April 19 – Blessed Conrad of Ascoli

April 17, 2017

Friar Minor and missionary, born at Ascoli in the March of Ancona in 1234; died there, 19 April, 1289. He belonged to the noble family of Milliano and from his earliest years made penance the predominating element of his life. He entered the Order of Friars Minor at Ascoli together with his townsman and lifelong […]

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April 20 – Blessed John Finch

April 17, 2017

Bl. John Finch A stained glass window in St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Chorley, England. Permission to use by Roberta Estes. A martyr, b. about 1548; d. 20 April, 1584. He was a yeoman of Eccleston, Lancashire, and a member of a well-known old Catholic family, but he appears to have been brought up in […]

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April 20 – “I beg your Lordship…that my lips and…fingers may be cut off…”

April 17, 2017

Blessed Fr. James Bell Priest and martyr, born at Warrington in Lancashire, England, probably about 1520; died 20 April, 1584. For the little known of him we depend on the account published four years after his death by Bridgewater in his “Concertatio” (1588), and derived from a manuscript which was kept at Douay when Challoner […]

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April 20 – Blessed Richard Sergeant

April 17, 2017

Bl. Richard Sergeant English martyr, executed at Tyburn, 20 April, 1586. He was probably a younger son of Thomas Sergeant of Stone, Gloucestershire, by Katherine, daughter of John Tyre of Hardwick. He took his degree at Oxford (20 Feb., 1570-1), and arrived at the English College, Reims, on 25 July, 1581. He was ordained subdeacon […]

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Queen Elizabeth II presents a Guidon to The Royal Lancers at Windsor Castle

April 13, 2017

According to the Royal Household: The Queen…has presented a Guidon to The Royal Lancers during a ceremony in St George’s Hall, Windsor Castle. During the traditional ceremony at Windsor Castle Her Majesty touched the new Guidon, and presented it to the Regiment. A Guidon is a heraldic banner carried by cavalry regiments. They were traditionally […]

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“It is our duty…”

April 13, 2017

According to the Royal Household, on the 100th anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge, Queen Elizabeth II issued this message: [On…] the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, there will be difficult memories of loss and of suffering, but also memories of many heroic acts of bravery and of sacrifice on the […]

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On Holy Thursday, King Saint Ferdinand washes the feet of twelve poor men

April 13, 2017

Lent passed, and Holy Week came. That year, the love of Christ inflamed the holy King’s heart more than ever. At times he would spend the whole night in contemplation of the sorrows that Our Lord suffered to redeem us; he slept so little that his nobles, worried, reached the point of telling him that […]

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An Invitation to Love the Holy Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ

April 13, 2017

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira While commemorating the forty days Our Lord fasted in the desert, we should remember a great and supreme truth that should illuminate all Lenten meditations. The holy Gospels clearly show how much our merciful Savior pitied our spiritual and physical pains. Hence, He performed spectacular miracles to mitigate them. However, […]

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April 14 – She suffered for the moral corruption and decay of her time

April 13, 2017

Saint Lydwine In 1380, Saint Lydwine was born in the small town of Schiedam in Holland. Her father was a wealthy noble named Peter, and her mother was from a poor family who worked their own farm. Her father’s family lost their fortune, and the whole family was reduced to poverty. At that time, all […]

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April 14 – St. Peter Gonzalez (aka St. Elmo)

April 13, 2017

St. Peter Gonzalez Popularly known as St. Elmo, b. in 1190 at Astorga, Spain; d. 15 April, 1246, at Tuy. He was educated by his uncle, Bishop of Astorga, who gave him when very young a canonry. Later he entered the Dominican Order and became a renowned preacher; crowds gathered to hear him and numberless […]

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April 16 – Martyred in the name of Equality

April 13, 2017

Just a few of the many martyrs during the French Revolution († 1792-1799) 16 April 1794 in Avrillé, Maine-et-Loire (France) Pierre Delépine layperson of the diocese of Angers born: 24 May 1732 in Marigné, Maine-et-Loire (France) Jean Ménard layperson of the diocese of Angers; married born: 16 November 1736 in Andigné… Read more here.

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April 17 – St. Stephen Harding

April 13, 2017

St. Stephen Harding Confessor, the third Abbot of Cîteaux, was born at Sherborne in Dorsetshire, England, about the middle of the eleventh century; died 28 March, 1134. He received his early education in the monastery of Sherborne and afterwards studied in Paris and Rome. On returning from the latter city he stopped at the monastery […]

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April 17 – One of the many nobles who spread the Cluny reform

April 13, 2017

St. Robert Founder of the Abbey of Chaise-Dieu in Auvergne, born at Aurilac, Auvergne, about 1000; died in Auvergne, 1067. On his father’s side he belonged to the family of the Counts of Aurilac, who had given birth to St. Géraud. He studied at Brioude near the basilica of St-Julien, in a school open to […]

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April 17 – He rescued his country from crushing debt, yet waged incessant war

April 13, 2017

Maximilian I Duke of Bavaria, 1598-1622, Elector of Bavaria and Lord High Steward of the Holy Roman Empire, 1623-1651; born at Munich, 17 April, 1573; died at Ingolstadt, 27 September, 1651. The lasting services he rendered his country and the Catholic Church justly entitle him to the surname of “Great”. He was the son of […]

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April 11 – He excommunicated the king, who murdered him as he celebrated Mass

April 10, 2017

Saint Stanislaus of Cracow In pictures he is given the episcopal insignia and the sword. Larger paintings represent him in a court or kneeling before the altar and receiving the fatal blow. His parents, Belislaus and Bogna, pious and noble Catholics, gave him a religious education. After the death of his parents he distributed his […]

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April 12 – St. Teresa of the Andes

April 10, 2017

Saint Teresa of the Andes, O.C.D. (July 13, 1900 – April 12, 1920), also known as Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes (Spanish: Teresa de Jesús de los Andes), was a Chilean nun of the Discalced Carmelite order.She was born Juana Enriqueta Josefina de los Sagrados Corazones Fernández y Solar in Santiago, Chile into […]

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April 12 – Crusader in every sense of the word

April 10, 2017

Bl. Angelo Carletti di Chivasso Moral theologian of the order of Friars Minor; born at Chivasso in Piedmont, in 1411; and died at Coni, in Piedmont, in 1495. From his tenderest years the Blessed Angelo was remarkable for the holiness and purity of his life. He attended the University of Bologna, where he received the […]

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April 12 – Pope St. Julius I

April 10, 2017

(337-352) The immediate successor of Pope Silvester, Arcus, ruled the Roman Church for only a very short period – from 18 January to 7 October, 336 – and after his death the papal chair remained vacant for four months. What occasioned this comparatively long vacancy is unknown. On 6 February, 337, Julius, son of Rustics […]

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April 13 – Born blind, lame, deformed, hunchbacked and dwarfed

April 10, 2017

Blessed Margaret of Castello (1287–1320) is the patroness of the poor, crippled, and the unwanted. She was born blind, lame, deformed, hunchbacked and a dwarf, into a family of nobles in the castle of Metola, in southeast of Florence. As a child, her parents Parisio and Emilia imprisoned her for 14 years so no one […]

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April 13 – This Prince Defied His Family

April 10, 2017

St. Hermengild Date of birth unknown; died 13 April, 585. Leovigild, the Arian King of the Visigoths (569-86), had two sons, Hermengild and Reccared, by his first marriage with the Catholic Princess Theodosia. Hermengild married, in 576, Ingundis, a Frankish Catholic princess, the daughter of Sigebert and Brunhilde. Led by his own inclination, and influenced […]

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April 13 – Pope St. Martin I

April 10, 2017

Pope St. Martin I Martyr, born at Todi on the Tiber, son of Fabricius; elected Pope at Rome, 21 July, 649, to succeed Theodore I; d at Cherson in the present peninsulas of Krym, 16 Sept., 655, after a reign of 6 years, one month and twenty six days, having ordained eleven priests, five deacons […]

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The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall dismiss traditional garb in meeting with Pope Francis

April 6, 2017

According to the Royal Forums: The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall had a private audience with Pope Francis on Tuesday as part of their week-long tour of Europe. In a sign of changing times at the Vatican, the Duchess did not wear black or a mantilla, as has been usual tradition for […]

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A Stable Kingdom in Turbulent Times

April 6, 2017

According to Handelsblatt: While Liechtenstein may enjoy political stability, tough times could still be in store for the principality, with populism and protectionism on the rise among its neighbors in Europe. …Prince Alois warns that its major employers – tool maker Hilti, heating and air systems company Hoval, and the prepared foods company Hilcona – […]

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The Legend of St. Dismas

April 6, 2017

by Pauline Sanders Many years ago, after Jesus was born, the evil King Herod waited for the three kings from the Orient to return to his kingdom with news of the newborn King. When they did not return, Herod grew afraid that this new King would cause him to lose his throne. Because of this, […]

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Suffering and the Little Way

April 6, 2017

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira * There is a valuable deposition from the canonization of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, given by her sister Céline. It reveals aspects of the saint’s life about which few are aware and to which, even less give due importance. The information contained in this document is ironclad. Not […]

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April 7 – Father of Modern Pedagogy

April 6, 2017

St. John Baptist de la Salle Founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, educational reformer, and father of modern pedagogy, was born at Reims, 30 April, 1651, and died at Saint-Yon, Rouen, on Good Friday, 7 April, 1719. The family of de la Salle traces its origin to Johan Salla, who, […]

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April 8 – Together with a noble who escaped the Terror, she founded the Sisters of Notre Dame

April 6, 2017

St. Julie Billiart (Also Julia). Foundress, and first superior-general of the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame of Namur, born 12 July, 1751, at Cuvilly, a village of Picardy, in the Diocese of Beauvais and the Department of Oise, France; died 8 April, 1816, at the motherhouse of her institute, Namur, Belgium. She was […]

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April 9 – She persuaded her husband the Count to become a monk

April 6, 2017

St. Waudru She was daughter to the princess St. Bertille, elder sister to St. Aldegondes, and wife to Madelgaire, count of Hainault, and one of the principal lords of King Dagobert’s court. After bearing him two sons and two daughters, she induced him to embrace the monastic state at Haumont, near Maubeuge, taking the name […]

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April 9 – Mary of Cleophas

April 6, 2017

Mary of Cleophas This title occurs only in John, xix, 25. A comparison of the lists of those who stood at the foot of the cross would seem to identify her with Mary, the mother of James the Less and Joseph ( Mark, xv, 40; cf. Matt., xxvii, 56). Some have indeed tried to identify […]

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April 10 – Friend of Cluny

April 6, 2017

St. Fulbert of Chartres Bishop, born between 952 and 962; died 10 April, 1028 or 1029. Mabillon and others think that he was born in Italy, probably at Rome; but Pfister, his latest biographer, designates as his birthplace the Diocese of Laudun in the present department of Gard in France. He was of humble parentage […]

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April 4 – Grandmother of the Templars

April 3, 2017

Saint Aleth of Dijon Mother of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, she belonged to the highest nobility of Burgundy. Her husband, Tescelin, was lord of Fontaines. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux was the third of her seven children.  At the age of nine years, Bernard was sent to a much renowned school at Chatillon-sur-Seine, kept by the […]

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April 4 – Patron Saint of Transitions

April 3, 2017

St. Isidore of Seville Born at Cartagena, Spain, about 560; died 4 April, 636. Isidore was the son of Severianus and Theodora. His elder brother Leander was his immediate predecessor in the Metropolitan See of Seville; whilst a younger brother St. Fulgentius presided over the Bishopric of Astigi. His sister Florentina was a nun, and […]

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April 5 – St. Æthelburh and the Rose Named After Her

April 3, 2017

Saint Æthelburh (died 647), also known as Ethelburga, Ædilburh and Æthelburga (Old English: Æþelburh), was an early Anglo-Saxon queen consort of Northumbria, the second wife of King Edwin. As she was a Christian from Kent, their marriage triggered the initial phase of the conversion of the pagan north of England to Christianity. Æthelburh date of […]

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April 5 – Soul on Fire

April 3, 2017

St. Vincent Ferrer Famous Dominican missionary, born at Valencia, 23 January, 1350; died at Vannes, Brittany, 5 April, 1419. He was descended from the younger of two brothers who were knighted for their valor in the conquest of Valencia, 1238. In 1340 Vincent’s father, William Ferrer, married Constantia Miguel, whose family had likewise been ennobled […]

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April 6 – With his head split open, he wrote on the ground with his own blood: “Credo”

April 3, 2017

St. Peter of Verona Born at Verona, 1206; died near Milan, 6 April, 1252. His parents were adherents of the Manichæan heresy, which still survived in northern Italy in the thirteenth century. Sent to a Catholic school, and later to the University of Bologna, he there met St. Dominic, and entered the Order of the […]

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April 6 – He wrote the genealogy of the Danish kings to disprove the alleged impediment of consanguinity

April 3, 2017

St. William of Ebelholt (Also called William of Paris, or William of Eskilsöe) Died on Easter Sunday, 1203, and was buried at Ebelholt. He was educated by his uncle Hugh, forty-second Abbot of St-Germain-des-Pres at Paris; and having been ordained subdeacon received a canonry in the Church of Ste-Geneviève-du-Mont. His exemplary life did not commend […]

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New security measures at Buckingham Palace

March 30, 2017

According to The Crown Chronicles: A new set of bollards have been placed outside of Buckingham Palace overnight, in response to the recent Westminster attack. The yellow structures will prevent any vehicles mounting the pavement area – as happened in the attack on Wednesday – but will slow the flow of foot traffic at the […]

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Poll: 68% of Surveyed Russians Do Not Want To Restore Monarchy

March 30, 2017

According to the Royal Forums: A telephone poll conducted earlier in March by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion has shown that 68% of those surveyed do not want to restore the monarchy in Russia. When the respondents were asked what style of government was “most suitable for the Russian state” – […]

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Easter in Imperial Russia: the Royal Doors

March 30, 2017

The time to arrive was about 11:30 p.m., when the great church, packed to its doors by a vast throng, was wrapped in almost total darkness…. As the eyes grew accustomed to the shadows, tens of thousands of unlighted candles, outlining the arches, cornices, and other architectural features of the cathedral, were just visible. These […]

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While summoning the world’s Zouaves to defend the Papal States, Pius IX appeared ashamed of promoting that spirit

March 30, 2017

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Somehow, when summoning the Zouaves of the world to defend the Papal States, Pius IX by no means preached a crusade. Of course the doctrine was on his mind, but there was a kind of shame and fear of pushing that spirit forward because of the excess which, through a […]

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March 31 – Saint Eulogius of Alexandria

March 30, 2017

Saint Eulogius of Alexandria Patriarch of that See from 580 to 607. He was a successful combatant of the heretical errors then current in Egypt, notably the various phases of Monophysitism. He was a warm friend of St. Gregory the Great, corresponded with him, and received from that pope many flattering expressions of esteem and […]

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March 31 – St. Balbina

March 30, 2017

St. Balbina Memorials of a St. Balbina are to be found at Rome in three different spots which are connected with the early Christian antiquities of that city. In the purely legendary account of the martyrdom of St. Alexander (acta SS., Maii, I, 367 sqq.) mention is made of a tribune Quirinus who died a […]

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April 1 – Precursor of Our Lady of Fatima

March 30, 2017

St. Nuno De Santa Maria Álvares Pereira (1360-1431) NUNO ÁLVARES PEREIRA was born in Portugal on 24th June 1360, most probably at Cernache do Bomjardin, illegitimate son of Brother Álvaro Gonçalves Pereira, Hospitalier Knight of St. John of Jerusalem and prior of Crato and Donna Iria Gonçalves do Carvalhal. About a year after his birth, […]

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April 1 – St. Hugh of Grenoble

March 30, 2017

Bishop and Confessor The first tincture of the mind is of the utmost importance to virtue; and it was the happiness of this saint to receive from his cradle the strongest impressions of piety by the example and care of his illustrious and holy parents. He was born at Chateau-neuf, in the territory of Valence […]

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April 1 – Blessed Karl, Emperor of Austria

March 30, 2017

(Also known as Carlo d’Austria, Charles of Austria) Born August 17, 1887, in the Castle of Persenbeug in the region of Lower Austria, his parents were the Archduke Otto and Princess Maria Josephine of Saxony, daughter of the last King of Saxony. Emperor Francis Joseph I was Charles’ Great Uncle… Read more here.

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April 2 – St. Francis of Paola and the Bartlett Pear

March 30, 2017

The Bartlett pear is called “The Good Christian” in France, after St. Francis of Paola introduced it “Said to have originated in Calabria in southern Italy, Bartletts probably were introduced to France by St. Francis of Paola. St. Francis brought a young tree as a gift for King Louis XI of France, who had summoned […]

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April 3 – The man they trusted to collect the Crusader tax

March 30, 2017

St. Richard of Wyche Bishop and confessor, born about 1197 at Droitwich, Worcestershire, from which his surname is derived; died 3 April, 1253, at Dover. He was the second son of Richard and Alice de Wyche. His father died while he was still young and the family property fell into a state of great delapidation. […]

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March 28 – Noble deeds make noble men

March 27, 2017

Josef Speckbacher A Tyrolean patriot of 1809, born at Gnadenwald, near Hall, in the Tyrol, 13 July, 1767; died at Hall, 28 March, 1820. Speckbacher was the son of a peasant and spent his youth in roaming, and he did not learn to read and write until later in life. At the age of twelve […]

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March 28 – Grandson of King Clovis

March 27, 2017

St. Gontran, King and Confessor He was son of King Clotaire, and grandson of Clovis I and St. Clotilda. Being the second son, whilst his brothers Charibert reigned at Paris, and Sigebert in Austrasia, residing at Metz, he was crowned King of Orleans and Burgundy in 661, making Challons on the Saone his capital. When […]

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

March 27, 2017

The capture and death of the fearless Charette On the 21st February his troop, now reduced to less than two hundred men, was attacked by General Travot, one of the ablest officers of Hoche. The Vendeans behaved with the greatest courage, but they were overwhelmed with numbers. The eldest brother of the general, Charette la […]

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March 29 – One of many Irish missionaries who labored to convert Central Europe

March 27, 2017

St. Eustace Date of birth unknown, died March 29, 625. He was second abbot of the Irish monastery of Luxeuil in France, and his feast is commemorated in the Celtic martyrologies on the 29th of March. He was one of the first companions of St. Columbanus, a monk of Bangor (Ireland), who with his disciples […]

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March 30 – St. John Climacus

March 27, 2017

St. John Climacus Also surnamed SCHOLASTICUS, and THE SINAITA, born doubtlessly in Syria, about 525; died on Mount Sinai. 30 March, probably in 606, according the credited opinion — others say 605. Although his education and learning fitted him to live in an intellectual environment, he chose, while still young, to abandon the world for […]

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Defects of the Nobility During the Feudal Anarchy

March 23, 2017

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira In that period called feudal anarchy, in which the feudal lords, with a hypertrophied notion of their own rights, overweening pride and zero notion of organic society launched forth against the kings, the issue became so pressing as to require emphasizing the role of the king and taking the notion […]

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Talleyrand’s authority over Napoleon

March 23, 2017

Talleyrand was the only person who had authority over Napoleon and the only one whom Napoleon never intimidated. He took the liberty of displaying a respectful impertinence which would not have been tolerated in the case of any other person…. “Talleyrand, where have you made so much money?” asked Napoleon.—“Sire, I bought Government Stock on […]

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March 24 – A deer guarded this noble saint from the unwanted advances of men

March 23, 2017

St. Catherine of Sweden Patroness against abortion and miscarriage. The fourth child of Saint Bridget and her husband, Ulf Gudmarsson, born 1331 or 1332; died 24 March, 1381. At the time of her death Saint Catherine was head of the convent of Wadstena, founded by her mother; hence the name, Catherine Vastanensis, by which she […]

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March 25 – Saint Lucy Filippini

March 23, 2017

St. Lucy Filippini (13 January 1672 – 25 March 1732) She was orphaned at an early age when her parents both died. From there she went to live with her aristocratic aunt and uncle who encouraged her religious inclination by entrusting her education to the Benedictine nuns at Santa Lucia. Her career began under the […]

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The Annunciation – “Of His Kingdom, there shall be no end.”

March 23, 2017

The Annunciation, by Father Thomas de Saint-Laurent Out of love for us, the Eternal Word was made flesh in the chaste womb of Mary. His plan was marvelously arranged. From all eternity, He chose a man after His heart who would be the virginal spouse of His divine Mother, His adopted father on earth, and […]

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The Annunciation: He is King by right, and also by conquest

March 23, 2017

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira We will comment on this passage taken from Saint Luke: “And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was […]

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March 26 – One of the distinguished men of his age

March 23, 2017

Geoffrey of Vendôme (GOFFRIDUS ABBAS VINDOCINENSIS.) A cardinal, born in the second half of the eleventh century of a noble family, at Angers, France; died there, 26 March, 1132. At an early age he entered the Benedictine community of the Blessed Trinity at Vendôme in the diocese of Chartres; and in 1093, while still very […]

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March 26 – St. Ludger

March 23, 2017

St. Ludger (Lüdiger or Liudger) Missionary among the Frisians and Saxons, first Bishop of Munster in Westphalia, b. at Zuilen near Utrecht about 744; d. 26 March, 809. Feast, 26 March. Represented as a bishop reciting his Breviary, or with a swan at either side. His parents, Thiadgrim and Liafburg, were wealthy Frisians of noble […]

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