Continued from Part II

Contradiction between everyday life and the statistics – What a terrible phenomenon that undermines the Catholic population itself, and which leads the Brazilian spirit, unfortunately so accommodating, to a monstrous situation. We are a nation with an overwhelming Catholic majority. Statistics in fact show a near unanimity of Catholics in Brazil. If we examine the morality of Brazilian public life, however, it is as if God did not exist. If we examine our social life, we will see that its morality is almost as if God did not exist. If we examine our domestic life, we will see that day by day it is becoming the way it would be if God did not exist. Nevertheless, the churches are filled, acts of worship continue are well attended, and at census time, it is undeniable that everyone claims to be a Catholic.

How to explain this? Only this silent corrosion, this discreet, silent corrosion, terrible as leprosy, resulting from this state of spirit that organizes the world abstracting from God, this state of spirit that conceives all things in the shadow of the Revolution and disorder, that organizes everything based on sensuality, which is itself disorganization.

Common sight in affluent Brazilian neighborhoods.

If a country like Brazil, so worthy of better days, writhes today in one of the gravest crises of its history, it is because it lacks morality. It is because it lacks the coherence between the Faith and daily life. It is because we have the tendency, which unfortunately increasingly overwhelms us, to adore God Our Lord with words alone, saying “Lord! Lord!” and then to live as we choose.

The distinctive note of the modern world

Having thus defined the various meanings of the word “modern,” we can ask what is the role of this modernity in the modern world.

We could say that this mentality which calls itself “modern” has not conquered everything in the world today. It is the great propelling force behind almost everything. It is the great distinctive note today. It is also the great danger. And, while it would be exaggeration to argue that only this miserable modernity exists in the world today, it would be blindness and madness to deny that it is the strong and decisive note.

The Blessed Sacrament — antidote for today’s evils

It is also true that in this world increasingly dominated by this spirit, Someone eternal is present: Our Lord Jesus Christ. Someone who is present in all the tabernacles of the earth—in those that are golden as well as those that are poor, and even in those that are hidden in countries behind the Iron and Bamboo Curtains. But this Someone whose Presence is not perceived by our bodily senses, is the great Apostle of the world today, as He is throughout history. He speaks continuously to souls, teaching them in the silent, but infinitely efficacious language of God. God speaks constantly about the need for man to oppose those things which are his misery, his degradation; on the need of changing course; of building his life on God, sacrifice, renunciation, acceptance of authority; of turning to God and converting with his whole heart.

Admirable fruits of the Blessed Sacrament

That, which happens every time man challenges God, happens in this terrible modern world as well. God multiplies His marvels, and as iniquity reaches its apex, we see admirable fruits of the Blessed Sacrament, fruits of grace, fruits that bring incomparable results to the apostolate. While entire multitudes head to pleasure and vice, become cowardly and silent in the face of evil, we see an ever increasing number of souls who long for absolute perfection, total orthodoxy, full obedience to the Catholic Church. Souls who abandon everything, are ready to challenge and confront everything, and to affirm in all simplicity the doctrine of the Church, to suffer and prevail over everything for love of Our Lord Jesus Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament.

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…the Crown Would Have Been Saved

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

On the fatal day, 5th 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.

“My sister, you are saluting Montreuil,” said Louis.

“Sire,” she replied gently, “I am bidding it adieu.”

 

* Vie de Mme. Elizabeth, 1:308.

 

The Hon. Mrs. Maxwell-Scott of Abbotsford, Madame Elizabeth of France (London: Edward Arnold, 1908), 64–66.

Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 832

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(December 13, 1908 – October 3, 1995)

Brazilian intellectual and Catholic activist.

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Corrêa de Oliveira was born in São Paulo to Lucilia Corrêa de Oliveira, a devout Roman Catholic, and educated by Jesuits. In 1928 he joined the Marian Congregations of São Paulo and soon became a leader of that organization. In 1933 he helped organize the Catholic Electoral League and was elected to the nation’s Constitutional Convention by the “Catholic bloc”, and at 24 was the youngest congressman in Brazil’s history. His view of the Church has been described as ultramontanist and his political ideology anti-Communist.

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He assumed the chair of Modern and Contemporary History at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo. He was also the first president of the São Paulo Archdiocesan Board of Catholic Action. Corrêa de Oliveira became concerned with what he saw as progressivist deviations within Brazilian Catholic Action, associated with the ideas of the French Catholic philosopher, Jacques Maritain and attacked these changes in his 1943 book, In Defense of Catholic Action.

Special mention should be made of his book, In Defense of Catholic Action (1943), honored with a letter of praise sent to the author, on behalf of Pope Pius XII, by Msgr. G. B. Montini, then substitute to the Vatican Secretary of State and later Pope Paul VI;

Special mention should be made of his book, In Defense of Catholic Action (1943), honored with a letter of praise sent to the author, on behalf of Pope Pius XII, by Msgr. G. B. Montini, then substitute to the Vatican Secretary of State and later Pope Paul VI. You can download this free e-book by clicking here. There are several other books here written by Dr. Plinio. Check them out!

With the arrival of a new archbishop in São Paulo in 1944, Corrêa de Oliveira lost his position as diocesan head of Catholic Action and in 1947 his directorship of the Catholic weekly Legionário, which he had supervised since 1935. In 1951 he founded the magazine O Catolicismo together with the conservative bishops Antônio de Castro Mayer and Geraldo de Proença Sigaud. From 1968 to 1990 he wrote a column for the Folha de S.Paulo, the city’s largest daily newspaper.

Dr. PlinioCorrêa de Oliveira’s Catholic social activism found new targets with the advent of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (founded in 1952) and the Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM) (founded in 1955) supporting liberation theology, and also with the Cuban revolution of 1959. To put his ideas into action, he founded the Brazilian Society for the Defence of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) in 1960.

Bishop Antônio de Castro Mayer and Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira.

Bishop Antônio de Castro Mayer and Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira.

Corrêa de Oliveira travelled to Rome for the opening session of Vatican II, describing it as “a point in history as sad as the Death of Our Lord” in which the Church was faced by the generalized, co-ordinated, and audacious action of its internal enemies. Oliveira was accompanied by members of the Brazilian TFP who brought twenty trunks of TFP literature. During the first session of the Council, he provided a secretariat which served Brazilian bishops Antônio de Castro Mayer and Geraldo de Proença Sigaud and other bishops of the traditional faction, who ultimately formed the Coetus Internationalis Patrum. Corrêa de Oliveira’s opposition to the direction of the Council continued, and in a 1976 addendum to his book, Revolution and Counter-Revolution, he described Vatican II as “one of the greatest calamities, if not the greatest, in the history of the Church”. His strong opposition led to him being described as a “revanchist” within the ultraditional faction.

Nobility book collection

He served as president of the Brazilian TFP’s national council until his death in 1995. His treatise, Revolution and Counter-Revolution, inspired the founding of autonomous TFP groups in nearly 20 countries worldwide. An admirer of Thomas Aquinas, he was the author of 15 books and over 2,500 essays and articles. His works include: In Defense of Catholic Action, Revolution and Counter-Revolution, The Church and the Communist State: The Impossible Coexistence, Nobility and Analogous Traditional Elites in the Allocutions of Pius XII, and many others.

 

If you wish to order any of the books written by Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, not listed on this website, please call customer service 888-317-5571. Check out our e-book collection also!

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Photograph of St. Théodore Guérin, the eighth American Saint

Photograph of St. Théodore Guérin, the eighth American Saint

Many of the early pioneers faced the hardships of this country where wars, famine and disease were the norm. Leaving everything behind, heroic souls came not only to save the souls of Indian nations, but also to minister to these frontier families. One such person was St. Mother Théodore Guérin, who became the eighth American Saint and the first Saint from the State of Indiana on October 15, 2006.

View inside the Church of the Immaculate Conception where the relics of St. Théodore Guérin are located on the front left hand side of the Church.

View inside the Church of the Immaculate Conception where the relics of St. Théodore Guérin used to be located on the front left hand side of the Church. In October 2014, they were moved to another part of the shrine.

Anne-Thérèse Guérin was born on October 2, 1798, in the village of Étables-sur-Mer in Brittany, France, which was still suffering from the horrors of the French Revolution. She was the oldest daughter of Laurent Guérin, an officer in the French Navy under Napoleon Bonaparte, and Isabelle Lefèvre Guérin, both parents being from old and highly distinguished families of France. The Lefèvres were devoted royalists, while the Guérins were avowed Napoleonites. The Revolution had taken their property, titles and fortunes away and Isabelle Lefèvre Guérin kept hidden in her trunk a little cap that only those of nobility wore.  “But we’ll put it back in the trunk,” said her Mother, “and keep it there as a memory rather than show it as a fact.”  The Guérins had 4 children – two boys and two girls, but both boys died when young. Placed under the special protection of Our Lady since her baptism, Anne-Thérèse Guérin’s devotion to Our Lady increased with each passing year. “I always had a horror of sin,” she said towards the close of her life, “and from the time I began to comprehend that such things as playing truant, teasing my companions, and asserting myself were wrong, I had very little attraction towards those things for which I was formerly chastised.”  Anne-Thérèse, being well advanced not only in her catechism but also spiritually, was allowed to receive her First Holy Communion at age ten; two years earlier than others. It was then that she confided to the Curé that she wished to be a nun some day. “Cherish that desire, my child,” he told her, “and you will one day belong to God.”

The sixth General Superior, Mother Mary Cleophas Foley, not only completed the building of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, but she also built the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of Perpetual Adoration in 1924. The baldachin altar was carved in Italy from a single block of white Carrara marble and weighs 8,000 pounds. It is located at the top of a flight of stairs on your right, coming from the Church and before reaching the museum.

When Anne-Thérèse was almost 12, her father was granted leave to spend some weeks with the family before setting out for Russia with Napoleon’s army. Tragically, he was robbed and murdered by a group of brigands near Avignon. As a result of this news, Madame Guérin’s health was ruined, leaving her totally dependent on Anne-Thérèse’s care for the next five years. Never during this time did the desire to become a nun leave her and even when her Mother tried for four years to change her mind, Anne-Thérèse remained firm to her vocation. Finally when Anne-Thérèse was 24, her Mother suddenly changed her mind and on August 18, 1823, Anne-Thérèse entered the Sisters of Providence at Ruillé-sur-Loir, France being given the religious name Sister St. Théodore.

St. Théodore Guérin, four Sisters and two novices leave their Motherhouse in Ruillé-sur-Loir, France, heading to Terre Haute, Indiana.

“The spirit of faith consists in doing our actions for God, in His presence, to look upon all events of life as directed by Him.” – St. Théodore Guérin
Sister St. Théodore was first sent to teach at Preuilly-sur-Claise in central France and served as superior of schools in Rennes and Soulaines, where she also ministered among the sick and poor. There, she became ill, most likely with smallpox, and nearly died. The illness damaged her digestive system and, for the rest of her life, she could only eat a simple, bland diet.

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St. Thomas of Hereford

(THOMAS DE CANTELUPE).

Born at Hambledon, Buckinghamshire, England, about 1218; died at Orvieto, Italy, 25 August, 1282.

Seal of Bishop Thomas de Cantilupe. TOMAS DEI GRATIA HEREFORDENSIS EP(ISCOPU)S (Thomas by the grace of God Bishop of Hereford).

Seal of Bishop Thomas de Cantilupe. TOMAS DEI GRATIA HEREFORDENSIS EP(ISCOPU)S (Thomas by the grace of God Bishop of Hereford).

He was the son of William de Cantelupe and Millicent de Gournay, and thus a member of an illustrious and influential family. He was educated under the care of his uncle, Walter de Cantelupe, Bishop of Worcester, first at Oxford then at Paris. During his studies he attended the Council of Lyons in 1245, when he became a papal chaplain. Returning to Oxford, he taught canon law, and in 1262 was elected chancellor of the university.

In the Barons’ Wars he took the popular side and stated the Barons’ case before St. Louis at Amiens, 1263. After the defeat of Henry III at the battle of Lewes he was made chancellor of England (22 February, 1265), gaining wide renown for his judicial wisdom and fairness. Deprived of the chancellorshp on the death of Simon de Montfort, he went into exile, lecturing at Paris on theology and Scripture (1265-72). He then resumed teaching at Oxford till 1274 when he attended the second Council of Lyons. He held several benefices which he administered most zealously, appointing responsible vicars, visiting them regularly, and showing himself a model pastor by his holiness and wide charity. In June, 1275, he was appointed Bishop of Hereford, and was consecrated by his friend Cardinal Kilwardby (8 September, 1275).

As bishop he continued his apostolic life, labouring incessantly for the good of his people, maintaining the privileges and property of his diocese against Gilbert of Gloucester, Llewellyn, and others, supporting Edward I in his struggle with Llewellyn, combating the unjust practices of the Jews, and reforming the clergy, secular and regular. He came into conflict with Archbishop Peckham on questions of jurisdiction, and at the Council of Reading (July, 1279) led the resistance of the bishops to the policy of Peckham. (For the articles embodying the points in dispute see Wilkins, “Concilia”, II, 75.) His personal differences with Peckham led first to his withdrawal to Normandy that he might avoid an interdict and appeal to Rome, and subsequently in 1282 to his actual excommunication by the archbishop. He then went to Rome to plead his own cause before Pope Martin IV, who received him kindly. But his failing health succumbed to the fatigue of the journey and the summer heat.

Tomb of Saint Thomas de Cantilupe at Hereford Cathedral

Tomb of Saint Thomas de Cantilupe at Hereford Cathedral

He was buried at Orvieto, but subsequently his relics were brought back to Hereford, where many miracles were wrought by his intercession and his shrine became second only to that of St. Thomas of Canterbury. He was canonized by John XXII (17 April, 1320), and his festival, formerly observed on 2 October, is now kept in England on 3 October.

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STRANGE, Life and Gests of Thomas of Cantelupe (Ghent, 1674; London, 1879); BOLLANDISTS, Acta SS., I Oct. (based on the Processus Canonizationis (Vatican MS. 4015) also Bib. Hag. Lat. (1901); CAPGRAVE, Nova legenda Angliae (Oxford, 1901); SURIUS, De probatis sanctorum vitis (Turin, 1875-80); BUTLER, Lives of the Saints, Oct. 2; CHALLONER, Britannia sancta (London, 1745); TOUT in Dict. Nat. Biog., s.v. Cantelupe, Thomas de (giving list of the abundant medieval materials too numerous to be quoted here); HARDY, Descriptive Catalogue (for MSS. sources), I and III (London, 1862-71); Bibl. de l’ecole de chartes, IV (Paris, 1892).

EDWIN BURTON (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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St. Petronius

Early 16th Century Italian statue of St. Petronius at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. He is represented holding the city of Bologna, of which he is the patron Saint of and at the bottom is written in Latin, “Pray for us sinners.”

Early 16th Century Italian statue of St. Petronius at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. He is represented holding the city of Bologna, of which he is the patron Saint of and at the bottom is written in Latin, “Pray for us sinners.”

Bishop of Bologna, date of birth unknown; died before 450. The only certain historical information we possess concerning him is derived from a letter written by Bishop Eucherius of Lyons (died 450-5) to Valerianus (in P. L., L, 711 sqq.) and from Gennadius’ “De viris illustribus”, XLI (ed. Czapla, Münster, 1898, p. 94). Eucherius writes that the holy Bishop Petronius was then renowned in Italy for his virtues. From Gennadius we receive more detailed information: Petronius belonged to a noble family whose members occupied high positions at the imperial Court at Milan and in the provincial administrations at the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth centuries. His father (also named Petronius) was probably prœfectus prœtorio, since a Petronius filled this office in Gaul in 402-8. Eucherius seems to suggest (P. L., L, 719) that the future bishop also held an important secular position.

Even in his youth Petronius devoted himself to the practices of asceticism, and seems to have visited the Holy Places in Jerusalem, perhaps on a pilgrimage. About 432 he was elected and consecrated Bishop of Bologna, where he erected a church to St. Stephen, the building scheme of which was in imitation of the shrines on Golgotha and over the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The buildings belong approximately to the period when Leo I had basilicas erected in Rome and Galla Placidia in Ravenna. Petronius is believed to have written a work on the life of the Egyptian monks (Vitæ patrum Ægypti monachorum); the author of this work, however, is Rufinus of Aquileia. The treatise “De ordinatione episcopi”, bearing the name of Petronius as author, is by the elder Petronius, who was a man of eloquence and wide acquaintance with the secular sciences. Morin has published a sermon entitled “In die ordinationis vel Natale episcopi” (Revue bénédictine, 1897, 3 sq.), which Gennadius ascribes to Bishop Petronius of Verona, whom Czalpa holds is Petronius of Bologna, but this assignment is not certain.

the old pulpit, within the building called "Basilica del Santo Sepolcro". According to tradition St. Petronius built the Basilica over a temple of the goddess Isis. The saint wished to have a building that recalled the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

The 14th century pulpit, within the church called “Basilica del Santo Sepolcro”, built above the grave of St. Petronius. According to tradition St. Petronius built the Basilica over a temple of the goddess Isis. The saint wished to have a building that recalled the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

According to Gennadius, Petronius died during the reign of Emperor Theodosius and Valentinian, i. e., before 450. In the twelfth century appeared a legendary life of the saint, whose relics were discovered in 1141. Shortly afterwards a church was erected in his honour at Bologna; a second, planned on a large seal, was begun in 1390, and built as far as the cross-aisle. In 1659 the building was resumed and the glorious Italian-Gothic church completed as it stands to-day. The feast of St. Petronius is celebrated on 4 October.

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Acta SS., II, Oct., 454 sqq.; MELLONI, Atti o memorie di S. Petronio (Bologna, 1784); BOLLAND, Bibl. hag. lat., II (1901), 965-6; MORIN, Deux petits discours d’un évêque Petronius du Ve. siècle in Revue bénédictine (1897), 1 sqq.; CZAPLA, Gennadius als Literarhistoriker (Münster, 1898), 94 sqq.; LANZONI, San Petronio, vescovo di Bologna nella storia e nella legenda (Rome, 1907)

J. P. KIRSCH (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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The Last Will and Testament of St. Francis of Assisi

Fresco of St. Francis at Subiaco. Circa 1224.

This is how God inspired me, Brother Francis, to embark upon a life of penance. When I was in sin, the sight of lepers nauseated me beyond measure; but then God himself led me into their company, and I had pity on them. When I had once become acquainted with them, what had previously nauseated me became a source of spiritual and physical consolation for me. After that I did not wait long before leaving the world.

And God inspired me with such faith in his churches that I used to pray with all simplicity, saying, “We adore you, Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all your churches in the whole world, and we bless you, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.”

God inspired me, too, and still inspires me with such great faith in priests who live according to the laws of the holy Church of Rome, because of their dignity, that if they persecuted me, I should still be ready to turn to them for aid. And if I were as wise as Solomon and met the poorest priests of the world, I would still refuse to preach against their will in the parishes in which they live. I am determined to reverence, love and honor priests and all others as my superiors. I refuse to consider their sins, because I can see the Son of God in them and they are better than I. I do this because in this world I cannot see the most high Son of God with my own eyes, except for his most holy Body and Blood which they receive and they alone administer to others.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MontrealNotredameFromInside.jpg

“Above everything else, I want this most holy Sacrament to be honored and venerated and reserved in places which are richly ornamented.”

Above everything else, I want this most holy Sacrament to be honored and venerated and reserved in places which are richly ornamented. Whenever I find his most holy name or writings containing his words in an improper place, I make a point of picking them up, and I ask that they be picked up and put aside in a suitable place. We should honor and venerate theologians, too, and the ministers of God’s word, because it is they who give us spirit and life.

When God gave me some friars, there was no one to tell me what I should do; but the Most High himself made it clear to me that I must live the life of the Gospel. I had this written down briefly and simply and his holiness the Pope confirmed it for me. Those who embraced this life gave everything they had to the poor. They were satisfied with one habit which was patched inside and outside, and a cord, and trousers. We refused to have anything more.

The habit of St. Francis

Those of us who were clerics said the Office like other clerics, while the lay brothers said the Our Father, and we were only too glad to find shelter in abandoned churches. We made no claim to learning and we were submissive to everyone. I worked with my own hands and I am still determined to work; and with all my heart I want all the other friars to be busy with some kind of work that can be carried on without scandal. Those who do not know how to work should learn, not because they want to get something for their efforts, but to give good example and to avoid idleness. When we receive no recompense for our work, we can turn to God’s table and beg alms from door to door. God revealed a form of greeting to me, telling me that we should say, “God give you peace”.

The friars must be very careful not to accept churches or poor dwellings for themselves, or anything else built for them, unless they are in harmony with the poverty which we have promised in the Rule; and they should occupy these places only as strangers and pilgrims.

Read The Rest and His Life Here

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Ven. William Hartley

The Manner of Execution at Tyburn

Martyr; b. at Wyn, in Derbyshire, England, of a yeoman family about 1557; d. 5 October, 1588. At eighteen he matriculated at St. John’s, Oxford, where he became a chaplain. Being ejected by the vice-chancellor, Tobie Mathew, in 1579, he went to Reims in August, was ordained at Châlons, and returned to England in June, 1580. He was of great service to Fathers Persons and Campion in printing and distributing their books, but was eventually arrested, 13 August, 1581, and sent to Marshalsea Prison, London. Here he was detected saying Mass in a cell before Lord Vaux, and for this he was laid in irons (5 December, 1583). He was indicted for high treason, 7 February, 1584, but for some unknown reason, not tried. In January, 1585, he was sent into exile. He then spent some little time at Reims, recovering his health, and made a pilgrimage to Rome (15 April, 1586), before returning to his perilous mission. In September, 1588, he was arrested in Holborn, London, and, as his friend father Warford said, “being beset by the deceits of the heretics, incurred the suspicion of having apostatized. But the event showed how unjust the suspicion was; when he suffered at Tyburn he won the greatest credit for constancy. He was a man of the meekest disposition and naturally virtuous, modest, and grave, with a sober and peaceful look. His beard was blackish and his height moderate” (“Acts of English Martyrs”, cited below, 272).

Hung, Drawn and Quartered. This barbaric form of execution, popular during the reign of Elizabeth I, where they are hanged till they are almost dead, cut down, and quartered alive; after that, their members and bowels are cut from their bodies, and thrown into a fire.

The Armada year was for Catholics both the time of worst bloodshed and of the greatest dearth of news, and this explains why we know but little of Hartley’s companions. The first was a priest, the Venerable John Hewitt, son of a draper at York and a student at Caius College, Cambridge. He had once been in York prison, but was arrested in Grey’s Inn Lane, London, 10 March, 1857, going under the name of Weldon, and died under that name; this had led several early martyrologists into the curious mistake of making him into two martyrs, Hewett dying at York, and Weldon at London. Hartley’s second companion was the Venerable Robert Sutton, a tutor or schoolmaster, born at Kegworth in Leichestershire, who had practiced his profession in Paternoster Row, London. The fourth [sic] was John Harrison, alias Symons, who had carried letters from one priest to another. As he had before “been slandered to be a spy” we can guess why his fame suffered some obscurity. It is also hardly doubtful that his name, Harrison, was confounded with that of either Matthias or James Harrison, priests, who suffered martyrdom in 1599 or 1602 respectively. This perhaps explains why his name has fallen out of the process of the English martyrs, and in its place we find inserted that of Venerable Richard Williams, a “Queen Mary priest” who really suffered four years later.

The Month, January, 1879, 71-85; January, 1905, 19; Pollen, Acts of English Martyrs (London, 1891); Catholic Records Society (London, 1906, 1908), II, V; Jaeffreson, Middlesex County Records (London, 1886), II, 171, 180; Boase, Oxford registers, (Oxford, 1885-89), II, ii, 68; Challoner, Memoirs, I; Gillow, Bibl. Dict. Eng. Cath., s. v.

J.H. POLLEN (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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Francis X. Seelos

Bl. Fr. SeelosBorn at Füssen, Bavaria, 11 January, 1819; died at New Orleans, La., 4 Oct., 1867. When a child, asked by his mother what he intended to be, he pointed to the picture of his patron, St. Francis Xavier, and said: “I’m going to be another St. Francis.” He pursued his studies in Augsburg and Munich, and entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, offering himself for the American Mission; he arrived in America on 17 April, 1843. That following year, 16 May, 1844, he made his religious profession at the Redemptorist novitiate, Baltimore, and seven months later he was ordained by Archbishop Eccleston of Baltimore. He was assigned to St. James, Baltimore. In May 1845, he was sent to Pittsburg, where he had as superior Ven. John Neumann. In 1851 Father Seelos was appointed superior of the Pittsburg community, where he laboured untiringly for nine years. His confessional was constantly besieged by crowds of people of every description and class. It was said by many that he could read their very souls. From Pittsburg, he was transferred to St. Alphonsus’s, Baltimore, where he fell dangerously ill. On his recovery he was appointed prefect (spiritual director) of the professed students, and he succeeded in winning the love an esteem of all who were privleged to be under his spiritual guidance. In 1860 his name was proposed for the vacant Holy See of Pittsburg, but humbly refused the honour. The year 1862 found him again at mission work. In 1866 he was summoned to Detroit, and in September of the same year to New Orleans, Louisiana.

[Nobility.org note: he was beatified April 9, 2000.]

ZIMMER, Leben des P.F.Z. Seelos (New York, 1887); BECK, Die Redemptorists in Ammapolis (Ilchester, 1904); BENEDETTI, Album Servorum Dei, C.SS.R. (Rome, 1903); SHEA, History of the Catholic Church in the United States, I (New york, 1908).

Cornelius J. Warren (cfr. Catholic Encyclopedia)

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St. Bruno

St BrunoConfessor, ecclesiastical writer, and founder of the Carthusian Order. He was born at Cologne about the year 1030; died 6 October, 1101. He is usually represented with a death’s head in his hands, a book and a cross, or crowned with seven stars; or with a roll bearing the device O Bonitas. His feast is kept on the 6th of October.

According to tradition, St. Bruno belonged to the family of Hartenfaust, or Hardebüst, one of the principal families of the city, and it is in remembrance of this origin that different members of the family of Hartenfaust have received from the Carthusians either some special prayers for the dead, as in the case of Peter Bruno Hartenfaust in 1714, and Louis Alexander Hartenfaust, Baron of Laach, in 1740; or a personal affiliation with the order, as with Louis Bruno of Hardevüst, Baron of Laach and Burgomaster of the town of Bergues-S. Winnoc, in the Diocese of Cambrai, with whom the Hardevüst family in the male line became extinct on 22 March, 1784.

St. Bruno at the feet of Pope Urban II. Painting by Eustache Le Sueur

St. Bruno at the feet of Pope Urban II. Painting by Eustache Le Sueur

We have little information about the childhood and youth of St. Bruno. Born at Cologne, he would have studied at the city college, or collegial of St. Cunibert. While still quite young (a pueris) he went to complete his education at Reims, attracted by the reputation of the episcopal school and of its director, Heriman. There he finished his classical studies and perfected himself in the sacred sciences which at that time consisted principally of the study of Holy Scriptures and of the Fathers. He became there, according to the testimony of his contemporaries, learned both in human and in Divine science. His education completed, St. Bruno returned to Cologne, where he was provided with a canonry at St. Cunibert’s, and, according to the most probable opinion, was elevated to the priestly dignity. This was about the year 1055. In 1056 Bishop Gervais recalled him to Reims, to aid his former master Heriman in the direction of the school. The latter was already turning his attention towards a more perfect form of life, and when he at last left the world to enter the religious life, in 1057, St. Bruno found himself head of the episcopal school, or écolâtre, a post difficult as it was elevated, for it then included the direction of the public schools and the oversight of all the educational establishments of the diocese. For about twenty years, from 1057 to 1075, he maintained the prestige which the school of Reims has attained under its former masters, Remi of Auxerre, Hucbald of St. Amand, Gerbert, and lastly Heriman. Of the excellence of his teaching we have a proof in the funereal titles composed in his honour, which celebrate his eloquence, his poetic, philosophical, and above all his exegetical and theological, talents; and also in the merits of his pupils, amongst whom were Eudes of Châtillon, afterwards Urban II, Rangier, Cardinal and Bishop of Reggio, Robert, Bishop of Langres, and a large number of prelates and abbots.

St. Bruno refusing the Archbishopric. Painting by Vicente Carducho

St. Bruno refusing the Archbishopric. Painting by Vicente Carducho

In 1075 St. Bruno was appointed chancellor of the church of Reims, and had then to give himself especially to the administration of the diocese. Meanwhile the pious Bishop Gervais, friend of St. Bruno, had been succeeded by Manasses de Gournai, who quickly became odious for his impiety and violence. The chancellor and two other canons were commissioned to bear to the papal legate, Hugh of Die, the complaints of the indignant clergy, and at the Council of Autun, 1077, they obtained the suspension of the unworthy prelate. The latter’s reply was to raze the houses of his accusers, confiscate their goods, sell their benefices, and appeal to the pope. Bruno then absented himself from Reims for a while, and went probably to Rome to defend the justice of his cause.
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Henri Delassus

October 3, 2024

Msgr. Henri Delassus (1836-1921), ordained a priest in 1862, served in parishes in Valenciennes (Saint-Géry) and Lille (Sainte-Catherine and Sainte-Marie-Madeleine). He was names chaplain of the basilica Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille (Lille) in 1874, an honorary canon in 1882, and domestic prelate in 1904. In 1911 he was promoted to protonotary apostolic. In 1914 he became canon of the recently erected diocese of Lille and dean of its cathedral chapter.

Monseigneur Henri Delassus
He authored the following published works: Histoire de Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille, Patronne de Lille (1891), L’Américanisme et la conjuration antichrétienne (1899), Le problèm de l’heure présente: antagonisme de deux civilisations (2 vols., 1904), L’Enciclique Pascendi dominici gregis et la démocratie (1908), Vérités sociales et erreurs démocratiques (1909), La conjuration antichrétienne: le temple maçonnique voulant s’elever sur les ruines de l’Eglise catholique (preface by Cardinal Merry del Val) (3 vols., 1910), Condamnation du modernisme dans la censure du Sillon (1910), La question juive (extract from La conjuration antichétienne) (1911), La démocratie chrétienne: parti et école vus du diocèse de Cambrai (1911), La mission posthume de Jeanne d’Arc et le règne social de Jésus-Christ (1913), Les pourquoi de la Guerre Mondiale: réponses de la justice divine, de l’histoire, de la bonté divine (3 vols., 1919-1921).

As a journalist, he began contributing to Semaine religieuse du Diocèse de Cambrai in 1872, and he became its proprietor, director, and editor in chief in 1874. He made of this publication “a bastion against liberalism, modernism and every form of anti-Christian conspiracy in the world.” With the erection of the Diocese of Lille, this magazine assumed the name Semaine religieuse du Diocèse de Lille, becoming the official newspaper of the bishopric in 1919. Msgr. Delassus, who had been ordained a priest under Pius IX, exercised the greater part of his priestly activities under Leo XIII and Saint Pius X, dying during the pontificate of Benedict XV.

Always moved by the great concerns that marked the pontificates of Pius IX and Saint Pius X, he had an outstanding role in the ardent polemics that marked the Church’s life during these pontificates. Msgr. Delassus’s way of facing the religious, social, and political problems of Europe and America of his time was very similar to that of Pius IX and St. Pius X, whose policy he defended with intelligence, culture, and unrivaled prowess, both during the reign of these two Ponfiffs and during that of Leo XIII.

As is known, many points of the interpretation given by Leo XIII (both when Cardinal-Archbishop of Perugia and when Pope) to the general religious, social, and political panorama of Europe and America during this period did not coincide-in the measure this may happen among Popes-with the interpretation of Pius IX and Saint Pius X. The fidelity of Msgr. Delassus to the line of thought and action that he had followed under Pius IX and continued to follow during the subsequent pontificates was bound to expose him to misunderstandings, warnings, and cautionary measures on the part of the Roman Curia of Leo XIII’s time. These were probably painful to him, but he bore them with all the reverence prescribed by the Church’s laws while also using the full measure of the liberty that these laws assured him.

Pope St. Pius X
Thus, he was admonished by the local ecclesiastical authorities and by the Holy See itself on account of his attacks against the Ecclesiastical Congress of Rheims (1896) and the Congress of Christian Democracy (1897). In 1898 a letter from Father Sébastien Wyart informed him that his polemical articles displeased the Vatican. Immediately after, the Holy See asked Msgr. Delassus to cease “his refractory campaign and violent polemics.” In 1902 Cardinall Rampolla asked Bishop Sonnois of Cambrai to admonish Msgr. Delassus’s Semaine religieuse.

The ascension of Saint Pius X to the pontifical throne would considerably redress Msgr. Delassus for the displeasure he had suffered. The Holy Pontiff understood, admired, and clearly supported the valiant polemicist, who likewise unreservedly supported Saint Pius X’s anti-liberal and anti0modernist fight. In recognition of the merit of his efforts, Saint Pius X elevated the valiant priest to domestic prelate in 1904 and to protonotary apostolic in 1911. [1]

During the war, Msgr. Delassus understandably suspended his polemics in favor of national unity against the external foe, as did the French polemists of all shades. At the dawn of peace, in 1918, Msgr. Delassus relit his polemical flame. This sacred flame was extinguished shortly thereafter with his death. [2]

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Notes:
[1] On the occasion of the golden anniversary of his priestly ordination, Msgr. Delassus received the following letter from the Pontiff: “With joy We learned that within a few days you will complete fifty years of priesthood. We congratulate you wholeheartedly, asking God for every kind of prosperity to you. We feel Ourselves brought to this act of benevolence which, We know well, you merit as much by your devotion to Our person as by the unequivocal testimonies of your zeal, be it by your defense of Catholic doctrine, by your maintenance of ecclesiastical discipline, or ultimately by your sustenance of all these Catholic works so needed in our epoch. “Because of such holy works, it is with all Our heart that We bestow the deserved eulogies and grant you, with all good will, dear Son, the apostolic blessing, at once a pledge of heavenly graces and a testimony of Our benevolence.
“Given in Rome at the feet of Saint Peter on June 14, 1912, the ninth year of Our pontificate.” (signed) Pius X, Pope (Actes de Pie X [Paris: Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1936], Vol. 7, p. 238).

[2] Cf. Dictionnaire du monde religieux dans la France contemporaine, Vol. 4, Lille – Flandres (Paris: Beauchesne, 1990).

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Photo by Ian Jones

The Princess of Wales has carried out her first official work meeting since she began cancer treatment earlier this year. In another small step on her return to public life, the princess had a meeting on Tuesday in Windsor Castle about her early childhood project. It follows last week’s video message from Catherine where she revealed her relief that her chemotherapy had ended. The princess said this year had been “incredibly tough” but she had gained a “renewed sense of hope and appreciation of life”. This meeting in Windsor was recorded in the Court Circular, which lists royal engagements.

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St. Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church

A fresco of St. Jerome by Carlo Urbino on the ceiling of the altar chapel in the Cappella di sant'Aquilino in the Basilica di San Lorenzo Maggiore in Milan, Italy

A fresco of St. Jerome by Carlo Urbino on the ceiling of the altar chapel in the Cappella di sant’Aquilino in the Basilica di San Lorenzo Maggiore in Milan, Italy

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. St. Jerome had there, for tutor, the famous pagan grammarian Donatus, (well known for his commentaries on Virgil and Terence,) also Victorinus the rhetorician, who by a decree of the senate was honored with a statue in Trajan’s square.

Aelius Donatus

Aelius Donatus

In this city he became master of the Latin and Greek tongues, read the best writers in both languages with great application, and made such progress in oratory, that he for some time pleaded at the bar: but being left without a guide, under the discipline of a heathen master, in a school where an exterior regard to decency in morals was all that was aimed at, he forgot the sentiments of true piety, which had been instilled into him in his infancy, neglected sufficiently to restrain his passions, and was full only of worldly views.

Being arrived at man’s estate, and very desirous of improving his studies, he resolved upon traveling, in order to further this design.  St. Jerome in his first journeys was conducted by the divine mercy into the paths of virtue and salvation. A vehement thirst after learning put him upon making a tour through Gaul, where the Romans had erected several famous schools, especially at Marseilles, Toulouse, Bourdeaux, Autun, Lyons, and Triers. This latter was esteemed an imperial city, being in that age frequently honored with the presence of the emperors, when Rome, by the attachment of many powerful senators to idolatry, and their regret for the loss of their ancient liberty and privileges, was not so agreeable a residence to its princes. The Emperor Gratian, a learned man, and a great lover of learning, who appointed, out of his own revenue, fixed salaries for the public masters of rhetoric, and of the Greek and Latin languages in all great cities, distinguished the schools of Gaul with special favors, and above the rest, those of Triers, to whose professors he granted greater salaries than to those of other cities, and whither he drew Ausonius from Bourdeaux.

Painting of St. Jerome by Antonello da Messina

Painting of St. Jerome by Antonello da Messina

It had been St. Jerome’s greatest pleasure at Rome to collect a good library, and to read all the best authors: in this, such was his passion, that it made him sometimes forget to eat or drink. Cicero and Plautus were his chief delight. He purchased a great many books, copied several, and procured many to be transcribed by his friends. He arrived at Triers with his friend Bonosus not long before the year 370, and it was in that city that the sentiments of piety which he imbibed in his infancy, were awakened, and his heart was entirely converted to God; so that renouncing the vanity of his former pursuits, and the irregularities of his life, he took a resolution to devote himself wholly to the divine service, in a state of perpetual continence. From this time his ardor for virtue far surpassed that with which he had before applied himself to profane sciences, and he converted the course of his studies into a new channel. Being still intent on enriching his library, he copied at Triers, St. Hilary’s book On Synods, and his Commentaries on the Psalms.
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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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PROLOGUE: THE PARENTAGE & BIRTH OF MARIE FRANÇOISE THÉRÈSE MARTIN and
CHAPTER ONE – EARLIEST MEMORIES

CHAPTER II: A CATHOLIC HOUSEHOLD and
CHAPTER III: PAULINE ENTERS THE CARMEL

CHAPTER IV: FIRST COMMUNION AND CONFIRMATION and
CHAPTER V: VOCATION OF THÉRÈSE

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CHAPTER VI

A PILGRIMAGE TO ROME

Céline with St. Thérèse

Céline with St. Thérèse

Three days after the journey to Bayeux, I started on a much longer one–to the Eternal City. This journey taught me the vanity of all that passes away. Nevertheless I saw splendid monuments; I studied the countless wonders of art and religion; and better than all, I trod the very ground the Holy Apostles had trodden–the ground watered by the blood of martyrs–and my soul grew by contact with these holy things.
I was delighted to go to Rome; but I could quite understand people crediting Papa with the hope that in this way I should be brought to change my mind about the religious life. It might certainly have upset a vocation that was not very strong.

To begin with, Céline and I found ourselves in the company of many distinguished people. In fact, there were scarcely any others in the pilgrimage; but, far from being dazzled thereby, titles seemed to us but a “vapour of smoke,”[1] and I understood the words of the _Imitation:_ “Be not solicitous for the shadow of a great name.”[2] I understood that true greatness is not found in a name but in the soul. The Prophet Isaias tells us: “The Lord shall call His servants by another name,”[3] and we read in St. John: “To him that overcometh I will give a white counter, and on the counter a new name written which no man knoweth but he that receiveth it.”[4] In Heaven, therefore, we shall know our titles of nobility, and “then shall every man have praise from God,”[5] and he who on earth chose to be poorest and least known for love of his Saviour, he will be the first, the noblest, and the richest.

The second thing I learnt had to do with Priests. Up to this time I had not understood the chief aim of the Carmelite Reform. To pray for sinners delighted me; to pray for Priests, whose souls seemed pure as crystal, that indeed astonished me. But in Italy I realised my vocation, and even so long a journey was a small price to pay for such valuable knowledge. During that month I met with many holy Priests, and yet I saw that even though the sublime dignity of Priesthood raises them higher than the Angels, they are still but weak and imperfect men. And so if holy Priests, whom Our Lord in the Gospel calls the salt of the earth, have need of our prayers, what must we think of the lukewarm? Has not Our Lord said: “If the salt lose its savour wherewith shall it be salted?”[6] Oh, dear Mother, how beautiful is our vocation! We Carmelites are called to preserve “the salt of the earth.” We offer our prayers and sacrifices for the apostles of the Lord; we ourselves ought to be their apostles, while they, by word and example, are preaching the Gospel to our brethren. Have we not a glorious mission to fulfill? But I must say no more, for I feel that on this subject my pen would run on for ever.

Stones and earth from the Coliseum, the catacombs, St. Cecile's tomb, collected by St. Thérèse and Céline on the trip.

Stones and earth from the Coliseum, the catacombs, St. Cecile’s tomb, collected by St. Thérèse and Céline on the trip.

Now let me describe my journey in some detail. At three o’clock in the morning of November 4, we passed through the silent streets. Lisieux still lay shrouded in the darkness of night. I felt that I was going out into the unknown, and that great things were awaiting me in Rome. When we reached Paris, Papa took us to see all the sights. For me there was but one–Our Lady of Victories. I can never tell you what I felt at her shrine; the graces Our Lady granted me were like those of my First Communion Day. I was filled with peace and happiness. In this holy spot the Blessed Virgin, my Mother, told me plainly that it was really she who had smiled on me and cured me. With intense fervour I entreated her to keep me always, and to realise my heart’s desire by hiding me under her spotless mantle, and I also asked her to remove from me every occasion of sin.

I was well aware that during this journey I should come across things that might disturb me; knowing nothing of evil, I feared I might discover it. As yet I had not experienced that “to the pure all things are pure,”[7] that a simple and upright soul does not see evil in anything, because evil only exists in impure hearts and not in inanimate objects. I prayed specially to St. Joseph to watch over me; from my childhood, devotion to him has been interwoven with my love for our Blessed Lady. Every day I said the prayer beginning: “St. Joseph, Father and Protector of Virgins” . . . so I felt I was well protected and quite safe from danger.

We left Paris on November 7, after our solemn Consecration to the Sacred Heart in the Basilica of Montmartre.[8] Each compartment of the train was named after a Saint, and the selection was made in honour of some Priest occupying it–his own patron or that of his parish being chosen. But in the presence of all the pilgrims our compartment was named after St. Martin! My Father, deeply touched by this compliment, went at once to thank Mgr. Legoux, Vicar-General of Coutances and director of the pilgrimage. From this onwards he was often called “Monsieur Saint Martin.”

Basilica of the Sacré Cœur

Basilica of the Sacré Cœur

Father Révérony watched my behaviour closely. I could tell that he was doing so; at table, if I were not opposite to him, he would lean forward to look at me and listen to what I was saying. I think he must have been satisfied with his investigations, for, towards the end of the journey, he seemed more favourably disposed. I say towards the end, for in Rome he was far from being my advocate, as I will tell you presently. Still I would not have it thought he deceived me in any way by falling short of the good will he had shown at Bayeux. On the contrary, I am sure that he always felt kindly towards me, and that if he opposed my wishes it was only to put me to the test.

On our way into Italy we passed through Switzerland, with its high mountains, their snowy peaks lost in the clouds, its rushing torrents, and its deep valleys filled with giant ferns and purple heather. Great good was wrought in my soul by these beauties of nature so abundantly scattered abroad. They lifted it to Him Who had been pleased to lavish such masterpieces upon this transient earth.

Sometimes we were high up the mountain side, while at our feet an unfathomable abyss seemed ready to engulf us. A little later we were passing through a charming village with its cottages and graceful belfry, above which light fleecy clouds floated lazily. Farther on a great lake with its blue waters, so calm and clear, would blend with the glowing splendour of the setting sun. I cannot tell you how deeply I was impressed with this scenery so full of poetry and grandeur. It was a foretaste of the wonders of Heaven. Then the thought of religious life would come before me, as it really is, with its constraints and its little daily sacrifices made in secret. I understood how easily one might become wrapped in self and forget the sublime end of one’s vocation, and I thought: “Later on, when the time of trial comes, when I am enclosed in the Carmel and shall only be able to see a little bit of sky, I will remember this day and it will encourage me. I will make light of my own small interests by thinking of the greatness and majesty of God; I will love Him alone, and will not be so foolish as to attach myself to the fleeting trifles of this world, now that my heart has had a glimpse of what is reserved for those who love Him.”

After having contemplated the works of God, I turned next to admire those of His creatures. Milan was the first Italian town we visited, and we carefully studied its Cathedral of white marble, adorned with countless statues. Céline and I left the timid ones, who hid their faces in fear after climbing to the first stage, and, following the bolder pilgrims, we reached the top, from whence we viewed the city below. When we came down we started on the first of our expeditions; these lasted the whole month of the pilgrimage, and quite cured me of a desire to be always lazily riding in a carriage.

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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….

Don Juan of Austria

Don Juan of Austria

But be this as it may, it is certain that from the first moment of his relapse D. John understood that he was dying…. He therefore made ready to receive death with perfect, manly courage, with the dignity of a Prince and the humility of a Christian, and his first arrangement was that he should be conveyed to the fort which Gabrio Cervelloni was making a league away. He ordered himself to be carried on a stretcher by his servants, without order or arrangement, to prevent the soldiers having the grief of saying good-bye to him, and to cause no one alarm or trouble. There remained inside the surrounding wall of the fort the only part yet finished, a hut, or rather, a pigeon house, where D. Bernardino de Zúñiga, D. John’s Captain of Infantry, lodged, and there he ordered himself to be taken to disturb no one, “There was only,” says Vander Hammen, “a pigeon house to make him a chamber.” They cleared out the young pigeons, cleaned it, hung a few coverings on the ceilings and wall to exclude the light, and over them some pieces of cloth, which they sprinkled with perfumed waters, and made a wooden staircase for mounting to it. The father confessor Fr. Francisco de Orantes writes to Philip II: “He died in a hut, as poorly as a soldier, I assure Y.M. there was nothing but a cock-loft over a farm-yard, in order that in this he should imitate the poverty of Christ.”

Philip II

All this took place on Saturday, the 20th, and on Sunday, the 21st, very early in the morning, D. John ordered his confessor, Fray Francisco de Orantes, to be called, and with great humility and with much sorrow for his sins he made a general confession of his life, with the eagerness and fervor of one who is preparing to die; and although the doctors still held out hopes of saving his life, and tried to dissuade him, he asked for the Viaticum, and received it with great devotion and fervor, at a mass celebrated in his room by the Jesuit Juan Fernández. Then he sent for all his Field-Marshals to his miserable retreat, also the Councilors of State and other personages attached to the army, and before them solemnly resigned the command and gave the baton to Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma, who was present, kneeling at the foot of the bed, and so overcome and afflicted because of his great love for D. John, that he buried his forehead in the bed-clothes, and the Count de Mansfeld had to lift him up and comfort him. It was an extraordinary thing, which moved and brought tears to the eyes of all those veterans, to see that thunderbolt of war, Alexander Farnese, daring and brave and of indomitable courage, afflicted and overcome like a weak woman on receiving the supreme command from the hands of his dying friend and kinsman.

Then he directed his confessor Fr. Francisco de Orantes to declare before them all what D. John had already told him privately. That he left no will, because he possessed nothing which was not his Lord and Master the King’s. That he commended his body and soul to the King; his soul in order that the King should order suffrages to be made for the great need there was; his body that it might be buried near that of his Lord and father the Emperor, by which he should consider his services were repaid. But if this were not so, then that they should give him burial in the monastery of Our Lady of Montserrat. Item, he begged the King to look after his mother and brother. Item, to look after his servants, pay them and reward them, because he died so poor that he could not do so. “As to my personal debts and bills,” he said at the end, “they are very few and are very clear.”

Portrait by Otto van Veen

Portrait by Otto van Veen

He said this with great firmness, taking leave of them all with his hand, and himself taking leave of the things of earth to think and speak of nothing beyond those of heaven.

Subscription14.1He, however, retained Father Juan Fernández, and showing him a little manuscript book which he kept under his pillow, said these were the prayers which he recited every day, without ever missing one in his life, and as the dreadful pain in his head troubled his sight, so that he could not read, begged the father, for the love of God and for the love of him, to do him the favor of reciting them in his name. Much moved, the father promised, and, according to his own testimony, it took him a good hour to recite those prayers which the devout Prince said “every day of his life,” in the midst of the fatigues of war, the occupations of Governor, and, most difficult of all, in the midst of the dissipations of worldly pleasures. The little book was all in D. John’s writing. It began with the baby prayers he had learnt in his childhood from Doña Magdalena de Ulloa; then followed various pious exercises, and it ended with several prayers composed by D. John himself, according as he had been inspired in the course of his life, by his difficulties, his sorrows, hopes and joys, and his warm effusions of thanksgiving. In short, it was an index, showing his attitude towards God in all the events of his life, which the grateful heart of D. John daily remembered and which only the holy Father Juan Fernández had the happiness of knowing….

The illness gained ground rapidly; each day, even each hour, produced some new, strange and painful symptom. At times he was seized with fainting fits, in which he appeared to have drawn his last breath, at others with delirium of wild things and of war, in which he always imagined himself commanding in a battle, and from which he was only drawn by the names of Jesus and Mary, which Fathers Orantes and Fernández invoked in his hearing….

Photo by Mariano Benlliure

Photo by Mariano Benlliure

No one slept that night in fort or camp, and continually messengers went to and fro, bearers of sad news. At dawn Father Juan Fernández said mass at the bedside, thinking D. John unconscious, as his eyes were already closed; but being told by the confessor that the Host was being raised, he quickly took off his cap and did reverence. At nine o’clock he seemed somewhat to revive, and then he was taken with a fresh delirium, in which, with extraordinary strength, he began to get angry with the soldiers, commanding in a battle, giving orders to the battalions, calling the captains by name, sending horses flying, reproving them at times because they allowed themselves to be cut off by the enemy, calling others to victory with eyes, hands and voice, always clamoring for the Marqués de Santa Cruz, whom he called “D. Álvaro, my friend,” his guide, master, and his right hand.

“Jesus! Jesus! Mary!” implored the confessor. “Jesus! Jesus! Mary!” at last repeated D. John of Austria, and, repeating these holy names, became gradually calmer, until he sank into a profound lethargy, forerunner, doubtless, of death, with his eyes shut, his body inert, with the Crucifix of the Moors on his breast, where P. Juan Fernández had placed it, the only sign of life being his difficult, uneven breathing.

The inscription on the side of his tomb: "There was a man sent by God whose name was John."

The inscription on the side of his tomb: “There was a man sent by God whose name was John.”

They all knelt, believing that the supreme moment had come, and the two priests began to recite by turns the prayers for the dying. Suddenly, about eleven o’clock, D. John gave a great sigh, and they heard him distinctly articulate in a weak but clear, sweet, plaintive voice, like a child calling to its mother, “Aunt! Aunt! My lady Aunt!”
And this was all. For two hours the lethargy lasted, and at half-past one, without effort, trouble, or any violence, he gasped twice, and the soul of “That John sent by God” fled to His bosom to render account of the mission which had been confided to him.

Rev. Fr. Luis Coloma, The Story of Don John of Austria, trans. Lady Moreton, (New York: John Lane Company, 1912), pp. 422-428.

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Blessed Ralph Crockett

September 30, 2024

Chichester

English martyr, b. at Barton, near Farndon, Cheshire; executed at Chichester, 1 October, 1588. Educated at Cambridge, and ordained at Reims in 1585, he was captured on board ship at Littlehampton, Sussex, 19 April, 1856, with three other priests, Thomas Bramston, George Potter, and his fellow martyr, Edward James (b. at Breaston, Derbyshire, about 1557), educated at Derby Grammar School, St. John’s College, Oxford, and the English colleges at Reims and Rome; ordained by Bishop Goldwell of St. Asaph in October, 1583; all were sent up to London and committed to prison 27 April, 1586.

Stained glass window of Bl. Edward James in St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Bridge Gate, Derby. Photo by Singhson67.

After the failure of the Armada the Government determined to revenge itself on some of the priests in its custody. Crockett and James with two others, John Oven and Francis Edwardes, were selected for trial, which took place at Chichester on 30 September, 1588. All were condemned to death, under 27 Eliz. c. 2, for being priests and coming into the realm; but Oven on taking the oath of supremacy was respited. The other three were drawn on one hurdle to Broyle Heath, near Chichester, where Edwardes recanted, but the other two suffered with great constancy after absolving each other.
John B. Wainewright (Catholic Encyclopedia)

[He was beatified in 1929 by Pope Pius XI.]

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St. Leodegar

(also Leger or Leodegarius)

St. Leodegar

Bishop of Autun, born about 615; died a martyr in 678, at Sarcing, Somme.

His mother was called Sigrada, and his father Bobilo. His parents being of high rank, his early childhood was passed at the court of Clotaire II.

He went later to Poitiers, to study under the guidance of his uncle, the bishop of that town. Having given proof of his learning and virtue, and feeling a liking for the priestly life, his uncle ordained him deacon, and associated him with himself in the government of the diocese. Shortly afterwards he became a priest and with the bishop’s approval withdrew to the monastery of St. Maxentius in 650. He was soon elected abbot and signalized himself by reforming the community and introducing the Rule of St. Benedict.

The martyrdom of St. Leger, Bishop of Autun: his eyes are pierced with a drill. From a picture Bible, circa 1200.

The martyrdom of St. Leger, Bishop of Autun: his eyes are pierced with a drill. From a picture Bible, circa 1200.

In 656 he was called to the court by the widowed Queen Bathildis to assist in the government of the kingdom and in the education of her children. In reward for his services he was named to the Bishopric of Autun in 610. He again undertook the work of reform and held a council at Autun in 661. It dealt a crushing blow to Manichæism and was the first to adopt the Creed of St. Athanasius. He made reforms among the secular clergy and the religious communities, and he impressed on all pastors the importance of preaching and of administering the sacraments, especially baptism. For this purpose the bishop had three baptisteries erected in the town. The church of Saint-Nazaire was enlarged and embellished, and a refuge established for the indigent. Leodegar also caused the public buildings to be repaired and the old Roman walls to be restored. The latter still exist and are among the finest specimens preserved.

Subscription18Serious trouble soon arose in the state. The Austrasians demanded a king and young Childeric II was sent to them through the influence of Ebroin, the mayor of the palace in Neustria. The latter was practically a ruler and desired to get rid of all who thwarted his plans. The queen withdrew from the court to an abbey she had founded at Chelles, near Paris. On the death of Clotaire III, in 670, Ebroin raised Thierry to the throne, but Leodegar and the other bishops supported the claims of his elder brother Childeric, who, by the help of the Austrasians and Burgundians, was eventually made king. Ebroin was exiled to Luxeuil and Thierry sent to St. Denis. Leodegar remained at court, guiding the young king. When the bishop protested against the marriage of Childeric and his first cousin, he also was sent to Luxeuil, his enemies representing him to the king as a conspirator. Childeric II was murdered at Bondi in 673, by a Frank whom he had maltreated. Thierry III now ascended the throne in Neustria, making Leudesius his mayor. Leodegar and Ebroin hastened from Luxeuil to the court. In a short time Ebroin caused Leudesius to be murdered and became mayor. He vowed vengeance on the bishop, whom he looked on as the cause of his imprisonment. About 675 the Duke of Champagne and the Bishops of Chalons and Valence stirred up by Ebroin, attacked Autun. To save the town, Leodegar surrendered to them. He was brutally treated and his eyes put out, the sockets being seared with red-hot irons. Ebroin’s bloodthirsty instincts were not yet satiated; he caused the holy bishop’s lips to be cut off and his tongue to be torn out. Some years later he persuaded the king that Childeric had been assassinated at the instigation of Leodegar. The bishop was seized again, and, after a mock trial, was degraded and condemned. He was led out into a forest by Ebroin’s order and murdered.

death of St. Leodegar

His testament drawn up at the time of the council as well as the Acts of the council, are preserved. A letter which he caused to be sent to his mother after his mutilation is likewise extant. His relics, which had been at Sarcing in Artois, were translated to the Abbey of St. Maxentius at Poitiers in 782. Later they were removed to Rennes and thence to Ebreuil, which place took the name of Saint-Léger. Some of them are still kept in the cathedral of Autun and the Grand Séminaire of Soissons. In 1458 Cardinal Rolin caused his feast day to be observed as a holiday of obligation.

PITRA, Histoire de Léger (Paris, 1846); BENNETT in Dict. Christ. Biog., s.v. Leodegarius; FAURIEL, Histoire de la Gaule méridionale, II (Paris 1836), 461-473; GUIZOT,Collection des mémoires relatifs ý l’histoire de France, II (Paris 1823), 325; GUŠRIN, Vie des saints, XI (Paris, 1880), 619-47; MABILLON, Acta SS. O.S.B., II (Paris. 1669), 680-705; P.L., XCVI, 377-84; CXIII, 373; CXXIV, 529; Analecta Bollandiana, XI (Brussels, 1892), 104-10; KAULEN in Kirchenlex., s.v.

A.A. MACERLEAN (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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That every individual soul has a guardian angel has never been defined by the Church, and is, consequently, not an article of faith; but it is the “mind of the Church”, as St. Jerome expressed it: “how great the dignity of the soul, since each one has from his birth an angel commissioned to guard it.” (Comm. in Matt., xviii, lib. II).

Guardian Angel with sword and crown. Work in 1466, destroyed in 1936, during the Spanish Civil War. It was commissioned by the city of Barcelona to commemorate the end of plague.

Guardian Angel with sword and crown. Work in 1466, destroyed in 1936, during the Spanish Civil War. It was commissioned by the city of Barcelona to commemorate the end of plague.

This belief in guardian angels can be traced throughout all antiquity; pagans, like Menander and Plutarch (cf. Euseb., “Praep. Evang.”, xii), and Neo-Platonists, like Plotinus, held it. It was also the belief of the Babylonians and Assyrians, as their monuments testify, for a figure of a guardian angel now in the British Museum once decorated an Assyrian palace, and might well serve for a modern representation; while Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar the Great, says: “He (Marduk) sent a tutelary deity (cherub) of grace to go at my side; in everything that I did, he made my work to succeed.”

Detail of the painting by Blessed Fra Angelico of the Archangel Gabriel.

Detail of the painting by Blessed Fra Angelico of the Archangel Gabriel.

In the Bible this doctrine is clearly discernible and its development is well marked. In Genesis 28-29, angels not only act as the executors of God’s wrath against the cities of the plain, but they deliver Lot from danger; in Exodus 12-13, an angel is the appointed leader of the host of Israel, and in 32:34, God says to Moses: “my angel shall go before thee.” At a much later period we have the story of Tobias, which might serve for a commentary on the words of Psalm 90:11: “For he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways.” (Cf. Psalm 33:8 and 34:5.) Lastly, in Daniel 10 angels are entrusted with the care of particular districts; one is called “prince of the kingdom of the Persians”, and Michael is termed “one of the chief princes”; cf. Deuteronomy 32:8 (Septuagint); and Ecclesiasticus 17:17 (Septuagint).

This sums up the Old Testament doctrine on the point; it is clear that the Old Testament conceived of God’s angels as His ministers who carried out his behests, and who were at times given special commissions, regarding men and mundane affairs. There is no special teaching; the doctrine is rather taken for granted than expressly laid down; cf. II Machabees 3:25; 10:29; 11:6; 15:23.

The Archangels, part of the Last Judgement painting by Blessed Fra Angelico.

The Archangels, part of the Last Judgement painting by Blessed Fra Angelico.

But in the New Testament the doctrine is stated with greater precision. Angels are everywhere the intermediaries between God and man; and Christ set a seal upon the Old Testament teaching: “See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:10). A twofold aspect of the doctrine is here put before us: even little children have guardian angels, and these same angels lose not the vision of God by the fact that they have a mission to fulfil on earth.

Without dwelling on the various passages in the New Testament where the doctrine of guardian angels is suggested, it may suffice to mention the angel who succoured Christ in the garden, and the angel who delivered St. Peter from prison. Hebrews 1:14 puts the doctrine in its clearest light: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them, who shall receive the inheritance of salvation?” This is the function of the guardian angels; they are to lead us, if we wish it, to the Kingdom of Heaven.

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The Crusades – Part VII

September 26, 2024

I. Origin of the Crusades;

II. Foundation of Christian states in the East;

III. First destruction of the Christian states (1144-87);

IV. Attempts to restore the Christian states and the crusade against Saint-Jean d’Acre (1192-98);

V. The crusade against Constantinople (1204);

VI. The thirteenth-century crusades (1217-52);

Michael VIII Palaiologos

Michael VIII Palæologus, Emperor of Nicæa

VII. FINAL LOSS OF THE CHRISTIAN COLONIES OF THE EAST (1254-91)

No longer aided by funds from the West, and rent by internal disorders, the Christian colonies owed their temporary salvation to the changes in Mussulman policy and the intervention of the Mongols. The Venetians drove the Genoese from Saint-Jean d’Acre and treated the city as conquered territory; in a battle where Christians fought against Christians, and in which Hospitallers were pitted against Templars, 20,000 men perished. In revenge the Genoese allied themselves with Michael Palæologus, Emperor of Nicæa, whose general, Alexius Strategopulos, had now no trouble in entering Constantinople and overthrowing the Latin Emperor, Baldwin II, 25 July, 1261. The conquest of the Caliphate of Bagdad by the Mongols (1258) and their invasion of Syria, where they seized Aleppo and Damascus, terrified both Christians and Mohammedans; but the Mameluke ameer, Bibars the Arbelester, defeated the Mongols and wrested Syria from them in September, 1260. Proclaimed sultan in consequence of a conspiracy, in 1260, Bibars began a merciless war on the remaining Christian states. In 1263 he destroyed the church at Nazareth; in 1265 took Cæsarea and Jaffa, and finally captured Antioch (May, 1268). The question of a crusade was always being agitated in the West, but except among men of a religious turn of mind, like St. Louis, there was no longer any earnestness in the matter among European princes. They looked upon a crusade as a political instrument, to be used only when it served their own interests. To prevent the preaching of a crusade against Constantinople, Michael Palæologus promised the pope to work for the union of the Churches; but Charles of Anjou, brother of St. Louis, whom the conquest of the Two Sicilies had rendered one of the most powerful princes of Christendom, undertook to carry out for his own benefit the Eastern designs hitherto cherished by the Hohenstaufen.

Charles de France, comte d'Anjou, brother of King St. Louis IX of France.

Charles de France, comte d’Anjou, brother of King St. Louis IX of France.

While Mary of Antioch, granddaughter of Amaury II, bequeathed him the rights she claimed to have to the crown of Jerusalem, he signed the treaty of Viterbo with Baldwin II (27 May, 1267), which assured him eventually the inheritance of Constantinople. In no wise troubled by these diplomatic combinations, St. Louis thought only of the crusade. In a parliament held at Paris, 24 March, 1267, he and his three sons took the cross, but, despite his example, many knights resisted the exhortations of the preacher Humbert de Romans. On hearing the reports of the missionaries, Louis resolved to land at Tunis, whose prince he hoped to convert to Christianity. It has been asserted that St. Louis was led to Tunis by Charles of Anjou, but instead of encouraging his brother’s ambition the saint endeavoured to thwart it. Charles had tried to take advantage of the vacancy of the Holy See between 1268 and 1271 in order to attack Constantinople, the negotiations of the popes with Michael Palæologus for religious union having heretofore prevented him. St. Louis received the embassy of the Greek emperor very graciously and ordered Charles of Anjou to join him at Tunis. The crusaders, among whom was Prince Edward of England, landed at Carthage 17 July, 1270, but the plague broke out in their camp, and on 25 August, St. Louis himself was carried off by the scourge. Charles of Anjou then concluded a treaty with the Mohammedans, and the crusaders reimbarked. Prince Edward alone, determined to fulfil his vow, and set out for Saint-Jean d’Acre; however, after a few razzias on Saracenic territory, he concluded a truce with Bibars.

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Confederate General Robert E. Lee in 1863.

A new student once asked President Lee for a copy of the rules of Washington College. Lee replied, “Young gentleman, we have no printed rules. We have but one rule here, and it is that every student must be a gentleman.”
What did Lee mean when he used the word “gentleman?” Found among his papers after his death was the following statement:

“…the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages over others is the test of a true gentleman.

Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant Painting By English School

“The power which the strong have over the weak, the magistrate over the citizen, the employer over the employed, the educated over the unlettered, the experienced over the confiding, even the clever over the silly—the forbearing or inoffensive use of all this power or authority, or a total absence from it when the case admits it, will show the gentleman in plain light. The gentleman does not needlessly or unnecessarily remind an offender of a wrong he may have committed against him. He can not only forgive, he can forget; and he strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which impart sufficient strength to let the past be the past.

“A true gentleman of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others.

A very interesting statement, this…

Lee’s one-rule standard produced the honor system, which soon became the practical definition of a “gentleman” at Washington College. A gentleman does not lie, cheat, or steal; nor does a gentleman tolerate lying, cheating, or dishonesty in those persons claiming to be gentlemen.

Washington College at Lexington, lithograph, by Henry Howe.

Emory M. Thomas, Robert E. Lee: A biography (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1995), p. 397 (Emphasis in the original.)

Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 199

Nobility.org Editorial comment: —

A moral code of honor undergirds the true gentleman.
Consequently, and even though he may not have this in the forefront of his mind, the gentleman acts as though he understood clearly that his life unfolds in the presence of God, Who sees and judges each of our thoughts, actions, and omissions.
A true gentleman’s self-respect will make him live by this moral code of honor even in private or faraway settings where no one from his social milieu can possibly discover what he says or does.
This higher excellence that the gentleman is constantly striving to attain comes with a great advantage: It insulates and safeguards him from the pressures of his peers and society. No gentleman caves in and compromises on his principles in order to please others. This higher moral code of honor is his sole standard of conduct.

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Fr. Frederick William Faber

September 26, 2024

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 […]

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September 27 – Fr. Peter Skarga: Court Preacher

September 26, 2024

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 […]

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Good King Wenceslaus

September 26, 2024

(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 […]

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Saint Michael the Archangel, Model of the Perfect Knight

September 26, 2024

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira                              September 28, 1966 (*) The Catholic calendar reads: Saint Michael, Prince of the Heavenly Host fought the rebel angels in the heavenly battle. He continues to lead the battle to free us from the devil. Our guardian angels depend on him. He is the custodian angel of the Church and […]

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September 29 – The Angelic Inspiration of Chivalry

September 26, 2024

Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael _____________________ 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 […]

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Are Museums Sepulchers for Culture?

September 26, 2024

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira   Who has not felt the frustration that typically assails one after visiting a large museum? Wandering through the rooms and galleries where rare objects and masterpieces are exhibited, the soul expands and is enriched by the contemplation of a thousand marvels. Yet, at the same time, a sensation of […]

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September 23 – Pioneer missionary of the Flatheads

September 23, 2024

Gregorio Mengarini Pioneer missionary of the Flathead tribe and philologist of their language, b. in Rome, 21 July, 1811; d. at Santa Clara, California, 23 September, 1886. He entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1828, when barely seventeen, and later served as instructor in grammar, for which his philological bent particularly fitted him, at Rome, Medina, […]

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September 24 – Founding Father

September 23, 2024

Fr. François Vaillant de Gueslis Jesuit missionary, born at Orleans, 20 July, 1646; died at Moulins, 24 Sept., 1718. He entered the Society of Jesus, 10 Nov., 1665; came to Canada in 1670; and was ordained priest at Quebec, 1 Dec., 1675. He first evangelized the Mohawks (1679-84). In the beginning of 1688 he was […]

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The Counter-Revolution and Non-Catholics

September 23, 2024

[previous] 10. The Counter-Revolution and Non-Catholics May the Counter-Revolution accept the cooperation of non-Catholics? Are there counter-revolutionary Protestants, Moslems, and others? The answer must be carefully nuanced. There is no authentic Counter-Revolution outside the Church.1 But it is conceivable that certain Protestants or Moslems, for instance, are in a state of soul in which they […]

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September 24 – Our Lady of Ransom

September 23, 2024

Feast of Our Lady of Ransom (also known as Our Lady of Mercy) 24 September commemorates the foundation of the Mercedarians. [Nobility.org note: The most current historical dates and facts can be found in the Mercedarian history book, available here: http://orderofmercy.org/charism.html] On 10 August, 1223, the Mercedarian Order was legally constituted at Barcelona by King […]

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One Should Not Excite Animosity Against the Rich, Inciting the Masses to the Inversion of Order in Society

September 23, 2024

In a letter of June 5, 1929, to the Most Reverend Achille Liénart, Bishop of Lille, the Sacred Congregation of the Council recalls principles of Catholic social doctrine and practical directives of a moral order, issued from the supreme ecclesiastical authority. “Those who boast of the name Christian, be they taken in isolation or as […]

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The Crusading Knight: A Serious Man Who Wages War for the Faith and Races Toward Danger

September 23, 2024

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Chivalry is the spiritual and psychological attitude of a warrior who takes his condition as a warrior to its final consequences. He is a serious Catholic warrior. He fights first and foremost for the holy Catholic Faith. Secondly, when he wages war he does it seriously, at the risk of […]

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September 25 – St. Aunarius

September 23, 2024

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 […]

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The Opinion of the Catholic Church

September 19, 2024

The old and rural society, with its patriarchal families, merited the following words from Pope Pius XII in his speech to the Men of Italian Catholic Action: Especially in some regions a magnificent example is given by those families, rightly called patriarchal, in which the spirit of the deceased grandfather still survives. It is a […]

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A dethroned Queen’s dignity amidst defeat

September 19, 2024

Queen Marie Caroline’s last days were profoundly sad. After a perilous journey of more than seven months she reached Vienna, where she had asked an asylum from the Emperor Francis, who had been her son-in-law. One of her daughters, Princess Marie Thérèse (born June 6, 1772; married September 19, 1790; died April 13, 1807), was […]

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September 19 – St. Januarius

September 19, 2024

St. Januarius Martyr, Bishop of Beneventum. St. Januarius is believed to have suffered in the persecution of Diocletian, c. 305. With regard to the history of his life and martyrdom, we know next to nothing. The various collections of “Acts”, though numerous (cf. Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina, n. 4115-4140), are all extremely late and untrustworthy. Bede […]

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Regenerating a Culture of Leadership

September 19, 2024

In face of the present crisis, there are plenty of people who have leadership qualities and succeed fabulously in what they do. There are also plenty of people who need help and direction in dealing with the huge problems we face. What is missing is a way to unite the two groups. We need to […]

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September 20 – “Threats do not terrify me”

September 19, 2024

Pope St. Agapetus I (Also AGAPITUS.) Reigned 535-536. Date of birth uncertain; died 22 April, 536. He was the son of Gordianus, a Roman priest who had been slain during the riots in the days of Pope Symmachus. His first official act was to burn in the presence of the assembled clergy the anathema which […]

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September 20 – Bl. Margaret Colona

September 19, 2024

Bl. Margaret Colona Poor Clare, born in Rome, date uncertain; died there, 20 September, 1284. Her parents died in Rome when she was still a young girl, and she was left to the care of her two brothers, the youngest of whom was raised to the cardinalate by Nicholas III in 1278. Having resolutely refused […]

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September 21 – Victim of intrigue

September 19, 2024

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 – Saint Emmeram

September 19, 2024

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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Respect Makes Life Delightful

September 16, 2024

To respect and be respected is more important than to love and be loved. The soul that admires respectability with seriousness and veneration itself becomes respectable. The limits inherent in intimacy render it charming. Distance, respect, and ceremony make life agreeable. Respect makes life delightful. Egalitarianism is a wall that, when demolished, can change the […]

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The pope who exacted tribute from the Mohammedan ruler of Tunis

September 16, 2024

Pope Blessed Victor III Born in 1026 or 1027 of a non-regnant branch of the Lombard dukes of Benevento; died in Rome, 16 Sept., 1087. Being an only son his desire to embrace the monastic state was strenuously opposed by both his parents. After his father’s death in battle with the Normans, 1047, he fled […]

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September 16 – Wilton Abbey and its patroness St. Edith

September 16, 2024

A Benedictine convent in Wiltshire, England, three miles from Salisbury. A first foundation was made as a college of secular priests by Earl Wulstan of Wiltshire, about 773, but was after his death (800) changed into a convent for 12 nuns by his widow, St. Alburga, sister of King Egbert. Owing to the consent given […]

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Noble calm in all controversy, even when correcting the pope

September 16, 2024

St. Robert Francis Romulus Bellarmine (Also, “Bellarmino”). A distinguished Jesuit theologian, writer, and cardinal, born at Montepulciano, 4 October, 1542; died 17 September, 1621. His father was Vincenzo Bellarmino, his mother Cinthia Cervini, sister of Cardinal Marcello Cervini, afterwards Pope Marcellus II. He was brought up at the newly founded Jesuit college in his native […]

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September 17 – St. Peter of Arbues

September 16, 2024

(Correctly, PETER ARBUES). Born in 1441 (or 1442); died 17 Sept., 1485. His father, a nobleman, was Antonio Arbues, and his mother’s name was Sancia Ruiz. He studied philosophy, probably at Huesca, but later went to Bologna, where in the Spanish college of St. Clement he was regarded as a model of learning and piety, […]

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September 17 – Viollet-Le-Duc

September 16, 2024

Viollet-Le-Duc, Eugène-emmanuel, architect, archeologist, and author, b. in Paris, January 27, 1814; d. at Lausanne, September 17, 1879. He gained a high reputation by his intelligent comprehension of medieval Gothic architecture and by his restorations of structures built in this style. He was a pupil of Leclere; he made long journeys for the purpose of […]

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September 18 – His funeral was the first time the US Congress went to Mass

September 16, 2024

Phillippe-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Tronson Du Coudray Soldier, born at Reims, France, 8 September, 1738; died at Philadelphia, U.S.A., 11 September, 1777. He was educated for the army and showed great merit as an engineer. He was adjutant­ general of artillery and considered one of the best military experts in France when, in 1776, he volunteered to go to […]

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Charlemagnes give rise to Rolands

September 16, 2024

During the Middle Ages, it was usual for French soldiers as they marched to sing the Chanson de Roland (Song of Roland) which exalts the valor of Charlemagne. One day, hearing his troops signing, John II, a weakly king, stated: “It’s been a long time since a Roland appeared among French soldiery.” It’s been a […]

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The Marquess of Pontelena checks the absolutism of Joseph I, King of Portugal

September 12, 2024

Being in conversation with some nobles, Joseph I, King of Portugal, commented on a monarch’s authority over his subjects. The Marquis of Pontelena dared to suggest that there are limits to that power. The king, not willing to admit any such checks, retorted: “If I were to order you to throw yourself into the sea, […]

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The Crusades – Part VI

September 12, 2024

I. Origin of the Crusades; II. Foundation of Christian states in the East; III. First destruction of the Christian states (1144-87); IV. Attempts to restore the Christian states and the crusade against Saint-Jean d’Acre (1192-98); V. The crusade against Constantinople (1204); VI. THE THIRTEENTH-CENTURY CRUSADES (1217-52) In Europe, however, the preaching of the crusade met […]

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September 12 – Beheaded after a false accusation

September 12, 2024

Flavius Marcellinus Date of birth unknown; died 12 September, 413. He was a high official (tribunus et notarius) at the court of Emperor Honorius, and possessed the confidence of his imperial master owing to his good sense, and unblemished conduct. In 411 Honorius sent him to Africa as plenipotentiary judge, to preside and pass sentence […]

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The Holy Name of the Virgin Mary; in thanksgiving for the victory over the Turks at Vienna

September 12, 2024

The Festival of the Holy Name of the Virgin Mary Pope Innocent XI extended this feast to the universal Church as a solemn thanksgiving for the relief of Vienna, when it was besieged by the Turks in 1683. The Turks had formerly laid siege to Vienna, under Solyman the Magnificent, in 1529, in the reign […]

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The Crusading Bagel

September 12, 2024

Several nations claim the bagel as their own, but none of the accounts on the origins of this tasty roll are as epic as the Polish. The Poles tell us that the bagel was invented by a grateful Jewish baker in a rescued and half-destroyed Vienna. He wanted to honor King John Sobieski of Poland […]

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September 13 – He had a mouth of gold

September 12, 2024

St. John Chrysostom (Chrysostomos, “golden-mouthed” so called on account of his eloquence). Doctor of the Church, born at Antioch, c. 347; died at Commana in Pontus, 14 September, 407. John — whose surname “Chrysostom” occurs for the first time in the “Constitution” of Pope Vigilius (cf. P.L., LX, 217) in the year 553 — is […]

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September 14 – Pope Adrian VI

September 12, 2024

Adrian VI, Pope, the last pontefice barbaro (Guicciardini, XIV, v), and the only pope of modern times, except Marcellus II, who retained his baptismal name. succeeded Pope Leo X, from 9 January, 1522, to 14 September, 1523. He was born of humble parentage in Utrecht, 2 March, 1459. He lost his pious father, Florentius Dedel, […]

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September 15 – The noble apostle of purgatory

September 12, 2024

St. Catherine of Genoa (also known as Caterina Fieschi Adorno.) Born at Genoa in 1447, died at the same place 15 September, 1510. The life of St. Catherine of Genoa may be more properly described as a state than as a life in the ordinary sense. When about twenty-six years old she became the subject […]

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September 9 – St. Omer

September 9, 2024

St. Omer Born of a distinguished family towards the close of the sixth or the beginning of the seventh century, at Guldendal, Switzerland; died c. 670. After the death of his mother, he, with his father, entered the monastery of Luxeuil in the Diocese of Besançon probably about 615. Under the direction of Saint Eustachius, […]

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St. Pulcheria, Empress, and her husband Marcian

September 9, 2024

St. Pulcheria Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire, eldest daughter of the Emperor Arcadius, born 19 Jan., 399; died in 453. After the death of Arcadius (408), her younger brother, Theodosius II, then only seven, became emperor under the guardianship of Anthimus. Pulcheria had matured early and had great administrative ability; she soon exerted salutary […]

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September 10 – Model of chastity

September 9, 2024

St. Nicholas of Tolentino Born at Sant’ Angelo, near Fermo, in the March of Ancona, about 1246; d. 10 September, 1306. He is depicted in the black habit of the Hermits of St. Augustine — a star above him or on his breast, a lily, or a crucifix garlanded with lilies, in his hand. Sometimes, […]

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