October 5 – St. Galla

October 1, 2015

A Roman widow of the sixth century; feast, 5 October. According to St. Gregory the Great (Dial. IV, ch. xiii) she was the daughter of the younger Symmachus, a learned and virtuous patrician of Rome, whom Theodoric had unjustly condemned to death (525). Becoming a widow before the end of the first year of her […]

Read the full article →

September 29 – In battle or in prison, he never missed Mass

September 28, 2015

Blessed Charles of Blois (1320- September 29, 1364) Charles is the son of Guy I of Blois-Châtillon, count of Blois, by Margaret of Valois, a sister of king Philip VI of France. Early in life, he felt a call to be a Franciscan friar, but political duty kept him in secular life. Following his marriage […]

Read the full article →

September 29 – Military Orders of St. Michael

September 28, 2015

Military Orders of St. Michael (1) A Bavarian Order, founded in 1721 by Elector Joseph Clemens of Cologne, Duke of Bavaria, and confirmed by Maximilian Joseph, King of Bavaria, 11 September 1808. Pius VII, 5 Feb. 1802 granted to priests decorated with this order all the privileges of domestic prelates. Under Louis I it was […]

Read the full article →

September 29 – The Angelic Inspiration of Chivalry

September 28, 2015

Saint Michael the Archangel: “Who is like God?” In Hebraic, mîkâ’êl, means “Who is like God?” The Scriptures refer to the Archangel Saint Michael in four different passages: two of them, in Daniel’s prophesy (chap. 10, 13 and 21; and chap. 12, 1); one in Saint Jude Thaddeus (single chapter, vers. 9) and, finally, in […]

Read the full article →

September 30 – The cantankerous noble who became a saint

September 28, 2015

St. Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church A fresco of St. Jerome by Carlo Urbino on the ceiling of the altar chapel in the Cappella di sant’Aquilino in the Basilica di San Lorenzo Maggiore in Milan, Italy Born at Stridon, a town on the confines of Dalmatia and Pannonia, about the year 340-2; died […]

Read the full article →

October 1 – The martial and pious death of Don John of Austria: “A man sent by God”

September 28, 2015

Alarm was ended on the fourth day, seeing that the fever and other ills left D. John. But the next day, which was a Saturday, he suddenly grew worse, and while the other invalids went on getting better and became convalescent, he showed other symptoms of a strange illness, palpitations which made him get up […]

Read the full article →

October 1 – St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Chapter IV: First Communion and Confirmation & Chapter V: Vocation of Thérèse

September 28, 2015

ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX Excerpts from THE STORY OF A SOUL: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX SOEUR THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX, THE LITTLE FLOWER OF JESUS ______________________________ PROLOGUE: THE PARENTAGE & BIRTH OF MARIE FRANÇOISE THÉRÈSE MARTIN and CHAPTER ONE – EARLIEST MEMORIES ______________________________ CHAPTER II: A CATHOLIC HOUSEHOLD and CHAPTER III: PAULINE ENTERS THE […]

Read the full article →

Australian Prime Minister Turnbull: Egalitarian Rejection of Excellence

September 24, 2015

According to the Crown Chronicles: “Just days after Monarchist Prime Minister Tony Abbott was ousted in Australia, his replacement, Malcolm Turnbull, has already stated his intentions to abolish Knighthoods.” To read the entire article in the Crown Chronicles, please click here.

Read the full article →

The Young Prince And The Officer

September 24, 2015

The Duke of Bourgogne, grandson of Louis XIV of France, was educated by the great Bishop of Cambrai, Fenelon. He made so much progress under this learned and virtuous tutor that, as he grew up, he was the admiration of the whole kingdom, on account of those qualities which form great princes and prepare them […]

Read the full article →

The Castle of Valençay

September 24, 2015

Lordship, power, grandeur and splendor By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira The first impression one has on observing this castle, located in the Loire Valley, France, is one of enchantment. How marvelous! An ensemble of towers that rise gallantly in the air indicating lordship, power, grandeur and splendor. These are towers of a fortress-castle. The lack […]

Read the full article →

September 25 – St. Aunarius

September 24, 2015

St. Aunarius (Or Aunacharius). Bishop of Auxerre in France, born 573, died 603. Being of noble birth, he was brought up in the royal court, but evinced a desire to enter the clerical state, was ordained priest by St. Syagrius of Autum, and eventually was made Bishop of Auxerre. His administration is noted for certain […]

Read the full article →

September 25 – Princely Umpire in a deadly sport

September 24, 2015

St. Albert of Jerusalem Patriarch of Jerusalem, one of the conspicuous ecclesiastics in the troubles between the Holy See and Federick Barbarossa; date of birth uncertain; died 14 September, 1215. He was in fact asked by both Pope and Emperor to act as umpire in their dispute and, as a reward, was made Prince of […]

Read the full article →

September 26 – Fr. Frederick William Faber

September 24, 2015

Fr. Frederick William Faber Oratorian and devotional writer, b. 28 June, 1814, at Calverley, Yorkshire, England; d. in London, 26 Sept., 1863. After five years at Harrow School he matriculated at Balliol in 1832, became a scholar at University College in 1834, and a fellow of that College in 1837. Of Huguenot descent Faber was […]

Read the full article →

September 27 – Fr. Peter Skarga: Court Preacher

September 24, 2015

Fr. Peter Skarga Theologian and missionary, born at Grojec, 1536; died at Cracow, 27 Sept., 1612. He began his education in his native town in 1552; he went to study in Cracow and afterwards in Warsaw. In 1557 he was in Vienna as tutor to the young Castellan, Teczynski; returning thence in 1564, he received […]

Read the full article →

September 27 – St. Vincent de Paul had special charity to the impoverished nobility

September 24, 2015

St. Vincent de Paul founded a special organization for the relief of the nobility of Lorraine who had sought refuge in Paris during the Thirty Years War. In that period of the war known as the French period Lorraine, Trois-Evechés, Franche-Comté, and Champagne underwent for nearly a quarter of a century all the horrors and […]

Read the full article →

September 27 – These exemplary nobles personified virtue

September 24, 2015

Saint Elzéar of Sabran, Count of Arian, and Saint Delphina of Glandenes St. Elzear (also spelled Eleazarus) was descended of the ancient and illustrious family of Sabran, in Provence; his father, Hermengaud of Sabran, was created count of Arian (Ariano), in the kingdom of Naples; his mother was Lauduna of Albes, a family no less […]

Read the full article →

September 28 – Franciscan money lender

September 24, 2015

Bl. Bernardine of Feltre Friar Minor and missionary, born at Feltre, Italy, in 1439 and died at Pavia, 28 September, 1494. He belonged to the noble family of Tomitano and was the eldest of nine children. In 1456 St. James of the Marches preached the Lenten course at Padua, and inspired to enter the Franciscan […]

Read the full article →

September 28 – Good King Wenceslaus

September 24, 2015

(Also Vaclav, Vaceslav.) Duke, martyr, and patron of Bohemia, born probably 903; died at Alt-Bunzlau, 28 September, 935. His parents were Duke Wratislaw, a Christian, and Dragomir, a heathen. He received a good Christian education from his grandmother (St. Ludmilla) and at Budweis. After the death of Wratislaw, Dragomir, acting as regent, opposed Christianity, and […]

Read the full article →

September 22 – He especially sought out impoverished nobles who shrank from asking alms

September 21, 2015

St. Thomas of Villanova Educator, philanthropist, born at Fuentellana, Spain, 1488; died at Valencia, 8 September, 1555. Son of Aloazo Tomas Garcia and Lucia Martínez Castellanos, the saint was brought up in the practices of religion and charity. Every Friday his father was wont to give in alms all the meal he earned at the […]

Read the full article →

September 22 – Saint Emmeram

September 21, 2015

Saint Emmeram Bishop of Poitiers and missionary to Bavaria, born at Poitiers in the first half of the seventh century; martyred at Ascheim (Bavaria) towards the end of the same century. Of a noble family of Aquitaine, he received a good education and was ordained priest. According to some authors Emmeram occupied the See of […]

Read the full article →

September 23 – He ensured the immunity of non-combatants in warfare

September 21, 2015

St. Adamnan of Ireland, Abbot He was the eighth in descent from the great Nial, king of Ireland, and from Conal the Great, ancestor of St. Columbkille. His parents were eminent for their rank and virtue. He was born in the year 626, at Rathboth, (1) now called Raphoe, in the county of Donegal, and […]

Read the full article →

September 24 – Our Lady of Mercy

September 21, 2015

On 10 August, 1223, the Mercedarian Order was legally constituted at Barcelona by King James of Aragon and was approved by Gregory IX on 17 January, 1235. The Mercedarians celebrated their institution on the Sunday nearest to 1 Aug. (on which date in the year 1233 the Blessed Virgin was believed to have shown St. […]

Read the full article →

September 24 – “There is nothing so sublime as the papacy nor so exalted as the imperial throne”

September 21, 2015

Pope Innocent II (Gregorio Papereschi) Elected 14 Feb., 1130; died 24 Sept., 1143. He was a native of Rome and belonged to the ancient family of the Guidoni. His father’s name is given as John. The youthful Gregory became canon of the Lateran and later Abbot of Sts. Nicholas and Primitivus. He was made Cardinal-Deacon […]

Read the full article →

September 24 – Founding Father

September 21, 2015

Fr. François Vaillant de Gueslis Jesuit missionary, born at Orleans, 20 July, 1646; died at Moulins, 24 Sept., 1718. He entered the Society of Jesus, 10 Nov., 1665; came to Canada in 1670; and was ordained priest at Quebec, 1 Dec., 1675. He first evangelized the Mohawks (1679-84). In the beginning of 1688 he was […]

Read the full article →

New Labour leader refuses to sing National Anthem at Battle of Britain service

September 17, 2015

According to the Crown Chronicles: …new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn REFUSED to sing the National Anthem. Standing alongside the Prime Minister, WWII veterans and their families, the republican stood silently as everyone else sang ‘God Save The Queen’… Pacifist Corbyn, who last month refused to take a position on The Queen’s Privy Council if appointed, […]

Read the full article →

Flight into Egypt

September 17, 2015

St. Anselm says the Holy Family settled in Heliopolis, now Cairo, where they lived for seven years in poverty and want, unknown and uncared for. Another tradition tells how one night they rested in a robbers’ cave, received with rough, but kind, hospitality by the captain’s wife, whose child was white with leprosy. Mary asked […]

Read the full article →

Saint Joan of Arc was a knight, not a “knightess”

September 17, 2015

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira All this is very beautiful, but there is something even more beautiful that they asked me to make explicit. But what can I say? Infinite things are ineffable. The pulchrum [beauty] of an ideal is reflected in the soul of the one who fights for it. Take, for example, Saint […]

Read the full article →

September 18 – The first time US Congress went to Mass

September 17, 2015

Phillippe-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Tronson Du Coudray Soldier, born at Reims, France, 8 September, 1738; died at Philadelphia, U.S.A., 11 September, 1777. He was educated for the army and showed great merit as an engineer. He was adjutant­ general of artillery and considered one of the best military experts in France when, in 1776, he volunteered to go to […]

Read the full article →

September 19 – The Pope asks Princess Mary to marry James II of England

September 17, 2015

Another voice, the most august of all, was now to break silence. The arguments of Kings, Cardinals, Ambassadors, and of her own family had failed to shake the purpose or convince the mind of the young Princess. Moved by a desire to benefit the Catholics of England, and as much perhaps by the solicitations… Read […]

Read the full article →

September 19 – She begged donations to ransom Christian captives

September 17, 2015

Blessed Mary de Cervellione (or De Cervello) Popularly styled “de Socos” (of Help) Saint, born about 1230 at Barcelona; died there 19 September, 1290. She was a daughter of a Spanish nobleman named William de Cervellon. One day she heard a sermon preached by Blessed Bernard de Corbarie, the superior of the Brotherhood of Our […]

Read the full article →

September 20 – Court preacher to Charles V

September 17, 2015

Saint Alonso de Orozco Mena Alphonsus de Orozco was born in Oropesa, Province of Toledo, Spain, on the 17th of October 1500, where his father was governor of the local castle. He began his studies in the nearby Talavera de la Reina and for three years he was a choir boy in the Cathedral of […]

Read the full article →

September 20 – Starved to death for the faith

September 17, 2015

Bl. Thomas Johnson Carthusian martyr, died in Newgate gaol, London, 20 September, 1537. On 18 May, 1537, the twenty choir monks and eighteen brothers remaining in the London Charterhouse were required to take the Oath of Supremacy. Of these choir monks Thomas Johnson, Richard Bere, Thomas Green (priests), and John Davy (deacon) refused; and of […]

Read the full article →

September 20 – “Threats do not terrify me”

September 17, 2015

Pope St. Agapetus I (Also AGAPITUS.) Reigned 535-536. Date of birth uncertain; died 22 April, 536. He was the son of Gordianus, a Roman priest who had been slain during the riots in the days of Pope Symmachus. His first official act was to burn in the presence of the assembled clergy the anathema which […]

Read the full article →

September 15 – This Saint Felt the Pains of Purgatory

September 14, 2015

St. Catherine of Genoa (also known as Caterina Fieschi Adorno.) Born at Genoa in 1447, died at the same place 15 September, 1510. The life of St. Catherine of Genoa may be more properly described as a state than as a life in the ordinary sense. When about twenty-six years old she became the subject […]

Read the full article →

September 15 – Grandmother of Good King Wenceslaus

September 14, 2015

St. Ludmilla Wife of Boriwoi, the first Christian Duke of Bohemia, born at Mielnik, circa 860; died at Tetin, near Beraun, 15 September, 921. She and her husband were baptized, probably by St. Methodius, in 871. Pagan fanatics drove them from their country, but they were soon recalled, and after reigning seven more years they… […]

Read the full article →

September 16 – St. Cyprian of Carthage

September 14, 2015

St. Cyprian of Carthage (Thaschus Cæcilius Cyprianus). Bishop and martyr. Of the date of the saint’s birth and of his early life nothing is known. At the time of his conversion to Christianity he had, perhaps, passed middle life. He was famous as an orator and pleader, had considerable wealth, and held, no doubt, a […]

Read the full article →

September 16 – The pope who exacted tribute from the Mohammedan ruler of Tunis

September 14, 2015

Pope Blessed Victor III Born in 1026 or 1027 of a non-regnant branch of the Lombard dukes of Benevento; died in Rome, 16 Sept., 1087. Being an only son his desire to embrace the monastic state was strenuously opposed by both his parents. After his father’s death in battle with the Normans, 1047, he fled […]

Read the full article →

September 17 – Noble calm in all controversy, even when correcting the pope

September 14, 2015

St. Robert Francis Romulus Bellarmine (Also, “Bellarmino”). A distinguished Jesuit theologian, writer, and cardinal, born at Montepulciano, 4 October, 1542; died 17 September, 1621. His father was Vincenzo Bellarmino, his mother Cinthia Cervini, sister of Cardinal Marcello Cervini, afterwards Pope Marcellus II. He was brought up at the newly founded Jesuit college in his native […]

Read the full article →

September 17 – Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi

September 14, 2015

Early in August, 1224, Francis retired with three companions to “that rugged rock ‘twixt Tiber and Arno”, as Dante called La Verna, there to keep a forty days fast in preparation for Michaelmas. During this retreat the sufferings of Christ became more than ever the burden of his meditations; into few souls, perhaps, had the […]

Read the full article →

September 17 – Greatly venerated even during her life

September 14, 2015

St. Hildegard Born at Böckelheim on the Nahe, 1098; died on the Rupertsberg near Bingen, 1179; feast 17 September. The family name is unknown of this great seeress and prophetess, called the Sibyl of the Rhine. The early biographers give the first names of her parents as Hildebert and Mechtildis (or Mathilda), speak of their […]

Read the full article →

Queen Elizabeth steeled herself for a lifetime of service, just like her great-great grandmother

September 10, 2015

According to the Washington Post: Queen Elizabeth II…surpass[ed] in length the record of 63 years, 7 months, 2 days set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria. But the two queens share uncanny similarities: Neither was destined to become the monarch, they both married German princes, they became creatures of routine and protocol… From an early age, […]

Read the full article →

UK marks Queen Elizabeth becoming longest-reigning monarch

September 10, 2015

According to BBC News: UK marks Queen Elizabeth becoming longest-reigning monarch Events have been taking place across the UK to mark the day Queen Elizabeth became Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. In London, a flotilla of historic vessels, leisure cruisers and passenger boats took to the River Thames, and there was a four-gun salute from HMS Belfast. […]

Read the full article →

General MacArthur: A Habit of Calm Helped Him in War

September 10, 2015

At 3:40 A.M., about the time that Bulkeley was leaving the Commandantia, General MacArthur was replacing the telephone on the table next to his bed in his family penthouse in the Manila Hotel. An on-duty corporal had picked up word of the sneak Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor over an English-language radio station, and he […]

Read the full article →

The lumen and pulchrum of Chivalry in the knight’s soul

September 10, 2015

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira We imagine the knight as a Crusader because the Crusader is the perfect knight, the one who took the spirit and deeds of Chivalry to their highest degree. We conceive him as a Crusader that advances against the adversary with an attitude of soul at the same time tense but […]

Read the full article →

September 11 – His fame will last forever as that of a gallant soldier and a true Christian

September 10, 2015

Louis-Christophe-Leon Juchault de la Moricière French general and commander-in-chief of the papal army, b. at Nantes, 5 February, 1806; d. at the château of Prouzel, near Amiens, 11 September, 1865. His father was descended from an old Breton family whose device was Spes mea Deus. His mother was Desirée de Robineau de Bougon. He made […]

Read the full article →

September 11 – Prince Eugen of Savoy crushes the Turks at Zenta

September 10, 2015

Although his men had already done a forced march of over ten hours that day, Eugen gave the order to advance and then galloped ahead to see the scene at first hand. He spotted how, just above the bridge on the near side of the river, the water was shallow with a sandbank leading up […]

Read the full article →

September 11 – Italian army invades the Papal State without a declaration of war

September 10, 2015

The King of Italy sends an ultimatum to Blessed Pope Pius IX As the French military situation deteriorated [in the Franco-Prussian War], the government in Florence grew bolder. Near the end of August [1870], the Italian cabinet issued a circular letter to all the governments of Europe, in which it declared that the time had […]

Read the full article →

September 11 – Burned slowly to death at Nagasaki

September 10, 2015

Blessed Charles Spinola Born in Genoa in 1564, he was the son of the Count of Tassarolo, and the nephew of Cardinal Philip Spinola. He was educated in Spain and in the Jesuit school in Nola, Italy. He entered the noviatiate in 1584, and was ordained in 1594. In 1596, he received a letter appointing […]

Read the full article →

September 12 – The Holy Name of the Virgin Mary; in thanksgiving for the victory over the Turks at Vienna

September 10, 2015

The Festival of the Holy Name of the Virgin Mary Pope Innocent XI extended this feast to the universal Church as a solemn thanksgiving for the relief of Vienna, when it was besieged by the Turks in 1683. The Turks had formerly laid siege to Vienna, under Solyman the Magnificent, in 1529, in the reign […]

Read the full article →

Video – Redefeating the Turks: the Battle of Vienna, September 12, 1683

September 10, 2015

Before he set out, Sobieski had sent a letter to Innocent XI, in which he wrote: “When the good of the Church and Christianity is concerned I shed my blood to the last drop, together with the whole kingdom. Since my kingdom and I are two bulwarks of Christianity”. To commemorate Sobieski’s victory Pope Innocent […]

Read the full article →

The Crusading Bagel

September 10, 2015

Several nations claim the bagel as their own, but none of the accounts on the origins of this tasty roll are as epic as the Polish. The Poles tell us that the bagel was invented by a grateful Jewish baker in a rescued and half-destroyed Vienna. He wanted to honor King John Sobieski of Poland […]

Read the full article →

September 12 – Simon de Montfort Crushes the Albigensians at Muret

September 10, 2015

At the Battle of Muret on 12 September 1213 the Crusading army of Simon IV de Montfort defeated the Catharist, Aragonese and Catalan forces of Peter II of Aragon, at Muret near Toulouse. Simon IV de Montfort was the leader of the Albigensian Crusade to destroy the Cathar heresy and incidentally to join the Languedoc […]

Read the full article →

September 13 – He had a mouth of gold

September 10, 2015

St. John Chrysostom (Chrysostomos, “golden-mouthed” so called on account of his eloquence). Doctor of the Church, born at Antioch, c. 347; died at Commana in Pontus, 14 September, 407. John — whose surname “Chrysostom” occurs for the first time in the “Constitution” of Pope Vigilius (cf. P.L., LX, 217) in the year 553 — is […]

Read the full article →

September 14 – His gallant defeat saved Canada from the French Revolution

September 10, 2015

Marquis de Louis-Joseph Montcalm-Gozon A French general, born 28 Feb., 1712, at Candiac, of Louis-Daniel and Marie-Thérèse de Lauris; died at Quebec 14 Sept., 1759. He was descended from Gozon, Grand Master of Rhodes of legendary fame, The warlike spirit of his ancestors had given rise to the saying: “War is the tomb of the […]

Read the full article →

September 14 – Formerly a sign of abject disgrace, it now adorns even crowns and crests

September 10, 2015

The Cross could not be decently mentioned amongst Romans, who looked upon it as an unlucky omen, and as Cicero says, not to be named by a freeman. However, the Emperor Constantine attributed his victory in the Quintian fields, near the bridge Milvius, to the Cross of the Christians, the inscription of which he caused […]

Read the full article →

September 8 – The Davidic ancestry of Mary

September 7, 2015

As we celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us recall her 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 […]

Read the full article →

September 8 – He added the Agnus Dei to the Mass

September 7, 2015

Pope St. Sergius I (Reigned 687-701), date of birth unknown; consecrated probably on 15 Dec., 687; died 8 Sept., 701. While Pope Conon lay dying, the archdeacon Pascal offered the exarch a large sum to bring about his election as his successor. Through the exarch’s influence the archdeacon was accordingly elected by a number of […]

Read the full article →

September 9 – Wife of a dissolute husband

September 7, 2015

Blessed Seraphina Sforza Born at Urbino about 1434; died at Pesaro, 8 September, 1478. Her parents were Guido Antonio of Montefeltro, Count of Urbino, and Cattarina Colonna. She was brought up at Rome by her maternal uncle, Martin V. In 1448 Seraphina married Alexander Sforza, Lord of Pesaro. Ten years afterwards her husband gave himself […]

Read the full article →

September 9 – St. Omer

September 7, 2015

St. Omer Born of a distinguished family towards the close of the sixth or the beginning of the seventh century, at Guldendal, Switzerland; died c. 670. After the death of his mother, he, with his father, entered the monastery of Luxeuil in the Diocese of Besançon probably about 615. Under the direction of Saint Eustachius, […]

Read the full article →

September 10 – St. Pulcheria, Empress, and her husband Marcian

September 7, 2015

St. Pulcheria Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire, eldest daughter of the Emperor Arcadius, born 19 Jan., 399; died in 453. After the death of Arcadius (408), her younger brother, Theodosius II, then only seven, became emperor under the guardianship of Anthimus. Pulcheria had matured early and had great administrative ability; she soon exerted salutary […]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →