July 22 – With his lady’s permission, this lord left court to become a monk, then abbot

July 21, 2016

St. Wandrille, or Wandregisilus, Abbot [Abbot of Fontenelles, in Normandy.]  He was nearly related to Pepin of Landen and Erchinoald, the two first lords in the kingdom of Austrasia; and in his youth was made count of the palace under Dagobert I. He was humble on the highest pinnacle of honors, and mortified amidst pleasures. […]

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July 23 – The most celebrated saint of the Northern kingdom

July 21, 2016

St. Bridget of Sweden The most celebrated saint of the Northern kingdoms, born about 1303; died 23 July, 1373. She was the daughter of Birger Persson, governor and provincial judge (Lagman) of Uppland, and of Ingeborg Bengtsdotter. Her father was one of the wealthiest landholders of the country, and, like her mother, distinguished by deep […]

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July 24 – Chaste Queen

July 21, 2016

Saint Kinga of Poland (also known as Cunegunda, Kunigunda, Kunegunda, Cunegundes, Kioga, Zinga; Polish: Święta Kinga, Hungarian: Szent Kinga) Poor Clare and patroness of Poland and Lithuania; born in 1224; died 24 July, 1292, at Sandeck, Poland. She was the daughter of King Bela IV and niece of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, and from her […]

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July 24 – She Was Fearless, Courageous, and Unswerving

July 21, 2016

Matilda of Canossa Countess of Tuscany, daughter and heiress of the Marquess Boniface of Tuscany, and Beatrice, daughter of Frederick of Lorraine, b. 1046; d. 24 July, 1114. In 1053 her father was murdered. Duke Gottfried of Lorraine, an opponent of the Emperor Henry III, went to Italy and married the widowed Beatrice. But, in […]

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July 24 – St. John Boste

July 21, 2016

St.  John Boste (Or JOHN BOAST.) Priest and martyr, born of good Catholic family at Dufton, in Westmoreland, about 1544; died at Durham, 24 July, 1594. He studied at Queen’s College, Oxford, 1569-72, became a Fellow, and was received into the Church at Brome, in Suffolk, in 1576. Resigning his Fellowship in 1580, he went […]

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July 25 – St. Apollinaris

July 21, 2016

St. Apollinaris The most illustrious of the Bishops of Valence, b. at Vienne, 453; d. 520. He lived in the time of the irruption of the barbarians, and unhappily Valence, which was the central see of the recently founded Kingdom of Burgundy, had been scandalized by the dissolute Bishop Maximus, and the see in consequence […]

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The True Friends of the People Are Traditionalists

July 21, 2016

The True Friends of the People Are Traditionalists From the apostolic letter Notre charge apostolique, August 25, 1910, of Saint Pius X: Let not the priests be led astray in the maze of contemporary opinions, in the mirage of a false democracy. Let them not borrow from the rhetoric of the worst enemies of the […]

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After Brexit, Great Britain needs a Queen as never before

July 18, 2016

According to The Spectator: While Brexit has put most people in a stew, the Queen is one person who needn’t worry… …there are certain jobs in which age is a real asset, jobs in which continuity, experience and wisdom are much more important than energy and competence at running things. These are jobs (the papacy […]

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July 19 – The knight who was afraid of water, but not afraid of martyrdom

July 18, 2016

Blessed Hroznata of Bohemia Founder of the Monasteries of Teplá and Chotěšov, born (c) 1170, died July 14, 1217. In the happy reign of Premysl, – also called Ottacar, – king of Bohemia, among the other magnates of the kingdom the first place at court, next to the king’s magnificence, was held by Hroznata, the […]

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July 19 – Her whole family became saints

July 18, 2016

St. Macrina the Younger Born about 330; died 379. She was the eldest child of Basil the Elder and Emmelia, the granddaughter of St. Macrina the Elder, and the sister of the Cappadocian Fathers, Sts. Basil and Gregory of Nyssa. The last-mentioned has left us a biography of his sister in the form of a […]

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July 19 – Penitent Nobility

July 18, 2016

St. Arsenius Anchorite; born 354, at Rome; died 450, at Troe, in Egypt. Theodosius the Great having requested the Emperor Gratian and Pope Damasus to find him in the West a tutor for his son Arcadius, they made choice of Arsenius, a man well read in Greek literature, member of a noble Roman family, and […]

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July 20 – Carolingian Reformer

July 18, 2016

St. Ansegisus Born about 770, of noble parentage; died 20 July, 833, or 834. At the age of eighteen he entered the Benedictine monastery of Fontanelle (also called St. Vandrille after the name of its founder) in the diocese of Rouen. St. Girowald, a relative of Ansegisus, was then Abbot of Fontanelle. From the beginning […]

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July 21 – Fearless in every sense

July 18, 2016

St. Lorenzo da Brindisi (Also: Lawrence, or Laurence, of Brindisi.) Born at Brindisi in 1559; died at Lisbon on 22 July, 1619. In baptism he received the names of Julius Caesar. Guglielmo de Rossi — or Guglielmo Russi, according to a contemporary writer — was his father’s name; his mother was Elisabetta Masella. Both were […]

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July 21 – He raised the king’s son back to life, but wished to be buried among the criminals

July 18, 2016

St. Arbogast (Gaelic Arascach). St. Arbogast has been claimed as a native of Scotland, but this is owing to a misunderstanding of the name “Scotia”, which until late in the Middle Ages really meant Ireland. He flourished about the middle of the seventh century. Leaving Ireland, as so many other missionaries had done, he settled […]

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By Nature, All Men Are in One Sense Equal, but in Another They Are Unequal

July 18, 2016

From the book Land Reform: A Matter of Conscience, by Archbishop Geraldo de Proença Sigaud, Bishop Antonio de Castro Mayer, Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, and economist Luiz Mendonça de Freitas, in a topic composed and written by the author of the present work:   “[All men] are equal because they are creatures of God, […]

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An Empress God-Mother

July 14, 2016

When Austria was ruled by Emperor Franz Joseph, his Empress, Elizabeth, was legendary for her beauty, and also for her love of the outdoors. She often took trips in the company of her lady-in-waiting, simply dressed so as to remain incognito. One fine day, when out walking in the Tyrol, in the region of Campiglio, […]

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He who loves Our Lord Jesus Christ as he should, is sensitive to meanness done to Him

July 14, 2016

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira We should analyze a little bit the psychological genesis of this furor in order to understand it well. With that way of seeing Our Lord Jesus Christ who was being offended by the Mohammedans in the Holy Sepulcher, we can understand well the ascending and descending path of furor and […]

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July 15 – After conversion, he ordered the statues of the pagan gods chopped up and burned

July 14, 2016

St. Vladimir the Great Grand Duke of Kiev (Kieff) and All Russia, grandson of St. Olga, and the first Russian ruler to embrace Christianity, b. 956; d. at Berestova, 15 July, 1015. St. Olga could not convert her son and successor, Sviatoslav, for he lived and died a pagan and brought up his son Vladimir […]

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July 16 – Of the noble family of Odrowatz

July 14, 2016

St. Ceslaus Born at Kamien in Silesia, Poland (now Prussia), about 1184; died at Breslau about 1242. He was of the noble family of Odrowatz and a relative, probably a brother, of St. Hyacinth. Having studied philosophy at Prague, he pursued his theological and juridical studies at the University of Bologna, after which he returned […]

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July 16 – Alfonso VIII of Castile crushes the Moors at Las Navas de Tolosa

July 14, 2016

The Almohads, the new dynasty of Moroccan fanatics who had subdued all the Muslims in al Andalus, launched an all-out attack on the Christians by moving a huge army north into south central Spain. The impetuous Alfonso… Read more here.

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July 16 – Catholic Spain’s fate in the balance at the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa

July 14, 2016

The following year was a memorable one for all Spain. King Alfonso of Castile, in face of the Almohade danger, had launched an alert to Christendom; answering it, the Christian princes had assembled not only from Spain but also from other countries. Pope Innocent III proclaimed a Crusade against the Moors of Spain and bestowed […]

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July 17 – When the Saracens attacked Rome…

July 14, 2016

Pope St. Leo IV (Reigned 847-55) A Roman and the son of Radoald, was unanimously elected to succeed Sergius II, and as the alarming attack of the Saracens on Rome in 846 caused the people to fear for the safety of the city, he was consecrated (10 April, 847) without the consent of the emperor. […]

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July 17 – Martyred in the Name of Equality

July 14, 2016

The Sixteen Blessed Teresian Martyrs of Compiègne Guillotined at the Place du Trône Renversé (now called Place de la Nation), Paris, 17 July, 1794. They are the first sufferers under the French Revolution on whom the Holy See has passed judgment, and were solemnly beatified 27 May, 1906. Before their execution they knelt and chanted […]

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July 17 – The day the Tsar was murdered

July 14, 2016

Execution of Tsar Nicholas II and his family In the early hours of 17 July 1918, the royal family was awakened around 2:00 am, told to dress, and led down into a half-basement room at the back of the Ipatiev house. The pretext for this move was the family’s safety — that anti-Bolshevik forces were […]

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July 18 – A soldier of hell who became a soldier of heaven

July 14, 2016

Godfrey of Bouillon Duke of Lower Lorraine and first King of Jerusalem, son of Eustache II, Count of Boulogne, and of Ida, daughter of Godfrey the Bearded, Duke of Lower Lorraine; born probably at Boulogne-sur-Mer, 1060; died at Jerusalem, 18 July, 1100 (according to a thirteenth-century chronicler, he was born at Baisy, in Brabant; see […]

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July 18 – “Don’t drink water, drink beer” said the bishop

July 14, 2016

Saint Arnulf of Metz Statesman, bishop under the Merovingians, born c. 580; died c. 640. His parents belonged to a distinguished Frankish family, and lived in Austrasia, the eastern section of the kingdom founded by Clovis. In the school in which he was placed during his boyhood he excelled through his talent and his good […]

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July 18 – She Married a Man to Change Him and It Worked

July 14, 2016

Saint Hedwig, Queen of Poland Born, 1371. Died, 17 July 1399 during child birth. Hedwig was the youngest daughter of King Louis I of Hungary. Because she was great-niece to King Casimir III of Poland, she became Queen of Poland in 1382 upon her father‘s death. She was engaged to William, Duke of Austria, whom […]

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July 18 – Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future

July 14, 2016

St. Camillus de Lellis Born at Bacchianico, Naples, 1550; died at Rome, 14 July, 1614. He was the son of an officer who had served both in the Neapolitan and French armies. His mother died when he was a child, and he grew up absolutely neglected. When still a youth he became a soldier in […]

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The Suppression of Inequalities Is a Sine Qua Non for the Elimination of Religion

July 14, 2016

God did not want these inequalities only among creatures of the inferior kingdoms—the mineral, vegetable, and animal—but also among men and, therefore, among peoples and nations. With these inequalities, which God created harmonious among themselves and beneficent for each category of beings as also for each being in particular, He wanted to furnish man with […]

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July 12 – St. John Gualbert and the Vallumbrosan Order

July 11, 2016

The name is derived from the motherhouse, Vallombrosa (Latin Vallis umbrosa, shady valley), situated 20 miles from Florence on the northwest slope of Monte Secchieta in the Pratomagno chain, 3140 feet above the sea. I. THE FOUNDER St. John Gualbert, son of the noble Florentine Gualbert Visdomini, was born in 985 (or 995), and died […]

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July 13 – The Crusaders attack Jerusalem

July 11, 2016

The attack began the night of July 13, [1099,] and the defenders let loose a hail of stones and rivers of Greek fire…. The battle hung in the balance during the morning hours of July 15. Archers shot blazing firebrands to drive the defenders from the walls, but the siege towers were battered and… Read […]

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July 13 – Good King Henry

July 11, 2016

St. Henry II German King and Holy Roman Emperor, son of Duke Henry II (the Quarrelsome) and of the Burgundian Princess Gisela; b. 972; d. in his palace of Grona, at Gottingen, 13 July, 1024. Like his predecessor, Otto III, he had the literary education of his time. In his youth he had been destined […]

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July 13 – Saintly Elite

July 11, 2016

St. Marie-Azélie “Zélie” Martin née Guérin (23 December 1831 – 28 August 1877) was a French laywoman and the mother of Saint Thérèse de Lisieux. Her husband was Blessed Louis Martin. Marie-Azélie Guérin was born in Saint-Denis-sur-Sarthon, Orne, France and was the second daughter of Isidore Guérin and Louise-Jeanne Macé. She had an older sister, […]

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July 13 – Author of “The Golden Legend”

July 11, 2016

Bl. Jacopo de Voragine (Also DI VIRAGGIO). Archbishop of Genoa and medieval hagiologist, born at Viraggio (now Varazze), near Genoa, about 1230; died 13 July, about 1298. In 1244 he entered the Order of St. Dominic, and soon became famous for his piety, learning, and zeal in the care of souls. His fame as a […]

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July 13 – Saint Mildthryth

July 11, 2016

Saint Mildthryth (694–716 or 733), also Mildrith, Mildryth or Mildred, was an Anglo-Saxon abbess. Mildthryth was the daughter of King Merewalh of Magonsaete, a sub-kingdom of Mercia, and Eormenburh (Saint Eormenburga), herself the daughter of King Æthelberht of Kent, and as such appearing in the so-called Kentish royal legend. Her sisters Milburh (Saint Milburga of […]

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July 14 – St. Vincent

July 11, 2016

St. Vincent (MALDEGARIUS). Founder and abbot of the monasteries of Hautmont and Soignies, born of a noble family at Strepy les Binche, Hainault, early in the seventh century; died at Soignies, 14 July, 677. That he was not of Irish descent, as stated by Jean du Pont and some Irish writers, has been proved by […]

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July 14 – St. Francis Solanus

July 11, 2016

South American missionary of the Order of Friars Minor; born at Montilla, in the Diocese of Cordova, Spain, 10 March, 1549; died at Lima, Peru, 14 July, 1610. His parents, Matthew Sanchez Solanus and Anna Ximenes, were distinguished no less for their noble birth than for their virtue and piety. When Francis was twenty years […]

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July 14 – The Lily of the Mohawks

July 11, 2016

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Lily of the Mohawks Kateri Tekakwitha was daughter of Kenneronkwa, a Mohawk chief, and Tagaskouita, a devout Roman Catholic Algonquian woman. She was born in the Mohawk fortress of Ossernenon near present-day Auriesville, New York, in 1656. Kateri’s mother was baptized and educated by French missionaries in Trois-Rivières, like many of Abenaki […]

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The Inequality of Creatures Is a Condition for Creation to Give Glory to God

July 11, 2016

  [I]t seems fitting to add some arguments from the Angelic Doctor to justify the existence of inequality among creatures. In the Summa Theologica he affirms: “Hence in natural things species seem to be arranged in degrees; as the mixed things are more perfect than the elements, and plants than minerals, and animals than plants, […]

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British Royal Family Commemoration Battle of the Somme Centenary

July 7, 2016

According to the British Monarchy: Remembering all those who fought and died at the Battle of the Somme, 1 July to 18 November 1916. Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, led the commemorations for the Centenary of the Battle of the Somme… The Queen placed a wreath at the Grave of […]

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A Rose For Stéphanie

July 7, 2016

According to Luxarazzi: The Lëtzebuerger Rousefrënn association has grown a new rose and named it for Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie. The rose Princesse Stéphanie Grande-Duchesse Héritière de Luxembourg was christened by its namesake at the palais grand-ducal today. The rose follows in the footsteps of several other flowers with the sweet smell named for members […]

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The Charm of the Curtsey

July 7, 2016

A young Englishwoman of title visited this country recently she expressed astonishment at the ignorance of the art of formal social behavior which American girls displayed. They did not know how to bow correctly, the curtsey seemed to have become an obsolete social form here; they had not learned the graceful way to proceed down the […]

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True chivalry stems from a particular way of adoring Our Lord

July 7, 2016

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Well, we understand how in civil life this knight will be kind, amiable, dignified, magnificent, etc., according to all the nuances I gave. I would like this to be well understood because once Our Lord is adored in this fashion, the crusading spirit penetrates us. And with chivalry, countless of […]

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July 8 – The Pope who fought the democrats

July 7, 2016

Pope Blessed Eugene III Bernardo Pignatelli, born in the neighbourhood of Pisa, elected 15 Feb., 1145; died at Tivoli, 8 July, 1153. On the very day that Pope Lucius II succumbed, either to illness or wounds, the Sacred College, foreseeing that the Roman populace would make a determined effort to force the new pontiff to […]

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July 9 – St. Veronica Giuliani

July 7, 2016

St. Veronica Giuliani Born at Mercatello in the Duchy of Urbino, Italy, 1660; died at Città di Castello, 9 July, 1727. Her parents, Francesco Giuliana and Benedetta Mancini, were both of gentle birth. In baptism she was named Ursula, and showed marvelous signs of sanctity. When but eighteen months old she uttered her first words […]

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July 10 – Seven Holy Noble Brethren

July 7, 2016

Saints, martyred in Rome, in 150. According to legend, they were the sons of Saint Felicitas, and suffered martyrdom under Emperor Antoninus. Januarius, Felix, and Philip were scourged to death; Silvanus was thrown over a precipice; Alexander, Vitalis, and Martialis were beheaded. Feast, Roman Calendar, 10 July… Read more here.

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July 10 – Charlemagne Was Punished for His Rudeness to Her

July 7, 2016

St. Amalberga A virgin, very much revered in Belgium, who is said to have been sought in marriage by Charles, afterwards Charlemagne. Continually repulsed, Charles finally attempted to carry her off by force, but though he broke her arm in the struggle he was unable to move her from the altar before which she had […]

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July 11 – The noble saint who fled the world, but the world ran after him

July 7, 2016

Saint Benedict of Nursia Founder of western monasticism, born at Nursia, c. 480; died at Monte Cassino, 543. The only authentic life of Benedict of Nursia is that contained in the second book of Saint Gregory’s “Dialogues”. It is rather a character sketch than a biography and consists, for the most part, of a number […]

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A Classless Society: A Dangerous Utopia

July 7, 2016

From John Paul II’s homily in the Mass for youths and students, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on July 1, 1980: “I learned that a Christian youth ceases to be young, and has long ceased to be Christian, when he allows himself to be seduced by doctrines or ideologies that preach violence and hate…. “I learned […]

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July 5 – He founded the Barnebites and reformed two religious orders, but only lived 37 years

July 4, 2016

St. Antonio Maria Zaccaria Founder of the Clerks Regular of St. Paul, commonly known as the Barnabites; born in Cremona, Italy, 1502; died 5 July, 1539. While he was still an infant his father died, leaving the care of the child’s education to his mother, who taught him compassion for the poor and suffering by […]

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July 6 – Mother-in-law Woes

July 4, 2016

St. Godelina Born at Hondeforte-lez-Boulogne, c. 1049; died at Ghistelles, 6 July, 1070. The youngest of the three children born to Hemfrid, seigneur of Wierre-Effroy, and his wife Ogina, Godelina was accustomed as a child to exercises of piety and was soon distinguished for a solidity of virtue extraordinary for one of her years. The […]

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July 6 – The King Had Three Daughters, All Saints

July 4, 2016

St. Sexburga of Ely Died about 699. Her sisters, Sts. Ethelburga and Saethrid, were both Abbesses of Faremontier in Brie, St. Withburga was a nun at Ely, and St. Etheldreda became Abbess of Ely. Sexburga was the daughter of Anna, King of the East Angles, and was married about 640 to Earconbert, King of Kent. […]

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July 6 – Bl. Thomas Alfield

July 4, 2016

Bl. Thomas Alfield (AUFIELD, ALPHILDE, HAWFIELD, OFFELDUS; alias BADGER).   Priest, born at Gloucestershire; martyred at Tyburn, 6 July, 1585. He was educated at Eton and Cambridge (1568). He was afterwards converted and came to Douai College in 1576, but the troubles there compelled him to intermit his studies for four years, and he was […]

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July 6 – Nobility dedicated to the eradication of slavery

July 4, 2016

Blessed Maria Teresia Ledóchowska (29 April 1863 – 6 July 1922) was a Roman Catholic nun and African missionary. She was the eldest of seven children. Members of the Polish nobility, she and her siblings – including Wlodimir Ledóchowski, Ursula Ledóchowska and Ignacy Kazimierz Ledóchowski were born on the estate of their father, Count Antoni […]

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July 7 – Only two cardinals dared to stand with the pope

July 4, 2016

Blessed Pope Benedict XI (Nicholas Boccasini) Born at Treviso, Italy, 1240; died at Perugia, 7 July, 1304. He entered the Dominican Order at the age of fourteen. After fourteen years of study, he became lector of theology, which office he filled for several years. In 1296 he was elected Master General of the Order. As […]

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July 7 – The Princess who left court and entered a forest monastery

July 4, 2016

St. Edelburga, Virgin, also called St. Æthelburh of Faremoutiers. She was daughter to Anna king of the East Angles, and out of a desire of attaining to Christian perfection, went into France, and there consecrated herself to God in the monastery of Faremoutier, in the forest of Brie, in the government of which she succeeded […]

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July 7 – Prince Abbots

July 4, 2016

Sts. Willibald and Winnebald (WUNIBALD, WYNNEBALD). Members of the Order of St. Benedict, brothers, natives probably of Wessex in England, the former, first Bishop of Eichstätt, born on 21 October, 700 (701); died on 7 July, 781 (787); the latter, Abbot of Heidenheim, born in 702; died on 18 (19) December, 761. They were the […]

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Anyone Who Ventures to Deny the Diversity of Social Classes Contradicts the Very Laws of Nature

July 4, 2016

From John XXIII’s encyclical Ad Petri Cathedram, of June 29, 1959: “The harmonious unity which must be sought among peoples and nations also needs ever greater improvement among the various classes of individuals. Otherwise mutual antagonism and conflict can result, as we have already seen. And the next step brings rioting mobs, wanton destruction of […]

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Lady Rothes: the Titanic’s heroine

June 30, 2016

On April 14, 1912, at 11:40 p.m. the Titanic, the ocean liner that supposedly “God Himself could not sink,” struck a towering iceberg in the Northern Atlantic. In less than three hours, the 46,328-ton ship sank beneath the waves to settle on the ocean floor. Noëlle, Countess of Rothes, was a passenger coming to the […]

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Chivalry: A touch of grace to avenge in the name of God

June 30, 2016

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Question: This is the crusading spirit, correct? The crusading spirit arises when one sees that even that has availed nothing and one receives a special motion of grace to avenge in the name of God. Question: So things must get to this point in order for the touch of vengeance […]

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