Nobility and Analogous Traditional Elites

March 30 – St. John Climacus

March 30, 2026

St. John Climacus

Also surnamed SCHOLASTICUS, and THE SINAITA, born doubtlessly in Syria, about 525; died on Mount Sinai. 30 March, probably in 606, according the credited opinion — others say 605.

St. John Climacus

Although his education and learning fitted him to live in an intellectual environment, he chose, while still young, to abandon the world for a life of solitude. The region of Mount Sanai was then celebrated for the holiness of the monks who inhabited it; he betook himself thither and trained himself to the practice of the Christian virtues under the direction of a monk named Martyrius. After the death of Martyrius John, wishing to practise greater mortifications, withdrew to a hermitage at the foot of the mountain. In this isolation he lived for some twenty years, constantly studying the lives of the saints and thus becoming one of the most learned doctors of the Church.

In 600, when he was about seventy-five years of age, the monks of Sinai persuaded him to put himself at their head. He acquitted himself of his functions as abbot with the greatest wisdom, and his reputation spread so far that the pope (St. Gregory the Great) wrote to recommend himself to his prayers, and sent him a sum of money for the hospital of Sinai, in which the pilgrims were wont to lodge. Four years later he resigned his charge and returned to his hermitage to prepare for death.

St. John Climacus

St. John Climacus has left us two important works: the “Scala [Klimax] Paradisi”, from which his surname comes, composed at the request of John, Abbot of Raithu, a monastery situated on the shores of the Red Sea; and the “Liber ad Pastorem”. The “Scala”, which obtained an immense popularity and has made its author famous in the Church, is addressed to anchorites and cenobites, and treats of the means by which the highest degree of religious perfection may be attained. Divided into thirty parts, or “steps”, in memory of the thirty years of the hidden life of Christ, the Divine model of the religious, it presents a picture of all the virtues and contains a. great many parables and historical touches, drawn principally from the monastic life, and exhibiting the practical application of the precepts. At the same time, as the work is mostly written in a concise, sententious form, with the aid of aphorisms, and as the reasonings are not sufficiently closely connected, it is at times somewhat obscure. This explains its having been the subject of various commentaries, even in very early’ times. The most ancient of the manuscripts containing the “Scala” is found in the Bibliothèque Rationale in Paris, and was probably brought from Florence by Catharine de’ Medici. In some of these manuscripts the work bears the title of “Spiritual Tables” (Plakes pneumatikai). It was translated into Latin by Ambrogio the Camaldolese (Ambrosius Camaldulensis) (Venice, 1531 and 1569; Cologne, 1583, 1593, with a commentary by Denis the Carthusian; and 1601, 8vo). The Greek of the “Scala”, with the scholia of Elias, Archbishop of Crete, and also the text of the “Liber ad Pastoem”, were published by Matthæus Raderus with a Latin translation (fol., Paris, 1633). The whole is reproduced in P.G., LXXXVIII (Paris, 1860), 5791248. Translations of the “Scala” have been published in Spanish by Louis of Granada (Salamanca, 1551), in Italian (Venice, 1585), in modern Greek by Maximus Margunius, Bishop of Cerigo (Venice, 1590), and in French by Arnauld d’Andilly (12mo, Paris, 1688). The last-named of these translations is preceded by a life of the saint by Le Maistre de Sacy. There is also in existence an ancient life of the saint by a monk named Daniel.

Acta SS., III, March, 834-5; CEILLIER Hist. Gén. des auteurs sacrés et ecclés., XVII (Paris, 1750), 569-96; FABRICIUS, Bibl. Græca, VIII (Hamburg, 1717), 615-20; KRUMBACHER, Gesch byz. Litt. (Munich, 1897), 143-4; SURIUS, Vitæ SS., II (Vernice, 1681), 133.

LÉON CLUGNET (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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March 31 – Saint Eulogius of Alexandria

March 30, 2026

Saint Eulogius of Alexandria

St. Eulogius of Alexandria

Patriarch of that see from 580 to 607.
He was a successful combatant of the heretical errors then current in Egypt, notably the various phases of Monophysitism. He was a warm friend of St. Gregory the Great, corresponded with him, and received from that pope many flattering expressions of esteem and admiration. Among other merits the pope makes special mention of his defense of the primacy of the Roman See (Baronius, Ann. Eccl., ad an. 597, no. 9) Eulogius refuted the Novatians, some communities of which ancient sect still existed in his diocese, and vindicated the hypostatic union of the two natures in Christ, against both Nestorius and Eutyches. Baronius (ad ann. 600, no. 5) says that Gregory wished Eulogius to survive him, recognizing in him the voice of truth. It has been rightly said that he restored for a brief period to the church of Alexandria that life and youthful vigor characteristic of those churches only which remain closely united to Rome. Besides the above works and a commentary against the various sects of the Monophysites (Severians, Theodosians, Cainites, Acephali) he left eleven discourses in defense of Leo I and the council of Chalcedon, also a work against the Agnoeti, submitted by him before publication to Gregory I, who after some observations authorized it unchanged. With exception of one sermon and a few fragments all the writings of Eulogius have perished.
M. J. MCNEAL (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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March 31 – St. Balbina

March 30, 2026

St. Balbina

Santa Balbina Basilica in Rome

Memorials of a St. Balbina are to be found at Rome in three different spots which are connected with the early Christian antiquities of that city. In the purely legendary account of the martyrdom of St. Alexander (acta SS., Maii, I, 367 sqq.) mention is made of a tribune Quirinus who died a martyr and was buried in the catacomb of Praetextatus on the Via Appia. His grace was regarded with great veneration and is referred to in the old itineraries (guides for pilgrims) of the Roman catacombs. Tradition said that his daughter Balbina, who had been baptized by St. Alexander who had passed her life unmarried, was buried after death near her father in the same catacomb. The feast of St. Balbina is celebrated 31 March. Usuardus speaks of her in his martyrology; his account of St. Balbina rests on the record of the martyrdom of St. Alexander. There is another Balbina whose name was given to a catacomb (coem. Balbinae) which lay between the Via Appia and the Via Ardeatina not far from the little church called Domine quo vadis. Over this cemetery a basilica was erected in the fourth century by Pope Mark. There still exists on the little Aventine in the city itself the old title of St. Balbina, first mentioned in an epitaph of the sixth century and in the signatures to a Roman council (595) of the time of Pope Gregory I. This church was erected in a large ancient hall. Its titular saint is supposed to be identical with the St. Balbina who was buried in the catacomb of Praetextatus and whose bones together with those of her father were brought here at a later date. It is not certain, however, that the two names refer to the same person.

J.P. KIRSCH (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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Eggs Florentine – Stimulating the love of excellence in society is an important element of the nobility’s mission

March 30, 2026

Marriage of the future Henry II of France and Catherine de’ Medici

When Catherine de Medici―who became Queen of France 465 years ago, on March 31, 1547―left behind her native Florence in order to marry Henry, the second son of Francis I, she brought some expert chefs with her. Their culinary productions were well received at the French court and the French nobility helped spread their fame to the rest of the realm. Years later, like so many of France’s finest elaborations, these recipes were warmly welcomed around the world.

Portrait of Catherine de’ Medici

One of these dishes attributed to Queen Catherine’s chefs is Eggs Florentine.

Popular recipes quickly unfold into dozens of pleasant variations. The pictures in this post show some of the many other ways Eggs Florentine can be prepared and served.

Eggs Florentine Porfilio

Serves 9

Part I:

1 ½ lbs of bacon

2 10 ounce packages of frozen spinach

15 eggs

2 cups of Cottage Cheese

8 ounces of grated Swiss cheese

8 ounces of Feta cheese

4 ounces (1/2 stick) of butter

1 1/3 tbsp of nutmeg

Salt to taste

Part II:

2 tbsp of butter

4 tbsp of flour

2 cups of milk

8 ounces of shredded Monterey Jack cheese

½ tsp of salt

¼ tsp dry mustard

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Part I – the eggs and spinach bed:

Thaw the spinach a few hours before.

Bake or fry the bacon until well done. Cut or crumble bacon into small pieces. (This can be done the day before.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Butter a 13 x 9 casserole dish.

Cook the spinach for three or four minutes in a saucepan (no need to add any water). Drain well, pressing hard to remove as much liquid as possible.

Put the cooked spinach into a mixing bowl. Add the bacon, cottage cheese, Swiss and Feta cheeses, melted butter and nutmeg. Mix until well blended. Pour spinach and cheese mix into the buttered casserole dish.

Level out the spinach mix. With a soup spoon carefully make 15 holes in the spinach mix. Crack the eggs into the holes, one yoke per hole. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Bake in the oven for about 55’ until the egg whites are cooked.

Part II – The Cheese sauce topping:

While the spinach and eggs are baking, prepare the cheese sauce.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour stirring constantly with a whisk. Once it is well combined, and while continuing to stir with the whisk, add the milk, in small amounts, as the flour absorbs it. Keep stirring until the sauce boils. Remove from the heat. Add cheese, salt, mustard and cayenne. Stir until well blended and set aside.

Final assembly:

Once the spinach and eggs are done, remove the casserole from the oven, and increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees. While the oven is coming to temperature, spoon all of the cheese sauce (it will be thick) over the baked spinach and eggs. Put the casserole dish back in the oven, and bake for about 20’ until the cheese sauce begins to brown.

Let the Eggs Florentine Porfilio rest for 5’ before serving.

Together with breakfast potatoes (mixed with chopped onions) and some oatmeal rolls this is a very satisfying Sunday brunch.

This recipe for Eggs Florentine is named in honor of TFP member Frederick Vincent Porfilio who died in a car accident on Labor Day 1990 while on campaign, collecting signatures for the freedom of Lithuania from Soviet communism. He enjoyed making Eggs Florentine.

Mr. Fred Porfilio (center) collecting signatures during a street campaign in New York city in the summer of 1990 for the freedom of Lithuania, some three months prior to his death. He died in a car accident in Tennessee while leading a group of TFP members who were collecting signatures. A total of 5,212,580 valid signatures were collected by TFPs worldwide from May 31 to Oct. 15, 1990, making it the largest documented street petition drive for freedom in history, a fact that was duly registered in the 1993 Guinness Book of Records

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Dispelling the “Tyrannical” Myth

March 30, 2026

Marie Thérèse Charlotte of France, Madame Royale at the Temple Tower.

Madame Royale, older and graver than her brother, felt more deeply the anxiety of the situation. The queen, to bring a little gayety into her life, had organized in Madame de Tourzel’s apartments small informal gatherings, to which she went occasionally to drink tea, and where her daughter met young people of her own age. They played little games, ran through the rooms which were thrown open, even played hide-and-seek, which the dauphin later remembered with pleasure. More serious pursuits, however, occupied the time and engrossed the heart of the young princess. Since her arrival at Paris, the curé of St Eustache came every Sunday to teach her the Catechism, and to prepare her for her first communion. She performed the solemn act at St Germain l’Auxerrois on the Wednesday of Passion Week, March 31. In the early morning the queen led her daughter to the king’s chamber, saying to her, “My daughter, throw yourself at your father’s feet and ask his blessing.” Madame knelt; the king blessed her, raised her up and addressed to her these grave and pious words: ―

Église Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois.

“It is from the bottom of my heart that I bless you, my child, while praying Heaven to grant you a full realization of the great act which you are about to accomplish. Your heart is innocent in the eyes of God; your vows should be acceptable to Him; offer them to Him for your mother and for me. Ask Him to accord me the grace necessary to bring about the happiness of those over whom he has given me empire, and whom I should consider as my children. Beg of Him that He deign to preserve religious purity in the kingdom; and remember, my daughter, that our holy religion is the source of all happiness, and our support in the adversities of life. Do not believe yourself secure from them. You are very young, but you have already more than once seen your father in affliction. You do not know, my daughter, to what Providence destines you: whether you are to remain in the kingdom, or whether you are to go to live in another. To whatever place the hand of God may lead you, remember that you must teach others by your example, and do good whenever you find the opportunity; but, above all, my child, relieve the unfortunate as much as is in your power. God has placed us in this rank of life only that we may work for their happiness, and console them in their sorrows.”

Louis XVI with the Dauphin. départemental de l’Isère

Such were the instructions which the “tyrant” gave to his children, and his actions followed closely upon his words. It was customary for the Children of France to receive a set of diamonds on the day of their First Communion. Madame Royale did not receive this splendid gift. The ceremony was performed with extreme simplicity. The young princess arrived at the church, accompanied by her governess and her under-governess, Madame de Mackau; she showed the greatest composure, and approached the Holy Table with marks of sincerest devotion.

Marie-Angélique de Mackau née de Fitte de Soucy, governess to the royal children.

The queen, who had received the Easter sacrament two days before, assisted at the ceremony incognito and without attendance, “as simply dressed as a bourgeoise,” relates an eyewitness, but with extreme piety, and with her eyes constantly fixed on the young communicant. On the same day generous alms were distributed to the poor of the various parishes of Paris; they were the price of the diamond necklace, which Madame Royale had not received.

The Life of Marie Antoinette, Volume 2, by Maxime de La Rocheterie; Translated from the French by Cora Hamilton Bell; New York, Dodd Mead and Company 1893. Pgs 69-71.

Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 735

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April 1 – Blessed Karl, Emperor of Austria

March 30, 2026

Crown Prince Carl Franz Joseph of Austria

(Also known as Carlo d’Austria, Charles of Austria)

Born August 17, 1887, in the Castle of Persenbeug in the region of Lower Austria, his parents were the Archduke Otto and Princess Maria Josephine of Saxony, daughter of the last King of Saxony. Emperor Francis Joseph I was Charles’ Great Uncle.

Archduchess Maria Josefa of Austria (1867-1944) and sons Karl and Maximilian, 1910.

Charles was given an expressly Catholic education and the prayers of a group of persons accompanied him from childhood, since a stigmatic nun prophesied that he would undergo great suffering and attacks would be made against him. That is how the “League of prayer of the Emperor Charles for the peace of the peoples” originated after his death. In 1963 it became a prayer community ecclesiastically recognized.

A deep devotion to the Holy Eucharist and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus began to grow in Charles. He turned to prayer before making any important decisions.


Wedding of Archduke Charles of Austria and Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma in Schwarzau Palace.

On the 21st of October, 1911, he married Princess Zita of Bourbon and Parma. The couple was blessed with eight children during the ten years of their happy and exemplary married life. Charles still declared to Zita on his deathbed: “I’ll love you forever.”

Charles became heir to the throne of the Austro‑Hungarian Empire on June 28, 1914, following the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand.

King Karl IV of Hungary taking his coronation oath December 1916

World War I was underway and with the death of the Emperor Francis Joseph, on November 21, 1916 Charles became Emperor of Austria. On December 30th he was crowned apostolic King of Hungary.

Charles envisaged this office also as a way to follow Christ: in the love and care of the peoples entrusted to him, and in dedicating his life to them. He placed the most sacred duty of a king – a commitment to peace – at the center of his preoccupations during the course of the terrible war. He was the only one among political leaders to support Benedict XV’s peace efforts.

The Emperor with his son Otto

As far as domestic politics are concerned, despite the extremely difficult times he initiated wide and exemplary social legislation, inspired by social Christian teaching.

Thanks to his conduct, the transition to a new order at the end of the conflict was made possible without a civil war. He was however banished from his country.

The Pope feared the rise of communist power in central Europe, and expressed the wish that Charles re‑establish the authority of his government in Hungary. But two attempts failed, since above all Charles wished to avoid the outbreak of a civil war. Charles was exiled to the island of Madeira. Since he considered his duty as a mandate from God, he could not abdicate his office.

Reduced to poverty, he lived with his family in a very humid house. He then fell fatally ill and accepted this as a sacrifice for the peace and unity of his peoples. Charles endured his suffering without complaining. He forgave all those who conspired against him and died April 1st 1922 with his eyes turned toward the Holy Sacrament. On his deathbed he repeated the motto of his life: “I strive always in all things to understand as clearly as possible and follow the will of God, and this in the most perfect way”.

The Emperor Shortly After Death: 3 Desktop Wallpapers of Bl. Karl & Empress Zita

(source: Vatican)

Slideshow:

http://www.gloria.tv/?media=207008

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April 1 – Precursor of Our Lady of Fatima

March 30, 2026

St. Nuno De Santa Maria Álvares Pereira

(1360-1431)

Count St. Nuno Álvares Pereira, Constable of Portugal

NUNO ÁLVARES PEREIRA was born in Portugal on 24^th June 1360, most probably at Cernache do Bomjardin, illegitimate son of Brother Álvaro Gonçalves Pereira, Hospitalier Knight of St. John of Jerusalem and prior of Crato and Donna Iria Gonçalves do Carvalhal. About a year after his birth, the child was legitimized by royal decree and so was able to receive a knightly education typical of the offspring of the noble families of the time. At thirteen years of age he became page to Queen Leonor, was received at court and was created a knight. At sixteen years of age, at the wish of his father, he married a rich young widow Donna Leonor de Alvim. Three children were born to the union, two boys who died early in life, and a girl, Beatrice, who would eventually marry Afonso, first Duke of Bragança, son of King João I.

When King Fernando died, without an heir on 22^nd October 1383, his brother João, became involved in the struggle to win the Lusitanian crown, which was being contested by the King of Castile, who had married the daughter of the dead king. Nuno took João’s side. He wanted him as his constable, that is commander-in-chief of the army. Nuno led the Portuguese army to victory on various occasions up until the battle of Aljubarrota (14^th August 1385), which brought the conflict to an end.

Lithograph by Charles Legrand of St. Nuno Álvares Pereira.

The military capabilities of Nuno were, nevertheless, tempered by a deep spirituality, a profound love of the Eucharist and of the Blessed Virgin, the main foundations of his interior life. Totally dedicated to Marian prayer, he fasted in Mary’s honour on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and on the vigil of her feasts. The banner he chose as his personal standard bore the image of the cross, of Mary and of the saintly knights James and George. At his own expense he built numerous churches and monasteries, among which was the Carmelite church in Lisbon and the church of Our Lady of Victories at Batalha.

Equestrian statue of St. Nuno Alvares Pereira at the Monastery of Batalha, Portugal

Following the death of his wife in 1387, Nuno did not wish to marry again and became a model of celibate life. When peace finally came, he gave the bulk of his wealth to the veterans, the rest he would dispose of in 1423 when he decided to enter the convent of the Carmelites which he himself had founded, taking the name of Brother Nuno of Saint Mary. Animated by love he abandoned power to serve the poor: it was a radical choice for a life, bringing as it did to a high point, the authentic path of faith which he had always followed. With this choice, he left behind the weapons of war and power in order to be vested in spiritual armor as the Rule of Carmel recommends. He would have wanted to withdraw to a community far away from Portugal, but the son of the king, Don Duarte, prevented it. No power could stop him from dedicating himself to the convent and above all to the poor, whom he continued to help and serve in every possible way. For them he organized a daily distribution of food and never hesitated in responding to their needs. The Commander of the King of Portugal, chief officer of the army and victorious leader, founder and benefactor of the Carmelite community, when entering the convent did not want any privileges but chose the humblest rank of a lay brother, putting himself at the service of the Lord, of Mary his ever venerated Patron, and of the poor in whom he recognized the face of Jesus himself.

St. Nuno receiving the Carmelite habit and the Religious name of Friar Nuno of Saint Mary.

Of significance too was the day of the death of Brother Nuno of Saint Mary: it was Easter Sunday, the 1^st April 1431, and what following it was that he was immediately acclaimed a saint by the people who called him “O Santo Condestavel” [Holy Constable].

(Source: Vatican)

_______________________________________________

Written by Benjamin Hiegert

Count Saint Nuno Alvares Pereira

Portuguese Count Nuno Alvares Pereira had a brilliant military career and became the Constable of Portugal. Later, out of gratitude for a miraculous victory he won over the Spaniards, Saint Nuno built the Gothic church of Our Lady of the Scapular of Mount Carmel on a hill outside of Lisbon. He gave the church to the Carmelite order, and then joined them as a simple lay brother.

Saint Nuno’s combative life and his devotion serve as an example for Catholics today who must fight to affirm their Faith in a secular world. As we will see, he drew his strength for the fight from his great devotion to Our Lady.

Saint Nuno was born and grew up outside Ourem near Fatima where Our Lady appeared in 1917, and from his youth, he had an ardent devotion to her, the Rosary and to the Brown Scapular.

During the 14th century, Portugal had nearly become a province of the Kingdom of Castile. Spain had already defeated Portugal’s armies, and the Portuguese court was weak and decadent. Most of Saint Nuno’s life was spent fighting the Spanish to preserve Portuguese independence. His most important battles were Atoleiros, Aljubarrota (very near Fatima), and Valverde inside of Spain.*

The Battle of Atoleiros
When John I was proclaimed king of Portugal, a Castilian army immediately entered the Portuguese provinces south of Lisbon. King John asked Count Nuno to put together an army to face the Spaniards, which he quickly did. By the time Count Nuno reached Estremoz, he had 300 horsemen and 1000 infantrymen. The Castilians had 5000 soldiers commanded by their best captains. Count Nuno realized the danger of his situation and also that the greatest danger was discouragement, so he gave a short speech saying that if the Castilians were many, the more honor there would be for the Portuguese. He told anyone who was afraid to leave before the battle. Not one abandoned him.The Holy Count had to adopt novel tactics at the battle of Atoleiros because of the odds. He formed his cavalry into a square and surrounded the outer edges with infantry holding lances. Behind each lancer, there was another man ready to pick up the lance if the first lancer were wounded or killed. Count Nuno rode in the middle of the square, giving orders and encouraging everyone. Immediately before the battle, he spoke again to his soldiers, and then jumped off his horse and knelt before his banner that had Our Lady at the foot of the Cross on one side and the Nativity on the other. The whole Portuguese army followed suit, and knelt and prayed before the standard. When they heard the roar of the advancing Castilian army, Count Nuno leapt onto his horse. The Portuguese responded to the Castilian war cry with “Portugal! Saint George!”

The Castilians thought the poorly armed Portuguese cavalry would not withstand the cavalry charge. They were so sure of this that they advanced without a plan. Upon the first impact, the Castilian horses were impaled upon the row of lances. Then the Portuguese rained arrows on the Castilian troops that were behind the stalled cavalry. Confusion, and then terror, spread through the Castilian ranks. The Castilian soldiers saw many of their leaders dead and began to flee. Count Nuno ordered the cavalry to give chase. Without the protection of their own cavalry, the Castilian soldiers did not stand a chance.

This was the first Portuguese victory under the new king, and the victory gave him time to unite the country and prepare for the larger attack.

The day after the tremendous victory of Atoleiros, Count Nuno made a six-mile pilgrimage barefoot, over cobblestones and rough terrain, to a nearby shrine of Our Lady in thanksgiving for her help. Upon arriving at the shrine, he found it dirty and profaned. The Castilians had quartered their horses in the church! With his own hands, he cleaned out the church and vowed to build an even more awesome shrine in her honor.

The Battle of Aljubarotta

The Battle of Aljubarotta
Despite several Portuguese victories, Castile continued to attack. Now, an army of 30,000 strong invaded Portugal and used scorched-earth tactics.

Count Nuno rushed with his army to the area outside of Leiria. Everyone knew this was to be the great, decisive battle of the war. When his cavalry arrived ahead of schedule at Aljubarotta, the king of Castile thought he found his chance to take Count Nuno off guard and kill him.

It was August 14, 1385, the eve of the feast of Our Lady’s Assumption, and the Portuguese army was fasting in preparation for the feast. Once again, Count Nuno had a much smaller army, this time 8,000 Portuguese. The two armies maneuvered throughout the day to get into favorable positions. Once again, the Castilian cavalry charged into the Portuguese square formation. This time they almost broke through, but Count Nuno ordered the Portuguese cavalry he held in reserve on the flanks to attack. This saved the Portuguese square, but the situation was desperate.

The king of Castile ordered his reserves to attack, but they hesitated. In vain, the Castilian nobles tried to push them to the attack, but the troops in the rear began to flee. The Castilian king’s last option was to order another cavalry force to charge the Portuguese from the rear. Count Nuno, however, saw this coming and had a wall of lances ready to face the charge. After more brutal hand-to-hand fighting, the Castilian force also fled. Just then the main body of the Castilian infantry arrived at the battlefield. They retreated in disorder with the others to Leiria.

Out of gratitude for this great victory, King John built the great Gothic monastery of Batalha.

The Battle of Valverde
Next, the Portuguese army split in two. King John took half the army to northern Portugal to expel the Spaniards and the Holy Count went to the south. From the Spanish border, Count Nuno sent a message to the king of Castile that if he did not immediately recognize Portugal as an independent kingdom, he then would take the battle to Spanish soil. Count Nuno entered Spain and took control of several cities. He again divided his army, taking only about 300 knights to the Castilian camp. He hoped to lure the Castilians into a battle and then have the rest of his army launch a surprise attack. The Spaniards were in a strong strategic position on a hill across the river from Nuno and his men. The Spaniards sent half of their army to circle behind the Portuguese to attack from the rear. The prospects were grimmer than Atoleiros and Aljubarotta, and Count Nuno prayed as never before.

A map of medieval Portugal and Spain

His men were in the square formation and advanced toward the hill held by the Castilians. He hoped to take that hill, and then turn to face the other half of the Castilian army. As soon as the Portuguese crossed the river, the Castilians attacked. Once again, Count Nuno was everywhere, shouting orders and words of encouragement to the soldiers. Then, he heard cries from the rear of the square as the other half of the Castilian army attacked. A dart wounded Count Nuno, but he ignored the pain and continued fighting. As the Castilian army pressed the attack on the vanguard, Count Nuno’s men called out for him, but he was nowhere to be found. A wave of panic swept through the Portuguese. Where was Nuno Alvarez? Had he been killed?Then, an officer found Count Nuno, kneeling in prayer between two huge rocks. He was holding a reliquary containing a thorn from Our Lord’s Crown of Thorns. The officer cried out in despair, “We are lost!” Count Nuno responded, “My friend, it is not yet time. Wait a bit.” And he continued to pray. Then after a few moments, Count Nuno picked up his helmet and rose to his feet. He mounted his horse, and pointed out to his standard bearer the Master of Santiago who was at the top of the hill. “We must go up there with my standard!” Then leading the way and shouting “Forward! Forward!” to his men, Count Nuno advanced. To the Portuguese, it seemed almost a resurrection. The Portuguese soldiers surged forward with Count Nuno while the Castilians gave way. The Castilian army was so badly beaten there was no counterattack. With this victory of the battle of Valverde, Castile gave up subduing Portugal.

The Carmelite Constable

St. Nuno in the habit of a Carmelite donato.

Out of gratitude for the victory at Valverde, Count Nuno began construction of the shrine and monastery of Our Lady of the Scapular of Mount Carmel in Lisbon. This magnificent Gothic church was built on a hill outside Lisbon. Upon completion, Count Nuno wrote the Carmelite superior and asked the monks to take care of the shrine and to establish a monastery there. Meanwhile, Count Nuno made arrangements for his property, setting aside a third for his grandchildren, a third for the poor and a third for his retirement. Then, he knocked on the door of the Carmelite monastery and asked the prior for permission to join the order as a type of lay brother called a donato. The prior was shocked but finally accepted Nuno. As a donato, he would be the lowest one at the monastery, and he would only take simple vows as opposed to solemn perpetual vows. Thus, he could leave the monastery to lead an army if Portugal were attacked.King John was dismayed at the count’s decision. He sent his son Duarte to convince Nuno to give up, saying the enemies of Portugal would take advantage to attack. Count Nuno pulled aside the scapular of his habit and exposed the armor he wore underneath the Carmelite habit. He told Duarte to tell the king he was ready to come to the aid of his country whenever needed. The Castilians also were curious. Since it was time to sign the peace treaty, the Castilian ambassador visited Nuno in the monastery. He could not believe Portugal’s great hero had become a simple monk. Again, Nuno uncovered the armor beneath his habit and warned them not to attack Portugal.After eight years in the monastery, Nuno Alvares Pereira died on Easter Sunday of 1431. His life of fight and of faith in opposition to the world that was abandoning the Christ-centered spirit of the Middle Ages can serve as a guide for those who want to be faithful and to fight for the Church and Christian civilization in these turbulent times.

__________________

* For an account of Saint Nuno Alvarez Pereira’s life, see John Haffert, The Peacemaker Who Went to War: The Life of Blessed Nun’Alvarez Pereira, Precursor of Our Lady of Fatima.

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By Abolishing the Hereditary Lords in the British Parliament, Something of England Died

March 26, 2026

by John Horvat II
March 24, 2026

When the current session of the British Parliament ends this spring, the nation will abruptly bring to a close a 700-year institution. On March 10, the House of Commons voted to abolish the hereditary lords in the House of Lords.

The effort ends a process started in 1999 by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair. His Labour government reduced the number of hereditary lords from 750 to 92. Now, even these remnants of an ancient order must go in the name of a radical egalitarian ideal.

Former UK prime minister speaking on “The Next Steps for New Labour” in 2002.

When King Charles gives his royal assent to the bill, the lords will bid adieu to Parliament and fade away. Their pomp and pageantry, that so enchanted the world, will not be returning. Something of England will have died.

Origins and History

Hereditary lords are those House of Lords members who inherit the right to sit in the upper house based on past services their families rendered to the realm. Many storied families have retained this right in their lineage for generations. Over the centuries, they have passed on their experience to their successors.

The House of Lords originated in the eleventh century, as a council of religious and temporal leaders which the king convoked to fulfill the difficult duty of rendering “counsel and aid” to their sovereign. It later developed into a more formal government institution in the thirteenth century.

King Charles entering the House of Lords at the State Opening of Parliament 2024. Photo by Roger Harris/House of Lords.

In the nineteen fifties, Parliament created “life peers,” who are appointed by prime ministers to serve for life. Many have criticized these appointments as party cronies who receive the office as a political favor or because of donations to the party. They do not need to form a legacy that projects into the future.

The House of Lords has no legislative power but exercises an advisory role, correcting legislation from the House of Commons based on its members’ experience. The upper parliamentary chamber can slow down populist passions by delaying passage, proposing amendments or taking other deliberative measures.

An Egalitarian Agenda

The determined move to abolish the hereditary lords is part of an egalitarian agenda to rid the nation of this institution, which leftists deem “anti-democratic.”

Parliament’s upper chamber will now be changed into something like a modern senate composed almost entirely of life peers. However, this “democratic” makeover still consists of unelected appointees. The more radically egalitarian leftists would like to see even these appointees abolished and an elected chamber installed.

The Nation’s Ablest Leaders

Britain has everything to lose with the abolition of the hereditary lords. The legislative process will be deprived of some of the nation’s ablest leaders who excel in their leadership, business success and social brilliance.

House of Lords. State Opening of Parliament 2024. photography by Roger Harris

Unlike the House of Commons, the lords are not salaried and can only claim minimal reimbursement for their expenses. They are required by law to offer counsel freely to the realm, as they have, from time immemorial.

Finally, hereditary lords take their tasks much more seriously since they must uphold their family names over generations. Since attendance is not obligatory, life peers often do not bother to attend when Parliament is in session, yet still benefit from the prestige of the appointment.

An Ideological Agenda

The left’s vicious attacks on the lords make no sense. Advice from highly qualified, well-connected individuals at little cost to the public purse clearly benefits the common good. The nation has everything to gain by accepting these nearly free consultants, whose fame extends worldwide by their colorful pageantry and history.

The real reason for abolishing the hereditary lords is the left’s egalitarian ideology. The left rejects any expression of inequality, especially when splendrously manifested as do the lords. The upper house’s beautiful traditions and customs speak of a Christian social order that attracts the English masses. The left must further level the distinctions and privileges that recognize and reward excellence, drawing on a past that projects into the future.

House of Commons

The hereditary lords represent a lost beauty that lingers from an ancient past associated with England. Their noble manners, magnificent robes and legendary names evoke a fairy-tale innocence that dazzles all with wonder and awe.

Thus, abolishing the hereditary lords takes away something from the English soul. Something intangible will be lost, and it can never be recovered.

When Merrie England Was Merrie

Pope Saint Gregory the Great sent Saint Augustine of Canterbury to bring the Catholic Faith to the fair people called Angles who inhabited Britain. According to Venerable Bede, he said “Non Angli, sed angeli si forent Christiani,” which means “Not Angles, but angels if they were Christians.”

The evangelization of these Anglo-Saxons gave rise to Merrie England and the flourishing of the Faith and society.

The joy of the Catholic Church faded with Henry VIII’s plundering of the monasteries, the rise of Protestantism and Puritanism, and later the economic upheaval of the Industrial Revolution. Alas, England was Merrie no longer.

The End of England?

The loss of the hereditary lords in Parliament is part of this process of self-destruction. The lords are part of the mythical bulwark that sustains England.

It will eventually lead to the end of the British afternoon tea, pubs, cricket, English gardens, and so many other popular manifestations of what it means to be English. What replaces this vision of England is a cosmopolitan mixture of global cultures that express no values but only gratification and pleasure.

***

The left reduces all to the basest materialism and a class struggle narrative. It seeks to make everything devoid of pomp and circumstance. Destroying such splendor is tragic because it touches on something special in the English soul that resonates in the American one, and which must not be allowed to die.

England must be Christian again. Then she will be merrie and be inhabited by angels.

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March 26 – Sheriff’s daughter, but God’s first

March 26, 2026

St. Margaret Clitherow

Martyr, called the “Pearl of York”, born about 1556; died 25 March 1586. She was a daughter of Thomas Middleton, Sheriff of York (1564-5), a wax-chandler; married John Clitherow, a wealthy butcher and a chamberlain of the city, in St. Martin’s church, Coney St., 8 July, 1571, and lived in the Shambles, a street still unaltered. Converted to the Faith about three years later, she became most fervent, continually risking her life by harbouring and maintaining priests, was frequently imprisoned, sometimes for two years at a time, yet never daunted, and was a model of all virtues. Though her husband belonged to the Established Church, he had a brother a priest, and Margaret provided two chambers, one adjoining her house and a second in another part of the city, where she kept priests hidden and had Mass continually celebrated through the thick of the persecution. Some of her priests were martyred, and Margaret who desired the same grace above all things, used to make secret pilgrimages by night to York Tyburn to pray beneath the gibbet for this intention. Finally arrested on 10 March, 1586, she was committed to the castle. On 14 March, she was arraigned before Judges Clinch and Rhodes and several members of the Council of the North at the York assizes. Her indictment was that she had harboured priests, heard Mass, and the like; but she refused to plead, since the only witnesses against her would be her own little children and servants, whom she could not bear to involve in the guilt of her death. She was therefore condemned to the peine forte et dure, i.e. to be pressed to death. “God be thanked, I am not worthy of so good a death as this”, she said. Although she was probably with child, this horrible sentence was carried out on Lady Day, 1586 (Good Friday according to New Style). She had endured an agony of fear the previous night, but was now calm, joyous, and smiling. She walked barefooted to the tolbooth on Ousebridge, for she had sent her hose and shoes to her daughter Anne, in token that she should follow in her steps. She had been tormented by the ministers and even now was urged to confess her crimes. “No, no, Mr. Sheriff, I die for the love of my Lord Jesu”, she answered. She was laid on the ground, a sharp stone beneath her back, her hands stretched out in the form of a cross and bound to two posts. Then a door was placed upon her, which was weighted down till she was crushed to death. Her last words during an agony of fifteen minutes, were “Jesu! Jesu! Jesu! have mercy on me!” Her right hand is preserved at St. Mary’s Convent, York, but the resting-place of her sacred body is not known. Her sons Henry and William became priests, and her daughter Anne a nun at St. Ursula’s, Louvain.

The martyrdom of St. Margaret Clitherow being crushed to death.

Her life, written by her confessor, John Mush, exists in two versions. The earlier has been edited by Father John Morris, S.J., in his “Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers”, third series (London, 1877). The later manuscript, now at York Convent, was published by W. Nicholson, of Thelwall Hall, Cheshire (London, Derby, 1849), with portrait: “Life and Death of Margaret Clitherow the martyr of York”. It also contains the “History of Mr. Margaret Ward and Mrs. Anne Line, Martyrs”.

Bede Camm (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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March 26 – St. Ludger

March 26, 2026

St. Ludger

(Lüdiger or Liudger)

Illustration from an illuminated manuscript showing Saint Ludger.

Missionary among the Frisians and Saxons, first Bishop of Munster in Westphalia, b. at Zuilen near Utrecht about 744; d. 26 March, 809. Feast, 26 March. Represented as a bishop reciting his Breviary, or with a swan at either side. His parents, Thiadgrim and Liafburg, were wealthy Frisians of noble lineage. In 753 Ludger saw the great apostle of Germany, St. Boniface, and this sight and the subsequent martyrdom of the saint made deep impressions on his youthful mind. At his urgent request he was sent to the school which St. Gregory [of Utrecht, Abbot (c.707-c.775)] had founded at Utrecht, and made good progress. In 767 Gregory, who did not wish to receive episcopal consecration himself, sent Alubert, who had come from England to assist him in his missionary work, to York to be consecrated bishop. Ludger accompanied him to receive deaconship and to study under Alcuin, but after a year returned to Utrecht. Some time later he was granted an opportunity to continue his studies in the same school, and here contracted a friendship with Alcuin which lasted throughout life. In 773 a friction arose between the Anglo-Saxons and the Frisians, and Ludger, to provide for his personal safety, left for home, taking with him a number of valuable books. In 775 he was sent to Deventer to restore the chapel destroyed by the heathen Saxons and to find the relics of St. Lebwin (Liafwin), who had laboured there as missionary, had built the chapel, and had died there. Ludger was successful in his undertaking, and then taught in the school of Utrecht. He and some others were next sent north to destroy the heathen places of worship west of the Lauwers Zee.

St. Ludger taken by his parents to the school in Utrecht

After Ludger had been ordained at Cologne in 777 the missions of Ostergau (Ostracha, i.e., Eastern Friesland) were committed to his charge, and Dokkum, the place of the martyrdom of St. Boniface, was made the centre. During each autumn he came to Utrecht to teach at the cathedral school. In this manner he toiled for about seven years, until Widukind, the indomitable leader of the Saxons, induced the Frisians to drive out the missionaries, burn the churches, and return to the heathen gods. Ludger escaped with his disciples. In 785 he visited Rome, was well received by Pope Adrian, and obtained from him good counsel and special faculties. From Rome he went to Monte Cassino, where he lived according to the Rule of St. Benedict, but did not bind himself by vows. The news of Widukind’s submission, and the arrival of Charlemagne at Monte Cassino in 787, put an end to Ludger’s peaceful retirement. He was appointed missionary to the five districts at the mouth of the Ems, which was still occupied almost entirely by heathens. With his usual energy and unbounded confidence in God he began his work; and, knowing the language and habits of the people, he was able to turn to advantage many national traits in effecting their conversion. His zeal knew no bounds; the island of Bant, long since swallowed by the sea, is mentioned as the scene of his apostolic work. He visited Heligoland (Fossitesland), where St. Willibrord had preached; he destroyed the remaining vestiges of heathenism, and built a Christian temple. The well once sacred to the heathen gods became his baptismal font. On his return he met the blind bard Berulef, cured his blindness, and made him a devout Christian.

St. Ludger heals the blind singer Bernlef.

In 793 (Hist. Jahrb., I, 282) Charlemagne wished to make Ludger Bishop of Trier, but he declined the honour, while declaring himself willing to undertake the evangelizing of the Saxons. Charlemagne gladly accepted the offer, and North-western Saxony was thus added to Ludger’s missionary field. To defray necessary expenses the income of the Abbey of Leuze, in the present Belgian Province of Hainaut, was given him, and he was told to pick his fellow-labourers from the members of that abbey. As Mimigernaford (Mimigardeford, Miningarvard) had been designated the centre of the new district, Ludger built a monastery (monasterium) there, from which the place took its name Munster. Here he lived with his monks according to the rule of St. Chrodegang of Metz, which in 789 had been made obligatory in the Frankish territories (Schmitz Kallenberg, “Monasticon Westphaliae”, Munster, 1909, p. 62, places the date of foundation between 805 and 809). He also built a chapel on the left of the Aa in honour of the Blessed Virgin, besides the churches of Billerbeck, Coesfeld, Herzfeld, Nottuln, and others. Near the church of Nottuln he built a home for his sister, St. Gerburgis, who had consecrated herself to God. Many pious virgins soon gathered about her, and so arose the first convent in Westphalia (c. 803). At the request of Charlemagne, Ludger received episcopal consecration some time between 13 Jan., 802, and 23 April, 805, for on the first date he is still styled abbot, while on the latter he is called bishop (Hist. Jahrb., I, 283). His principal care was to have a good and efficient clergy. He, to a great extent, educated his students personally, and generally took some of them on his missionary tours. Since his sojourn at Monte Cassino Ludger had entertained the idea of founding a Benedictine monastery. During the past years he had been acquiring property and looking for a suitable location. At length he decided upon Werden; but it was only in 799 that building began in earnest, and in 804 that he consecrated the church.

On Passion Sunday, 809, Ludger heard Mass at Coesfeld early in the morning and preached, then went to Billerbeck, where at nine o’clock he again preached, and said his last Mass. That evening he expired peacefully amidst his faithful followers. A dispute arose between Munster and Werden for the possession of his body. His brother Hildegrim being appealed to, after consultation with the emperor, decided in favour of Werden, and here the relics have rested for eleven centuries. Portions have been brought to Munster and Billerbeck. From 22 June to 4 July, 1909, the Diocese of Munster celebrated the eleventh centenary. “Bishop Hermann Dingelstad, the present successor of the apostle, celebrated the Jubilee, uniting it with the golden jubilee of his own priesthood. A most touching scene was witnessed when thousands of men, who had come from far and near, after a stirring sermon of the orator-bishop of Treves, Mgr Felix Korum, renewed their baptismal vows at the same well from which St. Ludgerus had baptized their forefathers. A Benedictine abbot and eleven bishops, among them the archbishop of the saint’s Frisian home, Utrecht, and Cardinal Fischer of Cologne, took part in the sacred celebrations” (“America”, I, 381).

BUTLER, Lives of the Saints; Revue Benedictine, III, 107; VII, 412; STADLER, Heiligenlex.; SCHWANE in Kirchenlex.; Geschichtsquellen der Diozese Munster, IV; PINGSMANN, Der hl. Ludgerus (Freiburg, 1879); BOSER, Am Grabe des hl. Ludger (Munster, 1908).

FRANCIS MERSHMAN (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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March 27 – The Last French Pope

March 26, 2026

Pope Gregory XI

(PIERRE ROGER DE BEAUFORT).

Born in 1331, at the castle of Maumont in the Dioceses of Limoges; died 27 March, 1378, at Rome. He was a nephew of Pope Clement VI, who heaped numerous benefices upon him and finally created him cardinal deacon in 1348, when he was only eighteen years of age. As cardinal he attended the University of Perugia, became a skilled canonist and theologian, and gained the esteem of all by his humility and purity of heart. After the death of Urban V, the cardinals unanimously elected him pope at Avignon, on December, 1370. He chose the name of Gregory XI, had himself ordained priest on 4 January, 1371, and was crowned pope on the following day. Immediately on his accession he attempted to reconcile the Kings of France and England, but failed. He succeeded, however, in pacifying Castile, Aragon, Navarre, Sicily, and Naples. He also made efforts towards the reunion of the Greek and Latin Churches, the undertaking of a crusade, and the reform of the clergy. Soon, however, he had to give his entire attention to the turbulent affairs of Italy. Duke Bernabo Visconti of Milan, an inveterate enemy of the papacy, had in 1371 made himself master of Reggio and other places that were feudatory to the Holy See. When all other means to bring him to terms had failed, Gregory XI placed him under the ban. Bernabo compelled the legates that brought him the Bull of excommunication to eat the parchment on which his excommunication was written, and heaped many other insults upon them. Hereupon Gregory XI declared war upon him in 1372. Success was at first on the side of Bernabo, but when Gregory XI obtained the support of the emperor, the Queen of Naples, the King of Hungary, and bought into his service the English condottiere John Hawkwood, Bernabo sued for peace. By bribing some of the papal councillors he obtained a favourable truce on 6 June, 1374.

Return of Pope Gregory XI to Rome with St. Catherine of Siena.

Like the preceding popes of Avignon, Gregory XI made the fatal mistake of appointing Frenchmen, who did not understand the Italians and whom the Italians hated, as legates and governors of the ecclesiastical provinces in Italy. The Florentines, however, feared that a strengthening of the papal power in Italy would impair their own prestige in Central Italy and allied themselves with Bernabo in July, 1375. Both Bernabo and the Florentines did their utmost to stir up an insurrection in the pontifical territory among all those that were dissatisfied with the papal legates in Italy. They were so successful that within a short time the entire Patrimony of St. Peter was up in arms against the pope. Highly incensed at the seditious proceedings of the Florentines, Gregory XI imposed an extremely severe punishment upon them. He put Florence under interdict, excommunicated its inhabitants, and outlawed them and their possessions. The financial loss which the Florentines sustained thereby was inestimable. They sent St. Catherine of Siena to intercede for them with Gregory XI, but frustrated her efforts by continuing their hostilities against the pope. In the midst of these disturbances Gregory XI, yielding to the urgent prayers of St. Catherine, decided to remove the papal see to Rome, despite the protests of the French King and the majority of the cardinals. He left Avignon on 13 September, 1376, boarded the ship at Marsailles on 2 October, and came by way of Genoa to Corneto on 6 December. Here he remained until arrangements were made in Rome concerning its future government. On 13 January, 1377, he left Corneto, landed at Ostia on the following day, and sailed up the Tiber to the monastery of San Paolo, from where he solemnly made his entrance into Rome on 17 January. But his return to Rome did not put an end to the hostilities. The notorious massacre of Cesena, which was ordered by Cardinal Robert of Geneva (afterwards antipope Clement VII), embittered the Italians still more against the pope. The continuous riots in Rome induced Gregory XI to remove to Anagui towards the end of May, 1377. He gradually quelled the commotion and returned to Rome on 7 Nov., 1377, where he died while a congress of peace was in process at Sarzano. Gregory XI was the last pope of French nationality. He was learned and pious, though not free from nepotism. In 1374 he approved the Order of the Spanish Hermits of St. Jerome, and on 22 May, 1377, he issued five Bulls in which the errors of Wyclif were condemned. He was so disgusted with the conditions at Rome that only death prevented him from returning to Avignon. The Great Schism began after his death.

BALUZE, Vitoe Paparum Avenion. (Paris, 1693), 452-486, 1059-1234; GHERARDI, La guerra dei Fiorentini con Papa Gregoria XI, detta la guerra degli Otto Santi (Florence, 1868); SCHOLZ, Die Ruckkehr Gregors XI. von Avignon nach Rom. (Hirschberg, 1884); KIRSCH, Die Ruckkehr der Papste Urban V. und Gregor XI. (Paderborn, 1898); PASTOR, Gesch. der Papste seit dem Ausgang des Mittelalters, 4th ed. (Freiburg, 1901), 101-114, tr., ANTROBUS (London, 1891), I, 100-116; TOMABETH, Die Register und Secretare Urbans V. und Gregors XI. in Mittheilungen des Instituts oesterr. Geschichtsforsch, (1898), XIX, 417-470; DRANE, The History of St. Catherine of Siena, 3rd ed. (New York, 1899), passim.

MICHAEL OTT (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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March 27 – French Missionary in the Chinese Court

March 26, 2026

Jean-François Gerbillon

D’Anville’s maps of China were based on a survey of the Chinese empire that was ordered by the emperor in 1708 and carried out by the Chinese, but under the supervision of Jesuit priests resident in China. The detail about the interior of China was far superior to any previous Western map or atlas. D’Anville’s work remained a standard Western source for the geography of China and adjacent regions until well into the 19th century, when it finally was superseded by more accurate maps.

French missionary; born at Verdun, 4 June, 1654; died at Peking, China, 27 March, 1707. He entered the Society of Jesus, 5 Oct, 1670, and after completing the usual course of study taught grammar and humanities for seven years. His long-cherished desire to labour in the missions of the East was gratified in 1685, when he joined the band of Jesuits who had been chosen to found the French mission in China. Upon their arrival in Peking they were received by the emperor Kang-Hi who was favourable impressed by them and retained Gerbillion and Bouvet at the court. This famous monarch realized the value of the services which the fathers could render to him owing to their scientific attainments, and they on their part were glad in this way to win his favour and gain prestige in order to further the interests of the infant mission. As soon as they had learned the language of the country, Gerbillion with Pereyra, one of his companions, was sent as interpreter to Niptchou with the ambassadors commissioned to treat with the Russians regarding the boundaries of the two empires. This was but the beginning of his travels, during which he was often attached to the suite of the emperor. He made eight different journeys into Tatary. On one of these he was an eyewitness to the campaign in which Kang-Hi defeated the Eleuths.

Jesuit astronomers with the Kangxi Emperor.

On his last journey he accompanied the three commissioners who regulated public affairs and established new laws among the Tatar-kalkas, who had yielded allegiance to the emperor. He availed himself of this opportunity to determine the latitude and longitude of a number of places in Tatary. Gerbillion was for a time in charge of the French college in Peking, and afterwards became superior-general of the mission. He enjoyed the special friendship and esteem of the emperor, who had a high opinion of his ability and frequently availed himself of his scientific and diplomatic services. He was withal a zealous missionary, and in 1692 obtained an edict granting the free exercise of the Christian religion. After the emperor’s recovery from a fever, during which he was attended by Gerbillion and Bouvet, he showed his gratitude by bestowing on them a site for a chapel and residence. Gerbillion was a skilled linguist. He was the author of several works on mathematics, and wrote an account of his travels in Tatary. These relations are valuable for their accurate account of the typography of the country, the customs of the people, and also for the details of life of the missionaries at the court. Among his works are “Eléments de Géométrie” (1689), “Géométrie pratique et théoretique” (1690), “Eléments de philosphie”. “Relations du huit Voyages dans la Grande Tartarie”. A work entitled “Elementa Linguæ Tartaricæ” is also attributed to him.

Sommervogel, Biblioth. de la C. de J., III; Eyries in Biographie Universalis, s.v.

HENRY M. BROCK (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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March 28 – “I have fought for God and king, and it is for them that I am going to die”

March 26, 2026

The capture and death of the fearless Charette

On the 21^st February his troop, now reduced to less than two hundred men, was attacked by General Travot, one of the ablest officers of Hoche. The Vendeans behaved with the greatest courage, but they were overwhelmed with numbers. The eldest brother of the general, Charette la Colinière, and several officers fell; and he himself escaped with difficulty, followed by only fourteen men. The next day all the surviving chiefs of the insurgent army gave in their submission, and nothing remained but to capture Charette himself. The republican generals, well informed by their spies, were in hot pursuit; and yet he contrived to carry on the campaign for a whole month longer.

Painting by Alexandre Bloch

On the 23^rd March, he was surrounded by four columns. “This, then,” cried the hero of Poitou, “this is the spot where I must fight and die.” The adjutant-general Valentine, was the first to charge. Charette, conspicuous by his white plume, was the mark for every bullet; yet, as if he had borne a charmed life, he long escaped unhurt. At length one of [his soldiers] seized his cap, and putting it on his own head, said “Save yourself, my general; they will take me for you.” This generous devotion cost the man his life, without saving his leader. He was soon slain; but Travot prevented the escape of Charette. The Vendean chief, wounded in the hand and in the head, attempted to leap a ditch; but, held by a branch which had become entangled in his dress, he was thrown upon his face. Two of his soldiers were killed in the attempt to set him free, and Charette at length fell into the hands of his enemies….

Dragged from town to town, Charette was sent to Angers, in order to be conducted to Paris. But Hoche thought it more politic to judge and execute him at Nantes….

The capture of Général Charette by Louis Joseph Watteau

On arriving at his prison, the general of the Catholic and royal armies found an officer with fifty chasseurs and four grenadiers, charged with the duty of mounting guard over him. General Duthill, who commanded the garrison, indulged his hatred to the royalists by heaping upon his prisoner the grossest insults….He paraded him through the streets of Nantes to the sound of martial music, and accompanied by a procession of republican generals in their most splendid uniform. Charette, pale, exhausted, and suffering agonies from his wounds, fainted in the midst of that barbarous triumph. A charitable person brought him a glass of water from a neighboring shop. Unhappily his name has not been recorded, but it was a courageous act; for to appear humane was in those days a crime. When he had recovered from his swoon, the illustrious prisoner continued his march, which lasted for two hours longer….

a steel engraving, engraved by Alès. 1849

In prison his demeanor was calm and dignified, and worthy of his great name. He asked to be allowed to see his sister, who had already applied in vain several times for the sad pleasure of embracing her brother. At last she was admitted, along with two of her relations. He rose to meet her, and flung his arms round her neck. The heart of the poor lady was ready to break with grief. He who had been her pride, who had been the hope of the royalists and the terror of their foes, was about to pass from prison to death. As she wept, and her companions with her, he said, with a trembling voice, “Do not weep thus. Do not shake my courage. I have fought for God and for the king, and it is for them that I am going to die. I have need of all my firmness. I implore you, restrain your tears. Sister, have you not often said, that in heaven we shall meet again?”

The trial took place on the 28^th of March. After five hours of examination, during which the Vendean belied not for a single instant the firmness of his character and the nobility of his cause, his judges pronounced upon him sentence of death. He heard it without emotion, and requested only, that as he had fought, so he might die, a Christian, and that he might enjoy the consolations of religion. They sent him the Abbé Guibert, a priest who had taken the oath to the constitution. Before entering his cell, the ecclesiastic begged that the prisoner might be searched. Charette was indignant at the man’s alarm. “Does he think,” cried he, “that the general of the Catholic and royal armies is an assassin? Let him come without fear.”

The Abbé then entered, and said, in a trembling voice, “I am come, monsieur, to offer you the consolations of religion in your unhappy strait.”

“It is for that purpose I sent for you,” replied the Christian hero. “I abhor your principles, I do not regard you as a legitimate minister; but I know that in the hour of death you have power to absolve me. Come, listen to my confession. I do not want your exhortations, I desire absolution.” So saying, he fell on his knees, and, notwithstanding his wounds, remained in that posture for two hours. Then he arose, pardoned, and ready to appear before his God.

Execution of Général Charette in Nantes, March 1796 by Julien Le Blant

At last the fatal moment arrived; the gate of the prison opened, and Charette was led forth to the place of execution….By his calm attitude and noble and resigned bearing, he attracted more attention than all the magnificence and pomp with which his enemies sought to adorn their triumph. As he passed by a certain house in a street indicated by his sister, he humbly bowed his head. An old man clad in black, and holding a white handkerchief, was at a window; it was a Catholic priest, whom the piety of Mademoiselle de Charette had stationed there to give to the warrior, who was going to die for God and the king, the benediction of heaven. None but a few Vendeans who were hidden in the crowd knew why Charette thus inclined his head; but they blessed God for the grace He had accorded to His faithful soldier.

After a long slow march through the town, the victim at length arrived at the Place de Viarmes, the spot selected for the execution. A vast crowd thronged the place and the adjoining streets, and more than five thousand men were drawn up in a large square with the officers on horseback in the center, their brilliant uniforms and tricolored plumes conspicuous above the triple row of bayonets. In the hour of death Charette first knew how great he had been in life. Himself on foot, calm, impassible, he disdained to address a single word in self-defense.…The priest, before retiring, was about to comfort him; but he said, “I have gone to death a hundred times without fear, and today I go for the last time.” He refused the handkerchief with which they were about to bandage his eyes: and advancing towards the picket who were to shoot him, he let fall his wounded hand, and putting the other upon his heart, he said to the soldiers,

Original steel engraving drawn by Raffet, engraved by W.J.J. des Hauvents. 1834

“Soldiers, aim true! It is here that you must strike a brave man. Vive le Roi!” And as his lips were formed to utter the cry of his whole life, he fell pierced with seven balls. So perished Charette. The royalists bewailed him, and even the Blues did homage to his courage. No cry of joy or triumph [came out of] the crowd as he fell beneath the fire of the soldiers; a mournful silence reigned on the place of execution, and a sort of stupor spread itself over Nantes. Lest the relics of the dead hero should animate the vengeance of the Vendeans, and in death Charette should be more terrible than in life, his body was taken to a quarry on the Rennes road, and thrown among a heap of other corpses.

Of Charette it may be said with truth, that his death was the utter ruin of the cause.

George J. Hill, The Story of the War in La Vendée and the Little Chouannerie (New York: D. & J. Sadlier & Co. n.d.), pp. 222-227.

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March 28 – Noble deeds make noble men

March 26, 2026

Josef Speckbacher

Josef Speckbacher, painted by Albin Egger-Lienz

A Tyrolean patriot of 1809, born at Gnadenwald, near Hall, in the Tyrol, 13 July, 1767; died at Hall, 28 March, 1820. Speckbacher was the son of a peasant and spent his youth in roaming, and he did not learn to read and write until later in life. At the age of twelve he was a poacher and was often involved in fights with the customs officers. When a little older, he worked in the imperial salt-mines at Hall. On 10 Feb., 1794, he married Maria Schmiederer of Judenstein, and in this way came into possession of her farm and house. At the beginning of the war with France he became one of the volunteers who sought to defend the fatherland; his first encounter with the enemy took place at the bloody skirmish near Spinges on 2 April, 1797. He was a fine sharp-shooter and one of the most zealous of the Tyrolean patriots. In 1805 he fought under Lieutenant-Colonel Swinburne against Marshal Ney, but was obliged like the other patriots to accept the cession of the Tyrol to Bavaria in 1806. When in 1808 the Archduke John entered into negotiations with Andreas Hofer for regaining the Tyrol, Speckbacher soon became one of the most trusted friends of Hofer and courageously supported the latter in preparing for the struggle for liberty. With the entrance of the Austrian army into the Pustertal in the month of April, 1809, began the heroic struggle of the Tyrolese. Speckbacher took a prominent part in the three efforts to free the country from the yoke of Napoleon. He showed himself to be not only a daring fighter, but above all a cautious, unterrified strategist. In this year, according to his own diary, he took part in thirty-six battles and skirmishes. On 12 April, 1809, he surprised the city of Hall early in the morning, made the garrison prisoners, and prevented the flight of the French into the valley of the lower Inn. On 31 May he commanded the left wing of the battle of Mount Isel, and fought victoriously near Hall and Volders. He conducted the siege of the castle of Kufstein (23 June-16 July). Here he gave countless proofs of personal courage, built batteries, destroyed the mills and boats, burnt the city, captured the train of provisions, and made his way as a spy into the castle. From 4 Aug. to 11 Aug. he was most of the time the commander in the battles between Sterzing and Franzensfeste against Marshal Lefebvre. He forced the marshal to retire and with Hofer and Haspinger commanded at the famous third battle of Mount Isel (13 and 15 August). After the enemy had been driven away, he and his men forced their way into the mountains of Salzburg, and stimulated there the defence of the country; on 25 Sept. he defeated the allied French and Bavarians at Lofer and with great loss fell back on Reichenhall. On 16 Oct. he was surprised at Melleck by a superior force of the enemy and was obliged to retire; his young son Andreas was taken prisoner, and he himself was severely wounded. At Waidring on 17 Oct. and at Volders on 23 Oct. he was able to maintain himself against the foe, escaped capture once more in a skirmish on 28 Oct., and captured a battalion of the enemy. After the last and unsuccessful fight on Mount Isel on 1 Nov., he wished to continue the struggle, but was obliged to abandon the unequal contest. He was proscribed, and a reward of five hundred florins was offered to anyone who would deliver him alive or dead.

Josef Speckbacher and his son Andreas, Engraving after F. Defregger

Speckbacher spent the entire winter in the Tyrolese mountains, sometimes hid among friends at lonely farms, sometimes hid in Alpine huts and always hunted by enemies. He was betrayed only once, but he saved himself this time by a daring flight and hid himself until Jan., 1810, in the clefts of the rocks, being often near death from hunger. His wife and four children were also obliged to seek safety by flight and to hide in the mountains. Speckbacher’s last hiding-place was near the summit of a high mountain in the Voldertal, where the only person who came to him was his faithful servant George Zoppel, who brought him food. On 14 March he was severely injured by an avalanche which overwhelmed him. He was brought by friends to his farm at Judenstein, where Zoppel hid him in the stable under the floor until 2 May. When scarcely well Speckbacher fled amid great dangers through the Pinzgau and Styria to Vienna, where he was warmly received by the Emperor Francis I. The emperor presented him with a chain of honour and a pension. The emperor’s plan to settle the Tyrolean refugees in Hungary could not be carried out and in 1811 Speckbacher was made the superintendent of an estate near Linz given by the ruler to Hofer’s son. Speckbacher’s wife, who had been imprisoned thirteen weeks at Munich, however, remained on the farm in the Tyrol. In the autumn of 1813 Speckbacher returned to the Tyrol as a major of the Tyrolese volunteers in the imperial army under General Fenner. He shared with these troops in the garrisoning of Southern Tyrol against the French and in maintaining these garrisons against the enemy. On 12 Sept., however, the Bavarian government at Innsbruck once more set a price, 1000 florins, on his head, and it was not until the summer of 1814 that Speckbacher was able to return home unmolested. A year later he received a second gold chain of honour, and in 1816 at the time of the national demonstration he received the personal notice of the emperor. He joyfully met his son, who had been well educated at Munich, and looked forward to a peaceful old age, but the hardships he had undergone forced him to sell his farm and move to Hall, where he died after a short illness.

Andreas Hofer, Josef Speckbacher, Joachim Haspinger and Kajetan Sweth

He was first buried at Hall, but in the summer of 1852, at the command of the Emperor Francis Joseph I, his remains were transferred to the Court church at Innsbruck, where they were placed by those of Hofer and Haspinger. In 1908 a bronze statue was erected to him at Hall. His widow received a pension from the emperor of 500 florins and a supplementary sum for the education of her children. She died in 1846. Speckbacher’s eldest son Andreas only lived to the age of thirty-seven years. After completing his studies as a mining engineer he went to the iron works at Mariazell and Eisenerz in Styria, received positions at Pillersee, Brixlegg, and Jenbach in the Tyrol, where he did much to improve the methods of mining ore. He married Aloisia Mayr and died in 1834. His sons and his brother died at an early age, and the family is extinct in the male line. Speckbacher was one of the most striking of the men who shared in the struggle for freedom in the Tyrol. His character is well expressed in his epitaph: “In war wild but also human, in peace quiet and faithful to the laws, he was as soldier, subject, and man worthy of honour and love”.

HIRN, Tirols Erhebung 1809 (Innsbruck, 1910); MAIR, Speckbacher, eine Tiroler Heldengeschichte (Innsbruck, 1904); DOMANIG, Speckbacher, der Mann von Rinn. Schauspiel in fünf Akten (Kempten, 1909), from the dramatic trilogy Der Tyroler Freiheitskampf); VON SCALA, Josef Speckbacher, der Mann von Rinn. Volksschauspiel in vier Aufzügen (Brixen, 1905).

HEINRICH VON WÖRNDLE (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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March 28 – Preacher of Crusades

March 26, 2026

Venturino of Bergamo

Photo of a painting of Bl. Venturino of Bergamo by Giorces.

Preacher, b. at Bergamo, 9 April, 1304; d. at Smyrna, 28 March, 1346. He received the habit of the Order of Friars Preachers at the convent of St. Stephen, Bergamo, 22 January, 1319. From 1328 to 1335 he won fame preaching in all the cities of upper Italy. In February, 1335, he planned to make a penitential pilgrimage to Rome with about thirty thousand of his converts. His purpose was misunderstood, and Benedict XII, then residing at Avignon, thought that Venturino wished to make himself pope. He wrote letters to Giovanni Pagnotti, Bishop of Anagni, his spiritual vicar, to the Canons of St. Peter’s and St. John Lateran’s, and to the Roman senators empowering them to stop the pilgrimage. This complaint to the Dominican Master General resulted in an ordinance of the Chapter of London (1335) condemning such pilgrimages. The pope’s letters and commands, however, did not reach Venturino, and he arrived in Rome, 21 March, 1335. He was well received, and preached in various churches. Twelve days later he left Rome, without explanation, and the pilgrimage ended in disorder. In June, he requested an audience with Benedict XII at Avignon; he was seized and cast into prison (1335-43). He was restored to favour by Clement VI, who appointed him to preach a crusade against the Turks, 4 January, 1344; his success was remarkable. He urged the pope to appoint Humbert II of Dauphiné, whose friend and spiritual adviser he had been, leader of the crusade, but Humbert proved incapable and the crusade came to naught. Venturino’s writings consist of sermons (now lost) and letters.

QUETIF-ECHARD, Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum, I (Paris, 1719), 620; LEANDER, De viris illustribus Ord. Praed., V; MORTIER, Histoire des Maitres Generaux de l’Ordre des Freres Pr., III (Paris, 1907), passim; CLEMENTI, Il beato Venturino da Bergamo (Rome, 1904).

A. C. O’NEIL (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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March 29 – Catholic Wife of Prince of Wales

March 26, 2026

Maria Anne Fitzherbert

Wife of King George IV; b. 26 July, 1756 (place uncertain); d. at Brighton, England, 29 March, 1837; eldest child of Walter Smythe, of Bainbridge, Hampshire, younger son of Sir John Smythe, of Eshe Hall, Durham and Acton Burnell Park, Salop, a Catholic baronet. In 1775 she married Edward Weld, of Lulworth, Dorset (uncle of Cardinal Weld), who died before the year was out. Her next husband was Thomas Fitzherbert, of Swynnerton, Staffordshire, whom she married in 1778 and who died in 1781. A young and beautiful widow with a jointure of £2000 a year, she took up her abode in 1782 at Richmond, Surrey, having at the same time a house in town. In or about 1784 happened her first meeting with George, Prince of Wales, then about twenty-two years of age, she about six years older. He straightway fell in love with her. Marriage with her princely suitor being legally impossible, Mrs. Fitzherbert turned a deaf ear to the prince’s solicitations, to get rid of which she withdrew to the Continent. However, on receipt of an honourable offer from the prince, she returned after a while to England, and they were privily married in her own London drawing-room and before two witnesses, 15 Dec., 1785, the officiating minister being an Anglican curate.

King George IV of the United Kingdom (1762-1830). The King, with the Royal Stewart tartan and and the green sash of the Order of the Thistle, was painted by Sir David Wilkie during the King’s visit to Scotland in 1822.

Thenceforth, though in separate houses, they lived together as man and wife, she being treated on almost every hand with unbounded respect and deference, until 1787, when, upon the prince’s application to Parliament for payment of his debts, Fox authoritatively declared in the House of Commons that no marriage between the prince and Mrs. Fitzherbert had ever taken place. However, upon the prince’s solemn and oft-repeated assurance that Fox had no authority for this degrading denial, the breach between the offended wife and her husband was healed. So they continued to live together on a matrimonial footing until 1794, when, being about to contract a forced legal marriage with his cousin, Caroline of Brunswick, the prince very reluctantly cast Mrs. Fitzherbert off, at the same time continuing the pension of £3000 a year, which he had allowed her ever since their marriage.

Maria Fitzherbert memorial in St John the Baptist’s Church, Brighton. Photo by AndyScott.

Shortly after the birth of Princess Charlotte in 1796, the prince, who hated the Princess of Wales, separated from her and besought the forsaken Mrs. Fitzherbert to return to him. This, after consultation with Rome, she at length did in 1800, and remained with him some nine years more, when they virtually parted. At last, in 1811, because of a crowning affront put upon her on occasion of a magnificent fête given at Carlton House by the prince, lately made regent, at which entertainment no fixed place at the royal table had been assigned her, she broke off connexion with the prince for ever; withdrawing into private life upon an annuity of £6000. Her husband, as King George IV, died in 1830, with a locket containing her miniature round his neck, and was so buried. Mrs. Fitzherbert survived him seven years, dying at the age of eighty, at Brighton, where she was buried in the Catholic church of St. John the Baptist, to the erection of which she had largely contributed, and wherein a mural monument to her memory is still to be seen.

Kebbel in Dict. Nat. Biog., s. v.; Gillow, Bibl. Dict. Eng. Cath., s. v.; Annual Register for 1837 (London); Langdale, Memoirs of Mrs. Fitzherbert (London, 1856); Wilkins, Mrs. Fitzherbert and George IV (London, 1905).

C. T. Boothman (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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March 29 – Peter de Honestis

March 26, 2026

Peter de Honestis

Santa Maria in Porto, Ravenna. Photo by Sailko.

Born at Ravenna about 1049; died, 29 March, 1119. Among his ancestors was the great St. Romuald, founder of the Camaldolese monks. All his life Peter fasted every Saturday in honour of Our Lady, and strongly recommended this practice to his religious. He styled himself Petrus peccator. He lived for some years in the Holy Land. When returning a great storm arose in the Adriatic and the ship was in imminent danger. Peter made a vow to build a church in honour of Our Lady should he safely reach the harbour. In fulfilment of his promise he built a church and monastery on the family property. Near by there was a small community of clerics, and Peter having joined them, was soon after made their superior, and with them removed to the church and monastery he had built, in 1099.

Madonna Greca in Ravenna. Photo by Sailko.

His name is associated with the sodality called “The Children of Mary”, established in honour of a miraculous picture of Our Lady, now called “Madonna Greca”, which tradition says came from Constantinople. The number of his religious increasing, Peter gave them some statutes grounded on the rule of St. Augustine. These were approved by Paschal II, and having afterwards been adopted by many other communities of Canons Regular, the Portuensis Congregation was formed. By common consent Peter has always been called Blessed. In former times his office and feast used to be celebrated at Ravenna; the process of his beatification is now before the Holy See.

PENNOTTO, Generalis Sacri Ordinis Canonicorum-Clericorum Historia Tripartita (Rome, 1642); Bullarium Lateranense (Rome, 1727); Storia della Madonna Greca, da D. P. S. (Ravenna, 1887); Vita del Beato Pietro degli Onesti (Ravenna, 1893); Pia associazione mondiale, fondata nel 1100 dal B. Pietro degli Onesti: Breve storia della Madonna Greca (Ravenna, 1891).

A. Allaria (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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March 29 – Chaplain to the Duke

March 26, 2026

Joseph Le Caron

One of the four pioneer missionaries of Canada and first missionary to the Hurons (q.v.), born near Paris in 1586; died in France, 29 March, 1632 He embraced the ecclesiastical state and was chaplain to the Duke of Orléans. When that prince died, Le Caron joined the Recollects and made his profession in 1611. On 24 April, 1615, he sailed from Honfleur, reached Canada on 25 May, and immediately wont to Sault St. Louis. After a short time he travelled to Quebec, provided himself with a portable altar service, returned to the Sault, and went into the land of the Hurons, being the first to visit their settlements and preach the Gospel. He stayed with them about a year, and was again among them in 1623. In 1616 he returned to France to look after the spiritual and material interests of the colony. The following spring saw him in Canada again, as provincial commissary. During the winters of 1618 and 1622 he evangelized the Montagnais of Tadousac. In 1625 he was once more in France, returned to Canada a year later, was elected superior of his order at Quebec, and filled this office until the capture of Quebec by the English in 1629, when he and his colleagues were sent back to France by the conquerors.

Carhagouha, Ontario (a Huron name) is the site of the first Catholic Mass celebrated in Ontario, Canada in 1615 by Fr. Joseph Le Caron. A picture, taken in 1922, of the unveiling of this cross to commemorate the event.

Le Caron was a saintly man, given to the practice of austerities, but gentle towards others. He died of the plague in the convent of Ste-Marguerite in France. We owe to him the first dictionary of the Huron language. The “Bibliotheca Universa Franciscana” of Jean de S. Antoine, II (Madrid, 1732), 243, says on the evidence of Arturus in his “Martyrologium Franciscanum” under date of 31 August, that Le Caron wrote also “Quærimonia Novæ Franciæ” (Complaint of New France).

Histoire chronol. de la province de St-Denis (Bibl. Nat., Paris); Mortuologe des Récollets de la province de St-Denis (late seveenteenth-century MS., in the archives of Quebec seminary); CHAMPLAIN (Euvres, ed. LAVARDIÈRE (6 vols., Quebec, 1870); SAGARD, Histoire du Canada, ed. TROSS (4 vols.. Paris, 1866); LECLERCQ, Premier Etablissment de la Foi dans la Nouvelle France (2 vols., Paris, 1691).

Odoric-M. Jouve (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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March 23 – Generous Noble Missionary

March 23, 2026

St. Toribio Alfonso Mogrovejo

(aka St. Alphonsus Turibius)

Archbishop of Lima; b. at Mayorga, León, Spain, 1538; d. near Lima Peru, 23 March 1606. Of noble family and highly educated, he was professor of laws at the University of Salamanca, where his learning and virtue led to his appointment as Grand Inquisitor of Spain by Philip II and, though not of ecclesiastical rank, to his subsequent selection for the Archbishopric of Peru. He received Holy Orders in 1578 and two years later was consecrated bishop. He arrived at Payta, Peru, 600 miles from Lima, on 24 May, 1581. He began his mission work by traveling to Lima on foot, baptizing and teaching the natives.

Miracle of St. Toribio

His favorite topic being: “Time is not our own, and we must give a strict account of it.” Three times he traversed the eighteen thousand miles of his diocese, generally on foot, defenseless and often alone; exposed to tempests, torrents, deserts, wild beasts, tropical heat, fevers, and savage tribes; baptizing and confirming nearly one half million souls, among them St. Rose of Lima, St. Francis Solano, Blessed Martin of Porres, and Blessed Masias. He built roads, school houses, and chapels innumerable, and many hospitals and convents, and founded the first American Seminary at Lima in 1591. He assembled thirteen diocesan synods and three provincial councils. Years before he died, he predicted the day and hour of his death.

The interior of the Cathedral in Lima, Peru

At Pacasmayo he contracted fever, but continued laboring to the last, arriving at Sana in a dying condition. Dragging himself to the sanctuary he received the Viaticum, expiring shortly after. He was beatified by Innocent XI in 1697 and canonized by Benedict XIII in 1726.

DE HERRERA, Life of Toribio

EDWARD L. AYME (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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March 23 – Jacques-Charles de Brisacier

March 23, 2026

Jacques-Charles de Brisacier

The famous Saint-Cyr boarding house that the Marquise of Maintenon, morganatic wife of Louis XIV, founded to help the numerous young ladies of the aristocracy whose parents had become impoverished.

Orator and ecclesiastical writer, b. at Bourges in 1641, d. at Paris, 23 March, 1736. At the age of twenty-five he entered the Society of the Foreign Missions at Paris, and devoted seventy years of his life to this great work. The scion of a rich and distinguished family, son of the collector-general for the Province of Berry, endowed with a remarkable talent for preaching, chaplain in ordinary to Queen Marie-Thérèse, wife of Louis XIV, he might have aspired to high ecclesiastical honors. Many bishoprics were offered to him. He refused them all, however, in order to remain in the Society of the Foreign Missions of which he was elected superior in 1681. He filled this office for eight terms, but as the rule of the Society is that no one shall be elected superior for more than three consecutive years, he filled this charge alternately with Louis Tiberge. He was also one of eight of its members who in 1698 composed the rules for its government which are still in force.

Madame de Maintenon was the second wife of Louis XIV.

Madame de Maintenon asked him to become the associate of Bourdeloue and Fénelon, in compiling the regulations for the school of Saint Cyr, which she had just founded. So pleased was she with his wisdom and judgment that she asked him again, in connection with Bourdeloue and M. Fronson, superior of Saint Sulpice, to give his opinion on the books of Madame Guyon and upon Quietism. On this point, however, the director of the Society of the Foreign Missions did not agree with the views of Fénelon.

Fr. Louis Bourdaloue (1632 – 1704), was a French Jesuit and preacher.

He took a very prominent part in the discussion on Chinese ceremonies. After having asked the advice of Fénelon and Bossuet on this question, Brisacier did not hesitate to declare himself of an opinion different from that of the Jesuits. The Bishop of Meaux wrote him three letters on this subject (30 August, 1701; 8 and 12 September, 1701). Brisacier, however, did not wait for these letters to declare himself.

Blessed Pierre de Castelnau Born in the Diocese of Montpellier, Languedoc, now Department of Hérault, France; died 15 Jan., 1208. He embraced the ecclesiastical state, and was appointed Archdeacon of Maguelonne (now Montpellier). Pope Innocent III sent him (1199) with two Cistercians as his legate into the middle of France, for the conversion of the […]

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García Moreno Refuses to Be Silent and Is Exiled for Denouncing His Country’s Rape

March 12, 2026

From that moment Ecuador was treated as a conquered country. Thefts, pillage, sacrilege, murders, became the order of the day. The “Tauras,” a guard of mamelukes whom Urbina called his “canons,” armed with daggers, went up and down the country, attacking inoffensive men, insulting women, and assassinating all who would not be robbed without a […]

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March 15 – Pope St. Zachary

March 12, 2026

Pope St. Zachary (ZACHARIAS.) Reigned 741-52. Year of birth unknown; died in March, 752. Zachary sprang from a Greek family living in Calabria; his father, according to the “Liber Pontificalis”, was called Polichronius. Most probably he was a deacon of the Roman Church and as such signed the decrees of the Roman council of 732. […]

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Jacques-Charles de Brisacier

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