October 3 – Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

October 2, 2025

(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 3 – Mother Théodore Guérin

October 2, 2025

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

October 2, 2025

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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October 4 – He chose a greater chivalry

October 2, 2025

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 2, 2025

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 2, 2025

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 2, 2025

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 – William Hartley

October 2, 2025

Ven. William Hartley Martyr; b. at Wyn, in Derbyshire, England, of a yeoman family about 1557; d. 5 October, 1588. At eighteen he matriculated at St. John’s, Oxford, where he became a chaplain. Being ejected by the vice-chancellor, Tobie Mathew, in 1579, he went to Reims in August, was ordained at Châlons, and returned to […]

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The Nobility of the Holy Family & Prayer to St. Joseph

September 29, 2025

Mary, Joseph, and, Therefore, Jesus Were Born of Royal Stock From a sermon of Saint Bernardine of Siena (1380-1444) about Saint Joseph: Firstly, let us consider the nobility of the bride, that is, the Most Holy Virgin. The Blessed Virgin was more noble than any other creature that had been born in human form, that […]

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Saint Michael the Archangel, Model of the Perfect Knight

September 29, 2025

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

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September 29 – The Angelic Inspiration of Chivalry

September 29, 2025

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 29, 2025

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 29, 2025

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 29, 2025

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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True Sanctity Lies in Strength of Soul and Not in Sentimental Softness

September 29, 2025

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira The Church teaches that true and complete sanctity is the heroism of virtue. The honor of the altars is not granted to weak, hypersensitive souls that flee from profound thoughts, from acute suffering, from the fight, in short, from the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Mindful of the words […]

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

September 29, 2025

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 1 – Blessed Ralph Crockett

September 29, 2025

Blessed Ralph Crockett English martyr, b. at Barton, near Farndon, Cheshire; executed at Chichester, 1 October, 1588. Educated at Cambridge, and ordained at Reims in 1585, he was captured on board ship at Littlehampton, Sussex, 19 April, 1856, with three other priests, Thomas Bramston, George Potter, and his fellow martyr, Edward James (b. at Breaston, […]

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October 1 – St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Chapter VI: A Pilgrimage to Rome & Chapter VII: The Little Flower Enters the Carmel

September 29, 2025

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 and CHAPTER ONE – EARLIEST MEMORIES CHAPTER II: A CATHOLIC HOUSEHOLD and CHAPTER III: PAULINE ENTERS THE […]

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September 25 – Did he compose the Salve Regina prayer?

September 25, 2025

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 25 – St. Aunarius

September 25, 2025

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

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

September 25, 2025

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

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September 26 – Fr. Frederick William Faber

September 25, 2025

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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Tradition is a fertile patrimony, an inheritance that must be preserved

September 25, 2025

From an allocution of Paul VI to his fellow countrymen of Brescia, September 26, 1970: “Allow a fellow-citizen of yours from yesterday to render homage to one of the most precious values of human life, and one of the most neglected in our day: tradition. It is a fertile patrimony, a heritage to be preserved. […]

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

September 25, 2025

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 – Fr. Peter Skarga: Court Preacher

September 25, 2025

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 28 – Franciscan money lender

September 25, 2025

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 28 – Good King Wenceslaus

September 25, 2025

(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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What is Feudalism?

September 25, 2025

Feudalism This term is derived from the Old Aryan pe’ku, hence Sanskrit pacu, “cattle”; so also Lat. pecus (cf. pecunia); Old High German fehu, fihu, “cattle”, “property”, “money”; Old Frisian fia; Old Saxon fehu; Old English feoh, fioh, feo, fee. It is an indefinable word for it represents the progressive development of European organization during […]

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To Fulfill the Hopes Placed in It, the Nobility Should Shine in the Gifts Specific to It

September 25, 2025

After emphasizing once again the importance of the nobility’s fidelity to Catholic morals, Pius XII outlines a fascinating picture of the qualities that the nobility should manifest in order to correspond to the hopes he places in it. It especially interests the present study to note that these qualities should shine in the nobility as […]

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Lifting our Gaze Toward the Alienated Elites

September 25, 2025

Purely ideological debates on the issues of equality and inequality—and especially on the subject of monarchy-aristocracy-democracy—have not customarily occupied center stage in the United States. Only in the years immediately following independence did a debate of this nature have some import in American political life. An example of this was the controversy between Jefferson and […]

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The Elitist School: The discrediting of the liberal myth

September 25, 2025

Influenced by this American myth, sociologists and historians formerly simply closed their eyes to the existence of elites in our country. Vance Packard, one of the oldest representatives of what came to be known as the elitist school, writes: “Until recently, even sociologists had shrunk away from a candid exploration of social class in America. […]

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September 24 – Our Lady of Ransom

September 22, 2025

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

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

September 22, 2025

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 24 – Founding Father

September 22, 2025

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 23 – Pioneer missionary of the Flatheads

September 22, 2025

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

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

September 22, 2025

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

September 22, 2025

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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If the Cassock Has Lost All Influence, Why Wear It Outside the Police Barracks [DPSO]*?

September 18, 2025

by Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira A happy group of young men. Who are they? Students? Businessman? Perhaps workers? One cannot tell by their clothing. They are however Dominicans, photographed without their cassocks by a Rio de Janeiro magazine, in front of the Church of São Domingos das Perdizes, in São Paulo. Our readers are […]

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

September 18, 2025

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 – St. Januarius

September 18, 2025

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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September 19 – She begged donations to ransom Christian captives

September 18, 2025

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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Pope Pius IX Loses Rome: The Porta Pia Is Breached and the Papal Zouaves Lay Down Their Weapons

September 18, 2025

At 5:15 a.m. on 20 September 1870, the observatory of Santa Maria Maggiore warned the Ministry of War that the enemy batteries had attacked Porta Pia which, because of its position, constituted the most vulnerable point of the city. . . . As he talked to the diplomatic corps . . Cardinal Antonelli arrived with […]

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September 20 – Starved to death for the faith

September 18, 2025

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 18, 2025

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 21 – Victim of intrigue

September 18, 2025

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 21 – Pope Conon

September 18, 2025

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 15 – The noble apostle of purgatory

September 15, 2025

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

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September 15 – Grandmother of Good King Wenceslaus

September 15, 2025

St. Ludmilla Wife of Boriwoi, the first Christian Duke of Bohemia, born at Mielnik, circa 860; died at Tetin, near Beraun, 15 September, 921. She and her husband were baptized, probably by St. Methodius, in 871. Pagan fanatics drove them from their country, but they were soon recalled, and after reigning seven more years they […]

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September 16 – The pope who exacted tribute from the Mohammedan ruler of Tunis

September 15, 2025

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

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September 16 – St. Cyprian of Carthage

September 15, 2025

St. Cyprian of Carthage (Thaschus Cæcilius Cyprianus). Bishop and martyr. Of the date of the saint’s birth and of his early life nothing is known. At the time of his conversion to Christianity he had, perhaps, passed middle life. He was famous as an orator and pleader, had considerable wealth, and held, no doubt, a […]

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

September 15, 2025

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

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September 17 – St. Peter of Arbues

September 15, 2025

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

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September 17 – Viollet-Le-Duc

September 15, 2025

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

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First royal funeral at Westminster Cathedral will be for the Duchess of Kent

September 11, 2025

h/t BBC.com The funeral of the Duchess of Kent will be held at Westminster Cathedral on 16 September, with the King and Queen among the senior royals who will be in attendance, Buckingham Palace has announced. The duchess was a Catholic and there will be a Requiem Mass for her funeral, which will be the […]

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September 11 – Italian army invades the Papal State without a declaration of war

September 11, 2025

The King of Italy sends an ultimatum to Blessed Pope Pius IX As the French military situation deteriorated [in the Franco-Prussian War], the government in Florence grew bolder. Near the end of August [1870], the Italian cabinet issued a circular letter to all the governments of Europe, in which it declared that the time had […]

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September 11 – His fame will last forever as that of a gallant soldier and a true Christian

September 11, 2025

Louis-Christophe-Leon Juchault de la Moricière French general and commander-in-chief of the papal army, b. at Nantes, 5 February, 1806; d. at the château of Prouzel, near Amiens, 11 September, 1865. His father was descended from an old Breton family whose device was Spes mea Deus. His mother was Desirée de Robineau de Bougon. He made […]

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September 11 – Prince Eugen of Savoy crushes the Turks at Zenta

September 11, 2025

Although his men had already done a forced march of over ten hours that day, Eugen gave the order to advance and then galloped ahead to see the scene at first hand. He spotted how, just above the bridge on the near side of the river, the water was shallow with a sandbank leading up […]

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September 12 – The Holy Name of the Virgin Mary; in thanksgiving for the victory over the Turks at Vienna

September 11, 2025

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

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September 12 – Beheaded after a false accusation

September 11, 2025

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

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September 13 – He had a mouth of gold

September 11, 2025

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

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