July 1 – Condemned to death for promoting the Catholic faith, he responded “Deo gratias”

June 30, 2016

Saint Oliver Plunket Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland, born at Loughcrew near Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland, 1629; died 11 July, 1681. His is the brightest name in the Irish Church throughout the whole period of persecution. He was connected by birth with the families which had just then been ennobled, the Earls […]

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July 1 – Venerable Thomas Maxfield

June 30, 2016

Ven. Thomas Maxfield (Vere Macclesfield) English priest and martyr, born in Stafford gaol, about 1590, martyred at Tyburn, London, Monday, 1 July, 1616. He was one of the younger sons of William Macclesfield of Chesterton and Maer and Aston, Staffordshire (a firm recusant, condemned to death in 1587 for harbouring priests, one of whom was […]

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July 1 – St. Gal

June 30, 2016

St. Gal Of the ninety-eight bishops who have occupied the see of Clermont-Ferrand (Auvergne) the sixteenth and twenty-third bore the name of Gal, and both are numbered among the twenty-nine bishops of this church who are honoured as saints. The first and most illustrious was bishop from 527 to 551, the second… Read more here.

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July 1 – The Marquis of Lescure destroys two thirds of Westermann’s army and saves the lives of captured enemy soldiers

June 30, 2016

While the grand army were under the walls of Nantes, several engagements had taken place in La Vendée. Westermann, at the head of a German legion, advanced into the heart of the Bocage, after making himself master of Parthenay, on the 20th June… Read more here.  

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July 2 – Caught Between Two Masters

June 30, 2016

Saint Otto Bishop of Bamberg, born about 1060; died 30 June, 1139. He belonged to the noble, though not wealthy, family of Mistelbach in Swabia, not to the Counts of Andechs. He was ordained priest, but where he was educated is not known. While still young he joined the household of Duke Wladislaw of Poland; […]

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July 2 – St. Swithin

June 30, 2016

(SWITHUN) Bishop of Winchester; died 2 July, 862. Very little is known of this saint’s life, for his biographers constructed their “Lives” long after his death and there is hardly any mention of him in contemporary documents. Swithin was one of the two trusted counsellors of Egbert, King of the West Saxons (d. 839), helping […]

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July 3 – The Pope Who Condemned His Predecessor, But Not For Heresy

June 30, 2016

Pope St. Leo II Pope (682-83), date of birth unknown; d. 28 June, 683. He was a Sicilian, and son of one Paul. Though elected pope a few days after the death of St. Agatho (10 June, 681), he was not consecrated till after the lapse of a year and seven months (17 Aug., 682). […]

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July 3 – The Twin

June 30, 2016

St. Thomas the Apostle Little is recorded of St. Thomas the Apostle, nevertheless thanks to the fourth Gospel his personality is clearer to us than that of some others of the Twelve. His name occurs in all the lists of the Synoptists (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6, cf. Acts 1:13), but in St. John […]

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July 4 – Unsung American Hero

June 30, 2016

St. Anthony Daniel Huron missionary, born at Dieppe, in Normandy, 27 May 1601, slain by the Iroquois at Teanaostae, near Hillsdale, Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada, 4 July, 1648. After two years’ study of philosophy and one of law, he entered the Society of Jesus in Rome, 1 October, 1621. Sent to Canada in 1633 he […]

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July 4 – Patroness of victims of adultery, jealousy and unfaithfulness

June 30, 2016

St. Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal A.D. 1336. ST. ELIZABETH was daughter of Peter III,  king of Aragon, and granddaughter of James I, who had been educated under the care of St. Peter Nolasco, and was surnamed the Saint, and from the taking of Majorca and Valentia, Expugnator or the Conqueror. Her mother, Constantia, was daughter […]

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July 4 – St. Bertha of Blangy

June 30, 2016

St. Bertha (Abbess of Blangy in Artois) Died about 725. She was the daughter of Rigobert, Count of the Palace under Clovis II, and married Siegfried, a relation of the king. After twenty years, when he died, she determined to found a nunnery. Two buildings which she constructed fell down, but an angel in a […]

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To Establish Absolute Equality Would Be to Destroy the Social Organism

June 30, 2016

Pius XII declares in a speech to a group of parishioners of Marsciano, Perugia, Italy, on June 4, 1953: “It is necessary that you truly feel like brothers. “It is not a matter of mere appearance; you are truly sons of God, so you are really brothers to one another. “Now, brothers are not born […]

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June 28 – He fought to preserve the Pope’s independence

June 27, 2016

Pope Saint Paul I Pope Saint Paul I reigned from 757 to 767 Date of birth unknown; died at Rome, 28 June, 767. He was a brother of Pope Stephen II. They had been educated for the priesthood at the Lateran palace. Stephen entrusted his brother, who approved of the pope’s course in respect to […]

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June 28 – St. Irenaeus

June 27, 2016

St. Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons, and Father of the Church. Information as to his life is scarce, and in some measure inexact. He was born in Proconsular Asia, or at least in some province bordering thereon, in the first half of the second century; the exact date is controverted, between the years 115 and 125, […]

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June 30 – How One Humble Servant Transformed the New York Upper Class

June 27, 2016

Servant of God Pierre Toussaint (1766-1853) Born to slavery in Saint Domingue (present-day Haiti), Toussaint came to New York in 1789 with his master, Jean Bérard du Pithon, a French noble and prosperous planter who was fleeing the turmoil unleashed in Saint Domingue by the French Revolution. Two years later, his master died without having […]

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June 30 – He began a crusade against the immorality of his time

June 27, 2016

Blessed Januarius Maria Sarnelli One of S. Alphonsus’s earliest companions, fourth son of Baron Angelo Sarnelli of Ciorani, born in Naples 12 Sept., 1702; died 30 June, 1744. From his childhood he was remarkable for modesty, self-denial, piety, and great diligence in his studies. At the age of fourteen he desired to become a Jesuit, […]

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Conviviality Among Men Always and Necessarily Produces a Scale of Degrees and Differences

June 27, 2016

Pius XII says in his allocution to Fiat workers on October 31, 1948: “The Church does not promise the absolute equality that others claim, for she knows that human society always produces, of necessity, a whole scale of degrees and differences in physical and intellectual qualities, in inner dispositions and tendencies, in occupations and responsibilities. […]

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The Source of General MacArthur’s Power

June 23, 2016

In this closing chapter, I wish to reveal the secret source of General MacArthur’s power, his genius and his statesmanship and the very essence of his wonderful qualities of leadership…. [W]hen MacArthur miraculously escaped from Corregidor and finally reached Australia, the General found the people there in a state of despair. The morale of the […]

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The Crusades: Born from indignation at seeing Christ’s sweetness rejected

June 23, 2016

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Question: This provides the substance of the crusading spirit, which passes first by this compassion for Our Lord, isn’t it? Yes, but keep well in mind what this compassion is. It is a compassion that, facing the uselessness of everything, asks that order be reestablished through punishment and reparation; and […]

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June 24 – He denounced the king’s adultery

June 23, 2016

St. John the Baptist The principal sources of information concerning the life and ministry of St. John the Baptist are the canonical Gospels. Of these St. Luke is the most complete, giving as he does the wonderful circumstances accompanying the birth of the Precursor and items on his ministry and death. St. Matthew’s Gospel stands […]

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June 25 – Simon de Montfort

June 23, 2016

Simon de Montfort An Earl of Leicester, date of birth unknown, died at Toulouse, 25 June, 1218. Simon (IV) de Montfort was descended from the lords of Montfort l’Amaury in Normandy, being the second son of Simon (III), and Amicia, daughter of Robert de Beaumont, third Earl of Leicester. Having succeeded his father as Baron […]

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June 25 – St. William of Vercelli

June 23, 2016

Or WILLIAM OF MONTE VERGINE.) The founder of the Hermits of Monte Vergine, or Williamites, born 1085; died 25 June, 1142. He was the son of noble parents, both of whom died when he was still a child, and his education was entrusted to one of his kinsmen. At the age of fifteen he made […]

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June 26 – Chartreuse is not only a drink

June 23, 2016

St. Anthelm of Belley (1107 – 1178) Prior of the Carthusian Grand Chartreuse and bishop of Belley. He was born near Chambéry in 1107. He would later receive an ecclesiastical benefice in the area of Belley. When he was thirty years old, he resigned from this position to become a Carthusian monk at Portes. Only […]

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June 27 – Chivalrous King

June 23, 2016

St. Ladislaus King of Hungary, born 1040; died at Neutra, 29 July, 1095; one of Hungary’s national Christian heroes. He was the son of Béla I; the nobles, after the death of Geisa I, passed over Solomon, son of Andrew I, and chose Ladislaus to be their king in 1077. It is true that he […]

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June 27- In the East he was always honoured as one of the greatest of the Doctors

June 23, 2016

St. Cyril of Alexandria Doctor of the Church. St. Cyril has his feast in the Western Church on the 28th of January; in the Greek Menaea it is found on the 9th of June, and (together with St. Athanasius) on the 18th of January. He seems to have been of an Alexandrian family and was […]

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Similarities and Differences Among Men Find Their Allotted Place in the Absolute Order of Being

June 23, 2016

From the 1942 Christmas message of Pius XII: If the life of society involves inner unity, it does not, however, preclude differences which are upheld by reality and nature. Yet when one looks to God, the supreme regulator of all that concerns man, then men’s similarities as well as differences find their proper place in […]

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Prince William Gets Scolded by Queen Elizabeth II

June 20, 2016

According to Us Weekly: During the Trooping the Colour ceremony on Saturday, June 11, Queen Elizabeth quickly reminded her grandson Prince William who runs the show.

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June 21 – He Was More Angel than Man

June 20, 2016

St. Aloysius Gonzaga Aloysius Gonzaga was son of Ferdinand Gonzaga, prince of the holy empire, and marquis of Castiglione, removed in the third degree of kindred from the duke of Mantua. His mother was Martha Tana Santena, daughter of Tanus Santena, lord of Cherry, in Piedmont. She was lady of honor to Isabel, the wife […]

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June 22 – St. John Fisher

June 20, 2016

St. John Fisher Cardinal, Bishop of Rochester, and martyr; born at Beverley, Yorkshire, England, 1459 (?1469); died 22 June, 1535. John was the eldest son of Robert Fisher, merchant of Beverley, and Agnes his wife. His early education was probably received in the school attached to the collegiate church in his native town, whence in […]

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June 22 – St. Thomas More

June 20, 2016

St. Thomas More Saint, knight, Lord Chancellor of England, author and martyr, born in London, 7 February, 1477-78; executed at Tower Hill, 6 July, 1535. He was the sole surviving son of Sir John More, barrister and later judge, by his first wife Agnes, daughter of Thomas Graunger. While still a child Thomas was sent […]

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June 22 – St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola

June 20, 2016

St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola (Pontius Meropius Anicius Paulinus.) Born at Bordeaux about 354; died 22 June, 431. He sprang from a distinguished family of Aquitania and his education was entrusted to the poet Ausonius. He became governor of the Province of Campania, but he soon realized that he could not find in public life […]

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June 22 – Saint Alban, proto-martyr of Britain

June 20, 2016

St. Alban First martyr of Britain, suffered c. 304. The commonly received account of the martyrdom of St. Alban meets us as early as the pages of Bede’s “Ecclesiastical History” (Bk. I, chs. vii and xviii). According to this, St. Alban was a pagan living at Verulamium (now the town of St. Albans in Hertfordshire), […]

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June 23 – Her sister, niece, and great-niece, all royal princesses and two of them widowed queens, followed her as abbesses of Ely

June 20, 2016

St. Etheldreda Queen of Northumbria; born (probably) about 630; died at Ely, 23 June, 679. While still very young she was given in marriage by her father, Anna, King of East Anglia, to a certain Tonbert, a subordinate prince, from whom she received as morning gift a tract of land locally known as the Isle […]

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The Inequality of Rights Is Legitimate

June 20, 2016

Pius XI affirms in the encyclical Divini Redemptoris, of March 19, 1937: “It is not true that all have equal rights in civil society. It is not true that there exists no lawful social hierarchy.” Rev. Joseph Jusslein, S.J., ed., Social Wellsprings (Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Co., 1942), Vol. 2, p. 354 in Plinio Corrêa de […]

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Chivalry’s radiating brilliance was the idea that the Holy Sepulcher was being profaned and needed to be liberated

June 16, 2016

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira This issue is so holy that one feels like delving into it on one’s knees for fear of not dealing with it as one should; but in any case we can see something in this sense. The point that radiates the beauty of chivalry is the idea that the Holy […]

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The Scotch Bawbee

June 16, 2016

In Scotland the halfpenny is called a “bawbee,” but how it came to receive that name is not a matter of common knowledge. It appears that the first attempt at the portraiture of the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots was made in her earliest infancy, and her “wee” face was engraved upon the Scottish halfpennies […]

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June 17 – Sobieski

June 16, 2016

John III Sobieski (Polish: Jan III Sobieski, Lithuanian: Jonas Sobieskis; 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) Born at Olesko in 1629; died at Wilanow, 1696; son of James, Castellan of Cracow and descended by his mother from the heroic Zolkiewski, who died in battle at Cecora. His elder brother Mark was his companion in […]

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June 17 – Founder of the Albertines

June 16, 2016

Saint Brother Albert Chmielowski In Igołomia, on the outskirts of Cracow (Poland), the noble family of Adalbert Chmielowski and Josephine Borzysławska announced on August 20, 1845, the birth of their son Adam (Brother Albert). Mr Chmielowski together with his wife, raised their children in an atmosphere of patriotic ideals, strong faith in God and a […]

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June 17, 1793: Pius VI condemns the revolutionary concepts of liberty and equality

June 16, 2016

Pius VI repeatedly condemned the false concept of liberty and equality. In the Secret Consistory of June 17, 1793, quoting the words of the encyclical Inscrutabilie Divinae Sapientiae of December 25, 1775, he declared: “‘The most perfidious philosophers go farther. They dissolve all those bonds by which human beings are joined to one another and to […]

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June 18 – To make peace, she surrendered her son’s rights to the throne

June 16, 2016

Blessed Theresa of Portugal (born at Coimbra, October 4, 1178 – died at Lorvão, June 18, 1250) Queen of Léon as the first wife of King Alfonso IX of León. She was the oldest daughter of Sancho I of Portugal and Dulce of Aragon. Theresa was the mother to three of Alfonso’s children—two daughters and […]

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June 19 – St. Jean-Louis Bonnard

June 16, 2016

Saint Jean-Louis Bonnard A French missionary and martyr, born 1 March, 1824 at Saint-Christôt-en-Jarret (Diocese of Lyons); beheaded 30 April, 1852. After a collegiate course at Saint Jodard, he entered the seminary of Lyons, which he left at the age of twenty two, to complete his theological studies at the Seminary of the Foreign Missions […]

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June 19 – St. François-Isidore Gagelin

June 16, 2016

Saint François-Isidore Gagelin (10 May 1799 – 17 October 1833) was a French missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society in Vietnam. He became the first French martyr of the 19th century in Vietnam. He was born in Montperreux, Doubs. He left for Vietnam in 1821. In 1826, when Emperor Minh Mạng ordered all missionaries […]

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June 19 – Execution of second group of those who believed in the religious exemption, but only at first

June 16, 2016

Carthusian Martyrs – The Second Group After little more than a month after the first group, it was the turn of three leading monks of the London house: Doms Humphrey Middlemore, William Exmew and Sebastian Newdigate, who were to die at Tyburn, London on the 19 June. Newdigate was a personal friend of Henry VIII, […]

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June 19 – Bl. Odo of Cambrai

June 16, 2016

Bl. Odo of Cambrai Bishop and confessor, also called ODOARDUS; born at Orleans, 1050; died at Anchin, 19 June, 1113. In 1087 he was invited by the canons of Tournai to teach in that city, and there soon won a great reputation. He became a Benedictine monk (1095) in St. Martin’s, Tournai, of which be […]

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June 19 – Love Accepts No Limitations

June 16, 2016

St. Juliana Falconieri Born in 1270; died 12 June, 1341. Juliana belonged to the noble Florentine family of Falconieri. Her uncle, St. Alexis Falconieri, was one of the seven founders of the Servite Order. Through his influence she also consecrated herself from her earliest youth to the religious life and the practices of Christian perfection. […]

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June 20 – The Pope Who Was the Son of Another Pope, Also a Saint

June 16, 2016

Pope St. Silverius (Reigned 536-37). Dates of birth and death unknown. He was the son of Pope [St.] Hormisdas who had been married before becoming one of the higher clergy. Silverius entered the service of the Church and was subdeacon at Rome when Pope Agapetus died at Constantinople, 22 April, 536. The Empress Theodora, who […]

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One Should Not Excite Animosity Against the Rich, Inciting the Masses to the Inversion of Order in Society

June 16, 2016

In a letter of June 5, 1929, to the Most Reverend Achille Liénart, Bishop of Lille, the Sacred Congregation of the Council recalls principles of Catholic social doctrine and practical directives of a moral order, issued from the supreme ecclesiastical authority. “Those who boast of the name Christian, be they taken in isolation or as […]

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Video: Trooping the Colour 2016

June 13, 2016

Highlights from Trooping the Colour 2016, also known as The Queen’s birthday parade. On Saturday Queen Elizabeth II and her family marked her official 90th birthday with a parade, a colorful military ceremony and an appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony. One-year-old Princess Charlotte made her first appearance on the balcony near the queen’s husband, […]

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June 14 – The entire population was slaughtered, except those who embraced Islam

June 13, 2016

Croia A titular see of Albania. Croia (pronounced Kruya, Albanian, “Spring”) stands on the site of Eriboea, a town mentioned by Ptolemy (III, xiii, 13, 41). Georgius Acropolites (lxix) mentions it as a fortress in 1251. A decree of the Venetian senate gave it in 1343 to Marco Barbarigo and his wife. In 1395 it […]

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June 15 – St. Bernard dogs carry his name

June 13, 2016

St. Bernard of Menthon Born in 923, probably in the castle Menthon near Annecy, in Savoy; died at Novara, 1008. He was descended from a rich, noble family and received a thorough education. He refused to enter an honorable marriage proposed by his father and decided to devote himself to the service of the Church. […]

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June 15 – The Northern Crusades

June 13, 2016

The Battle of Lyndanisse was a battle which helped King Valdemar II of Denmark establish the territory of Danish Estonia during the Northern Crusades. Valdemar II defeated the Estonians at Lyndanisse (Estonian: Lindanise), during the Northern Crusades, by orders from the Pope. Read more here.

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June 15, 1215 – Magna Carta

June 13, 2016

Magna Carta The charter of liberties granted by King John of England in 1215 and confirmed with modifications by Henry III in 1216, 1217, and 1225. The Magna Carta has long been considered by the English-speaking peoples as the earliest of the great constitutional documents which give the history of England so unique a character; […]

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June 16 – Death threats meant nothing to him

June 13, 2016

Saint John Francis Regis Born 31 January, 1597, in the village of Fontcouverte (department of Aude); died at la Louvesc, 30 Dec., 1640. His father Jean, a rich merchant, had been recently ennobled in recognition of the prominent part he had taken in the Wars of the League; his mother, Marguerite de Cugunhan, belonged by […]

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Respecting Social Hierarchy for the Greater Good of Individuals and Society

June 13, 2016

From Benedict XV’s letter Soliti nos, of March 11, 1920, to the Most Reverend Luigi Marelli, Bishop of Bergamo: “Let those who are of a lower station and fortune properly understand this: variety of rank in civil society originates from nature, and is finally to be traced back to the will of God, ‘for He […]

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Prince Harry Gets A Scolding While Meeting WWII Veterans

June 9, 2016

According to The Royal Forums: Prince Harry received a telling-off during his visit to Southwark House in Hampshire yesterday, for not completing his outfit with a tie. “Where’s your bloody tie?” 91-year-old veteran Ivor Anderson jokingly scolded the Prince when he first saw him as Harry arrived to meet with 45 World War Two veterans […]

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Royal Rewind – Elizabeth II crowned at Westminster Abbey

June 9, 2016

According to The Crown Chronicles: On this day in 1953, Elizabeth II was crowned at Westminster Abbey. Having become Queen on 6th February 1952, when King George VI died at Sandringham, it took almost 18 months for the coronation ceremony to take place; this was to give ample time for the planning and preparation of […]

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Baron von Guttenberg’s Clear Grasp of Germany’s Collective Sin

June 9, 2016

I went slowly back in to the sickroom. I had to tell Enoch, for he had the right to know. God help me!… “Dearest one…perhaps God wishes you to leave me….” For a long time he seemed to be asleep. Never, for a moment, could I take my eyes from his face—praying for fortitude…. After […]

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At Judgment, the joking knight’s rendering of accounts will be more severe than a prostitute’s

June 9, 2016

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira See for example the story of the Orders of Chivalry. From one standpoint it was a synthesis of the history of the Middle Ages. Imagine a heroic knight eventually wounded in the Crusades, who returns to the monastery in a handicapped condition and is thus prevented from repeating his deeds. […]

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June 10 – Anti-pagan Renaissance Saint

June 9, 2016

Bl. Giovanni Dominici (BANCHINI or BACCHINI was his family name). Cardinal, statesman and writer, born at Florence, 1356; died at Buda, 10 July, 1420. He entered the Dominican Order at Santa Maria Novella in 1372 after having been cured, through the intercession of St. Catherine of Siena, of an impediment of speech for which he […]

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June 10 – Most Sublime Figure of Portuguese Literature

June 9, 2016

Luis Vaz de Camões (OR CAMOENS) Born in 1524 or 1525; died 10 June, 1580. The most sublime figure in the history of Portuguese literature, Camões owes his lasting fame to his epic poem “Os Lusiadas,” (The Lusiads); he is remarkable also for the degree of art attained in his lyrics, less noteworthy for his […]

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