Found in almost every recipe, there are many different ways that sugar is used and here is one unique way to use sugar. Instead of the common form of sugar cubes, try making them in the various shapes seen below!

You can use any candy mold you wish to shape the sugar into. All you will need is:

1/2 Cup of Sugar

1 teaspoon of water.

L to R: Coffee/herb grinder; 1 teaspoon of water; metal bowl and fork; 1/2cup of sugar.

Use a clean, never been used, coffee/herb grinder. Pour the 1/2 cup of sugar into the grinder. Grind and shake the sugar until it becomes a powdery mixture. The idea is to have a fine mix of the sugar. Don’t grind too long.
Click to get the Recipe!

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St. Romuald

Statue of St. Romuald in Wigry, Poland.

Born at Ravenna, probably about 950; died at Val-di-Castro, 19 June, 1027.

St. Peter Damian, his first biographer, and almost all the Camaldolese writers assert that St. Romuald’s age at his death was one hundred and twenty, and that therefore he was born about 907. This is disputed by most modern writers. Such a date not only results in a series of improbabilities with regard to events in the saint’s life, but is also irreconcilable with known dates, and probably was determined from some mistaken inference by St. Peter Damian.

In his youth Romuald indulged in the usual thoughtless and even vicious life of the tenth-century noble, yet felt greatly drawn to the eremetical life.

At the age of twenty, struck with horror because his father had killed an enemy in a duel, he fled to the Abbey of San Apollinare-in-Classe and after some hesitation entered religion. San Apollinare had recently been reformed by St. Maieul of Cluny, but still was not strict enough in its observance to satisfy Romuald. His injudicious correction of the less zealous aroused such enmity against him that he applied for, and was readily granted, permission to retire to Venice, where he placed himself under the direction of a hermit named Marinus and lived a life of extraordinary severity.

Investiture of St. Romuald, Painting by Tommaso Dolabella

About 978, Pietro Orseolo I, Doge of Venice, who had obtained his office by acquiescence in the murder of his predecessor, began to suffer remorse for his crime. On the advice of Guarinus, Abbot of San Miguel-de-Cuxa, in Catalonia, and of Marinus and Romuald, he abandoned his office and relations, and fled to Cuxa, where he took the habit of St. Benedict, while Romuald and Marinus erected a hermitage close to the monastery. For five years the saint lived a life of great austerity, gathering round him a band of disciples. Then, hearing that his father, Sergius, who had become a monk, was tormented with doubts as to his vocation, he returned in haste to Italy, subjected Sergius to severe discipline, and so resolved his doubts. For the next thirty years St. Romuald seems to have wandered about Italy, founding many monasteries and hermitages. For some time he made Pereum his favourite resting place.

The cell of St. Romuald, in Camaldoli Monastery, Italy.

In 1005 he went to Val-di-Castro for about two years, and left it, prophesying that he would return to die there alone and unaided. Again he wandered about Italy; then attempted to go to Hungary, but was prevented by persistent illness. In 1012 he appeared at Vallombrosa, whence he moved into the Diocese of Arezzo. Here, according to the legend, a certain Maldolus, who had seen a vision of monks in white garments ascending into Heaven, gave him some land, afterwards known as the Campus Maldoli, or Camaldoli. St. Romuald built on this land five cells for hermits, which, with the monastery at Fontebuono, built two years later, became the famous mother-house of the Camaldolese Order (q.v.). In 1013 he retired to Monte-Sitria. In 1021 he went to Bifolco. Five years later he returned to Val-di-Castro where he died, as he had prophesied, alone in his cell. Many miracles were wrought at his tomb, over which an altar was allowed to be erected in 1032. In 1466 his body was found still incorrupt; it was translated to Fabriano in 1481. In 1595 Clement VII fixed his feast on 7 Feb., the day of the translation of his relics, and extended its celebration to the whole Church. He is represented in art pointing to a ladder on which are monks ascending to Heaven.

[Note: By the Apostolic Constitution Calendarium Romanum, promulgated in 1969, the feast of St. Romuald was assigned, as an “Optional Memorial,” to 19 June, the day of his death.]

Tomb of Saint Romuald, in St. Biagio Church at Fabriano

Acta SS., Feb., II (Venice, 1735), 101-46; CASTANIZA, Historia de S. Romvaldo (Madrid, 1597); COLLINA, Vita di S. Romualdo (Bologna, 1748); GRANDO, Dissertationes Camaldulenses (Lucca, 1707), II, 1-144; III, 1-160; MABILLON, Acta SS. O.S.B., saec. VI, par. I (Venice, 1733), 246-78; MITTARELLI AND COSTADONI, Annales Camaldulenses, I (Venice, 1755); St. Peter Damian in P.L., CXLIV (Paris, 1867), 953-1008; TRICHAUD, Vie de Saint Romuald (Amiens, 1879); WAITZ in PERTZ, Mon. Germ. Hist.: Script., IV (Hanover, 1841), 846-7.

LESLIE A. ST. L. TOKE (Catholic Encyclopedia)

Nobility.org Editorial comment: —

Many were the nobles who helped take Christian civilization to its apex in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Saint Romuald, founder of the Camoldolese Order, was one of them.
Not only did he lead the way for all who have entered his religious order, but he set an example for society helping it to be less grasping of material things and more attuned to the truths of the Faith and the peace of soul that comes from following the norms of Christian morality.

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Ven. William Barrow

June 19, 2025

Ven. William Barrow

(Alias Waring, alias Harcourt).

An English Jesuit martyr, born in Lancashire, in 1609, died 20 June, 1679. He made his studies at the Jesuit College, St. Omers, and entered the Society at Watten in 1632. He was sent to the English mission in 1644 and worked on the London district for thirty-five years, becoming, in the beginning of 1678, its superior. In May of that year he was arrested and committed to Newgate on the charge of complicity in the Oates Plot. The trial, in which he had as fellow-prisons his colleagues, Father Thomas Whitebread, John Fenwick, John Gavan, and Anthony Turner, commenced 13 June 1670, and is famous, or rather infamous, in history. Lord Chief Justice Scroggs presided, and Oates, Bedloe, and Dugdale were the principal witnesses for the Crown. The prisoners were charged with having conspired to kill the king and subvert the Protestant religion. They made a brave defense, and by the testimony of their own witnesses and their cross-examinations of their accusers proved clearly that the latter were guilty of wholesale perjury. But Scroggs laid down the two monstrous principals that

  • as the witnesses against them had recently received the royal pardon, none of the undeniable previous misdemeanors could be legally admitted as impairing the value of their testimony; and
  • that no Catholic witness was to be believed, as it was presumable that he had received a dispensation to lie.

Moreover, he obstructed the defense in every way by his brutal and constant interruptions. Accordingly, Father Barrow and the others, though manifestly innocent, were found guilty, and condemned to undergo the punishment of high treason. They suffered together at Tyburn, 20 June, 1679. By the papal decree of 4 December, 1886, this martyr’s cause was introduced under the name of “William Harcourt”.

Corbett, State Trials, VII; Tanner, Brevis Relatio (Prague, 1883); Florus Anglo-Bavaricus (Liege, 1685); Foley, records of the English Province S.J., V; Gillow, Bibl. Dict. Eng. Cath., s.v. Barrow; Idem, Lancashire Recusants.

SYDNEY F. SMITH

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Marie-Marthe-Baptistine Tamisier

(Called by her intimates EMILIA)

The closing ceremony of the Eucharistic Congress that was held in Dublin in June 1932. Earlier in the day, there had been a Solemn Pontifical High Mass at 1 p.m. in the Phoenix Park, with a special choir of 500 men and boys. A procession estimated at one million people, described as “miles of praying people”, then made its way to O’Connell Bridge. The Service of Benediction and Hymns on O’Connell Bridge took place around 5.30 p.m., and the Papal Legate Cardinal Lorenzo Lauri gave his final address of the Eucharistic Congress from this location. Sunday, 26 June 1932.

Initiator of international Eucharistic congresses, born at Tours, 1 Nov., 1834; died there 20 June, 1910. From her childhood her devotion to the Blessed Sacrament was extraordinary; she called a day without Holy Communion a veritable Good Friday. In 1847 she became a pupil of the Religious of the Sacred Heart at Marmoutier, remaining there four years. Without any special attraction for the life of a religious she made three unsuccessful attempts to enter it; the third was in the Convent of Perpetual Adoration founded by Ven. Père Eymard, who assured her she still belonged to our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. A lady of wealth sought her aid in establishing a community of perpetual adoration but this plan also came to naught. She then (1871) went to live near the tomb of Blessed Jean Vianney at Ars. Coming under the direction of Abbè Chevrier of Lyons she found her true vocation, at once contemplative and active in the Eucharistic cause. She had been prepared for it by many trials and disappointments. Throughout France and beyond, by extensive correspondence and by travel she spread the devotion. With the help of Mgr de Ségur and Mgr Richard, then Bishop of Belley, pilgrimages were started to sanctuaries where Eucharistic miracles had taken place. Their success led to Eucharistic congresses. At the Lourdes Congress she was called the Jeanne d’Arc of the Blessed Sacrament, but her name was not publicly associated with the congresses until after her death. Canon Vaudon’s history of the congresses published just before her death, though giving a detailed account of her apostolic career, calls her only “Mlle . . . “. She lived for some years at Issoudun and ministered there to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. All her spare means, though often depriving herself, she devoted to the education of poor aspirants to the priesthood.

Mlle Tamisier in The Sentinel of the Blessed Sacrament (New York, July, 1911); VAUDON, L’Œuvre des Congrès Eucharistiques (Paris and Montreal, 1910); L’Idéal (Paris, 1910).

B. Randolph (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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The Dauphin, Louis XVII of France

On June 21, 1792, the agitators fired up the mob, as they had done the day before, to invade the Tuileries Palace where the royal family was lodged. Hearing the tumult, Marie Antoinette rushed to the side of the Dauphin. Upon seeing her and still remembering what had happened the day before, the child asked: “Mamma, is it still yesterday?”

Edmond Guérard, Dictionnaire encyclopédique d’anecdotes (Paris: Firmin Didot, 1872), Vol. I, p. 189. (Nobility.org translation.)

Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 28

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St. Aloysius Gonzaga

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

When we see a young prince, the darling of his family and country, sacrifice nobility, sovereignty, riches, and pleasures, the more easily to secure the treasure of divine love, and of eternal happiness, how ought we to condemn our own sloth, who live as if heaven were to cost us nothing!

Aloysius Gonzaga was son of Ferdinand Gonzaga, prince of the holy empire, and marquis of Castiglione, removed in the third degree of kindred from the duke of Mantua. His mother was Martha Tana Santena, daughter of Tanus Santena, lord of Cherry, in Piedmont. She was lady of honour to Isabel, the wife of Philip II. of Spain, in whose court the marquis Gonzaga also lived in great favour. When she understood this nobleman had asked her in marriage both of the king and queen, and of her friends in Italy, being a lady of remarkable piety, she spent her time in fasting and prayer in order to learn the will of heaven, and to draw down upon herself the divine blessing. The marriage was solemnized in the most devout manner, the parties at the same time performing their devotions for the jubilee.

Ferrante Gonzaga (1544-1586), the father of St. Aloysius Gonzaga.

The Mother of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Martha Tana Santena (1550-1605)

When they left the court and returned into Italy, the marquis was declared chamberlain to his majesty, and general of part of the army in Lombardy, with a grant of several estates. The marchioness made it her earnest petition to God that he would bless her with a son, who should devote himself entirely to his love and service.

Our saint was born in the castle of Castiglione, in the diocess of Brescia, on the 9th of March, 1568. William duke of Mantua stood godfather, and gave him the name of Aloysius. The holy names of Jesus and Mary, with the sign of the cross and part of the catechism, were the first words which his devout mother taught him as soon as he was able to speak; and from her example and repeated instructions the deepest sentiments of religion, and the fear of God were impressed upon his tender soul. Even in his infancy he showed an extraordinary tenderness for the poor; and such was his devotion that he frequently hid himself in corners, where after long search he was always found at his prayers, in which so amiable was his piety, and so heavenly did his recollection appear, that he seemed to resemble an angel clothed with a human body.

His father designing to train him up to the army, in order to give him an inclination to that state, furnished him with little guns, and other weapons, took him to Casal to show him a muster of three thousand Italian foot, and was much delighted to see him carry a little pike, and walk before the ranks.

The child staid there some months, during which time he learned from the officers certain unbecoming words, the meaning of which he did not understand, not being then seven years old. But his tutor hearing him use bad words, chid him for it, and from that time he could never bear the company of any persons who in his hearing ever profaned the holy name of God. This offence, though excusable by his want of age and knowledge, was to him during his whole life a subject of perpetual humiliation, and he never ceased to bewail and accuse himself of it with extreme confusion and compunction.

Entering the seventh year of his age he began to conceive greater sentiments of piety, and from that time he used to date his conversion to God. At that age, being come back to Castiglione, he began to recite every day the office of our Lady, the seven penitential psalms, and other prayers, which he always said on his knees, and without a cushion; a custom which he observed all his life. Cardinal Bellarmin, three other confessors, and all who were best acquainted with his interior, declared after his death their firm persuasion, that he had never offended God mortally in his whole life. He was sick of an ague at Castiglione eighteen months; yet never omitted his task of daily prayers, though he sometimes desired some of his servants to recite them with him.

Castiglione delle Stiviere, town in the province of Mantua, in Lombardy, Italy and birthplace of St. Aloysius Gonzaga Luigi Gonzaga. Photo by Massimo Telò

When he was recovered, being now eight years old, his father placed him and his younger brother Ralph, in the polite court of his good friend, Francis of Medicis, grand duke of Tuscany, that they might learn the Latin and Tuscan languages, and other exercises suitable to their rank. At Florence the saint made such progress in the science of the saints, that he afterwards used to call that city the mother of his piety. His devotion to the Blessed Virgin was much inflamed by reading a little book of Gaspar Loartes on the mysteries of the Rosary. He at the same time conceived a great esteem for the virtue of holy chastity; and he received of God so perfect a gift of the same, that in his whole life he never felt the least temptation either in mind or body against purity, as Jerom Platus and Cardinal Bellarmin assure us from his own mouth.

The two young princes had staid there a little more than two years, when their father removed them to Mantua, and placed them in the court of the Duke William Gonzaga, who had made him governor of Montserrat. Aloysius left Florence in November, 1579, when he was eleven years and eight months old. He at that time took a resolution to resign to his brother Ralph his title to the marquisate at Castiglione, though he had already received the investiture from the emperor. And the ambitious or covetous man is not more greedy of honours or riches than this young prince from a better principle appeared desirous to see himself totally disengaged from the ties of the world, by entirely renouncing its false pleasures, which begin with uneasiness, and terminate in remorse, and are no better than real pains covered over with a bewitching varnish. He knew the true delights which virtue brings, which are solid without alloy, and capable of filling the capacity of man’s heart; and these he thirsted after.

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Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Sisak in Croatia. The Battle of Sisak was the Croatian Siege of Vienna. On June 22nd 1593 Ban Tomas Erdődy faced off an army of 16,000 Ottomans with his army of 4,500-5,000 men. When the battle was over Erdődy lost 500 men and the Ottomans had lost over 8,000. When Erdődy saw that they were successful in battle he fell to his knees and said: “In God we have prevailed”. This photo is a painting of when Erdődy saw that the Croatian/Austrian army had won.

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St. Thomas More

Saint, knight, Lord Chancellor of England, author and martyr, born in London, 7 February, 1477-78; executed at Tower Hill, 6 July, 1535.

Judge More - Sir Thomas More's father

Judge More – Sir Thomas More’s father

He was the sole surviving son of Sir John More, barrister and later judge, by his first wife Agnes, daughter of Thomas Graunger. While still a child Thomas was sent to St. Anthony’s School in Threadneedle Street, kept by Nicholas Holt, and when thirteen years old was placed in the household of Cardinal Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Chancellor. Here his merry character and brilliant intellect attracted the notice of the archbishop, who sent him to Oxford, where he entered at Canterbury Hall (subsequently absorbed by Christ Church) about 1492. His father made him an allowance barely sufficient to supply the necessaries of life and, in consequence, he had no opportunity to indulge in “vain or hurtful amusements” to the detriment of his studies. At Oxford he made friends with William Grocyn and Thomas Linacre, the latter becoming his first instructor in Greek. Without ever becoming an exact scholar he mastered Greek “by an instinct of genius” as witnessed by Pace (De fructu qui ex doctrina percipitur, 1517), who adds “his eloquence is incomparable and twofold, for he speaks with the same facility in Latin as in his own language”. Besides the classics he studied French, history, and mathematics, and also learned to play the flute and the viol. After two years’ residence at Oxford, More was recalled to London and entered as a law student at New Inn about 1494. In February, 1496, he was admitted to Lincoln’s Inn as a student, and in due course was called to the outer bar and subsequently made a bencher. His great abilities now began to attract attention and the governors of Lincoln’s Inn appointed him “reader” or lecturer on law at Furnival’s Inn, his lectures being esteemed so highly that the appointment was renewed for three successive years.

St. Thomas More

St. Thomas More

It is clear however that law did not absorb all More’s energies, for much of his time was given to letters. He wrote poetry, both Latin and English, a considerable amount of which has been preserved and is of good quality, though not particularly striking, and he was especially devoted to the works of Pico della Mirandola, of whose life he published an English translation some years later. He cultivated the acquaintance of scholars and learned men and, through his former tutors, Grocyn and Linacre, who were now living in London, he made friends with Colet, Dean of St. Paul’s, and William Lilly, both renowned scholars. Colet became More’s confessor and Lilly vied with him in translating epigrams from the Greek Anthology into Latin, then joint productions being published in 1518 (Progymnasnata T. More et Gul. Liliisodalium). In 1497 More was introduced to Erasmus, probably at the house of Lord Mountjoy, the great scholar’s pupil and patron. The friendship at once became intimate, and later on Erasmus paid several long visits at More’s Chelsea house, and the two friends corresponded regularly until death separated them. Besides law and the Classics, More read the Fathers with care, and he delivered, in the Church of St. Lawrence Jewry, a series of lectures on St. Augustine’s De civitate Dei, which were attended by many learned men, among whom Grocyn, the rector of the church, is expressly mentioned. For such an audience the lectures must have been prepared with great care, but unhappily not a fragment of them has survived. These lectures were given somewhere between 1499 and 1503, a period during which More’s mind was occupied almost wholly with religion and the question of his own vocation for the priesthood.
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St. John Fisher

St. John FisherCardinal, Bishop of Rochester, and martyr; born at Beverley, Yorkshire, England, 1459 (?1469); died 22 June, 1535. John was the eldest son of Robert Fisher, merchant of Beverley, and Agnes his wife. His early education was probably received in the school attached to the collegiate church in his native town, whence in 1484 he removed to Michaelhouse, Cambridge. He took the degree of B.A. in 1487, proceeded M.A. in 1491, in which year he was elected a fellow of his college, and was made Vicar of Northallerton, Yorkshire. In 1494 he resigned his benefice to become proctor of his university, and three years later was appointed Master of Michaelhouse, about which date he became chaplain and confessor to Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, mother of King Henry VII. In 1501 he received the degree of D.D., and was elected Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University. Under Fisher’s guidance, the Lady Margaret founded St. John’s and Christ’s Colleges at Cambridge, and also the two “Lady Margaret” professorships of divinity at Oxford and Cambridge respectively, Fisher himself being the first occupant of the Cambridge chair.

Henry VIII by Hans Holbein the Younger

Henry VIII by Hans Holbein the Younger

By Bull dated 14 October, 1504, Fisher was advanced to the Bishopric of Rochester, and in the same year was elected Chancellor of Cambridge University, to which post he was re-elected annually for ten years and then appointed for life. At this date also he is said to have acted as tutor to Prince Henry, afterwards Henry VIII. As a preacher his reputation was so great that in 1509, when King Henry VII and the Lady Margaret died, Fisher was appointed to preach the funeral oration on both occasions; these sermons are still extant. In 1542 Fisher was nominated as one of the English representatives at the Fifth Council of Lateran, then sitting, but his journey to Rome was postponed, and finally abandoned. Besides his share in the Lady Margaret’s foundations, Fisher gave further proof of his genuine zeal for learning by inducing Erasmus to visit Cambridge. The latter indeed (Epist., 6:2) attributes it to Fisher’s protection that the study of Greek was allowed to proceed at Cambridge without the active molestation that it encountered at Oxford. He has also been named, though without any real proof, as the true author of the royal treatise against Luther entitled “Assertio septem sacramentorum”, published in 1521, which won the title Fidei Defensor for Henry VIII. Before this date Fisher had denounced various abuses in the Church, urging the need of disciplinary reforms, and in this year he preached at St. Paul’s Cross on the occasion when Luther’s books were publicly burned.

St. John Fisher

St. John Fisher

hen the question of Henry’s divorce from Queen Catherine arose, Fisher became the Queen’s chief supporter and most trusted counsellor. In this capacity he appeared on the Queen’s behalf in the legates’ court, where he startled his hearers by the directness of his language and most of all by declaring that, like St. John the Baptist, he was ready to die on behalf of the indissolubility of marriage. This statement was reported to Henry VIII, who was so enraged by it that he himself composed a long Latin address to the legates in answer to the bishop’s speech. Fisher’s copy of this still exists, with his manuscript annotations in the magin which show how little he feared the royal anger. The removal of the cause to Rome brought Fisher’s personal share therein to an end, but the king never forgave him for what he had done. In November, 1529, the “Long Parliament” of Henry’s reign began its series of encroachments on the Church. Fisher, as a member of the upper house, at once warned Parliament that such acts could only end in the utter destruction of the Church in England. On this the Commons, through their speaker, complained to the king that the bishop had disparaged Parliament. Dr. Gairdner (Lollardy and the Reformation, I, 442) says of this incident “it can hardly be a matter of doubt that this strange remonstrance was prompted by the king himself, and partly for personal uses of his own”.

The opportunity was not lost. Henry summoned Fisher before him, demanding an explanation. Thisbeing given, Henry declared himself satisfied, leaving it to the Commons to declare that the explanation was inadequate, so that he appeared as a magnanimous sovereign, instead of Fisher’s enemy.

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Saint John Francis Regis

St. John Francis RegisBorn 31 January, 1597, in the village of Fontcouverte (department of Aude); died at la Louvesc, 30 Dec., 1640.

His father Jean, a rich merchant, had been recently ennobled in recognition of the prominent part he had taken in the Wars of the League; his mother, Marguerite de Cugunhan, belonged by birth to the landed nobility of that part of Languedoc. They watched with Christian solicitude over the early education of their son, whose sole fear was lest he should displease his parents or his tutors. The slightest harsh word rendered him inconsolable, and quite paralyzed his youthful faculties. When he reached the age of fourteen, he was sent to continue his studies in the Jesuit college at Béziers. His conduct was exemplary and he was much given to practices of devotion, while his good humor, frankness, and eagerness to oblige everybody soon won for him the good-will of his comrades. But Francis did not love the world, and even during the vacations lived in retirement, occupied in study and prayer. On one occasion only he allowed himself the diversions of the chase. At the end of his five years’ study of the humanities, grace and his ascetic inclinations led him to embrace the religious life under the standard of St. Ignatius Loyola. He entered the Jesuit novitiate of Toulouse on 8 December, 1616, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Here he was distinguished for an extreme fervor, which never afterwards flagged, neither at Cahors, where he studied rhetoric for a year (Oct., 1618-Oct., 1619), nor during the six years in which he taught grammar at the colleges of Billom (1619-22), of Puy-en-Velay (1625-27), and of Auch (1627-28), nor during the three years in which he studied philosophy in the scholasticate at Tournon (Oct., 1622-Oct., 1625). During this time, although he was filling the laborious office of regent, he made his first attempts as a preacher. On feastdays he loved to visit the towns and villages of the neighborhood, and there give an informal instruction, which never failed—as attested by those who heard him—to produce a profound impression on those present.

St John Francis RegisAs he burned with the desire to devote himself entirely to the salvation of his neighbor, he aspired with all his heart to the priesthood. In this spirit he began in October, 1628, his theological studies. The four years he was supposed to devote to them seemed to him so very long that he finally begged his superiors to shorten the term. This request was granted, and in consequence Francis said his first Mass on Trinity Sunday, 15 June, 1631; but on the other hand, in conformity with the statutes of his order, which require the full course of study, he was not admitted to the solemn profession of the four vows.

The plague was at that time raging in Toulouse. The new priest hastened to lavish on the unfortunate victims the first fruits of his apostolate. In the beginning of 1632, after having reconciled family differences at Fontcouverte, his birthplace, and having resumed for some weeks a class in grammar at Pamiers, he was definitively set to work by his superiors at the hard labor of the missions. This became the work of the last ten years of his life. It is impossible to enumerate the cities and localities which were the scene of his zeal. On this subject the reader must consult his modern biographer, Father de Curley, who has succeeded best in reconstructing the itinerary of the holy man. We need only mention that from May, 1632, to Sept., 1634, his headquarters were at the Jesuit college of Montpellier, and here he labored for the conversion of the Huguenots, visiting the hospitals, assisting the needy, withdrawing from vice wayward girls and women, and preaching Catholic doctrine with tireless zeal to children and the poor. Later (1633-40) he evangelized more than fifty districts in le Vivarais, le Forez, and le Velay. He displayed everywhere the same spirit, the same intrepidity, which were rewarded by the most striking conversions.

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June 16 – St. Benno

June 16, 2025

Bishop of Meissen, b., as is given in biographies written after his lifetime, about 1010; d., probably, June 16, 1106. He is said to have been the son of a Count Frederick von Woldenberg (Bultenburg) and to have been educated by his relative St. Bernward of Hildesheim. But these statements and the date of his birth cannot be proved to be historically correct. It is, however, certain that he was a canon of Goslar about the middle of the eleventh century, and that he was made Bishop of Meissen in 1066. At that time the great struggle between the Emperor Henry IV and the papacy over investiture, which involved the independence of the Church, was raging. Benno took part in the revolt of the Saxon nobles against Henry (1073). In 1075 he was taken prisoner by the emperor, who was then victorious, and kept in prison for a year. As, later, he upheld the party of Pope Gregory VII he was deposed at the synod of Mainz, 1085, by the prelates belonging to the imperial party and Felix, a partisan of the emperor, received the bishopric. Three years later Benno recognized the Antipope Wibert (Clement III) and obtained his see again; at a later date, however, he separated himself from his schismatical party and recognized Urban II (1088-99) as the rightful pope. The authorities of the eleventh and twelfth centuries contain no further information as to his life.

The Miracle of St. Benno’s Key by Carlo Saraceni in the Church of Santa Maria dell’Anima, Rome. According to the Legend, St. Benno had the key to his church thrown in the river to prevent Henry IV from entering. Once the Emperor was gone, the key reappeared in a fish taken from the river. Photo by Sailko.

The Diocese of Meissen extended towards the east as far as the River Bober and included Upper and Lower Lausitz, which were inhabited by Slavs. According to later tradition Benno devoted the last years of his life to missions among these heathen tribes. He was reputed to be the founder of the cathedral of Meissen and in after-ages was the most venerated bishop of the diocese. He was canonized by Pope Adrian VI in 1523 (Bull “Excelsus Dominus” in Bullarium Romanum, Turin ed., VI, 18 sqq.) and his relics were, with great solemnity, exposed for veneration, May 16, 1524. Luther took this occation to publish his lampoon “Wider den neuen Abgott and alten Teufel, der zu Meissen soli erhoben werden”. After Saxony had adopted Protestantism Duke Albert V of Bavaria had the relics of the saintly bishop transferred to Munich and placed in the church of Our Lady (now the cathedral). Since this time Benno had been the patron saint of Munich-his feast is celebrated June 16. He is represented with a fish and a key; according to a legend he gave the key of the cathedral of Meissen, when starting on his journey to Rome, to one of the canons with the command to throw it into the Elbe as soon as Henry IV should be excommunicated. This was done; after Benno’s return a large fish was caught in the Elbe and the key was found hanging to one of its fins, so that the bishop received it again.

J. P. Kirsch (Catholic Encylopedia)

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[Saint] Julitta (aka Saint Julietta) was a noble lady of Lycaonia. By order of the Prefect Alexander, she was arrested because she was a Christian, and brought before his tribunal.

She had a little boy named Cyrus, who at this time was only five or six years old. He was a beautiful child, and the pride of his mother’s heart. People who looked upon his angelic countenance thought he was more like one of the blessed spirits of God in Heaven than a child of this world.

When Julitta was led to the tribunal of the Governor, he asked her name and where she came from. She gave him only one answer to all his questions. She said : “I am a Christian.”

St. Julitta and St. Quiricus before the judge. Painting by Borghese di Piero

St. Julitta and St. Quiricus before the judge. Painting by Borghese di Piero

Then the Governor became very angry, and ordered her to be scourged.

All this time the child was in his mother’s arms. When the Governor had given this order he commanded the child to be brought to him. It was with the greatest difficulty that this could be done, for when the boy saw what they were going to do, he put his little arms round his mother’s neck, and clung more closely to her.

When the child was brought to the Governor, he made him sit upon his knees, and tried to stifle his cries by caressing him. But the little boy would not be pacified. He stretched out his arms towards his mother, and made every effort to get back to her again.

Mother and child Martyrs

In the meantime, the executioners began to scourge Julitta, and while they were scourging her, the only words she said were these: “I am a Christian.”

“I am a Christian too,” said the child.

The Governor, on hearing this, became filled with great rage. He took the child by the foot, and from the high place on which he sat, threw him down with great violence to the ground. The child’s head struck against the corner of the stone steps leading up to the tribunal, and was broken. At the same instant his holy soul ascended to Heaven, to God his Father there, for Whom he had shed his blood.

Martyrdom of St. Quiricus

Martyrdom of St. Quiricus

When the mother saw what had been done she was filled with great joy. “O my God,” she said, “I thank Thee with all my heart because Thou hast taken my child to Thyself in Heaven, and hast given him the martyr’s crown.”

These words increased the fury of the judge, and he gave orders to the executioners to inflict on her still more terrible torments.

While this was being done, a herald cried out to her: “Julitta, have pity on yourself, and sacrifice to the gods.”

Statue of Saint Quirico in Vercelli, Italy.

Statue of Saint Quirico in Vercelli, Italy.

“I will never sacrifice to devils nor to deaf and dumb idols. I honor Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. My greatest desire now is to see my son again, and it is only in Heaven that I can have that happiness.”

The judge, seeing that neither threats nor torments could shake the courage of the heroic woman, commanded her to be beheaded, and her body, as well as that of her son, to be thrown into the place where the bodies of criminals were cast. martyred

On the way to the place of execution, the Saint fell on her knees, and prayed thus to God: “O Lord, I thank Thee for having given my little boy an eternal kingdom in exchange for the sufferings of this life, which end so soon; receive me also, Thy unworthy servant, into the abode of the blessed spirits, where nothing defiled can enter, where my soul shall for ever praise Thy Eternal Father, the Creator of all things, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.”

When this prayer was ended, the executioner raised his sword, and cut off her head, and the soul of the holy martyr was once more united to that of her beloved boy in Heaven.

Some of her acquaintances secretly took the bodies, and buried them in a field near the city.

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*Note: Their feast day is June 16.

Rev. D. Chisholm, The Catechism in Examples (London: R & T Washbourne, Ltd., 1919), 277-80.

Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 394

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June 17 – Sobieski

June 16, 2025

John III Sobieski (Polish: Jan III Sobieski, Lithuanian: Jonas Sobieskis; 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696)

Painting of John III Sobieski by Daniel Schultz

Painting of John III Sobieski by Daniel Schultz

Born at Olesko in 1629; died at Wilanow, 1696; son of James, Castellan of Cracow and descended by his mother from the heroic Zolkiewski, who died in battle at Cecora. His elder brother Mark was his companion in arms from the time of the great Cossack rebellion (1648), and fought at Zbaraz, Beresteczko, and lastly at Batoh where, after being taken prisoner, he was murdered by the Tatars. John, the last of all the family, accompanied Czarniecki in the expedition to Denmark; then, under George Lubomirski, he fought the Muscovites at Cudnow. Lubomirski revolting, he remained faithful to the king (John Casimir), became successively Field Hetman, Grand Marshal, and — after Revera Potocki’s death — Grand Hetman or Commander-in-chief. His first exploit as Hetman was in Podhajce, where, besieged by an army of Cossacks and Tatars, he at his own expense raised 8000 men and stored the place with wheat, baffling the foe so completely that they retired with great loss. When, in 1672, under Michael Wisniowiecki’s reign, the Turks seized Kamieniec, Sobieski beat them again and again, till at the crowning victory of Chocim they lost 20,000 men and a great many guns. This gave Poland breathing space, and Sobieski became a national hero, so that, King Michael dying at that time, he was unanimously elected king in 1674. Before his coronation he was forced to drive back the Turkish hordes, that had once more invaded the country; he beat them at Lemberg in 1675, arriving in time to raise siege of Trembowla, and to save Chrzanowski and his heroic wife, its defenders. Scarcely crowned, he hastened to fight in the Ruthenian provinces. Having too few soldiers (20,000) to attack the Turks, who were ten to one, he wore them out, entrenching himself at Zurawno, letting the enemy hem him in for a fortnight, extricating himself with marvellous skill and courage, and finally regaining by treaty a good part of the Ukraine.

A statue of Jan III Sobieski in Prezmyśl (South-East Poland).

A statue of Jan III Sobieski in Prezmyśl (South-East Poland).

For some time there was peace: the Turks had learned to dread the “Unvanquished Northern Lion”, and Poland, too was exhausted. But soon the Sultan turned his arms against Austria. Passing through Hungary, a great part which had for one hundred and fifty years been in Turkish hands, and enormous army, reckoned at from 210,000 to 300,000 men (the latter figures are Sobieski’s) marched forward. The Emperor Leopold fled from Vienna, and begged Sobieski’s aid, which the papal nuncio also implored. Though dissuaded by Louis XIV, whose policy was always hostile to Austria, Sobieski hesitated not a instant. Meanwhile (July, 1683) the Grand Vizier Kara Mustapha, had arrived before Vienna, and laid siege to the city, defended by the valiant Imperial General Count Stahremberg, with a garrison of only 15,000 men, exposed to the horrors of disease and fire, as well as to hostile attacks. Subscription14 Sobieski started to the rescue in August, taking his son James with him; passing by Our Lady’s sanctuary at Czechoslovakia, the troops prayed for a blessing on their arms; and in the beginning of September, having crossed the Danube and joined forces with the German armies under John George, Elector of Saxony, and Prince Charles of Lorraine, they approached Vienna. On 11 Sept., Sobieski was on the heights of Kahlenberg, near the city, and the next day he gave battle in the plain below, with an army of not more than 76,000 men, the German forming the left wing and the Pole under Hetmans Jahonowski and Sieniawski, with General Katski in command of the artillery, forming the right. The hussars charged with their usual impetuosity, but the dense masses of the foe were impenetrable. Their retreat was taken for flight by the Turks, who rushed forward in pursuit; the hussars turned upon them with reinforcements and charged again, when their shouts made known that the “Northern Lion” was on the field and the Turks fled, panic-stricken, with Sobieski’s horsemen still in pursuit. Still the battle raged for a time along all the line; both sides fought bravely, and the king was everywhere commanding, fighting, encouraging his men and urging them forward. He was the first to storm the camp: Kara Mustapha had escaped with his life, but he received the bow-string in Belgrade some months later. The Turks were routed, Vienna and Christendom saved, and the news sent to the pope and along with the Standard of the Prophet, taken by Sobieski, who himself had heard Mass in the morning.

John III Sobieski

Prostrate with outstretched arms, he declared that it was God’s cause he was fighting for, and ascribed the victory (Veni, vidi, Deus vicit — his letter to Innocent XI) to Him alone. Next day he entered Vienna, acclaimed by the people as their saviour. Leopold, displeased that the Polish king should have all the glory, condescended to visit and thank him, but treated his son James and the Polish hetmans with extreme and haughty coldness. Sobieski, though deeply offended, pursued the Turks into Hungary, attacked and took Ostrzyhom after the a second battle, and returned to winter in Poland, with immense spoils taken in the Turkish camp. These and the glory shed upon the nation were all the immediate advantages of the great victory. The Ottoman danger had vanished forever. The war still went on: step by step the foe was driven back, and sixteen years later Kamieniec and the whole of Podolia were restored to Poland. But Sobieski did not live to see this triumph. In vain had he again and again attempted to retake Kamieniec, and even had built a stronghold to destroy its strategic value; this fortress enabled the Tatars to raid the Ruthenian provinces upon several occasions, even to the gates of Lemberg. He was also forced by treaty to give up Kieff to Russia in 1686; nor did he succeed in securing the crown for his son James. His last days were spent in the bosom of his family, at his castle of Wilanow, where he died in 1696, broken down by political strife as much as by illness. His wife, a Frenchwoman, the widow of John Zamoyski, Marie-Casimire, though not worthy of so great a hero, was tenderly beloved by him, as his letters show: she influenced him greatly and not always wisely. His family is now extinct. Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, was his great-grandson — his son James’ daughter, Clementine, having married James Stuart in 1719.

Wilanów Palace seen from the garden, painted by Bernardo Bellotto.

Wilanów Palace seen from the garden, painted by
Bernardo Bellotto.

S. Tarnowski (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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Saint Brother Albert Chmielowski

In Igołomia, on the outskirts of Cracow (Poland), the noble family of Adalbert Chmielowski and Josephine Borzysławska announced on August 20, 1845, the birth of their son Adam (Brother Albert). Mr Chmielowski together with his wife, raised their children in an atmosphere of patriotic ideals, strong faith in God and a Christian love for the poor. Orphaned at an early age, Adam and his two brothers and a sister were raised by relatives who also provided them with an excellent education.

From left: St. Adam and his brothers and sister, Stanley, Marian, Hedwig

From left: St. Adam and his brothers and sister, Stanley, Marian, Hedwig

At the age of eighteen, while Adam was a student at the Polytechnical Institute at Puławy, he lost his leg while taking part in the 1863 uprising. Because of the political repression following the uprising, he left Poland. In Gand (Belgium) Adam studied engineering; however, having discovered his artistic ability, he devoted his time and studies to the arts, especially painting, in Paris and Munich, Germany.

Student photo of St. Adam in 1865.

Student photo of St. Adam in 1865.

In 1874 he returned to Poland as an accomplished artist. Slowly, with the desire “to dedicate his thoughts and talents to the glory of God”, Adam began to paint subjects with a religious theme. One of his most famous artistic works was “Ecce Homo”, the result of his recognition of God’s love for man, which led Chmielowski to a spiritual metamorphose.

In Cracow’s public dormitories Adam saw the material and moral misery of the homeless and the derelicts, and for the love of Christ, whose countenance he recognised in their foresaken manhood, he decided to abandon his career, to live among the poor and needy and to accept a beggar’s life and lifestyle.

St. Adam Chmielowski when he was a painter.

St. Adam Chmielowski when he was a painter.

On August 25, 1887 Adam clothed himself in a grey habit and assumed a new name, Brother Albert. The following year he professed religious vows and founded the Congregation of the Brothers of the Third Order of St Francis Servants of the Poor, (Albertine Brothers). In 1891 he founded a similar Congregation of Albertine Sisters whose aim was to provide assistance to poor and needy women and children.

Brother Albert organized shelters and homes for the crippled and incurables, soup kitchens for the poor, nurseries and institutions for homeless children and youth. He sent sisters to work in military hospitals and lazarets. In the shelters, the hungry received bread, the homeless found a place to live, the naked were clothed and work was available to the unemployed. A helping hand was extended to everyone, regardless of one’s religion or nationality. While trying to meet the basic needs of the poor, Brother Albert with a fatherly love concerned himself with the spiritual welfare of those to whom he ministered. He instilled within them a proper respect for one’s dignity and brought them to reconciliation with God. Brother Albert drew his strength to fulfill these acts of charity from his love for the Eucharist and for Jesus on the Cross.

Brother AlbertBrother Albert died on Christmas day 1916, in Cracow, in the shelter founded by him, poor among the poor. The legacy he bequeathed to his spiritual brothers and sisters was the complete gift of himself to God in the service of the poor and needy, a life of evangelical poverty according to the example of St. Francis of Assisi, unconditional trust in the Providence of God, prayer and union with God in the work of every day. “You must be as good as bread, which for everyone rests on the table and from which everyone, if hungry, may cut himself a piece for nourishment” is the lesson Brother Albert’s unselfish life teaches us.

The spiritual heritage of Brother Albert was joyfully accepted by the members of his Congregations, who today continue his mission to the poor and needy in Poland as well as other countries of the world.

St. Brother AlbertRecognizing the sanctity of Brother Albert, his contemporaries referred to him as “the greatest person of his time”. Seen as the twentieth century Polish St. Francis, Brother Albert was beatified by Pope John Paul II on June 22, 1983 in Cracow.

In proclaiming him among the saints on November 12, 1989 in Rome, the Church presents Brother Albert to a world in need of this witness of God’s mercy by one who opened himself to the needs of others, in the spirit of evangelical goodness.

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To make peace, she surrendered her son’s rights to the throne

(born at Coimbra, October 4, 1178 – died at Lorvão, June 18, 1250)

Blessed Theresa

Queen of Léon as the first wife of King Alfonso IX of León. She was the oldest daughter of Sancho I of Portugal and Dulce of Aragon.

Bl. Theresa of Portugal, Queen of Castile.

Bl. Theresa of Portugal, Queen of Castile.

Theresa was the mother to three of Alfonso’s children—two daughters and a son, who was the heir of the kingdom until his death in 1214—but when her marriage to Alfonso was declared invalid because they were first cousins, she returned to her home in Lorvão, Kingdom of Portugal. There, she founded a Benedictine monastery. Soon after, she converted the monastery into a large Cistercian convent, with over 300 nuns.
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In 1230, Alfonso died after having several children with a second wife, Queen Berengaria of Castile. This second marriage was also annulled because Berengaria was Alfonso’s first cousin once removed. With two invalidated marriages, there was dispute among the children as to who would inherit the throne. Theresa stepped in and allowed Ferdinand III of Castile, Berengaria’s eldest son, to take the throne of León. After the succession dispute, Theresa returned to Lorvão and finally made her vows after years of living as a nun. She died in the convent on June 18, 1250 of natural causes.

The tomb of Bl. Theresa of Portugal at the Lorvao Monastery.

The tomb of Bl. Theresa of Portugal at the Lorvao Monastery.

On December 13, 1705 Theresa was beatified by Pope Clement XI’s papal bull Sollicitudo Pastoralis Offici, along with her sister Sancha of Portugal.

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By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

This section (Ambiences, Customs, Civilizations) has as its presupposition the fact that certain colors, certain lines, certain forms of material objects, certain fragrances and certain sounds have an affinity with man’s states of mind for reasons that are not merely conventional. There are colors that have an affinity with happiness, others with sadness. Some forms we call majestic, others simple. We say a family is cordial, and the same can be said of a home. We can call someone’s conversation enchanting; we can say the same of music. We can find a perfume vulgar, and we can say the same about the person who likes to wear it.

Ambience is the harmony formed, in this case, by the affinity of the component parts of various things united in the same place. Imagine a room of pleasant proportions, decorated with cheerful colors and furnished with gracious objects, and in which many flowers exude a pleasant fragrance and someone is playing cheerful music. In this room, there is an ambience of happiness.

Clearly, the more affinities there are among the beings and objects in the room, the more expressive the ambience will be. And, in addition to being happy, the ambience could be dignified, cultivated and temperate, if there were dignity, culture and temperance in the people and things found there.

An ambience will be the opposite of all this extravagant, ugly and vulgar if the objects that compose it have these qualities. An example of this would be a room full of modern art.

Man forms for himself ambiences in his own image and likeness, ambience of creation by placing living being sin it: plants, animals, and, above all, man.

We have proof in the Evangelists of how much power of expression these inferior beings, especially animals, have for men. Thus, in his beautiful sermon on the mission of the apostles (Mt. 10:16), Our Lord gave us the dove and the serpent as models for two high virtues: innocence and prudence.

HARMONIOUS in form, simple in color, gracious in flight and in movement, “affable” with other animals, its whole being pure and innocent — there is nothing in the dove that suggests an idea of plunder, aggression, injustice, intemperance or impurity. It is therefore most fitting that, as in the words of Our Savior, it is the symbol of innocence.

But it lacks something — the qualities that assure a being of his survival in the fight against adverse factors. His perspicacity is minimal; his combativity is void; his only defense is flight. Thus, the Holy Ghost Himself tells us of imbecilic doves without intelligence (Osee 7:11).

This reminds us of certain Catholics deformed by romanticism, for whom virtue consists only and always in hiding, in submitting, in receiving blows, in retreating and in allowing themselves to be trampled underfoot.

HOW different is the serpent — aggressive, venomous, deceptive, perspicacious and agile. Elegant and at the same time repugnant, so fragile a child can crush him, yet so dangerous a lion can killed with his venom. His whole form and way of moving is adapted for veiled, treacherous and fulminating attack. So bewitching that certain species hypnotize and an at the same time spread aura of terror. Well is it the symbol of evil, with all the sorcery and all the treachery of the forces of perdition.

But in all this “malice”, what prudence! What astuteness! Prudence is a virtue by which someone makes use of the necessary means to reach the ends he has in sight. Astuteness is an aspect, and in a certain way, a requirement of prudence, which maintains every discretion and employs every licit guise needed to arrive at an end. Everything in the serpent is astute and prudent, from the penetration of his look to his long, slender form and the terrible efficacy of his essential weapon — a venom which through a single, tiny perforation in his victim’s skin spreads throughout the whole body in a few instants.

THE ibis gives us a magnificent example of how the innocence of the dove and the astuteness of the serpent can be united in one single action. He makes his nest in trees and protects his offspring with vigilance and energy. He thus gives to man an example of serious and strong virtue.

A snake comes and swallows an egg, threatening to devour the rest of them. As clever and capable as the reptile, the ibis attacks it in a vulnerable spot, incapacitating its every means of aggression and defense. After some time of this pressure, the serpent surrenders the egg, and weakened, falls to the ground.

The ibis achieved his honest objective with the innocence of the dove, with a way of fighting that conquered the serpent with astuteness.

Ambience Customs & Civilization, “Catolicismo”, January 1954, No. 37

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In the summer of 1530, Ignatius came to London. That year was a fatal one to England. The question of the divorce was agitating not this country alone, but the whole Christian world. The most celebrated Universities were consulted on the subject, and by means of bribery and intrigue, not to say open violence, favorable answers, real or pretended, were obtained from Oxford and Cambridge, as well as from Bologna, Padua, and Ferrara. In Germany, however, not a single public body, including even Protestant consistories, could be induced to espouse the cause of Henry — perhaps not to displease the Emperor Charles — and at Paris the different Faculties, despite the known wishes and expressed commands of Francis, remained decidedly hostile; until by dexterous management a plurality of voices was secured in a single instance, and an attested copy of the vote thus extracted was forwarded to England, and published by Henry as the free and formal decision of the whole University. To a menacing remonstrance dictated by Henry, but which purported to come from the English nation. Pope Clement replied that he was ready to show the King every indulgence compatible with justice, but that he would not violate the immutable commandments of God. Henry was embarrassed, and even declared in private his intention of abandoning his purpose, when he was confirmed in his resolution by the unscrupulous counsels of one bold, bad man.

Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VIII plotting a way to procuring Henry’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Painting by Sir John Gilbert.

Thomas Cromwell, who had already enriched himself by the plunder of the lesser monasteries, and who ere long was to amass great wealth by wholesale sacrilege, sought the royal presence, determined, in his own words, “to make or to mar.” “The King’s difficulties,” he said, “arose from the timidity of his advisers. The learned and the Universities had pronounced in favor of the divorce — was so great a sovereign to be thwarted in his rights by a Roman pontiff? Let him imitate the princes of Germany, who had thrown off the yoke of Rome, and, with the authority of Parliament, declare himself the head of the Church within his own realm. His supremacy once recognized, the prelates, sensible that their lives and fortunes were at his disposal, would become the obsequious ministers of his will.” To this advice Henry lent a ready ear, and from that moment the severance of England from the communion of the Church may be said to have been already in intention consummated.

Map of Tyburn gallows and immediate surroundings, from John Rocque’s map of London, Westminster and Southwark (1746)

The reports of this apostasy must have been as gall and wormwood to the heart of St. Ignatius, filling it at once with a righteous indignation at the wickedness of Henry and his counselors, and with a consuming pity for a noble people. And, peradventure, as he knelt in prayer before Our Lady’s picture near the Tower, or traversed deep in meditation the long line of road that led to Tyburne, the veil of the future may have been lifted for moment, and his prescient eye have foreseen the day, and his soul gloried in the thought, that his heroic sons, with others as brave and good, would encounter the ignominy and all the frightful horrors of a traitor’s doom, rather than stoop to acknowledge, by word or sign, a supremacy as much opposed to the rightful liberties of a Christian man as to the inalienable prerogatives of the Vicar of Jesus Christ. No record has been bequeathed to us of what befell the Saint during the short sojourn he made in this island; we are left therefore to our own conjectures.
That he would visit the famous and not yet desecrated shrine of St. Thomas of Canterbury, either on his way to London or on his return to France, we may regard as well-nigh certain; and as more certain still that he would go sometimes to pray at the tomb of St. Edward the Confessor in the abbey church of Westminster. It is probable, too, that he was hospitably received at the Charterhouse by the Carthusian monks, whose brethren in Paris were amongst his closest friends and who ere long, would with one unhappy exception, choose death in its most revolting forms rather than admit Henry’s impious claim. Some were hanged under circumstances of peculiar atrocity; the rest were left to perish of disease and starvation in prison.*

* The fact was thus communicated to Cromwell on June 14, 1537, by Bedyll, one of the Visitors:—” It shall please your lordship to understand that the monks of the Charterhouse here at London, which were committed to Newgate for their treacherous behaviour long time continued against the King’s grace, be almost dispatched by the hand of God, as it may appear to you by this bill enclosed. Whereof, considering their behaviour, and the whole matter, I am not sorry, but would that all such as love not the King’s highness and his worldly honor, were in like case.”

To the document is added, “There be departed. Brother William Greenwood, Dom John Davye, Brother Robert Salte, Brother William Pierson, Dom Thomas Greene. There be at the point of death, Brother Thomas Scriven, Brother Thomas Reding. There be sick, Dom Thomas Johnson, Brother William Home. One is whole, Dom Beer.”

St. Ignatius Loyola and the early Jesuits, by Stewart Rose 1891, pg 152-154

Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 653

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There is a tendency nowadays to depict saints as people who bypass the realities of life and somehow attain sanctity with little effort.

Here we have two pictures of Saint Anthony of Padua. The first is a fresco in the basilica dedicated to the saint in Padua, Italy, and it is the oldest known depiction of the great thirteenth century apostle and miracle worker. In this picture, we see a powerfully built Franciscan, his expression young though mature, serious and determined.

The second is a holy card bought in the souvenir shop of the same basilica. This depiction is obviously not inspired by the fresco. Here we see a delicate, rosy cheeked young man, his face devoid of the natural masculinity necessarily brought on by the preacher’s arduous life. His is sentimental, of soft countenance, devoid of the personality and strength of character necessary for climbing the mountain of perfection.

Anthony was born Ferdinand of Bouillon of a Portuguese noble family. Early in life he engaged in the pursuit of virtue and suffered vicious attacks from the devil in an attempt to break his resolve. At fifteen he joined the Augustinians, and applied himself to prayer and intense study.

Since childhood, Ferdinand harbored the ardent desire to lay down his life for his Lord and his Faith. Hearing of the martyrdom in Africa of five Franciscan missionaries he knew, he joined the Franciscans hoping for the same fate, and took the name Anthony. Soon after, he was sent with a companion to Africa but Providence had other designs. On landing, Anthony fell ill and returned to Portugal. A violent storm re-routed his ship to Italy where, making use of his brilliant eloquence, he defended his order against evil machinations.

After a life of intense apostolate, astounding miracles and constant preaching against the enemies of the Church, for which he was named “Hammer of Heretics,” the saint died exhausted by his labors at only 36. He was canonized shortly after his death in view of the irrefutable miracles he performed in life and in death.

Although meant to be pious, the second holy card pictured here fails to give us a realistic idea of holiness. Saints Paul and John of the Cross speak of the journey of salvation as a “race” and an “ascent,” respectively, which require commitment, determination and fortitude.

According to Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, “The honors of the altar are not granted to hypersensitive and weak souls that flee from profound thought, bitter suffering and the battle ground—that is, the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Although God’s constant grace accompanies the willing on the road to sanctity, it does not cancel the human struggle against the pull of our fallen natures. The marks of the effort are to the saint what the scars are to the soldier – their true glory.

Hence, far from glossing over these realities, we should seek to depict them realistically as the earned halo and medal.

(Crusade Magazine, Jan-Feb 2007, pg. 24)

—————–

Life of St. Anthony of Padua

Doctor of the Church and Miracle-Worker
(1195-1231)

Born in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1195, Fernando de Bouillon was of a noble family related to the famous Godefroy de Bouillon, founder and first sovereign of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, who at the close of the Crusade of 1099 had refused to wear a crown, there where Christ had worn one of thorns.

Favored by nature and grace, Fernand resolved at the age of fifteen to leave the world and consecrate himself to God in the Order of Canons Regular of Saint Augustine. No flattery, threat or caress of his relatives could persuade him to leave that holy refuge. He asked to be transferred to another convent to avoid the family’s solicitations, and was sent to Coimbra. Still young, his sanctity became evident through miracles; he cured a poor religious whom the devil was obsessing, by covering him with his cloak.

When this young monk decided, after witnessing the return of the martyred remains of five Franciscans who had gone to Africa, to join that Order so favored with the graces of martyrdom, the Augustinians were desolate but could not prevent his departure, for Saint Francis himself appeared to him in a vision in July 1220, and commanded him to leave. He was then sent by the Franciscans to Africa, but two years later was obliged to return to Italy because of sickness; thus he was deprived of the martyr’s crown he would have been happy to receive.

In 1222 Anthony, as he was now called, went with other Brothers and some Dominican friars to be ordained at Forli. There Fra Antonio rose under obedience to preach for the first time to the religious, and took for his theme the text of Saint Paul: Christ chose for our sake to become obedient unto death. As the discourse proceeded, “the Hammer of Heretics,” “the Ark of the Testament,” “the eldest son of Saint Francis,” stood revealed in all his sanctity, learning, and eloquence before his rapt and astonished brethren. He had been serving in the humblest offices of his community; now he was summoned to emerge from this obscurity. And then for nine years France, Italy, and Sicily heard his voice and saw his miracles, whose numbers can scarcely be counted. A crowd to which he was preaching outdoors one day, when the church was too small to hold all who came to hear him, amidst thunder and lightning felt not one drop of water fall upon them, while all around them the rain poured down. And men’s hearts turned to God.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tiziano,_The_Healing_of_the_Wrathful_Son.jpg

At Padua also took place the famous miracle of the amputated foot. A young man, Leonardo by name, in a fit of anger kicked his own mother. Repentant, he confessed his fault to St. Anthony who said to him: “The foot of him who kicks his mother deserves to be cut off.” Leonardo ran home and cut off his foot. Learning of this, St. Anthony took the amputated member of the unfortunate youth and miraculously rejoined it.

After a number of years of teaching of theology, unceasing preaching and writing, Saint Anthony, whose health was never strong, was spending a short time of retreat in a hermitage near Padua. He was overcome one day with a sudden weakness, which prevented him from walking. It progressed so rapidly that it was evident his last days had arrived. He died at the age of thirty-six, after ten years with the Canons Regular and eleven with the Friars Minor, on June 13, 1231. The voices of children were heard crying in the streets of Padua, “Our father, Saint Anthony, is dead.” The following year, the church bells of Lisbon rang without ringers, while in Rome one of its sons was inscribed among the Saints of God.

Sources: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 6; Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butler’s Lives of the Saints, and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).

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Croia

Castle of Skanderbeg Photo by Stefan Kühn

Castle of Skanderbeg Photo by Stefan Kühn

A titular see of Albania. Croia (pronounced Kruya, Albanian, “Spring”) stands on the site of Eriboea, a town mentioned by Ptolemy (III, xiii, 13, 41). Georgius Acropolites (lxix) mentions it as a fortress in 1251. A decree of the Venetian senate gave it in 1343 to Marco Barbarigo and his wife. In 1395 it was held by the Castriots (Mas-Latrie, Trésor de chronologie, 1773), and it was the birthplace of the Lion of Albania, the national hero, George Castriota or Scanderbeg (died 17 Jan., 1468).
It was captured by Mohammed II 14 June, 1478, and the whole population was slaughtered together with the Venetian garrison, except the few who embraced Mohammedanism.

The remains of the castle above of city of Kruja, Albania.

The remains of the castle above of city of Croia, Albania.

Since the thirteenth century Croia has been a Latin suffragan of Dyrrachium (Durazzo). Farlati (Illyricum sacrum, VII, 411-432) mentions fourteen bishops from 1286 to 1694 (Gams,( 404; Lequien, III, 955, incomplete); Eubel (I, 224; II, 156) adds four names and corrects some data. Croia is to-day the chief town of a kaimakamlik in the vilayet of Scutari, with about 10,000 inhabitants, all Mussulmans. The Venetian citadel, 1500 feet above the sea, is still preserved together with Turkish guns and bells dating from the days of Skanderbeg. Croia is renowned among the Bektashi dervishes for the tombs of many of their saints.

HOPF, Chroniques gréco-romanes; DEGRAND, Souvenirs de la Haute-Albanie (Paris, 1901), 215-227.

S. Pétridès (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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The Battle of Lyndanisse was a battle which helped King Valdemar II of Denmark establish the territory of Danish Estonia during the Northern Crusades. Valdemar II defeated the Estonians at Lyndanisse (Estonian: Lindanise), during the Northern Crusades, by orders from the Pope.

The Battle

King Valdemar II of Denmark

King Valdemar II of Denmark

Valdemar II, along with Archbishop Anders Sunesen of Lund, Bishop Theoderik of Estonia, and his vassals Count Albert of Nordalbingia and Vitslav I of Rügen, sailed to the northern Estonian province of Revalia at the beginning of June. The crusading army camped at Lyndanisse and built a castle there, named Castrum Danorum, which the Estonians called Taani-linn (later Tallinn), meaning Danish castle. The Estonians sent several negotiators, but they were only playing for time as they assembled an army large enough to fight the Danes. [2]

On 15 June, 1219, the Estonians attacked the Danes near the castle, right after suppertime. They advanced from five different directions and completely surprised the crusaders, who fled in all directions. Bishop Theoderik was killed by the Estonians, who thought he was the king. The Danes were saved by their Wendish vassals, as Vitslav lead a quick counterattack which stopped the Estonian advance. This gave the crusaders time to regroup, and the Estonians were routed.

Dannebrog

Archbishop Anders Sunesen at the Battle of Lyndanisse & the Dannebrog falling from the sky.

Archbishop Anders Sunesen at the Battle of Lyndanisse & the Dannebrog falling from the sky.

Legend holds that during the battle of Lyndanisse, in the Danes’ hour of need, the Danish flag, the Dannebrog, fell from the sky and gave them renewed hope. As the Estonians attacked the Danish stronghold, the Danes were hard pressed. Anders Sunesen, the Archbishop of Lund, raised his hands to the sky in prayer, and the defenders held tight as long as his hands were raised. As Archbishop Sunesen became exhausted, he eventually had to lower his arms, and the Estonians were on the verge of victory. Then, a red flag with a white cross fell from the sky, and gave the Danes the victory.
This account builds on two different versions from the early 16th century, of an even older source. According to legend, Denmark received its national flag, the Dannebrog, during the battle. This legend is mentioned in History of the Kings and heroes of the Danes in the last three volumes (14-16) which describe Danish conquests on the south shore of the Baltic Sea and the Northern Crusades. The Latin volumes of Danorum Regum heroumque Historiae, were edited by Danish Canon, Christiern Pedersen, and published by Jodocus Badiuson March 15, 1514.

Battle of Lyndanisse and Dannebrog falling from the sky. Painting by Christian August Lorentzen.

Battle of Lyndanisse and Dannebrog falling from the sky. Painting by Christian August Lorentzen.

This older source set the emergence of Dannebrog as a battle in Livonia in 1208. But the Franciscan monk Peder Olsen (c. 1527) rectified the year as 1219. The legend became affixed to the Battle of Lyndanisse. The legend of Dannebrog as originating in the Northern Crusades holds true, as the red flag with a white cross originated as a crusader symbol.
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Nobility.org Editorial comment: —

God is not indifferent to heroism.
From the Cross that appeared in the sky at the battle of the Milvian bridge, with the inscription “In hoc signo vincis,” to numerous accounts of the Virgin Mary, St. George, St. James the Greater, or angels appearing, there is an abundance of historical reports on extraordinary phenomena occurring during battles.
Rejecting the sarcastic cynicism of skeptics and agnostics, a country like Denmark favored by one of these miraculous interventions should rightly treasure it, thank God for His providential assistance, and teach its young generations to always show this appreciation and gratitude.

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June 15 – St. Bernard dogs carry his name

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June 9 – French opponent to Jansenism and Gallicanism

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June 9 – A simple palace servant, God confided to her the destiny of nations

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June 9 – Mystic

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June 10 – Most Sublime Figure of Portuguese Literature

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June 10 – Anti-pagan Renaissance Saint

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June 11 – St. Godeberta

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June 11 – Blessed Ignatius Maloyan

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June 12 – Saint Guido of Acqui

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June 12 – He Crowned Charlemagne

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The Hatred of Revolutionaries for the King’s Coronation Ceremony

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On June 5, 1775, Louis XVI left Versailles, accompanied by the queen, Monsieur, Madame, and the Comte d’Artois, on his way to Compiègne, where he arrived at ten o’clock in the evening. On the 8th he left Compiègne to sleep at Fismes; on the 9th he took the road to Rheims. He went there to […]

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June 5 – Classmate of the Emperor

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James of Edessa A celebrated Syrian writer, b. most likely in A.D. 633; d. 5 June, 708. He was a native of the village of `En-debha, in the district of Gumyah, in the province of Antioch. During several years he studied Greek and Holy Writ at the famous convent of Kennesrhe, on the left bank […]

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June 5 – My God Is Greater Than Your Tree

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Death of a true knight

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Loyalty and service were what he recommended to Alvaro in their last talk, and gratitude for the royal benefits. Alvaro must prove himself worthy of the favors bestowed…. Then D. João de Castro blessed his son and said good-bye forever….Four holy men were his only attendants at this time: they were the Vicar General Father […]

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June 6 – Patron and Protector of Bohemia

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A dethroned Queen’s dignity amidst defeat

June 5, 2025

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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June 7 – The Crusaders reach the walls of Jerusalem

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The Conquest of Jerusalem in the First Crusade In June of 1099 [the First Crusade] arrived before the walls of Jerusalem, which was then held by the Fatimid Arabs of Egypt. With their usual religious zeal and grim determination, the Christians prepared to attack the walls. Their fighting force had been reduced to 1,200 knights […]

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June 7 – Martyr Prince of the Wends

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June 8 – The Noble Countess Who Dedicated Her Life to Bringing Dissolute Women to Repentance

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Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart (died in Porto, Portugal, June 8, 1899), born Maria Droste zu Vischering, was a noble of Germany and Roman Catholic nun best known for influencing Pope Leo XIII’s consecration of the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Pope Leo XIII called this consecration “the greatest act of my […]

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June 8 – She did what St. Ignatius could not

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Ven. Anne de Xainctonge Foundress of the Society of the Sisters of St. Ursula of the Blessed Virgin, born at Dijon, 21 November, 1567; died at Dôle, 8 June, 1621. She was the daughter of Jean de Xainctonge, councillor in the Dijon Parliament, and of Lady Marguerite Collard, both of noble birth and virtuous life. […]

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Je verrai

June 2, 2025

To the numerous applicants who waylaid him [King Louis XIV] with petitions he was in the habit of replying, ‘Je verrai’ (I will see about it). A Gascon officer who had lost an arm in the king’s service, but who, being a Protestant, had found insuperable difficulties in the way of a pension, as a […]

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“Everything Is Reflected in the Eyes: Anger, Fear, Affection, or Happiness”

June 2, 2025

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira This section has often dealt with ambiences created by buildings, furniture, landscapes, etc. It would be interesting to emphasize that the principal element of all ambiences is man himself. A self evident truth in respect to the ideals that man expresses and the actions he performs, but it is perhaps […]

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June 2 – Saved from the Byzantine Emperor’s roaster, ironically, by the Moslems

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June 3 – Genesius (Bishop of Clermont)

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Twenty-first Bishop of Clermont, d. 662. Feast, 3 June. The legend, which is of a rather late date (Acta SS., June, I, 315), says that he was descended from a senatorial family of Auvergne. Having received a liberal education he renounced his worldly prospects for the service of the Church, became archdeacon of Clermont under […]

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June 3 – She had to witness her children kill each other

June 2, 2025

St. Clotilda, Queen of the Franks (French: CLOTILDE; German: CHLOTHILDE). Queen of the Franks, born probably at Lyons, c. 474; died at Tours, 3 June, 545. Her feast is celebrated 3 June. Clotilda was the wife of Clovis I, and the daughter of Chilperic, King of Burgundians of Lyons, and Caretena. After the death of […]

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June 4 – St. Francis Caracciolo

June 2, 2025

St. Francis Caracciolo Co-founder with John Augustine Adorno of the Congregation of the Minor Clerks Regular; born in Villa Santa Maria in the Abrusso (Italy), 13 October, 1563; died at Agnone, 4 June, 1608. He belonged to the Pisquizio branch of the Caracciolo and received in baptism the name of Ascanio. From his infancy he […]

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Trudeau Footwear: An Insult to the King

May 29, 2025

From nationalpost.com Former prime minister, Justin Trudeau made an appearance for today’s Speech from the Throne by King Charles, entering the Senate chamber accompanied by his mother, Margaret Trudeau, and wearing an unusual choice of footwear. They were Adidas sneakers, the Gazelle model, in blue and orange. It may be rare to see them in […]

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Princess of Wales officially names warship HMS Glasgow

May 29, 2025

From BBC.com The Princess of Wales has officially named the Royal Navy’s newest warship HMS Glasgow in a ceremony on the River Clyde. It is the first of eight Type 26 frigates to be built by BAE Systems at its Glasgow shipbuilding facilities in Govan and Scotstoun. Catherine, accompanied by the Prince of Wales, smashed […]

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May 29 – Bartolomeu Dias

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May 29 – Assassinated in the castle of St. Andrews

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avid Beaton (Or Bethune) Cardinal, Archbishop of St. Andrews, b. 1494; d. 29 May, 1546. He was of an honourable Scottish family on both sides, being a younger son of John Beaton of Balfour Fife, by Isabel, daughter of David Monypenny of Pitmilly, also in Fife. Educated first at St. Andrews, he went in his […]

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May 30 – William Maurus Scot

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May 30 – Victim of the Kulturkampf

May 29, 2025

Eberhard, Matthias, Bishop of Trier, b. November 15, 1815, at Trier (Germany), d. there May 30, 1876. After successfully completing the gymnasium course of his native town, he devoted himself to the study of theology, was ordained in 1839, and soon after made assistant at St. Castor’s in Coblenz. In 1842 Bishop Arnoldi made him […]

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St. Joan of Arc: the prophetic voice that saved France

May 29, 2025

To proclaim her authority Joan dictated a letter to the English. Far from arguing the disputed question of the king’s right to the kingdom of France, the letter declared that those rights had come from God, who was openly supporting the king through His envoy, the Maid. “Jhesus Maria… “King of England and you, Duke […]

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May 30 – She was sent by God to save France

May 29, 2025

Joan of Arc in Real Life Saint Joan of Arc is far more than a worthy subject for stained-glass windows, although that is how her biographers often portray her. Fortunately, we have the records of two judgments to set the record straight. As is common with heroes deemed “larger than life,” Joan is seen through […]

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The virgin-warrior urged her men to righteousness

May 29, 2025

“Joan was chaste, and she loathed those women who follow the soldiers. I once saw her at Saint Denis, on the way back from the King’s coronation, chase a girl who was with the soldiers so hard, with her sword drawn, that she broke her sword. She was furious when she heard soldiers swearing, and […]

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May 31 – St. Camilla Battista da Varano

May 29, 2025

St. Baptista Varano (also spelled Varani). An ascetical writer, born at Camerino, in the March of Ancona, 9 Apr., 1458; died there, 31 May, 1527. Her father, Julius Caesar Varano or de Varanis, Duke of Camerino, belonged to an illustrious family; her mother, Joanna Malatesta, was a daughter of Sigismund, Prince of Rimini. At baptism […]

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

May 29, 2025

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 […]

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June 1 – Kidnapped for Christ

May 29, 2025

Bl. John Story (Or Storey.) Martyr; born 1504; died at Tyburn, 1 June, 1571. He was educated at Oxford, and was president of Broadgates Hall, now Pembroke College, from 1537 to 1539. He entered Parliament as member for Hindon, Wilts, in 1547, and was imprisoned for opposing the Bill of Uniformity, 24 Jan.-2 March, 1548-9. […]

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June 1 – The Aristocrat Who Gave His Life for the Poor

May 29, 2025

Saint Hannibal Mary Di Francia (1851-1927)  (sometimes written as Annibale Maria Di Francia) Hannibal Mary Di Francia was born in Messina, Italy, on July 5, 1851. His father Francis was a knight, the Marquis of St. Catherine of Jonio, Papal Vice-Consul and Honorary Captain of the Navy. His mother, Anna Toscano, also belonged to an […]

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Leo XIV: A Touch of Aristocracy?

May 26, 2025

From lawliberty.org Will an American pope remind us of the value of nobility? The New World can have its patricians, too. George Washington certainly knew how to be the statesman his people required. Perhaps, in honor of our first pope, Americans could reflect anew on this subject. We’re not constitutionally, or even Constitutionally, incapable of […]

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