September 5 – Unashamed to beg alms even from his noble family

September 1, 2016

St. Laurence Justinian, Bishop and Confessor, First Patriarch of Venice Bishop and first Patriarch of Venice, born in 1381, and died 8 January, 1456. He was a descendant of the Giustiniani, a Venetian patrician family which numbered several saints among its members. Lawrence’s pious mother sowed the seeds of a devout religious life in the […]

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The Familial Character of Feudal Government—The King: The Father of His People

September 1, 2016

To illustrate well the familial character of the feudal government, it is advantageous to transcribe a passage from the substantial work L’Esprit Familial dans la Maison, dans la Cité et dans l’Etat [The Familial Spirit in the Home, in the City, and in the State], by Msgr. Henri Delassus, which describes the origins of that […]

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August 30 – Saved by the cross

August 29, 2016

Blessed Bronislava (or Bronislawa) of Poland Born in 1230 to an important Polish family, her grandfather had founded the Premonstratensian monastery at Zwierzyniec near Cracow where Bronislava’s aunt Gertrude had entered, later becoming prioress at Imbramowice. Bronislava was also a cousin of the Dominican Saint Hyacinth and related to Saint Jacek and Blessed Czeslaw. Bronislava entered the convent at Zwierzyniec at the […]

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August 30 – Gallant Lady

August 29, 2016

St. Margaret Ward Martyr, born at Congleton, Cheshire; executed at Tyburn, London, 30 Aug., 1588. Nothing is known of her early life except that she was of good family and for a time dwelt in the house of a lady of distinction named Whitall then residing in London. Knowing that William Watson, the priest who […]

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August 31 – Born of a dead mother

August 29, 2016

St. Raymond Nonnatus (Not-Born) (In Spanish SAN RAMON). Born 1200 or 1204 at Portello in the Diocese of Urgel in Catalonia; died at Cardona, 31 August, 1240. His feast is celebrated on 31 August. He is pictured in the habit of his order surrounded by ransomed slaves, with a padlock on his lips. He was […]

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September 1 – Gideon the Judge

August 29, 2016

Gideon or Gedeon (Hebrew “hewer”), also called JEROBAAL (Judges, vi, 32; vii, 1; etc.), and JERUBESHETH (II Kings, xi, 21, in the Hebrew text). Gideon was one of the Greater Judges of Israel. He belonged to the tribe of Manasses, and to the family of Abiezer (Judges, vi, 34). Gideon’s father was Joas, and lived […]

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September 1 – St. Giles

August 29, 2016

(Latin Ægidius.) An Abbot, said to have been born of illustrious Athenian parentage about the middle of the seventh century. Early in life he devoted himself exclusively to spiritual things, but, finding his noble birth and high repute for sanctity in his native land an obstacle to his perfection, he passed over to Gaul, where […]

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Feudalism: Work of the Medieval Family

August 29, 2016

Frantz Funck-Brentano, a member of the Institute of France, describes the role of the family in the constitution of feudal society in his celebrated work L’Ancien Régime: The Ancien Régime grew out of feudal society. Nothing contradicts this. As for the feudal system, it was produced, in that astonishing period which ran from the middle […]

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Symbols of Monarchy: the orb and sceptre

August 25, 2016

According to the Crown Chronicles: … orb and sceptre are used at the coronation of each new Sovereign…. But why are they used and what do they mean? The Sovereign’s Orb…is a symbol of Godly power. A cross above a globe, It represents ‘Christ’s dominion over the world’, as the Monarch is God’s representative on […]

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Conquering Defeat Reveals Chivalry More Surely Than Conquering Victory

August 25, 2016

After the [Civil] war [Robert E. Lee] became president of Washington College. He had found the new duty. “I have led so many of the young men of Virginia to battle and to death,” he said, “Now, I would like to give the remainder of my life to teaching them how to live.” For this purpose, [Robert […]

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The Troubadours and The Decline of The Crusader Spirit

August 25, 2016

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira   An excessive ‘mellowing’ of customs led to a lack of appetite for war; this, along with a growing influence of sentimentality and the action of the ‘troubadours’ put an end to the crusading spirit. Now, while this explains the crusading spirit, it does not explain very well the decadence […]

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August 26 – This noblewoman survived the Terror and founded the Daughters of the Cross

August 25, 2016

Saint Elizabeth Bichier des Ages She was born of a rich, noble family on July 5, 1773, at the Château des Ages, France. Raised in a pious home, she developed at an early age a close relationship with God and a genuine love for the poor. She was twenty-five when she first met André Hubert […]

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August 27 – Never underestimate the prayers of a mother

August 25, 2016

St. Monica Widow; born of Christian parents at Tagaste, North Africa, in 333; died at Ostia, near Rome, in 387. We are told but little of her childhood. She was married early in life to Patritius who held an official position in Tagaste. He was a pagan, though like so many at that period, his […]

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August 27 – “Conform I would not, for it was against my conscience”

August 25, 2016

Saint David Lewis, alias Charles Baker (Recté, according to his own entry in the English College David Henry Lewis). An English Jesuit martyr, born in Monmouthshire in 1616; died at Usk, 27 August, 1679. His father, Morgan Lewis, was a lax Catholic, afterwards converted; his mother, Margaret Pritchard, was a very devout Catholic. David was […]

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August 28 – Restless Heart

August 25, 2016

St. Augustine of Hippo The great St. Augustine’s life is unfolded to us in documents of unrivaled richness, and of no great character of ancient times have we information comparable to that contained in the “Confessions,” which relate the touching story of his soul, the “Retractations,” which give the history of his mind, and the […]

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August 29 – At the helm during the French Revolution

August 25, 2016

Pope Pius VI (GIOVANNI ANGELICO BRASCHI). Born at Cesena, 27 December, 1717; elected 15 February, 1775; died at Valence, France, 29 Aug., 1799. He was of a noble but impoverished family, and was educated at the Jesuit College of Cesena and studied law at Ferrara. After a diplomatic mission to Naples, he was appointed papal […]

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August 29 – Passion of St. John the Baptist

August 25, 2016

Part of the Baptist’s ministry was exercised in Perea: Ennon, another scene of his labours, was within the borders of Galilee; both Perea and Galilee made up the tetrarchy of Herod Antipas. This prince, a son worthy of his father Herod the Great, had married, likely for political reasons, the daughter of Aretas, king of […]

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August 29 – Converted by her slave

August 25, 2016

St. Sabina Widow of Valentinus and daughter of Herod Metallarius, suffered martyrdom about 126. According to the Acts of the martyrdom, which however have no historic value, she lived at Rome and was converted to Christianity by her female slave Serapia. Serapia was put to death for her faith and later, in the same year, […]

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August 29 – King and Confessor

August 25, 2016

St. Sebbi, or Sebba This prince was the son of Seward, and in the year 664, which was remarkable for a grievous pestilence, began to reign over the East Saxons, who inhabited the country which, now comprises Essex, Middlesex, and the greater part of Hertfordshire; he being the tenth king from Erkinwin, founder of that […]

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The Difficulty in Forming the State

August 25, 2016

One can easily imagine two things: first, that this religion proper to each city must have formed the city in a powerful and almost unshakeable way—it is, in fact, marvelous how this social organization has endured, in spite of its faults and chances of ruin; secondly, that this religion must have had the effect, over […]

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August 23 – Cardinal-General

August 22, 2016

Alvarez Carillo Gil de Albornoz A renowned cardinal, general, and statesman; born about 1310 at Cuenca in New Castile; died 23 Aug., 1367, at the Castle of Bonriposo, near Viterbo, in Italy. His father, Don Garcia, was a descendant of King Alfonso V of Leon, and his mother, Teresa de Luna, belonged to the royal […]

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August 23 – St. Philip Benizi

August 22, 2016

St. Philip Benizi Propagator and fifth General of the Servite Order, born at Florence, Italy, August 15, 1233; died at Todi, in Umbria, August 23, 1285. His parents were scions of the renowned Benizi and Frescobaldi families. After many years of married life had left them childless, Philip was granted to them in answer to […]

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August 23 – St. Rose of Lima

August 22, 2016

St. Rose of Lima Virgin, patroness of America, born at Lima, Peru 20 April, 1586; died there 30 August, 1617. Saint Rose was born Isabel Flores y de Oliva in the city of Lima, the Viceroyalty of Peru, then part of New Spain. She was one of the many children of Gaspar Flores, a harquebusier […]

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August 23: He brought peace to Italy’s war-torn city-states in the Middle Ages

August 22, 2016

Saint Philip Benizi, Servite Priest (1233-1285) Saint Philip Benizi was born in Florence on the Feast of the Assumption, 1233. That same day the Order of Servites was founded by the Mother of God. As an infant one year old, Philip spoke when in the presence of these new religious, and announced the Servants of […]

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August 24 – Saint Bartholomew’s Day: the real story

August 22, 2016

Saint Bartholomew’s Day This massacre of which Protestants were the victims occurred in Paris on 24 August, 1572 (the feast of St. Bartholomew), and in the provinces of France during the ensuing weeks, and it has been the subject of knotty historical disputes. The first point argued was whether or not the massacre had been […]

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August 24 – Chancellor of the court

August 22, 2016

St. Ouen (OWEN; DADON, Latin Audaenus). Archbishop of Rouen, b. at Sancy, near Soissons about 609; d. at Clichy-la-Garenne, near Paris, 24 Aug., 683. His father, Autharius, and his mother, Aiga, belonged to the Gallo-Roman race. Shortly after Ouen’s birth they came to Ussy-sur-Marne, where he spent his childhood, with which tradition connects a series […]

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August 25 – He opened the first public free school in Europe

August 22, 2016

St. Joseph Calasanctius (Calasanz) Called in religion “a Matre Dei”, founder of the Piarists, born 11 Sept., 1556, at the castle of Calasanza near Petralta de la Sal in Aragon; died 25 Aug., 1648, at Rome; feast 27 Aug. His parents, Don Pedro Calasanza and Donna Maria Gastonia, gave Joseph, the youngest of five children, […]

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August 25 – How do you portray a saint?

August 22, 2016

  The following text is taken from an informal lecture Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira gave on August 25, 1964. It has been translated and adapted for publication without his revision. –Ed. August 25 is the feast of Saint Louis IX, king, confessor of the Faith, Crusader and model of a Catholic head of state. […]

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August 25 – King, Crusader, Saint

August 22, 2016

Saint Louis IX King of France, son of Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile, born at Poissy, 25 April, 1215; died near Tunis, 25 August, 1270. He was eleven years of age when the death of Louis VIII made him king, and nineteen when he married Marguerite of Provence by whom he had eleven children. […]

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Civitas and Urbs

August 22, 2016

Civitas and urbs, which we render as city, were not synonymous among the ancients. The civitas was the religious and political association of the families of a tribe; the urbs was the place of reunion, the domicile, and, above all, the sanctuary of this association…. Once the families, the phratries, and the tribes agreed to […]

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Etiquette and Tea Styles

August 18, 2016

Just Some of the Different Styles Of “Teas” Held, or Given, for the Enjoyment of this Popular Beverage   ·The High Tea:  In the past, “High Tea” was considered the tea of the working-class rather than the tea of the elite. This tea was a hearty affair. Meat pies, rarebit, shepherd’s pies, slices of roast, sausage, vegetables, […]

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In taming the barbarians, the Church funneled their combativeness to the service of Christendom, giving rise to Chivalry and the Crusades

August 18, 2016

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Providence disposed that the Middle Ages should be a specially warlike age. This was not only because of the double effort that Charlemagne had to do by fighting both Saracens and barbarians, but also because of the remaining traits of barbarian mentality in Catholics themselves, which led them to unsheathe […]

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August 19 – The prince who was made bishop at age 22

August 18, 2016

St. Louis of Toulouse Bishop of Toulouse, generally represented vested in pontifical garments and holding a book and a crosier, b. at Brignoles, Provence, Feb., 1274; d. there, 19 Aug., 1297. He was the second son of Charles II of Anjou, called the Lame, King of Naples (1288- 1309), and nephew of St. Louis IX […]

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August 19 – St. John Eudes

August 18, 2016

French missionary and founder of the Eudists and of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity; author of the liturgical worship of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary; born at Ri, France, 14 Nov., 1601; died at Caen, 19 Aug., 1680. He was a brother of the French historian, François Eudes de Nézeray. At […]

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August 20 – The Knights Templar owe him

August 18, 2016

St. Bernard of Clairvaux Born in 1090, at Fontaines, near Dijon, France; died at Clairvaux, 21 August, 1153. His parents were Tescelin, lord of Fontaines, and Aleth of Montbard, both belonging to the highest nobility of Burgundy. Bernard, the third of a family of seven children, six of whom were sons, was educated with particular […]

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August 20 – Saint Philibert of Jumièges and Recipes for Hazelnuts Named in His Honor

August 18, 2016

Saint Philibert of Jumièges (c. 608–684) was the only son of a Frankish noble, a courtier of Dagobert I. He was educated at court by Saint Ouen and entered monastic life at Rebais and was elected abbot at the age of 20. In 654, St. Philibert received a gift of land from Clovis II on […]

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August 20 – St. Oswin, King

August 18, 2016

St. Oswin King and martyr, murdered at Gilling, near Richmond, Yorkshire, England, on 20 August, 651, son of Osric, King of Deira in Britain. On the murder of his father by Cadwalla in 634, Oswin still quite young was carried away for safety into Wessex, but returned on the death of his kinsman St. Oswald, […]

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August 21 – La Vallete

August 18, 2016

Jean Parisot de La Valette Forty-eighth Grand Master of the Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem; born in 1494; died in Malta, 21 Aug., 1568. He came from an old family of Southern France, several members of which had been capitouls (chief magistrates) in Toulouse. When still young he entered the Order […]

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August 21 – He was one of a network of aristocrat bishops

August 18, 2016

Saint Sidonius Apollinaris Gaius Sollius (Modestus) Apollinaris Sidonius or Saint Sidonius Apollinaris (November 5[1] of an unknown year, perhaps 430 – August, 489) was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Sidonius is “the single most important surviving author from fifth-century Gaul” according to Eric Goldberg.[2] He was one of four fifth-to sixth-century Gallo-Roman aristocrats whose letters […]

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August 22 – The Queenship of Mary

August 18, 2016

Pope Pius XII in the Papal Encyclical Ad Coeli Reginam proposed the traditional doctrine on the Queenship of Mary and established this feast for the Universal Church. Pope Pius IX said of Mary’s Queenship: “Turning her maternal Heart toward us and dealing with the affair of our salvation, she is concerned with the whole human […]

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August 22 – The pope who preached a Crusade against the German Emperor Frederick II

August 18, 2016

Pope Gregory IX (UGOLINO, Count of Segni). Born about 1145, at Anagni in the Campagna; died 22 August, 1241, at Rome. He received his education at the Universities of Paris and Bologna. After the accession of Innocent III to the papal throne, Ugolino, who was a nephew of Innocent III, was successively appointed papal chaplain… […]

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August 22 – Venerable John Wall

August 18, 2016

Blessed John Wall Martyr, born in Lancashire, 1620; suffered near Worcester, 22 August, 1679; known at Douay and Rome as John Marsh, and when on the Mission under the aliases of Francis Johnson, Webb, and Dormore. The son of wealthy and staunch Lancashire Catholics, he was sent when very young to Douai College. He entered […]

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The City Is Formed

August 18, 2016

The tribe, like the family and the phratry, was set up to be an independent body, since it had a special cult from which strangers were excluded. Once formed, no new family could be admitted. Nor could two tribes merge into a single tribe; their religion was against it. But, just as several phratries united […]

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Queen Elizabeth II moves into Balmoral Castle 11 days late

August 15, 2016

According to The Crown Chronicles: Her Majesty has spent the past 11 nights at another house in the grounds of her Aberdeenshire retreat so that the castle could remain open to the public a little longer. The bill for the upkeep of the 1856 gothic-style castle is approximately £3 million per year. The Sovereign must […]

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August 15 – Prester John

August 15, 2016

Prester John Name of a legendary Eastern priest and king. FIRST STAGE The mythical journey to Rome of a certain Patriarch John of India in 1122, and his visit to Callistus II, cannot have been the origin of the legend. Not until much later, in a manuscript dating from the latter part of the fifteenth-century […]

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August 16 – His incorrupt right hand is treasured as the most sacred relic in Hungary

August 15, 2016

St. Stephen of Hungary First King of Hungary, born at Gran, 975; died 15 August, 1038. He was a son of the Hungarian chief Géza and was baptized, together with his father, by Archbishop St. Adalbert of Prague in 985, on which occasion he changed his heathen name Vaik (Vojk) into Stephen. In 995 he […]

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August 16 – Did he inspire the tales of King Arthur?

August 15, 2016

Saint Armel (Welsh: Arthfael, lit. “Bear-Prince”; Latin: Armagilus) He was an early 6th-century holy man in Brittany. Armel is said to have been a Breton prince, born to the wife of King Hoel while they were living in Glamorgan in Wales in the late 5th century. He founded the abbey of Plouarzel in Brittany and […]

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August 16 – Apostle of the North

August 15, 2016

St. Hyacinth Dominican, called the Apostle of the North, son of Eustachius Konski of the noble family of Odrowacz [or Odrowaz]; born 1185 at the castle of Lanka, at Kamin, in Silesia, Poland…; died 15 August, 1257, at Cracow. Feast, 16 Aug. A near relative of Saint Ceslaus, he made his studies at Cracow, Prague, […]

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August 17 – Her great beauty aroused the jealousy of the queen

August 15, 2016

St. Beatrix da Silva A Portuguese nun, died 1 September, 1490. In Portuguese she is known as Blessed Brites. She was a member of the house of Portalegre and descended from the royal family of Portugal. She accompanied the Portuguese Princess Isabel to Spain, when she married John II of Castile. There Beatrix seems to […]

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August 18 – The Empress who found the True Cross

August 15, 2016

Saint Helena (also known as Saint Helen, Helena Augusta or Helena of Constantinople) The mother of Constantine the Great, born about the middle of the third century, possibly in Drepanum (later known as Helenopolis) on the Nicomedian Gulf; died about 330. She was of humble parentage; St. Ambrose, in his “Oratio de obitu Theodosii”, referred […]

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Family, Curia or Phratry, and Tribe

August 15, 2016

The study of ancient rules of private law allowed us to glimpse, beyond so-called historic times, a period of centuries during which the family was the only form of society. This family then contained many thousands of human beings within its large frame. But within this framework human association was still too narrow; too narrow […]

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Alfred the Great: Father of the British Navy

August 11, 2016

In the fifth century the Saxons had been formidable for their power by sea; their conquests in Britain had directed their attention to other objects, and had annihilated their fleet. But Alfred now saw the necessity of opposing the Danes on their own element. In 875 he equipped a few ships, manned them with foreign […]

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The Church’s bellicose and militant character must permeate all society in the Reign of Mary

August 11, 2016

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira   Now, I take advantage to say that the Church’s Crusading and militant spirit was intimately united with the condition of noble and warrior. And the nobility gradually faded as well. And, to be precise, I believe that there will be no Reign of Mary if this spirit is not […]

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The Concept of Family in the Ancient World

August 11, 2016

One can then glimpse a long period during which men had no form of society other than the family…. Each family has its religion, its gods, its priesthood…. Each family also has its property, that is to say, its parcel of land inseparably attached to it through religion…. In short, each family has its leader, […]

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August 12 – St. Jane Frances de Chantal

August 11, 2016

Born at Dijon, France, 28 January, 1572; died at the Visitation Convent Moulins, 13 December, 1641. Her father was president of the Parliament of Burgundy, and leader of the royalist party during the League that brought about the triumph of the cause of Henry IV. In 1592 she married Baron de Chantal, and lived in […]

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August 12 – His pontificate was spent in opposing royal absolutism

August 11, 2016

Pope Blessed Innocent XI (Benedetto Odescalchi) Born at Como, 16 May, 1611; died at Rome, 11 August, 1689. He was educated by the Jesuits at Como, and studied jurisprudence at Rome and Naples. Urban VIII appointed him successively prothonotary, president of the Apostolic Camera, commissary at Ancona, administrator of Macerata, and Governor of Picena. Innocent […]

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August 13 – The Ottomans lived in fear of this Capuchin

August 11, 2016

Blessed Mark of Aviano (1631–1699) Capuchin friar. His baptismal name was Carlo Domenico Cristofori, his birthplace Aviano, a small community in the Republic of Venice (Italy). From an early age, he felt attracted to a life of devotion and martyrdom. Educated at the Jesuit College in Gorizia, at 16 he tried to reach the island […]

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August 13 – Crusader nun

August 11, 2016

Bl. Gertrude of Aldenberg Abbess of the Premonstratensian convent of Aldenberg, near Wetzlar, in the Diocese of Trier; born about 1227, died 13 August, 1297. She was the youngest of three children of Louis VI, margrave of Thuringia, and his wife St. Elizabeth of Hungary. Gertrude’s father died on his way to the Holy Land […]

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August 13 – The Pope Who Resigned

August 11, 2016

Pope St. Pontian Dates of birth and death unknown. The “Liber Pontificalis” (ed. Duchesne, I, 145) gives Rome as his native city and calls his father Calpurnius. With him begins the brief chronicle of the Roman bishops of the third century, of which the author of the Liberian Catalogue of the popes made use in […]

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August 13 – The antipope who became a saint

August 11, 2016

Hippolytus, Saint, Martyr. St. Hippolytus of Rome, presbyter and antipope; date of birth unknown; died about 236. Until the publication in 1851 of the recently discovered “Philosophumena”, it was impossible to obtain any definite authentic facts concerning Hippolytus of Rome and his life from the conflicting statements about him, as follows: Eusebius says that he […]

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