January 19 – Frederic Baraga

January 16, 2017

Frederic Baraga First Bishop of Marquette, Michigan, U.S.A., born 29 June, 1797, at Malavas, in the parish of Dobernice in the Austrian Dukedom of Carniola; died at Marquette, Michigan, 19 January, 1868. He was baptized on the very day of his birth, in the parish church of Dobernice, by the names of Irenaeus Frederic, the […]

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January 19 – The scion of a noble family who longed to be enrolled in the noble army of martyrs

January 16, 2017

St. Blathmac A distinguished Irish monk, b. in Ireland about 750. He suffered martyrdom in Iona, about 835. He is fortunate in having had his biography written by Strabo, Benedictine Abbot of Reichenau (824-849), and thus the story of his martyrdom has been handed down through the ages. Strabo’s life of this saint is in […]

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January 19 – Noble martyrs of Persia

January 16, 2017

Sts. Maris, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum All martyred at Rome in 270. Maris and his wife Martha, who belonged to the Persian nobility, came to Rome with their children in the reign of Emperor Claudius II. As zealous Christians, they sympathized with and succoured the persecuted faithful, and buried the bodies of the slain. This […]

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January 19 – Archbishop Senator of the Spanish Kingdom

January 16, 2017

Blessed Marcelo Rafael José María de los Dolores Hilario Spinola y Maestre, Archbishop of Seville born: 14 January 1835. died 20 January 1906 Marcelo Spínola was born on the island of San Fernando, Cádiz Province. His parents were Juan Spínola y Osorno, Marquis of Spínola and Antonia Maestre y Osorno; they had eight children, of […]

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January 19 – Saintly King

January 16, 2017

St. Canute IV Martyr and King of Denmark, date of birth uncertain; died 10 July 1086, the third of the thirteen natural sons of Sweyn II surnamed Estridsen. Elected king on the death of his brother Harold about 1080, he waged war on his barbarous enemies and brought Courland and Livonia to the faith. Having […]

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Video: Horse-drawn gold carriage brings Queen of Denmark to New Year’s Reception

January 12, 2017

On Wednesday, January 4th, Queen Margrethe II rode in the 177-year-old carriage from Amalienborg Palace to Christiansborg, where she hosted the last of this year’s series of New Year’s receptions. The gold carriage that brought Queen Margrethe to the reception was built in 1840 for King Christian VIII. Six white horses pulled the queen’s carriage […]

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Recounts what happened to Count Fernan Gonzalez, and the Reply which he gave to his Vassals

January 12, 2017

Count Lucanor returned one day from a campaign, much wearied and quite overcome with fatigue, his treasury being also literally empty; and in this state, before he could enjoy any repose, he received intelligence that another attack was about to be made upon him. Now, the greater number of his vassals, hearing this, strongly advised […]

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January 13 – The bold strategic vision of Cluny

January 12, 2017

Saint Berno of Cluny (c. 850 – 13 January 927) was first abbot of Cluny from its foundation in 910 until he resigned in 925. He was subject only to the pope and began the tradition of the Cluniac reforms which his successors brought to fruition across Europe. Berno was first a monk at St. […]

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January 13 – This Saint Opposed Bishop Lucifer

January 12, 2017

St. Hilary of Poitiers Bishop, born in that city at the beginning of the fourth century; died there 1 November, according to the most accredited opinion, or according to the Roman Breviary, on 13 January, 368. Belonging to a noble and very probably pagan family, he was instructed in all the branches of profane learning, […]

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January 13 – The Count Who Converted the King

January 12, 2017

St. Remigius of Rheims St. Remigius annointing Clovis. Basilique Saint-Remi de Reims Apostle of the Franks, Archbishop of Rheims, b. at Cerny or Laon, 437; d. at Rheims, 13 January 533. His father was Emile, Count of Laon. He studied literature at Rheims and soon became so noted for learning and sanctity that he was […]

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January 14 – The Ten Year Old Saint and Some Of Her Miracles

January 12, 2017

Ven. Anne de Guigné When St. Thomas Aquinas’s sister asked him how to become a Saint, he told her to just “will it.” Venerable Anne de Guigné¹ was a child with an iron will and from the moment of her conversion, she willed only one thing…to be a Saint. “To become a Saint is to […]

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January 14 – Matriarch of Saints

January 12, 2017

St. Macrina the Elder Our knowledge of the life of the elder Macrina is derived mainly from the testimony of the great Cappadocian Fathers of the Church, her grandchildren: Basil (Ep. 204:7; 223:3), Gregory of Nyssa (“Vita Macrinae Junioris”), and the panegyric of St. Gregory of Nazianzus on St. Basil (Gregory Naz., Oratio 43).   […]

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January 14 – Blessed Devasahayam Pillai

January 12, 2017

Blessed Devasahayam Pillai Devasahayam Pillai (named Neelakanda Pillai at birth) was born into an affluent Nair-caste family at Nattalam in the present-day Kanyakumari District, on 23 April 1712. His father Vasudevan Namboodiri, hailed from Kayamkulam, in present-day Kerala state, and was working as a priest at Sri Adi Kesava Perumal temple in Thiruvattar in present-day […]

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January 15 – Most Glorious King Ceolwulp

January 12, 2017

King Ceolwulf (also CEOLWULPH or CEOLULPH) Coelwulf, King of Northumbria and monk of Lindisfarne, date and place of birth not known; died at Lindisfarne, 764. His ancestry is thus given by the “Anglo-Saxon Chronicle”: “Ceolwulf was the son of Cutha, Cutha of Cuthwin, Cuthwin of Leoldwald, Leoldwald of Egwald, Egwald of Aldhelm, Aldhelm of Ocga, […]

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January 15 – St. Maurus & St. Placidus

January 12, 2017

St. Maurus Deacon, son of Equitius, a nobleman of Rome, but claimed also by Fondi, Gallipoli, Lavello etc.; died 584. Feast, 15 Jan. He is represented as an abbot with crozier, or with book and censer, or holding the weights and measures of food and drink given him by his holy master. He is the […]

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January 16 – The true disciple of St. Francis who sent the Moorish king into a fit of rage

January 12, 2017

St. Berard of Carbio (Or BERALDUS). Friar Minor and martyr; d. 16 January, 1220. Of the noble family of Leopardi, and a native of Carbio in Umbria, Berard was received into the Franciscan Order by the Seraphic Patriarch himself, in 1213. He was well versed in Arabic, an eloquent preacher, and was chosen by St. […]

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January 16 – When the Emperor insisted that the lapsed be readmitted to communion without penance, one man stood in his way. This is his story.

January 12, 2017

Pope St. Marcellus I His date of birth unknown; elected pope in May or June, 308; died in 309. For some time after the death of Marcellinus in 304 the Diocletian persecution continued with unabated severity. After the abdication of Diocletian in 305, and the accession in Rome of Maxentius to the throne of the […]

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January 16 – Irish Prince and Saint

January 12, 2017

St. Fursey An Abbot of Lagny, near Paris, died 16 Jan., about 650. He was the son of Fintan, son of Finloga, prince of South Muster, and Gelgesia, daughter of Aedhfinn, prince of Hy-Briuin in Connaught. He was born probably amongst the Hy-Bruin, and was baptized by St. Brendan the Traveller, his father’s uncle, who […]

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January 16 – St. Euphrosyne

January 12, 2017

Saint Euphrosyne Died about 470. Her story belongs to that group of legends which relate how Christian virgins, in order the more successfully to lead the life of celibacy and asceticism to which they had dedicated themselves, put on male attire and passed for men. According to the narrative of her life in the “Vitae […]

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January 10 – Doge of Venice and Saint of Heaven

January 9, 2017

St. Peter Urseolus (Orseolo) Born at Rivo alto, Province of Udina, 928; at Cuxa, 10 January, 987 (997 is less probable). Sprung from the wealthy and noble Venetian family, the Orseoli, Peter led from his youth an earnest Christian life. In the service of the republic, he distinguished himself in naval battles against the pirates. […]

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January 10 – Patient to the Penitent, Inflexible to the Impenitent

January 9, 2017

St. William, Confessor, Archbishop of Bourges (c. 1155 – January 10, 1209) William Berruyer, of the illustrious family of the ancient counts of Nevers, was educated by Peter the hermit, archdeacon of Soissons, his uncle by the mother’s side. He learned from his infancy to despise the folly and emptiness of the riches and grandeur […]

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January 11 – Wounded in a duel

January 9, 2017

Blessed Bernard Scammacca, O.P. He was born in 1430 to a noble family of Catania, Sicily and given the name Anthony. As was typical of young men at that time, he fought duels. In one of them, his leg was badly wounded. As Anthony convalesced, he had time to think about his life and his […]

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January 12 – He promoted the use of stained glass

January 9, 2017

St. Benedict Biscop An English monastic founder, born of a noble Anglo-Saxon family, c. 628; died 12 January 690. He spent his youth at the court of the Northumbrian King Oswy. When twenty-five years old, he made the first of his five pilgrimages to Rome. On his return to England, Benedict introduced, whenever he could, […]

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January 12 – “The English Saint Bernard”

January 9, 2017

St. Aelred Abbot of Rievaulx, homilist and historian (1109-66). St. Aelred, whose name is also written Ailred, Æthelred, and Ethelred, was the son of one of those married priests of whom many were found in England in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. He was born at Hexham, but at an early age made the acquaintance […]

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Baroness Marie von Reitzes pawns her jewels to feed Vienna’s poor

January 5, 2017

The action of Baroness M. Reitzes of Vienna in selling her necklace to buy bread for the afflicted and impoverished families of soldiers at the front also won favorable comment from the people and strengthened them in their confidence in their own country. The Baroness had one of the most beautiful pearl necklaces in the […]

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Queen Margrethe’s New Year Address – Excerpts

January 5, 2017

Excerpts from Her Majesty The Queen’s New Year Address, from The Royal Danish House: Many [Danes] serve in distant places where they risk their lives and limbs in the fight for peace. Danish soldiers are training the Iraqi forces on the ground in Iraq, and in Afghanistan they continue to train the country’s own soldiers. […]

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Japanese Imperial Family: Setting an example for their people in video released for New Year’s Day

January 5, 2017

According to The Mainichi: The Imperial Household Agency released a video for New Year’s Day showing members of the Imperial Family together. The video, which does not have sound, shows Emperor Akihito, Empress Michiko and other members of the Imperial Family examining candy bowls created to commemorate the Emperor’s marriage and enthronement. Every New Year’s […]

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Revolution and Counter-Revolution

January 5, 2017

By Plinio Correa de Oliveira Part I: The Revolution Chapter I: The Crisis of Contemporary Man The many crises shaking the world today – those of the State, family, economy, culture, and so on – are but multiple aspects of a single fundamental crisis whose field of action is man himself. In other words, these […]

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January 6 – St. Roch

January 5, 2017

St. Roch Born at Montpellier towards 1295; died 1327. His father was governor of that city. At his birth St. Roch is said to have been found miraculously marked on the breast with a red cross. Deprived of his parents when about twenty years old, he distributed his fortune among the poor, handed over to […]

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January 7 – St. Kentigerna

January 5, 2017

St. Kentigerna, Widow She is commemorated on the 7th of January, in the Aberdeen Breviary, from which we learn, that she was of royal blood, daughter of Kelly, prince of Leinster in Ireland, as Colgan proves from ancient monuments. She was mother of the holy abbot St. Fœlan, or Felan. After the death of her […]

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January 7 – St. Aldric

January 5, 2017

St. Aldric Bishop of Le Mans in the time of Louis le Debonnaire, born c. 800; died at Le Mans, 7 January, 856. As a youth he lived in the court of Charlemagne, at Aix la Chapelle, as well as in that of his son and successor Louis. By both monarchs he was highly esteemed, […]

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January 7 – Ordered bandits of royal blood to hang from the highest mast

January 5, 2017

St. Canut, second son of Eric the Good, king of Denmark, was made duke of Sleswig, his elder brother Nicholas being king of Denmark. Their father, who lived with his people as a father with his children, and no one ever left him without comfort, says the ancient chronicle Knytling-Saga, p. 71. died in Cyprus, […]

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January 8 – Hapsburg Saint

January 5, 2017

St. Gudula (Latin, Guodila) Born in Brabant, Belgium, of Witger and Amalberga, in the seventh century; died at the beginning of the eighth century. After the birth of Gudula her mother Amalberga, who is herself venerated as a saint, embraced the religious life, and according to tradition received the veil at the hands of St. […]

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January 8 – St. Severinus

January 5, 2017

St. Severinus Abbot, and Apostle of Noricum, or Austria A.D. 482. We know nothing of the birth or country of this saint. From the purity of his Latin, he was generally supposed to be a Roman; and his care to conceal what he was according to the world, was taken for a proof of his […]

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Epiphany – The Three Kings made the Kingship of Christ Manifest to the Pagan World

January 5, 2017

The Epiphany of Our Lord Saints Balthasar, Caspar and Melchior Epiphany, which in the original Greek signifies appearance or manifestation, as St. Augustin observes, (1) is a festival principally solemnized in honor of the discovery Jesus Christ made of himself to the Magi, or wise men; who, soon after his birth, by a particular inspiration […]

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January 9 – St. Peter of Sebaste

January 5, 2017

St. Peter of Sebaste Bishop, born about 340; died 391. He belonged to the richly blest family of Basil and Emmelia of Caesarea in Cappadocia, from which also sprang St. Macrina the Younger (q.v.) and the two great Cappadocian doctors, Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nyssa. He was the youngest of a large family, […]

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January 9 – Blessed Tommaso Reggio

January 5, 2017

Bl. Tommaso Reggio was born in Genoa, Italy, on 9 January 1818 to the Marquis of Reggio and Angela Pareto. He had a comfortable upbringing which gave him a solid Christian and cultural background and assured him of a brilliant career. However, at the age of 20 he decided to become a priest and to […]

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January 9 – St. Adrian of Canterbury

January 5, 2017

St. Adrian of Canterbury An African by birth, died 710. He became Abbot of Nerida, a Benedictine monastery near Naples, when he was very young. Pope Vitalian intended to appoint him Archbishop of Canterbury to succeed St. Deusdedit, who had died in 664, but Adrian considered himself unworthy of so great a dignity, and begged […]

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Slim majority of Canadians say ties to monarchy should be cut when Queen dies: poll

January 2, 2017

According to Global News: A majority of Canadians now believe that when Queen Elizabeth II dies and Prince Charles ascends to the throne, Canada should cut ties with the monarchy. That’s the highest number recorded since 2010, noted Sean Simpson, vice-president of Ipsos Public Affairs, and a 10-point jump since last September — when Prince […]

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Princess: One More Christmas Visit

January 2, 2017

According to Luxarazzi: Hereditary Princess Sophie rounded off her series of pre-Christmas visits to retirements homes and Liechtenstein’s hospital over the past couple of days with a visit to the St. Theodul home for the elderly in Triesenberg. Vaterland kindly completed their gallery of pictures of all the visits, check it out. The visits with […]

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January 3 – Saint Joseph Mary Tomasi

January 2, 2017

Saint Joseph Mary Tomasi The very eminent servant of God Joseph Mary Tomasi, Cardinal, whom Pope Pius VII decorated with the honors of the Blessed in 1803, and whom today the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II ascribes solemnly in the book of the Saints, was born at Licata, in Sicily, the Diocese of Agrigento, on […]

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January 3 – The saint who twice saved Paris

January 2, 2017

St. Genevieve Patroness of Paris, born at Nanterre, circa 419 or 422; died at Paris, 512. Her feast is kept on 3 January. She was the daughter of Severus and Gerontia; popular tradition represents her parents as poor peasants, though it seems more likely that they were wealthy and respectable townspeople. In 429 St. Germain […]

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January 3 – They called him the “Archangel”

January 2, 2017

St. Odilo Fifth Abbot of Cluny, born c. 962; died 31 December, 1048. He was descended from the nobility of Auvergne. He early became a cleric in the seminary of St. Julien in Brioude. In 991 he entered Cluny and before the end of his year of probation was made coadjutor to Abbot Mayeul, and […]

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January 4 – Patroness of those afflicted by sexual temptation

January 2, 2017

Blessed Angela of Foligno Umbrian penitent and mystical writer. She was born at Foligno in Umbria, in 1248, of a rich family; died 4 January, 1309. Married at an early age, she loved the world and its pleasures and, worse still, forgetful of her dignity and duties as wife and mother, fell into sin and […]

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January 4 – American Aristrocratic Saint

January 2, 2017

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Foundress and first superior of the Sisters of Charity in the United States, born in New York City, 28 Aug., 1774, of non-Catholic parents of high position; died at Emmitsburg, Maryland, 4 Jan., 1821. Her father, Dr. Richard Bayley (born in Connecticut and educated in England), was the first professor of […]

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January 5 – Pope St. Telesphorus

January 2, 2017

(Lived about 125-136.) St. Telesphorus was the seventh Roman bishop in succession from the Apostles, and, according to the testimony of St. Irenæus (Adv. hæreses, III, iii, 3), suffered a glorious martyrdom. Eusebius (Hist. eccl., IV, vii, xiv) places the beginning of his pontificate in the twelfth of Hadrian’s reign (128-129), his death in the […]

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Origin of Chapel and Chaplain

December 29, 2016

We come lastly to the Great Chancellor, whose office was slightly different in character inasmuch as, while domestic in its origin, it was at the same time religious. Among their relics, the Merovingian Kings preserved the little cape (capa) that had been worn by St. Martin. This was the undergarment which he patron of the […]

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The East and the West, wise interpenetration of values

December 29, 2016

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Our picture shows the four sons of the Maharaja of Kaourthala at the beginning of the century. The group makes an agreeable impression as there is something quintessentially noble, gracious and refined in the bearing, countenances and attire of these small princes. They are true princes, quite authentically Indian. Nonetheless, […]

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December 30 – Princess, Orphan, Foundress

December 29, 2016

Blessed Margaret Colona Poor Clare, also known as Margarita Colonna, born in Rome, date uncertain; died there, 20 September, 1284. Her father, Prince Odo Colonna, and her mother 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 […]

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December 30 – He Preached Sanctity in Marriage and Chastity in Priesthood

December 29, 2016

St. Egwin Third Bishop of Worcester; date of birth unknown; d. (according to Mabillon) 20 December, 720, though his death may have occurred three years earlier. His fame as founder of the great Abbey of Evesham no doubt tended to the growth of legends which, though mainly founded on facts, render it difficult to reconcile […]

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December 31 – Ideal Bishop, Skilled Goldsmith

December 29, 2016

St. Marius Aventicus (Or AVENTICENSIS) Bishop of Avenches (Switzerland) and chronicler, born about 530 in the present Diocese of Autun; died at Lausanne, 31 December, 594. Of the events of his life little is known. From an inscription on his tomb in the church of St. Thyrsius in Lausanne (published in the “Monumenta Germ. Scriptores”, […]

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December 31 – The patrician girl who befriended St. Augustine, St. Jerome, and the Empress

December 29, 2016

St. Melania (the Younger) Born at Rome, about 383; died in Jerusalem, 31 December, 439. She was a member of the famous family of Valerii. Her parents were Publicola and Albina, her paternal grandmother of the same name is known as Melania, Senior. Little is known of the saint’s childhood, but after the time of […]

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January 1 – The Virgin Mary was “of the house of David”

December 29, 2016

Mary’s Davidic ancestry St. Luke (2:4) says that St. Joseph went from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be enrolled, “because he was of the house and family of David”. As if to exclude all doubt concerning the Davidic descent of Mary, the Evangelist (1:32, 69) states that the child born of Mary without the intervention of […]

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January 1 – He brought to the West some of the most famous relics

December 29, 2016

St. Agricius Bishop of Trier (Trèves), in the fourth century (332 or 335). A local ninth-century tradition states that he had been Patriarch of Antioch, and that he was translated to the See of Trier by Pope Silvester, at the request of the Empress Helena. He was present at the Council of Arles in 314, […]

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January 1 – Cluny produces another hero

December 29, 2016

St. William Abbot of Saint-Bénigne at Dijon, celebrated Cluniac reformer, born on the Island of Giuglio on Lake Orta near Novara in Piedmont in 962; died at Fecamp, one of his reformed monasteries in Normandy, 1 January 1031. At the age of seven he was brought as an oblate to the Benedictine monastery of Locedia […]

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January 1 – As bishop, he was harsh to himself, to his clergy, and to any king

December 29, 2016

St. Fulgentius (FABIUS CLAUDIUS GORDIANUS FULGENTIUS). Born 468, died 533. Bishop of Ruspe in the province of Byzacene in Africa, eminent among the Fathers of the Church for saintly life, eloquence and theological learning. His grandfather, Gordianus, a senator of Carthage, was despoiled of his possessions by the invader Genseric, and banished to Italy, his […]

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January 2 – The Infant of Prague

December 29, 2016

Its earliest history can be traced back to Prague in the year 1628 when the small, 19-inch high, wooden and coated wax statue of the Infant Jesus was given by Princess Polyxena von Lobkowicz (1566–1642) to the Discalced Carmelites, to whom she had become greatly attached. The princess had received the statue as a wedding […]

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January 2 – St. Basil the Great

December 29, 2016

St. Basil the Great Bishop of Caesarea, and one of the most distinguished Doctors of the Church. Born probably 329; died 1 January, 379. He ranks after Athanasius as a defender of the Oriental Church against the heresies of the fourth century. With his friend Gregory of Nazianzus and his brother Gregory of Nyssa, he […]

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January 2 – St. Gregory of Nazianzus

December 29, 2016

St. Gregory of Nazianzus Doctor of the Church, born at Arianzus, in Asia Minor, c. 325; died at the same place, 389. He was son — one of three children — of Gregory, Bishop of Nazianzus (329-374), in the south-west of Cappadocia, and of Nonna, a daughter of Christian parents. The saint’s father was originally […]

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The Great Coronation Banquet

December 26, 2016

A century has passed since Emperor Karl was crowned King of Hungary on December 30, 1916. The coronation ceremony took place at St. Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest, attended by illustrious guests from throughout Europe. Usually a coronation is an occasion of mirth and celebration. However, Hungary was reeling from the ongoing First World War, just […]

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