October 10 – How to overcome bad ancestry

October 7, 2019

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

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October 10 – St. Paulinus, Archbishop of York

October 7, 2019

St. Paulinus Archbishop of York, died at Rochester, 10 October, 644. He was a Roman monk in St. Andrew’s monastery at Rome, and was sent by St. Gregory the Great in 601, with St. Mellitus and others, to help St. Augustine and to carry the pallium to him. He laboured in Kent — with the […]

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Vivien’s First Holy Communion and Death on the Battlefield of Aliscans

October 3, 2019

Our Chansons de geste somehow are silent concerning this festival, which is calculated to bring tears to the eyes of the most hardened: One can find only a  single reference which leads us directly to this grand ceremony. It is true, that this episode is incomparable, and ought to be placed beside—quite on a level […]

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Considerations On a Draft Beer Without a Head of Foam

October 3, 2019

I had the idea, which I don’t know was somewhat childish or true, that an authentic draft beer ought to be crowned with a layer of foam, albeit not very thick.  Lacking this foam, this beer seemed like a shirt without a collar. This was the first reservation I had regarding that draft beer. In […]

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October 4 – He chose a greater chivalry

October 3, 2019

St. Francis of Assisi Founder of the Franciscan Order, born at Assisi in Umbria, in 1181 or 1182 — the exact year is uncertain; died there, 3 October, 1226. His father, Pietro Bernardone, was a wealthy Assisian cloth merchant. Of his mother, Pica, little is known, but she is said to have belonged to a […]

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October 4 – He copied the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

October 3, 2019

St. Petronius Bishop of Bologna, date of birth unknown; died before 450. The only certain historical information we possess concerning him is derived from a letter written by Bishop Eucherius of Lyons (died 450-5) to Valerianus (in P. L., L, 711 sqq.) and from Gennadius’ “De viris illustribus”, XLI (ed. Czapla, Münster, 1898, p. 94). […]

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October 5 – Second founder of the Dominicans

October 3, 2019

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

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October 5 – Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos

October 3, 2019

Francis X. Seelos Born at Füssen, Bavaria, 11 January, 1819; died at New Orleans, La., 4 Oct., 1867. When a child, asked by his mother what he intended to be, he pointed to the picture of his patron, St. Francis Xavier, and said: “I’m going to be another St. Francis.” He pursued his studies in […]

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October 5 – St. Galla

October 3, 2019

A Roman widow of the sixth century; feast, 5 October. According to St. Gregory the Great (Dial. IV, ch. xiii) she was the daughter of the younger Symmachus, a learned and virtuous patrician of Rome, whom Theodoric had unjustly condemned to death (525). Becoming a widow before the end of the first year of her […]

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October 6 – Princes and popes coveted the advice of this silent man

October 3, 2019

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

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October 6 – Henri Delassus

October 3, 2019

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

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October 7 – How the Rosary saved Christendom

October 3, 2019

by Jeremias Wells The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary Here is but a small fraction of the victories directly obtained from God through the Holy Rosary: The Battle of Lepanto which saved Rome and Vienna, and thus the Pope and the Emperor, from Moslem subjugation The deliverance of Vienna by Sobieski The victory […]

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Lepanto: Turkish might buckles in the grandest naval battle of History

October 3, 2019

The Turkish fleet came on imposing and terrible, all sails set, impelled by a fair wind, and it was only half a mile from the line of galliasses and another mile from the line of the Christian ships. D. John waited no longer; he humbly crossed himself, and ordered that the cannon of challenge should […]

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October 1 – St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, PROLOGUE: THE PARENTAGE & BIRTH OF MARIE FRANÇOISE THÉRÈSE MARTIN and CHAPTER ONE – EARLIEST MEMORIES

September 30, 2019

ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX Excerpts from THE STORY OF A SOUL: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX SOEUR THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX, THE LITTLE FLOWER OF JESUS ______________________________ PROLOGUE: THE PARENTAGE & BIRTH OF MARIE FRANÇOISE THÉRÈSE MARTIN “To the Sacred Memory of Louis Joseph Stanislaus Martin and of Zélie Guérin, the blessed parents of […]

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October 1 – The Hon. George Spencer

September 30, 2019

In religion, Ignatius of St. Paul). Passionist, born at the Admiralty, London, 21 Dec., 1799; died at Carstairs, Scotland, 1 Oct., 1864. He was the youngest son of the second Earl Spencer and Lavinia, daughter of Sir Charles Bingham. From Eton he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, received Anglican orders, 13 June, 1824, and became […]

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

September 30, 2019

Alarm was ended on the fourth day, seeing that the fever and other ills left D. John. But the next day, which was a Saturday, he suddenly grew worse, and while the other invalids went on getting better and became convalescent, he showed other symptoms of a strange illness, palpitations which made him get up […]

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October 2 – The Holy Guardian Angels

September 30, 2019

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

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October 3 – Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

September 30, 2019

(December 13, 1908 – October 3, 1995) Brazilian intellectual and Catholic activist. Corrêa de Oliveira was born in São Paulo to Lucilia Corrêa de Oliveira, a devout Roman Catholic, and educated by Jesuits. In 1928 he joined the Marian Congregations of São Paulo and soon became a leader of that organization. In 1933 he helped […]

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October 2 – Falsely charged, mutilated and martyred

September 30, 2019

St. Leodegar (also Leger or Leodegarius) Bishop of Autun, born about 615; died a martyr in 678, at Sarcing, Somme. His mother was called Sigrada, and his father Bobilo. His parents being of high rank, his early childhood was passed at the court of Clotaire II. He went later to Poitiers, to study under the […]

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October 3 – Mother Théodore Guérin

September 30, 2019

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

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October 3 – Military turned monk

September 30, 2019

St. Gérard, Abbot of Brogne Born at Staves in the county of Namur, towards the end of the ninth century; died at Brogne or St-Gérard, 3 Oct. 959. The son of Stance, of the family of dukes of Lower Austrasia, and of Plectrude, sister of Stephen, Bishop of Liège, the young Gérard, like most men […]

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October 3 – Enemy of King St. Louis, but still his friend in Christ

September 30, 2019

St. Thomas of Hereford (THOMAS DE CANTELUPE). Born at Hambledon, Buckinghamshire, England, about 1218; died at Orvieto, Italy, 25 August, 1282. He was the son of William de Cantelupe and Millicent de Gournay, and thus a member of an illustrious and influential family. He was educated under the care of his uncle, Walter de Cantelupe, […]

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The Boy Vivien Is Whipped for Exchanging 100 Bales of Merchandise for Hounds and a Hawk

September 26, 2019

Vivien was the son of Garni d’Anseüne: the grandson of Amieri de Narbonne, and the nephew of the great William of Orange. But the poor Vivien, alas, was as a child handed over and delivered to the Saracens in order to preserve his father’s life, and the King Gormond, a Danish pirate, one day took […]

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Tension and Relaxation In The Countenance of a Saint

September 26, 2019

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira In the Vatican Gardens, Pope St. Pius X receives some distinguished visitors, who present him their homage. The Pope’s figure, erect and vigorous despite his years, gives an impression of discipline and firmness, but something in his person, especially his unclouded countenance, expresses repose and relaxation. The Saint is strolling […]

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September 27 – Fr. Peter Skarga: Court Preacher

September 26, 2019

Fr. Peter Skarga Theologian and missionary, born at Grojec, 1536; died at Cracow, 27 Sept., 1612. He began his education in his native town in 1552; he went to study in Cracow and afterwards in Warsaw. In 1557 he was in Vienna as tutor to the young Castellan, Teczynski; returning thence in 1564, he received […]

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

September 26, 2019

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

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September 27 – These exemplary nobles personified virtue

September 26, 2019

Saint Elzéar of Sabran, Count of Arian, and Saint Delphina of Glandenes St. Elzear (also spelled Eleazarus) was descended of the ancient and illustrious family of Sabran, in Provence; his father, Hermengaud of Sabran, was created count of Arian (Ariano), in the kingdom of Naples; his mother was Lauduna of Albes, a family no less […]

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September 28 – Good King Wenceslaus

September 26, 2019

(Also Vaclav, Vaceslav.) Duke, martyr, and patron of Bohemia, born probably 903; died at Alt-Bunzlau, 28 September, 935. His parents were Duke Wratislaw, a Christian, and Dragomir, a heathen. He received a good Christian education from his grandmother (St. Ludmilla) and at Budweis. After the death of Wratislaw, Dragomir, acting as regent, opposed Christianity, and […]

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September 28 – Franciscan money lender

September 26, 2019

Bl. Bernardine of Feltre Friar Minor and missionary, born at Feltre, Italy, in 1439 and died at Pavia, 28 September, 1494. He belonged to the noble family of Tomitano and was the eldest of nine children. In 1456 St. James of the Marches preached the Lenten course at Padua, and inspired to enter the Franciscan […]

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September 29 – The Angelic Inspiration of Chivalry

September 26, 2019

Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael _____________________ Saint Michael the Archangel: “Who is like God?” In Hebraic, mîkâ’êl, means “Who is like God?” The Scriptures refer to the Archangel Saint Michael in four different passages: two of them, in Daniel’s prophesy (chap. 10, 13 and 21; and chap. 12, 1); one in Saint Jude Thaddeus (single […]

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September 29 – Military Orders of St. Michael

September 26, 2019

Military Orders of St. Michael (1) A Bavarian Order, founded in 1721 by Elector Joseph Clemens of Cologne, Duke of Bavaria, and confirmed by Maximilian Joseph, King of Bavaria, 11 September 1808. Pius VII, 5 Feb. 1802 granted to priests decorated with this order all the privileges of domestic prelates. Under Louis I it was […]

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

September 26, 2019

Blessed Charles of Blois (1320- September 29, 1364) Charles is the son of Guy I of Blois-Châtillon, count of Blois, by Margaret of Valois, a sister of king Philip VI of France. Early in life, he felt a call to be a Franciscan friar, but political duty kept him in secular life. Following his marriage […]

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September 30 – The cantankerous noble who became a saint

September 26, 2019

St. Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church Born at Stridon, a town on the confines of Dalmatia and Pannonia, about the year 340-2; died at Bethlehem, 30 September, 420. He had a brother much younger than himself, whose name was Paulinian. His father, called Eusebius, was descended from a good family, and had a […]

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September 24 – Founding Father

September 23, 2019

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

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September 24 – “There is nothing so sublime as the papacy nor so exalted as the imperial throne”

September 23, 2019

Pope Innocent II (Gregorio Papereschi) Elected 14 Feb., 1130; died 24 Sept., 1143. He was a native of Rome and belonged to the ancient family of the Guidoni. His father’s name is given as John. The youthful Gregory became canon of the Lateran and later Abbot of Sts. Nicholas and Primitivus. He was made Cardinal-Deacon […]

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September 25 – Princely Umpire in a deadly sport

September 23, 2019

St. Albert of Jerusalem Patriarch of Jerusalem, one of the conspicuous ecclesiastics in the troubles between the Holy See and Federick Barbarossa; date of birth uncertain; died 14 September, 1215. He was in fact asked by both Pope and Emperor to act as umpire in their dispute and, as a reward, was made Prince of […]

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September 25 – St. Aunarius

September 23, 2019

St. Aunarius (Or Aunacharius). Bishop of Auxerre in France, born 573, died 603. Being of noble birth, he was brought up in the royal court, but evinced a desire to enter the clerical state, was ordained priest by St. Syagrius of Autum, and eventually was made Bishop of Auxerre. His administration is noted for certain […]

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September 25 – Did he compose the Salve Regina prayer?

September 23, 2019

Bl. Hermann Contractus (Herimanus Augiensis, Hermann von Reichenau). Chronicler, mathematician, and poet; born 18 February, 1013, at Altshausen (Swabia); died on the island of Reichenau, Lake Constance, 21 September, 1054. He was the son of Count Wolverad II von Altshausen. Being a cripple from birth (hence the surname Contractus) he was powerless to move without […]

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September 26 – Fr. Frederick William Faber

September 23, 2019

Fr. Frederick William Faber Oratorian and devotional writer, b. 28 June, 1814, at Calverley, Yorkshire, England; d. in London, 26 Sept., 1863. After five years at Harrow School he matriculated at Balliol in 1832, became a scholar at University College in 1834, and a fellow of that College in 1837. Of Huguenot descent Faber was […]

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In the First Crusade’s Conquest of Jerusalem, Priests Brought the Blessed Sacrament to the Attack

September 19, 2019

The idea, the spirit of the Crusades dominates and penetrates everywhere and everything. In the castles the children and young people are told with enthusiasm of the grand expedition of Peter the Hermit, fighting so bravely with an axe; and the recital which appeals so directly and forcibly to the youthful auditory is the episode […]

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Knighting Ceremony of the Order of Saint John

September 19, 2019

The ceremonies for the reception of a knight were very solemn and impressive. The following account of them is given by a modern author. The postulant presented himself with a lighted taper in his hand and carrying his naked sword. The priest, after blessing the sword, returned it to the candidate with these words: “Receive […]

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September 20 – Starved to death for the faith

September 19, 2019

Bl. Thomas Johnson Carthusian martyr, died in Newgate gaol, London, 20 September, 1537. On 18 May, 1537, the twenty choir monks and eighteen brothers remaining in the London Charterhouse were required to take the Oath of Supremacy. Of these choir monks Thomas Johnson, Richard Bere, Thomas Green (priests), and John Davy (deacon) refused; and of […]

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September 20 – “Threats do not terrify me”

September 19, 2019

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

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September 20 – Court preacher to Charles V

September 19, 2019

Saint Alonso de Orozco Mena Alphonsus de Orozco was born in Oropesa, Province of Toledo, Spain, on the 17th of October 1500, where his father was governor of the local castle. He began his studies in the nearby Talavera de la Reina and for three years he was a choir boy in the Cathedral of […]

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September 20 – Bl. Margaret Colona

September 19, 2019

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

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September 21 – Pope Conon

September 19, 2019

Pope Conon Date of birth unknown; died, after a long illness, 21 September, 687. The son, seemingly, of an officer in the Thracesian troop, he was educated in Sicily and ordained priest at Rome. His age, venerable appearance, and simple character caused the clergy and soldiery of Rome, who were in disagreement, to put aside […]

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September 21 – Victim of intrigue

September 19, 2019

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

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

September 19, 2019

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

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September 22 – Saint Emmeram

September 19, 2019

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

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

September 19, 2019

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

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September 17 – Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi

September 16, 2019

Early in August, 1224, Francis retired with three companions to “that rugged rock ‘twixt Tiber and Arno”, as Dante called La Verna, there to keep a forty days fast in preparation for Michaelmas. During this retreat the sufferings of Christ became more than ever the burden of his meditations; into few souls, perhaps, had the […]

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September 17 – St. Peter of Arbues

September 16, 2019

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

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September 17 – Noble calm in all controversy, even when correcting the pope

September 16, 2019

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

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September 17 – Greatly venerated even during her life

September 16, 2019

St. Hildegard Born at Böckelheim on the Nahe, 1098; died on the Rupertsberg near Bingen, 1179; feast 17 September. The family name is unknown of this great seeress and prophetess, called the Sibyl of the Rhine. The early biographers give the first names of her parents as Hildebert and Mechtildis (or Mathilda), speak of their […]

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

September 16, 2019

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

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September 19 – The Pope asks Princess Mary to marry James II of England

September 16, 2019

Another voice, the most august of all, was now to break silence. The arguments of Kings, Cardinals, Ambassadors, and of her own family had failed to shake the purpose or convince the mind of the young Princess. Moved by a desire to benefit the Catholics of England, and as much perhaps by the solicitations of […]

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September 19 – She begged donations to ransom Christian captives

September 16, 2019

Blessed Mary de Cervellione (or De Cervello) Popularly styled “de Socos” (of Help) Saint, born about 1230 at Barcelona; died there 19 September, 1290. She was a daughter of a Spanish nobleman named William de Cervellon. One day she heard a sermon preached by Blessed Bernard de Corbarie, the superior of the Brotherhood of Our […]

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September 19 – St. Januarius

September 16, 2019

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

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Louis, the son of Charlemagne, Is Baptized in Exile and Persecution

September 12, 2019

The most pleasing account of a christening, of all those which we find in our old poems, is in Macaire. The young mother is no less a personage than the Queen of France: the child is no less an individual than the son of Charlemagne, the heir to the immense empire of his father. But […]

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The Tourism Of Repose

September 12, 2019

Each afternoon at six o’clock, I used to go from the calm of the countryside to that of the city, exchanging not one form of fatigue for another, but rather one form of repose for another. Thus did I do my “tourism of repose”. When the bell is struck, its sounds descend harmonically and overflow […]

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