June 17 – Sobieski

June 15, 2015

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 15, 2015

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 15, 2015

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 15, 2015

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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St. Eligius, The Goldsmith

June 11, 2015

St. Eligius, or Giles, was a goldsmith by trade. At that time Clotaire II was King of France. Having heard that St. Eligius was skilful in gold and silver work, the King sent for him, and asked him to make him a throne in gold of great magnificence. At the same time he gave the […]

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2: The Law of Harmonic Transition

June 11, 2015

In hierarchy, variety is affirmed by the multiplicity of intermediary degrees, while unity is affirmed by the suavity of the transition between these degrees. The rainbow is exemplary of this: the colors of which comprise it are arranged in a suave transition. In this we see the wisdom of God, Who created the Universe with […]

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June 12 – Saint Guido of Acqui

June 11, 2015

Saint Guido of Acqui (also Wido) (c. 1004 – 12 June 1070) was Bishop of Acqui (now Acqui Terme) in north-west Italy from 1034 until his death. He was born around 1004 to a noble family of the area of Acqui, the Counts of Acquesana, in Melazzo where the family’s wealth was concentrated. He completed […]

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June 12 – He Crowned Charlemagne

June 11, 2015

Pope St. Leo III Date of birth unknown; died 816. He was elected on the very day his predecessor was buried (26 Dec., 795), and consecrated on the following day. It is quite possible that this haste may have been due to a desire on the part of the Romans to anticipate any interference of […]

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June 12 – A certain nobleman had a concubine

June 11, 2015

St. John of Sahagun Hermit, born 1419, at Sahagun (or San Fagondez) in the Kingdom of Leon, in Spain; died 11 June, 1479, at Salamanca; feast 12 June. In art he is represented holding a chalice and host surrounded by rays of light. John, the oldest of seven children, was born of pious and respected […]

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He Lived Only 36 Years, But the Whole World Knows Him

June 11, 2015

St. Anthony of Padua Franciscan Thaumaturgist, born at Lisbon, 1195; died at Vercelli, 13 June, 1231. He received in baptism the name of Ferdinand. Later writers of the fifteenth century asserted that his father was Martin Bouillon, descendant of the renowned Godfrey de Bouillon, commander of the First Crusade, and his mother, Theresa Taveira, descendant […]

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

June 11, 2015

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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Eighth Centennial of the Magna Carta

June 11, 2015

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 9 – A simple palace servant, God confided to her the destiny of nations

June 8, 2015

Blessed Anna Maria Gesualda Antonia Taigi (Maiden name Giannetti.) Venerable Servant of God, born at Siena, Italy, 29 May, 1769; died at Rome, 9 June, 1837. Her parents, Luigi Giannetti and Maria Masi, kept an apothecary shop at Siena, but lost all their fortune and were obliged to go to Rome in search of a […]

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June 9 – Apostle of Brazil

June 8, 2015

St. Joseph Anchieta A famous Jesuit missionary, commonly known as the Apostle of Brazil, born on the Island of Tenerife, in 1553, of noble family; died in Brazil, 1596. After studying in Coimbra, he entered the Society of Jesus, at the age of seventeen, and when a novice nearly ruined his health by his excessive […]

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June 10 – Anti-pagan Renaissance Saint

June 8, 2015

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 8, 2015

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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June 11 – St. Godeberta

June 8, 2015

St. Godeberta Born about the year 640, at Boves, a few leagues from Amiens, in France; died about the beginning of the eighth century, at Noyon (Oise), the ancient Noviomagus. She was very carefully educated, her parents being of noble rank and attached to the court of King Clovis II. When the question of her […]

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Video: Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, June 2, 1953

June 4, 2015

Also of interest: Buckingham Palace exhibit displays the gowns, robes, jewels and floral arrangements from Queen Elizabeth’s coronation 60 years ago Queen’s Coronation anniversary marked in unique way Coronation violates human rights? The Coronation: A ceremony for a sublime-starved world June 2, 1953: The Medieval Coronation Ceremony that Fascinated the World  

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Quebec Government, and others, challenge Canadian Royal Succession

June 4, 2015

According to The Guardian: [Plaintiffs] Motard and Taillon, supported by the Quebec government, and Canadian Royal Heritage Trust, a monarchist organisation, contend that, because Canada is a sovereign state with its own constitution, its parliament must alter Canadian law to implement the royal succession reform. In 1982…the Canada Act severed any residual jurisdiction that the […]

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The Crystal Vase

June 4, 2015

St. Henry, Emperor of Germany, on his return from Italy, went, along with his whole Court to Cluny to visit the holy Abbot Odilo. During his journey through Europe a certain Prince, to show esteem for so great a monarch, presented him with a crystal vase of magnificent workmanship. The pious Emperor thought that this […]

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The Laws Of Unity

June 4, 2015

1: The Law of Continuity and Cohesion Unity supposes an absence of interruption which may be verified in two ways: through continuity or cohesion. Continuity is the simple absence of deficiencies which exists that there might be no gaps in the [created] being. Unity verified by cohesion is much more profound: in this case there […]

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June 5 – My God Is Greater Than Your Tree

June 4, 2015

St. Boniface (WINFRID, WYNFRITH). Apostle of Germany, date of birth unknown; martyred 5 June, 755 (754); emblems: the oak, axe, book, fox, scourge, fountain, raven, sword. He was a native of England, though some authorities have claimed him for Ireland or Scotland. The place of his birth is not known, though it was probably the […]

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June 5 – Friendship is tested in adversity

June 4, 2015

Blessed Ferdinand of Portugal Prince of Portugal, born in Portugal, 29 September, 1402; died at Fez, in Morocco, 5 June, 1443. He was one of five sons, his mother being Philippa, daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and his father King John I, known in history for his victories over the Moors and […]

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June 6 – Patron and Protector of Bohemia

June 4, 2015

St. Norbert Born at Xanten on the left bank of the Rhine, near Wesel, c. 1080; died at Magdeburg, 6 June, 1134. His father, Heribert, Count of Gennep, was related to the imperial house of Germany, and his house of Lorraine. A stately bearing, a penetrating intellect, a tender, earnest heart, marked the future apostle. […]

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June 7 – Martyr Prince of the Wends

June 4, 2015

St. Gottschalk (GODESCALCUS). Martyr Prince of the Wends; d. at Lenzen on the Elbe, 7 June 1066. His feast is noted for 7 June in the additions of the Carthusians at Brussels to the martyrology of Usuardus. He was the son of Udo, Prince of the Abrodites who remained a Christian, though a poor one […]

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June 7 – The Crusaders reach the walls of Jerusalem

June 4, 2015

In June of 1099 [the First Crusade] arrived before the walls of Jerusalem, which was then held by the Fatimid Arabs of Egypt. With their usual religious zeal and grim determination, the Christians prepared to attack the walls. Their fighting force had been reduced to 1,200 knights and 10,000 foot soldiers, with a similar number […]

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June 8 – She did what St. Ignatius could not

June 4, 2015

Ven. Anne de Xainctonge Foundress of the Society of the Sisters of St. Ursula of the Blessed Virgin, born at Dijon, 21 November, 1567; died at Dôle, 8 June, 1621. She was the daughter of Jean de Xainctonge, councillor in the Dijon Parliament, and of Lady Marguerite Collard, both of noble birth and virtuous life… […]

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June 8 – Accused of theft and other misconduct

June 4, 2015

St. William of York (WILLIAM FITZHERBERT, also called WILLIAM OF THWAYT). Archbishop of York. Tradition represents him as nephew of King Stephen, whose sister Emma was believed to have married Herbert of Winchester, treasurer to Henry I. William became a priest, and about 1130 he was canon and treasurer of York. In 1142 he was […]

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June 8 – The Noble Countess Who Dedicated Her Life to Bringing Dissolute Women to Repentance

June 4, 2015

Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart (died in Porto, Portugal, June 8, 1899), born Maria Droste zu Vischering, was a noble of Germany and Roman Catholic nun best known for influencing Pope Leo XIII’s… Read more here.  

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June 2 – Saved from the Byzantine Emperor’s roaster, ironically, by the Moslems

June 1, 2015

Pope Saint Eugene I Elected August 10, 654, and died at Rome, June 2, 657. Because he would not submit to Byzantine dictation in the matter of Monothelism, St. Martin I was forcibly carried off from Rome (June 18, 653) and kept in exile till his death (September, 655). What happened in Rome after his […]

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June 3 – She had to witness her children kill each other

June 1, 2015

St. Clotilda, Queen of the Franks (French: CLOTILDE; German: CHLOTHILDE). Queen of the Franks, born probably at Lyons, c. 474; died at Tours, 3 June, 545. Her feast is celebrated 3 June. Clotilda was the wife of Clovis I, and the daughter of Chilperic, King of Burgundians of Lyons, and Caretena. After the death of […]

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June 4 – St. Francis Caracciolo

June 1, 2015

St. Francis Caracciolo Co-founder with John Augustine Adorno of the Conregation of the Minor Clerks Regular; born in Villa Santa Maria in the Abrusso (Italy), 13 October, 1563; died at Agnone, 4 June, 1608. He belonged to the Pisquizio branch of the Caracciolo and received in baptism the name of Ascanio. From his infancy he […]

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At allegiance ceremony, MP mocks his own oath

May 28, 2015

According to the Crown Chronicles: An MP made a mockery of his oath of allegiance to Her Majesty on Wednesday, when he called for the abolition of Monarchy just seconds before he swore his service to The Queen. …[Labour MP Richard Burgon] said this prior to his oath: ‘As someone that believes that the head […]

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Agenda for Queen Elizabeth’s new government: renegotiate European treaties, defeat terrorism, defend Ukraine

May 28, 2015

According to Euronews: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth has outlined the government’s legislative agenda, during the official state opening of parliament at Westminster. “…legislation will be introduced to provide for an in-out referendum on membership of the European Union before the end of 2017.” The Queen also said that Britain would continue…efforts to defeat terrorism in the […]

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The Priest and the Soldier

May 28, 2015

About a hundred years ago, when the terrible Revolution broke out in France, a certain priest called Father Aurain gave a beautiful example of doing good to one who hated him. One day he was in the church at his prayers. Suddenly someone ran to tell him that the Republican soldiers were coming towards the […]

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Dignified Pride Is the Harmonious Complement of Humility

May 28, 2015

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira A manly figure, whose strength is replete with harmony and proportion and whose bodily vigor seems penetrated by and imbued with the strong and luminous presence of a great soul. His facial features are very defined and also well proportioned. Handsome? Without a doubt. But there is almost no time […]

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May 29 – Intimate friend of St. Athanasius

May 28, 2015

St. Maximinus Bishop of Trier, born at Silly near Poitiers, died there, 29 May, 352 or 12 Sept., 349. He was educated and ordained priest by St. Agritius, whom he succeeded as Bishop of Trier in 332 or 335. At that time Trier was the government seat of the Western Emperor and, by force of […]

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May 30 – Most Valiant King

May 28, 2015

Saint Ferdinand III of Castile King of Leon and Castile, member of the Third Order of St. Francis, born in 1198 near Salamanca; died at Seville, 30 May, 1252. He was the son of Alfonso IX, King of Leon, and of Berengeria, the daughter of Alfonso III, King of Castile, and sister of Blanche, the […]

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May 30 – When God chose sides in war between two Christian nations, He sent her to win it

May 28, 2015

St. Joan of Arc In French Jeanne d’Arc; by her contemporaries commonly known as la Pucelle (the Maid). Born at Domremy in Champagne, probably on 6 January, 1412; died at Rouen, 30 May, 1431. The village of Domremy lay upon the confines of territory which recognized the suzerainty of the Duke of Burgundy, but in […]

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May 31 – St. Camilla Battista da Varano

May 28, 2015

St. Baptista Varano (also spelled Varani). An ascetical writer, born at Camerino, in the March of Ancona, 9 Apr., 1458; died there, 31 May, 1527. Her father, Julius Caesar Varano or de Varanis, Duke of Camerino, belonged to an illustrious family; her mother, Joanna Malatesta, was a daughter of Sigismund, Prince of Rimini… Read more […]

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May 31 – St. Mechtildis of Edelstetten

May 28, 2015

St. Mechtildis was a Benedictine abbess and renowned miracle worker. Mechtildis was the daughter of Count Berthold of Andechs, whose wife, Sophie, founded a monastery on their estate at Diessen, Bavaria, and placed their daughter there at the age of five. In 1153, the Bishop of Augsburg placed… Read more here.

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June 1 – Kidnapped for Christ

May 28, 2015

Bl. John Story (Or Storey.) Martyr; born 1504; died at Tyburn, 1 June, 1571. He was educated at Oxford, and was president of Broadgates Hall, now Pembroke College, from 1537 to 1539. He entered Parliament as member for Hindon, Wilts, in 1547, and was imprisoned for opposing the Bill of Uniformity, 24 Jan.-2 March… Read […]

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June 1 – The Aristocrat Who Gave His Life for the Poor

May 28, 2015

Saint Hannibal Mary Di Francia (1851-1927)  (sometimes written as Annibale Maria Di Francia) Hannibal Mary Di Francia was born in Messina, Italy, on July 5, 1851. His father Francis was a knight, the Marquis of St. Catherine of Jonio, Papal Vice-Consul and Honorary Captain of the Navy. His mother, Anna Toscano, also belonged to an […]

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May 26 – He converted a young nobleman by showing him a vision of hell, and called the City of Rome his “Desert”

May 25, 2015

THE APOSTLE OF ROME St. Philip Romolo Neri Born at Florence, Italy, 22 July, 1515; died 27 May, 1595. Philip’s family originally came from Castelfranco but had lived for many generations in Florence, where not a few of its members had practised the learned professions, and therefore took rank with the Tuscan nobility. Among these […]

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May 26 – Saint Bruno of Würzburg

May 25, 2015

Saint Bruno of Würzburg (c. 1005 – 26 May 1045) Also known as Bruno of Carinthia, he was imperial chancellor of Italy from 1027 to 1034 for Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor, to whom he was related, and from 1034 until his death prince-bishop of Würzburg. Bruno was the son of Conrad I, Duke of […]

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May 27 – St. Augustine of Canterbury

May 25, 2015

St. Augustine of Canterbury First Archbishop of Canterbury, Apostle of the English; date of birth unknown; died 26 May, 604. Symbols: cope, pallium, and mitre as Bishop of Canterbury, and pastoral staff and gospels as missionary. Nothing is known of his youth except that he was probably a Roman of the better class, and that […]

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May 28 – Whether She Was Upstairs Or Downstairs, She Was Ever Steady

May 25, 2015

Blessed Margaret Pole Countess of Salisbury, martyr; born at Castle Farley, near Bath, 14 August, 1473; martyred at East Smithfield Green, 28 May, 1541. She was the daughter of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, and Isabel, elder daughter of the Earl of Warwick (the king-maker), and the sister of Edmund of Warwick who, under Henry […]

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May 28 – After Defeating the Saracens, He Joined the Benedictines

May 25, 2015

St. William of Gellone Born 755; died 28 May, c. 812; was the second count of Toulouse, having attained that dignity in 790. He is by some writers also given the title of Duke of Aquitaine. This saint is the hero of the ninth-century “Roman de Guillame au court nez”, but the story of his […]

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May 28 – St. Germain of Paris

May 25, 2015

St. Germain Bishop of Paris; born near Autun, Saône-et-Loire, c. 496; died at Paris, 28 May, 576. He studied at Avalon and also at Luzy under the guidance of his cousin Scapilion, a priest. At the age of thirty-four he was ordained by St. Agrippinus of Autun and became Abbot of Saint-Symphorien near that town. […]

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A Catholic’s Noble Revenge

May 21, 2015

A brave Hungarian Count, by name Péter Szapáry, was taken prisoner by the Turks, brought to the city of Ofen, and dragged before Hamsa-Bey. The cruel Turk rejoiced to see his dreaded enemy at length in his power; he loaded him with insult, condemned him to receive a hundred blows on the soles of his […]

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The Duke of Vendôme Turns Fifty

May 21, 2015

According to the Royal Forums: Prince Jean d’Orléans, the Duke of Vendome today celebrates his fiftieth birthday. He is the second son of Henri, Count of Paris, the Orléanist claimant to the defunct throne of France, and his first wife, Duchess Marie Thérèse of Württemberg. Jean…married Philomena de Tornos y Steinhart on May 2, 2009. […]

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4: The Law of Movement

May 21, 2015

The variety of movements that God has placed in the Universe is gradual and harmonic, as are the gradations of hierarchy. This harmony of movement is an element of perfection in Creation. Let’s reflect upon how life unfolds in a just man. The man is born, blossoms in adolescence with a movement rich in harmony, […]

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May 23 – Appointed bishop to replace a corrupt one, then imprisoned for defending the King’s legitimate wife

May 21, 2015

St. Ivo of Chartres (YVO, YVES). One of the most notable bishops of France at the time of the Investiture struggles and the most important canonist before Gratian in the Occident, born of a noble family about 1040; died in 1116. From the neighbourhood of Beauvais, his native country, he went for his studies first […]

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May 23 – St. John Baptist de Rossi

May 21, 2015

St. John Baptist de Rossi (De Rubeis). Born at Voltaggio in the Diocese of Genoa, 22 February, 1698; died at Rome, 23 May, 1764; feast on 23 May. His parents, Charles de Rossi and Frances Anfossi, were not rich in earthly goods, but had solid piety and the esteem of their fellow-citizens. Of their four […]

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May 23 – Chevalier of the Order of Leopold

May 21, 2015

Fr. Pierre-Jean De Smet Missionary among the North American Indians, born at Termonde (Dendermonde), Belgium, 30 Jan., 1801; died at St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., 23 May, 1873. He emigrated to the United States in 1821 through a desire for missionary labours, and entered the Jesuit novitiate at Whitemarsh, Maryland. In 1823, however, at the suggestion […]

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May 24 – Bl. Hermann Joseph

May 21, 2015

Bl. Hermann Joseph Premonstratensian monk and mystic; born at Cologne about 1150; died at Hoven, 7 April, 1241. According to the biography by Razo Bonvisinus, contemporary prior of Steinfeld (Acta SS., 7 April, I, 679), Hermann was the son of poor parents who had once been rich. At the age of seven he attended school […]

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May 24 – Our Lady Help of Christians, to commemorate the liberation of the Pope from prison

May 21, 2015

This commemoration was introduced in the liturgical calendar by decree of Pope Pius VII on September 16, 1815, in thanksgiving for his happy return to Rome after a long and painful captivity in Savona and France due to Napoleon’s tyrannical power… Read more here.

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May 24 – St. Vincent of Lérins

May 21, 2015

St. Vincent of Lérins Feast on 24 May, an ecclesiastical writer in Southern Gaul in the fifth century. His work is much better known than his life. Almost all our information concerning him is contained in Gennadius, “De viris illustribus” (lxiv). He entered the monastery of Lérins (today Isle St…. Read more here.

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May 25 – He Forced the Emperor To Wait Three Days in the Snow

May 21, 2015

Pope St. Gregory VII (HILDEBRAND). One of the greatest of the Roman pontiffs and one of the most remarkable men of all times; born between the years 1020 and 1025, at Soana, or Ravacum, in Tuscany; died 25 May, 1085, at Salerno. The early years of his life are involved in considerable obscurity. His name, […]

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May 25 – She withstood the devil

May 21, 2015

St. Mary Magdalen de’ Pazzi Carmelite Virgin, born 2 April, 1566; died 25 May, 1607. Of outward events there were very few in the saint’s life. She came of two noble families, her father being Camillo Geri de’ Pazzi and her mother a Buondelmonti. She was baptized, and named Caterina, in the great baptistery. Her […]

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