who was shot at Nantes, 29 March, 1795, during the rising of the Vendee. His mother, Louise, Countess de Vierzon, was the daughter of the Duc de Berry and Amy Brown. As the Duchesse de Berry was at that time in hiding at Nantes, and Charette’s father was being sought by the police, the child’s birth was concealed; he was secretly taken from Nantes on 17 Sept. and was registered in the commune of Sainte-Reine as born 18 Sept. Unwilling, by reason of his legitimist antecedents, to serve in France under Louis Philippe, young Charette, in 1846, entered the Military Academy of Turin; he left in 1848 to avoid serving Piedmont, the revolutionary policy of that kingdom being evident to him. In 1852 the Duke of Modena, the Comte de Chambord’s brother-in-law, appointed Charette sub-lieutenant in an Austrian regiment stationed in the duchy. He resigned in 1859 when the French were on the eve of a campaign against Austria.

General Baron Athanase Charles Marie de Charette de la Contrie 1832 -1911

In May, 1860, when two of his brothers, like him eager to fight the Italian revolutionaries, offered their services to the King of Naples, he went to Rome and placed himself at the service of Pius IX, who had commissioned Lamoriciere to organize an army for the defense of the Papal States. Charette was appointed captain of the first company of the Franco-Belgian Volunteers, known after 1861 as the Pontifical Zouaves, and was wounded at the battle of Castelfidardo (Sept., 1860). After the taking of Rome by the Piedmontese, Charette negotiated with Gambetta for the employment of the French Zouaves in the service of France against Germany; he was permitted to organize them as “Volunteers of the West”. Wounded at Loigny, Charette was made prisoner; but he escaped, and on 14 Jan., 1871, the Provisional Government of France made him a general. He was elected to the National Assembly by the Department of Bouches-du-Rhône, but resigned without taking his seat.

Louis-Adolphe Thiers proposed his entering the French army with his Zouaves, but Charette declared his intention of remaining at the Pope’s disposal. On 15 Aug., 1871, his Zouaves were mustered out of the French army. Retiring into private life, Charette passed his last thirty years serving the cause of religion and hoping for the restoration of the monarchy. He was, in the nineteenth century, a superb type of the valiant knight, devoted heart and soul to the defence of the Pope’s temporal sovereignty, and consecrated himself to that cause in the same spirit which actuated the Crusades of the Middle Ages.

MEURVILLE, Correspondant (10 Dec., 1911).

GEORGES GOYAU (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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October 9 – Even in his lifetime his reputation was for great holiness and miraculous powers

October 8, 2026

St. John Twenge

Canon regular, Prior of St. Mary’s, Bridlington, born near the town, 1319; died at Bridlington, 1379.

He was of the Yorkshire family Twenge, which family in Reformation days supplied two priest-martyrs and was also instrumental in establishing the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Bar Convent, York.

John completed his studies at Oxford and then entered the Priory of Bridlington. Charged successively with various offices in the community, he was finally despite his reluctance elected prior, which office he held until his death. Even in his lifetime he enjoyed a reputation for great holiness and for miraculous powers. On one occasion he changed water into wine. On another, five seamen from Hartlepool in danger of shipwreck called upon God in the name of His servant, John of Bridlington, whereupon the prior himself appeared to them in his canonical habit and brought them safely to shore.

After his death the fame of the miracles wrought by his intercession spread rapidly through the land. Archbishop Neville charged his suffragans and others to take evidence with a view to his canonization, 26 July, 1386; and the same prelate assisted by the Bishops of Durham and Carlisle officiated at a solemn translation of his body, 11 March, 1404, de mandato Domini Papae. This pope, Boniface IX, shortly afterwards canonized him. The fact has been doubted and disputed; but the original Bull was recently unearthed in the Vatican archives by Mr. T.A. Twemlow, who was engaged in research work there for the British Government. St. John was especially invoked by women in cases of difficult confinement. At the Reformation the people besought the royal plunderer to spare the magnificent shrine of the saint, but in vain; it was destroyed in 1537. The splendid nave of the church, restored in 1857, is all that now remains of Bridlington Priory. The saint’s feast is observed by the canons regular on 9 October.

Bridlington Priory

BUTLER, Lives of the Saints; GASQUET, Henry VIII and the English Monasteries (London, 1889); STANTON, Menology (London and New York, 1892); State Papers, Rolls Series, Northern Registers; WALSINGHAM, Historia Anglicana (London, 1863-76); SURIUS, De probatis Sanctorum Historiis (Turin, 1875-80).

Vincent Scully (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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October 10 – What if you come from a family of bad nobility?

October 8, 2026

St. Francis Borgia (also known as Francisco de Borja y Aragon), born 28 October, 1510, was the son of Juan Borgia, third Duke of Gandia, and of Juana of Aragon; died 30 September, 1572. The future saint was unhappy in his ancestry.

St. Francis Borgia Painting by Alonso Cano

His grandfather, Juan Borgia, the second son of Alexander VI, was assassinated in Rome on 14 June, 1497, by an unknown hand, which his family always believed to be that of Cæsar Borgia. Rodrigo Borgia, elected pope in 1402 under the name of Alexander VI, had eight children. The eldest, Pedro Luis, had acquired in 1485 the hereditary Duchy of Gandia in the Kingdom of Valencia, which, at his death, passed to his brother Juan, who had married Maria Enriquez de Luna. Having been left a widow by the murder…

Read more here.

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October 10 – St. Paulinus, Archbishop of York

October 8, 2026

St. Paulinus

Archbishop of York, died at Rochester, 10 October, 644.

St. Paulinus of York

He was a Roman monk in St. Andrew’s monastery at Rome, and was sent by St. Gregory the Great in 601, with St. Mellitus and others, to help St. Augustine and to carry the pallium to him. He laboured in Kent — with the possible exception of a mission to East Anglia before 616 — till 625, when he accompanied Ethelburga (Aethelburh), the sister of King Eadbald of Kent, when she went to the Northumbrian Court to marry King Edwin, then a pagan. Before leaving Kent, he was consecrated bishop by St. Justus, Archbishop of Canterbury. He was successful in converting Edwin and large numbers of his people, the king’s baptism taking place on 12 April, 627. With the assistance of St. Edwin, he established his see at York and began to build a stone church there. His apostolic labours in instructing and baptizing the people of the north country were unceasing, and tradition perpetuates his ministry at Yeavering, Catterick Bridge, Dewsbury, Easingwold, Southwell, and elsewhere, while his own name is preserved in the village of Pallingsburn in Northumbria.

Rochester Cathedral

On the defeat of St. Edwin in 633, Paulinus carried the queen and her children safely to Kent; and, as the heathen reaction under Penda made missionary work impossible in Northumbria, he devoted himself to the Diocese of Rochester, then vacant. It was after his flight that he received the pallium from Rome (634), sent to him as Archbishop of York. Though Anglican writers have disagreed among themselves as to whether he was justified in leaving his archbishopric, Catholic writers, following St. Bede, have held that he had no choice and was the best judge of what was advisable under the circumstances. St. Bede describes him as tall and thin, with a slightly stooping figure; he had black hair and an aquiline nose and was of venerable and awe-inspiring aspect. He was buried in his church at Rochester, and, on the rebuilding of the cathedral, his relics were translated by Archbishop Lanfranc to a silver shrine where they lay till the Reformation. His festival is observed in England on 10 Oct., the anniversary of his death.

EDWIN BURTON (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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October 11 – Model Archduke, both spiritual and temporal

October 8, 2026

St. Bruno the Great, Archbishop of Cologne

Bruno the Great (or Bruno I) (925–965) was Archbishop of Cologne, Germany, from 953 until his death, and Duke of Lotharingia from 954. He was the brother of Otto I, king of Germany and later Holy Roman Emperor. Bruno was the youngest son of Henry the Fowler and his second wife Matilda of Ringelheim.

St. Bruno the Great

In 940, Bruno began to exercise the functions of imperial chancellor (Mon. Germ. Dipl., I, 120 nr. 35). After he had received deacon’s orders in 941 or 942, the emperor appointed him, dispite his youth, Abbot of the monasteries of Lorsch, near Worms, and of Corvei on the Weser. In both communities he soon restored the strict observance of St. Benedict’s Rule. He was ordained priest about 950 and in 951 became archchancellor (Mon. Germ. Dipl., I, 218, nr. 138 sq.); even from the year 940 on, all Otto’s state papers were prepared by Bruno’s hand.

Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor

As the executive administration of affairs was conducted chiefly through the royal chancery, Bruno’s influence now extended to all parts of the empire. Relations between Germany and France were by his good offices greatly improved. He took part in the Synod of Verdun, in 947, and assisted in the adjustment of the quarrel, of such consequence to the Kingdom of France, about the Archbishopric of Reims. In 951 he accompanied the Emperor Otto to Italy. In the troublesome times which soon followed during the revolt of Ludolf, Otto’s eldest son and heir-apparent, and Conrad, Duke of Lorraine, Bruno proved his loyalty and devotion to his brother. For this service, after the death (9 July, 953) of Wicfrid, Archbishop of Cologne, the emperor caused Bruno to be elected his successor in that see, and likewise entrusted to him the administration of the Duchy of Lorraine. On the 21st of September, the nobility of that province swore allegiance to Bruno at Aachen, and on the 25th he was consecrated and enthroned at Cologne. Through Bruno’s mediation Ludolf was reconciled with his father, and the rebellion of Conrad effectually quelled.

In the struggle between the last of the Carlovingians and the rising house of Capet, Bruno’s prestige enabled him to act, in the name of his imperial brother, as a supreme arbitrator in French affairs, countless disputes being satisfactorily settled by his prudence and tact.

Church of St. Pantaleon in Cologne, Germany.

In Bruno’s personality as prince-bishop was represented the perfect union of Church and State, which was the corner-stone of the policy of Otto the Great; for Bruno, despite his tireless temporal activities, was a great bishop and zealous pastor. He ruled by personal piety and singular holiness of life. With scrupulous care he watched over the moral discipline of his diocese, improved the higher education of the clergy and lavished his resources on monastic and ecclesiastical institutions throughout the realm. The monastery of St. Pantaleon at Cologne, begun in 956, was his foundation. The literary distinction to which Lorraine, before other parts of the kingdom, early attained may be accounted not the least remarkable result of his work. Bruno’s favourite abode was Bonn.

Inner of St. Pantaleon, Cologne

When Otto set out a second time for Italy in 961, to be crowned emperor at Rome, the government of the realm and the guardianship of Otto II was confided to Bruno and to William, Archbishop of Mainz. Soon after the kaiser’s return, Bruno was summoned again on a mission of peace to France; it was while on this journey that he died, at Reims. His body, at his own request, was carried back and buried in the monastic church of St. Pantaleon at Cologne. From time immemorial the Diocese of Tournay has had a special office for St. Bruno on June the 18th, and as the day of his death was always celebrated at St. Pantaleon as the anniversary of a saint, the feast of Bruno, Confessor, is now observed throughout the Diocese of Cologne as a double on the 11th day of October.

RUOTGER, Vita Brunonis in Acta SS., Oct., V, 698, also found in Mon. Germ. Hist., IV, 252, and in P. L., CXXXIV, 938; Altera Vita Brunonis (a later life, written in the 12th century at St. Pantaleon), in Mon. Germ. Hist., IV, 275; P. L., CXXXIV, 978; VON HEFELE, S.V. in Kirchenlex., II; HAUCK, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands (Leipzig, 1896), III, 40; ID. in HERZOGHAUCK Real-Encyk. für prot. Theol. und Kirche (Leipzig, 1897); PIELER, Bruno I (Arnsberg, 1851); MEYER, De Brunone I (Berlin, 1870); PFEIFFER, Hist.-krit. Beiträge zur Geschichte Bruns I (Cologne, 1870); STREBITZKI, Quellenkr. Untersuch. (Neustadt in Westpreussen, 1875); GIESEBRECHT, Kaiserzeit (3d ed., Brunswick, 1863), I, 321; KÖPKE AND DÜMMLER, Kaiser Otto d. Gr. (Leipzig, 1876), passim; GIESEBRECHT, Allgemaeine Deutsche Biographie, III, 424; MITTAG, Die Arbeitsweise Ruotgers in der Vita Brunonis (Berlin, 1896); Analecta Bollandiana, XVI, 202 and XVIII, 57; WATTENBACH, Gesch.-Quellen (6th ed., Berlin, 1893), I, 321; KLEINERMANNS, Die Heiligen auf dem bischöflichen bezw. erzbischöflichen Stuhle von Köln (Cologne, 1895-98).

GEORGE H. DERRY (1913 Catholic Encyclopedia)

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October 11 – He dared step into the gap during the crisis

October 8, 2026

Pope Boniface VIII

(BENEDETTO GAETANO)

Born at Anagni about 1235; died at Rome, 11 October, 1303.

He was the son of Loffred, a descendant of a noble family originally Spanish, but long established in Italy—first at Gaeta and later at Anagni. Through his mother he was connected with the house of Segni, which had already given three illustrious sons to the Church, Innocent III, Gregory IX, and Alexander IV. Benedetto had studied at Todi and at Spoleto in Italy, perhaps also at Paris, had obtained the doctorate in canon and civil law, and been made a canon successively at Anagni, Todi, Paris, Lyons, and Rome. In 1265 he accompanied Cardinal Ottobuono Fieschi to England, whither that prelate had been sent to restore harmony between Henry III and the rebellious barons. It was not until about 1276 that Gaetani entered upon his career in the Curia, where he was, for some years, actively engaged as consistorial advocate and notary Apostolic, and soon acquired considerable influence. Under Martin IV, in 1281, he was created Cardinal-Deacon of the title of S. Nicolò in carcere Tulliano…

Read more here.

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October 5 – Second founder of the Dominicans

October 5, 2026

Bl. Raymond of Capua

Called “the second founder of the Dominicans,” Raymond della Vigna was born in Capua of a prominent family in the kingdom of Naples. He entered the Dominican Order when attending the university in Bologna and went on to fill several posts, including prior in Rome and lector in Florence and Siena.

While in the latter city, he met St. Catherine of Siena and was appointed her confessor. At first he accepted the assignment without enthusiasm as he had doubts about the young mystic. But after a stunning proof of her authenticity, which he relates in his biography of her, he guided her fervently, becoming her closest advisor.

Through the years he was involved in most of Catherine’s undertakings, including a call for a Crusade, the reconciliation of Florence with the papacy, and the plea to Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome from Avignon in France.

During a plague that struck Siena, Raymond fell ill while aiding the victims and was nursed back to health by St. Catherine.

When the great schism started in 1378 both saints supported Urban VI against the anti-pope Clement VII. After Catherine’s death in 1380, Raymond continued to strive for a settlement of the great crisis and was elected Master General of the Dominicans.

At the helm of the Order until his death in Nuremberg, he worked for the reform of the houses, and the strict observance of the Dominican Rule. Originally buried in Nuremberg, his body was later transferred to the Church of San Domenico Maggiore in Naples. He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1899, the fifth centenary of his death.

(h/t America Needs Fatima)

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October 5 – St. Galla

October 5, 2026

The Old Church dedicated to St. Galla

A Roman widow of the sixth century; feast, 5 October. According to St. Gregory the Great (Dial. IV, ch. xiii) she was the daughter of the younger Symmachus, a learned and virtuous patrician of Rome, whom Theodoric had unjustly condemned to death (525). Becoming a widow before the end of the first year of her married life, she, still very young, founded a convent and hospital near St. Peter’s, there spent the remainder of her days in austerities and works of mercy, and ended her life with an edifying death. The letter of St. Fulgentius of Ruspe, “De statu viduarum”, is supposed to have been addressed to her. Her church in Rome, near the Piazza Montanara, once held a picture of Our Lady, which according to tradition represents a vision vouchsafed to St. Galla. It is considered miraculous and was carried in recession in times of pestilence. It is now over the high altar of Santa Maria in Campitelli.

FRANCIS MERSHMAN (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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Had Louis XVI Listened to His Sister, Madame Elizabeth…

October 5, 2026

…the Crown Would Have Been Saved

Élisabeth Philippine Marie Hélène of France, known as Madame Élisabeth.

On the fatal day, 5^th October [1789], when the people attacked Versailles, she was on her terrace at Montreuil when she saw the crowd advancing on the Palace, and flew at once to join the Royal Family there. Gifted as she was with an excellent judgment, Mme. Elizabeth possessed also an energy of character which one must regret was not shared by the King.

She felt convinced on this occasion that “a vigorous and speedy repression of the riot would save many misfortunes. It seemed to her evident that a few cannon-balls would arrest the advance-guard of anarchy; would cause confusion among the troops which were behind; and—while arousing useful reflections on the part of the hostile portion of the Assembly—would stimulate the courage of the friends of order, who were alarmed at the cowardice of the Government.”*

Assassination of the Versailles guard Antoine Joseph Pagès des Huttes on October 6, 1789, during the confrontation between the 800 Parisian women led by Reine Audu and the bodyguards of the king’s household following the Women’s March of October 5 and 6, 1789, in Versailles.

Our Princess “developed her views with that firmness of judgment and heartfelt eloquence which characterized her,” and likewise urged that the Royal Family should move to some town farther from Paris, where their deliberations would be free from the influence of factions. For a moment these wise counsels, which were echoed by those of M. de la Priest, seemed about to be followed, but M. Necker’s observation that “to draw the sword against rebellion was to give the signal for civil war,” caused the King to change, and it was determined to treat the rioters on equal terms.

Mme. Elizabeth, unable to do more, retired to the Queen’s apartments, and remained with her till two in the morning, when M. de Lafayette affirmed that he could answer for the safety of the Palace.

The People of Paris Come to Versailles by Francois Flameng. King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette are on the far right.

Early in the morning, the King, anxious for her welfare, sent to look for his sister, and she went to his rooms only to hear how useless had been the assurances given by the General. She remained at Versailles throughout that terrible day, encouraging the Royal Bodgyguard by her calmness, and even saving some of their lives by her presence of mind. When the chiefs of the mob demanded “with loud cries” that the King should go to Paris to reside, and Lafayette sent message after message to urge him to assent, Mme. Elizabeth took quite another view of the matter. “Sire, it is not to Paris you should go,” she said. “You still have devoted battalions, faithful guards, who will protect your retreat, but I implore you, my brother, do not go to Paris.”

Had Louis listened to her, the whole future might have been different; but while hesitating between the two opinions, the precious moment was lost—it was too late—and he gave the desired promise.

Departure of the King, 1789. The mob followed the Royal Family from Versailles to Paris.

When the melancholy procession set out for the capital, Mme. Elizabeth was in the King’s carriage, “in one of the doorways,” says the Duchesse de Tourzel, who herself sat opposite the King and Queen, holding the Dauphin on her knee.

As they approached the Avenue de Paris, the Princess, who had a presentiment that she was leaving Versailles for ever, leant out of the window to look at her own little Park.

September 21, 2026

Gabriel Malagrida A Jesuit missionary to Brazil, born 18 September or 6 December, 1689, at Menaggio, in Italy; died 21 September, 1761, at Lisbon. He entered the Jesuit order at Genoa in 1711. He set out from Lisbon in 1721 and arrived on the Island of Maranhào towards the end of the same year. Thence […]

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September 22 – He especially sought out impoverished nobles who shrank from asking alms

September 21, 2026

St. Thomas of Villanova Educator, philanthropist, born at Fuentellana, Spain, 1488; died at Valencia, 8 September, 1555. Son of Aloazo Tomas Garcia and Lucia Martínez Castellanos, the saint was brought up in the practices of religion and charity. Every Friday his father was wont to give in alms all the meal he earned at the […]

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September 22 – Saint Emmeram

September 21, 2026

Saint Emmeram Bishop of Poitiers and missionary to Bavaria, born at Poitiers in the first half of the seventh century; martyred at Ascheim (Bavaria) towards the end of the same century. Of a noble family of Aquitaine, he received a good education and was ordained priest. According to some authors Emmeram occupied the See of […]

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Columbus and Divine Providence

(Excerpt from a Symposium for the Hipotecas, Monday, October 12, 1981 – Nobility.org translation. Neither the original talk’s transcript nor this translation was reviewed by the author. – Ed.)

St. Wilfrid

St. Edward the Confessor

St. Daniel and Companions

The Apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima

The Sixth Apparition — October 13, 1917

* * *

*This account is based on the book: Our Lady at Fatima: Prophecies of Tragedy or Hope for America and the World? Now available in E-book form!

“The Miracle of the Sun” in Fatima, October 13, 1917

Daniel Barber

St. Bruno the Great, Archbishop of Cologne

Pope Boniface VIII

Bl. Raymond of Capua

…the Crown Would Have Been Saved

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This account is based on the book: Our Lady at Fatima: Prophecies of Tragedy or Hope for America and the World?* Now available in E-book form!