Nobility and Analogous Traditional Elites — In the Allocutions of Pius XII

September 29 – The Angelic Inspiration of Chivalry

September 28, 2020

Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael

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Saint Michael the Archangel: “Who is like God?”

In Hebraic, mîkâ’êl, means “Who is like God?”

The Scriptures refer to the Archangel Saint Michael in four different passages: two of them, in Daniel’s prophesy (chap. 10, 13 and 21; and chap. 12, 1); one in Saint Jude Thaddeus (single chapter, vers. 9) and, finally, in the Revelation (chap. 12, 7-12).

In the Book of Daniel, the Saint Archangel appears as the “prince and protector of Israel”, who opposes the “prince”, or heavenly protector of the Persians.

According to Saint Jerome and other commentators, the Angel protector of Persia desired that some of the Jews would remain there to expand the knowledge of God; however, Saint Michael desired and asked the Lord that all Jews return to Palestine, to allow the Temple of the Lord to be completed in less time. The spiritual fight between the two Angels lasted twenty one days…

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September 29 – Military Orders of St. Michael

September 28, 2020

Military Orders of St. Michael

(1) A Bavarian Order, founded in 1721 by Elector Joseph Clemens of Cologne, Duke of Bavaria, and confirmed by Maximilian Joseph, King of Bavaria, 11 September 1808. Pius VII, 5 Feb. 1802 granted to priests decorated with this order all the privileges of domestic prelates. Under Louis I it was made an order of merit (1837), and under Otto I was reorganized (1887)…

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September 29 – In battle or in prison, he never missed Mass

September 28, 2020

Blessed Charles of Blois

(1320- September 29, 1364)

Charles is the son of Guy I of Blois-Châtillon, count of Blois, by Margaret of Valois, a sister of king Philip VI of France. Early in life, he felt a call to be a Franciscan friar, but political duty kept him in secular life. Following his marriage to Joan of Brittany in 1337, he found it necessary to defend his accession to the dukedom of Brittany by force of arms against a rival claimant. Thus started a lifetime of battle, in which Charles manifested both virtue and bravery. As a conscientious military man, Charles sought to avert the bloody horrors of war, going so far as to offer to engage his enemy in single combat to spare the men under his command.

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September 30 – The cantankerous noble who became a saint

September 28, 2020

St. Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church

Born at Stridon, a town on the confines of Dalmatia and Pannonia, about the year 340-2; died at Bethlehem, 30 September, 420.

He had a brother much younger than himself, whose name was Paulinian. His father, called Eusebius, was descended from a good family, and had a competent estate; but, being persuaded that a good education is the most precious inheritance that a parent can leave to his children, took great care to have his son instructed in piety, and in the first principles of literature at home, and afterwards sent him to Rome, probably about 360, where he was baptized…

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October 1 – St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Chapter II: A Catholic Household & Chapter III: Pauline Enters the Carmel

September 28, 2020

ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX

Excerpts from THE STORY OF A SOUL: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX

SOEUR THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX, THE LITTLE FLOWER OF JESUS

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[previous] PROLOGUE: THE PARENTAGE & BIRTH OF MARIE FRANÇOISE THÉRÈSE MARTIN and CHAPTER ONE – EARLIEST MEMORIES

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CHAPTER II
A CATHOLIC HOUSEHOLD

My dear Mother died on August 28, 1877, in her forty-sixth year. The day after her death my Father took me in his arms and said: “Come and kiss your dear Mother for the last time.” Without saying a word I put my lips to her icy forehead. I do not remember having cried much, and I did not talk to anyone of all that filled my heart; I looked and listened in silence, and I saw many things they would have hidden from me…

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October 1 – The Hon. George Spencer

September 28, 2020

In religion, Ignatius of St. Paul).

Passionist, born at the Admiralty, London, 21 Dec., 1799; died at Carstairs, Scotland, 1 Oct., 1864.

He was the youngest son of the second Earl Spencer and Lavinia, daughter of Sir Charles Bingham. From Eton he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, received Anglican orders, 13 June, 1824, and became chaplain to Bishop Blomfield of Chester, and shortly afterwards rector of Brington, Northamptonshire. In 1830 he became a Catholic and went to Rome for his ecclesiastical studies, being ordained priest there, 26 May, 1832. He returned to England fired with zeal for its conversion and laboured incessantly to procure the prayers of Catholics on the Continent for that intention. From 1832 to 1839 he worked as priest at West Bromwich, building the church at his own cost; then he was professor at Oscott till 1846, when he entered the Passionist novitiate. He was professed at Aston Hall in January, 1848. He spent the rest of his life in arduous missionary labours as a true apostle for the conversion of England. He translated the life of Blessed Paul of the Cross (London, 1860) and published many sermons.

A Short Account of the Conversion of the Hon. and Rev. G. Spencer, written by himself (Cath. Inst. Tracts, London, no date); DEVINE, Life of Father Ignatius of St. Paul, Passionist (Dublin, 1866); GILLOW, Bibl. Dict. Eng. Cath.; PURCELL, Ambrose Philipps de Lisle.

Edwin Burton (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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October 1 – The martial and pious death of Don John of Austria: “A man sent by God”

September 28, 2020

Alarm was ended on the fourth day, seeing that the fever and other ills left D. John. But the next day, which was a Saturday, he suddenly grew worse, and while the other invalids went on getting better and became convalescent, he showed other symptoms of a strange illness, palpitations which made him get up in bed, tremblings of the hands, arms, tongue and eyes, and red spots showed themselves, others livid and almost blue, with black, rough heads.

Then another suspicion spread through the camp, which historians of old have transmitted to us, and which the fresh facts and discoveries of modern ones make probable. They said that D. John had been poisoned during his recovery….

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Strengthened By The Prayers At Mass

September 24, 2020

Fornerus, formerly Bishop of Bamberg, relates¹ of the great Duke Simon Montfort, as follows: “This famous Duke was accustomed to hear Mass daily with great devotion, and at the elevation of the Sacred Host he would say with Simeon: ‘Now Thou dost dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word in peace, because my eyes have seen Thy salvation.’²

His regular attendance at Mass was known to the Albigenses, his bitterest enemies, against whom he had been waging war for twenty years. The Albigenses, being driven to despair, determined to make a sadden attack upon the Duke’s army in the morning whilst he was at Mass. They executed their design, and really surprised his soldiers. Officers came to him whilst he was hearing Mass, announcing to him the great danger in which the whole army was, and begging him to come to their aid. The Duke answered, ‘Let me serve the Lord now, and men afterwards.’ No sooner were these officers gone than others arrived making the same most earnest request. The Duke replied, ‘I shall not leave this place until I have seen and adored my God and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ Meanwhile, he recommended his whole army to Our Lord, beseeching Him by the most august sacrifice of the Mass to assist his people.

Simon IV de Montfort

At the elevation of the Sacred Host, he poured out his heart in humble prayer to his Saviour, offering up the Heavenly Father, the Body and Blood of His well beloved Son, and making, at the same time, an oblation of his own life in honor of the Blessed Trinity. At the elevation of the chalice he prayed, ‘Now Thou dost dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word in peace, because my eyes have seen Thy salvation.’

Battle of Muret

Then feeling inspired with great courage and confidence in the Lord, he said to his officers, ‘Now let us go, and if God pleases, die for Him Who has deigned to die for us on the Cross.’ His whole army consisted of but sixteen thousand men. With this little force, he attacked, in the name of the Blessed Trinity, the grand army of the Albigenses, commanded by the Count of Toulouse, who was supported by the army of Peter, King of Aragonia, his brother-in-law. Now, of this grand army Simon Montfort, the Christian hero, killed twenty thousand men on the spot, and the rest of his enemies he put to shameful flight. Every one said and believed that Montfort had gained this glorious victory more by his fervent prayers at Mass than by the strength of his army.

¹ Miser, cone. 78.
²Luke ii. 29, 30.

The Blessed Eucharist, our greatest treasure by Müller, Michael, 1825-1899, Pgs. 300 & 301

Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 745

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The Two Stages of the Counter-Revolution

September 24, 2020

[previous]

G. The Two Stages of the Counter-Revolution

A sample of the various campaigns that the TFP have been doing over the years. Click to see what you can do to be a Counter-Revolutionary!

a. With the radical change of the revolutionary into a counter-revolutionary, the first stage of the Counter-Revolution ends in him.

b. The second stage may take quite a long time. In it, the soul proceeds to adjust all his ideas and ways of feeling to the position taken in the act of conversion.

These books and more…Click picture and Order Today!

These two great and quite distinct stages delineating the counter-revolutionary process are presented here as they occur in a soul considered by itself. Mutatis mutandis, they may occur in large groups and even in whole peoples as well.

Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, Revolution and Counter-Revolution (York, Penn.: The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property, 1993), Part II, Ch. VIII, Pg. 102.

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September 25 – Princely Umpire in a deadly sport

September 24, 2020

St. Albert of Jerusalem

Patriarch of Jerusalem, one of the conspicuous ecclesiastics in the troubles between the Holy See and Federick Barbarossa; date of birth uncertain; died 14 September, 1215.

He was in fact asked by both Pope and Emperor to act as umpire in their dispute and, as a reward, was made Prince of the Empire. He was born in the diocese of Parma, became a canon regular in the Monastery of Mortara in the Milanese, and after being Bishop of Bobbio, for a short time, was translated to the see of Vercelli…

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September 25 – St. Aunarius

September 24, 2020

St. Aunarius

(Or Aunacharius).

Bishop of Auxerre in France, born 573, died 603. Being of noble birth, he was brought up in the royal court, but evinced a desire to enter the clerical state, was ordained priest by St. Syagrius of Autum, and eventually was made Bishop of Auxerre. His administration is noted for certain important disciplinary measures that throw light on the religious and moral life of the Merovingian times. He caused solemn litanies to be said daily in the chief centres of population, by rotation, and on the first day of each month in the larger towns and monasteries…

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September 25 – Did he compose the Salve Regina prayer?

September 24, 2020

Bl. Hermann Contractus

(Herimanus Augiensis, Hermann von Reichenau).

Chronicler, mathematician, and poet; born 18 February, 1013, at Altshausen (Swabia); died on the island of Reichenau, Lake Constance, 21 September, 1054.

He was the son of Count Wolverad II von Altshausen. Being a cripple from birth (hence the surname Contractus) he was powerless to move without assistance, and it was only by the greatest effort that he was able to read and write; but he was so highly gifted intellectually, that when he was but seven years of age his parents confided him to the learned Abbot Berno, on the island of Reichenau…

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September 26 – Fr. Frederick William Faber

September 24, 2020

Fr. Frederick William Faber

Oratorian and devotional writer, b. 28 June, 1814, at Calverley, Yorkshire, England; d. in London, 26 Sept., 1863. After five years at Harrow School he matriculated at Balliol in 1832, became a scholar at University College in 1834, and a fellow of that College in 1837. Of Huguenot descent Faber was divided in his university days between a tendency to Calvinism, in the form of individual pietism, and the Church theory then being advocated by Newman. Eventually the latter triumphed, and Faber threw himself unreservedly into the Tractarian movement and cooperated in the translation of the works of the Fathers then in progress…

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September 27 – Fr. Peter Skarga: Court Preacher

September 24, 2020

Fr. Peter Skarga

Theologian and missionary, born at Grojec, 1536; died at Cracow, 27 Sept., 1612.

He began his education in his native town in 1552; he went to study in Cracow and afterwards in Warsaw. In 1557 he was in Vienna as tutor to the young Castellan, Teczynski; returning thence in 1564, he received Holy orders, and later was nominated canon of Lemberg Cathedral. Here he began to preach his famous sermons, and to convert Protestants…

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September 27 – St. Vincent de Paul had special charity to the impoverished nobility

September 24, 2020

St. Vincent de Paul

St. Vincent de Paul founded a special organization for the relief of the nobility of Lorraine who had sought refuge in Paris during the Thirty Years War. In that period of the war known as the French period Lorraine, Trois-Evechés, Franche-Comté, and Champagne underwent for nearly a quarter of a century all the horrors and scourges which then more than ever war drew in its train…

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September 27 – These exemplary nobles personified virtue

September 24, 2020

Saint Elzéar of Sabran, Count of Arian, and Saint Delphina of Glandenes

Painting of St. Elzéar and St. Delphine, in the choir of the Church of Puimichel.

St. Elzear (also spelled Eleazarus) was descended of the ancient and illustrious family of Sabran, in Provence; his father, Hermengaud of Sabran, was created count of Arian (Ariano), in the kingdom of Naples; his mother was Lauduna of Albes, a family no less distinguished for its nobility. The saint was born in 1295 at the Saint-Jean de Robians castle belonging to his father, in Provence (Ansois) in the diocese of Apt…

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September 28 – Good King Wenceslaus

September 24, 2020

(Also Vaclav, Vaceslav.)

Duke, martyr, and patron of Bohemia, born probably 903; died at Alt-Bunzlau, 28 September, 935.

His parents were Duke Wratislaw, a Christian, and Dragomir, a heathen. He received a good Christian education from his grandmother (St. Ludmilla) and at Budweis. After the death of Wratislaw, Dragomir, acting as regent, opposed Christianity, and Wenceslaus, being urged by the people, took the reins of government. He placed his duchy under the protection of Germany, introduced German priests, and favoured the Latin rite instead of the old Slavic, which had gone into disuse in many places for want of priests…

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September 28 – Franciscan money lender

September 24, 2020

Bl. Bernardine of Feltre

Friar Minor and missionary, born at Feltre, Italy, in 1439 and died at Pavia, 28 September, 1494.

He belonged to the noble family of Tomitano and was the eldest of nine children. In 1456 St. James of the Marches preached the Lenten course at Padua, and inspired to enter the Franciscan order, Bernardine was clothed with the habit of the Friars Minor in May of the same year. He completed successfully his studies at Mantua and was ordained priest in 1463…

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

September 21, 2020

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 mill, besides his usual daily dole of bread. On great feast-days he added wood, wine, and money; while to poor farmers he loaned money and seed. On the death of her husband, Lucia continued the usual alms, and supplied indigent maidens in the neighbourhood with clothing and money…

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September 22 – Saint Emmeram

September 21, 2020

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 Poitiers, but this cannot be verified, for his name does not appear among the Bishops of Poitiers. He probably held the see for a short time, from the death of Dido (date unknown) to the episcopate of Ansoaldus (674). Having heard that the inhabitants of Bavaria were still idolaters, he determined to carry the light of the Faith to them. Ascending the Loire, crossing the Black Forest, and going down the Danube, he reached Ratisbon in a region then governed by the Duke Theodo. For three years he labored in Bavaria, preaching and converting the people, acquiring also a renown for holiness…

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September 23 – He ensured the immunity of non-combatants in warfare

September 21, 2020

St. Adamnan of Ireland, Abbot He was the eighth in descent from the great Nial, king of Ireland, and from Conal the Great, ancestor of St. Columbkille. His parents were eminent for their rank and virtue. He was born in the year 626, at Rathboth, (1) now called Raphoe, in the county of Donegal, and […]

Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael

Saint Michael the Archangel: “Who is like God?”

Military Orders of St. Michael

Blessed Charles of Blois

St. Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church

G. The Two Stages of the Counter-Revolution

St. Albert of Jerusalem

St. Aunarius

Bl. Hermann Contractus

St. Vincent de Paul

Saint Elzéar of Sabran, Count of Arian, and Saint Delphina of Glandenes

Bl. Bernardine of Feltre

Saint Emmeram

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