Queen Elizabeth II now world’s oldest reigning monarch, soon to set other records

January 26, 2015

According to USA Today: The death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on Thursday, at age 90, leaves British Queen Elizabeth II as the oldest living reigning monarch in the world. The queen is 88, and will turn 89 on April 21, although her birthday is typically celebrated in June when the weather is better. […]

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Green Party wants to confiscate Royal assets, but not because of the assets…

January 26, 2015

According to The Mirror: The monarchy would be abolished and Queen Elizabeth II could be moved to a council house if the Green Party came to power, its leader Natalie Bennett said. Under a Green government, the Royal Family would be booted out of Buckingham Palace and forced to pay a ‘wealth tax’ slapped on […]

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Faith Of The Vendéan

January 26, 2015

A Vendéan, named Repoche, who during the French Revolution served in the royal army, having been taken prisoner by the revolutionary party, was conducted by them to a place where a cross had been erected, and there he was thus accosted: “You have been taken with arms in your hands, and so your life is […]

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The “Good-hearted’’ A Romantic Deformation of Charity

January 26, 2015

By Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira   Is it a sin to hate? Why or why not? A survey of Catholics on this question would draw curious answers revealing a terrible confusion of ideas and a fundamental lack of logic. The many people still intoxicated with remnants of romanticism inherited from the nineteenth century consider […]

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January 27 – Foundress of the Ursulines

January 26, 2015

St. Angela Merici Foundress of the Ursulines, born 21 March, 1474, at Desenzano, a small town on the southwestern shore of Lake Garda in Lombardy; died 27 January, 1540, at Brescia. She was left an orphan… Read more here.

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January 28 – Great in every sense

January 26, 2015

Charlemagne (French for Charles the Great, Carolus Magnus, or Carlus Magnus; German Karl der Grosse). The name given by later generations to Charles, King of the Franks, first sovereign of the Christian Empire of the West; born 2 April, 742; died at Aachen, 28 January, 814. At the time of Charles’ birth, his father, Pepin […]

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January 28 – Angelic Doctor, Italian Count

January 26, 2015

Landulph, his father, was Count of Aquino; Theodora, his mother, Countess of Teano. His family was related to the Emperors Henry VI and Frederick II, and to the Kings of Aragon, Castile, and France. Calo relates that a holy hermit foretold his career, saying to Theodora before his birth: “He will enter the Order of […]

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January 28 – St. Paulinus II, Patriarch of Aquileia

January 26, 2015

St. Paulinus II, Patriarch of Aquileia Born at Premariacco, near Cividale, Italy, about 730-40; died 802. Born probably of a Roman family during Longobardic rule in Italy, he was brought up in the patriarchal schools at Cividale. After ordination he became master of the school. He acquired a thorough Latin culture, pagan and Christian. He […]

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January 28 – Larochejacquelein killed by the very men whose lives he spared

January 26, 2015

While Turreau was thus devastating La Vendée, where were Larochejacquelein, Stofflet, and Charette? Had they forgotten their country and its cause—were they deaf to her cries of distress? Charette still fought in the depths of the Marais; Stofflet in the recesses of the Bocage… Read more here.

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January 29 – Noble enough to cover five contemporary kings with invective

January 26, 2015

St. Gildas Surnamed the Wise; born about 516; died at Houat, Brittany, 570. Sometimes he is called “Badonicus” because, as he tells us, his birth took place the year the Britons gained a famous victory over the Saxons at Mount Badon, near Bath, Somersetshire (493 or 516). The biographies of Gildas exist — one written […]

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Luther Thought He Was Divine!

January 22, 2015

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira I do not understand how men of the Church today, including some of the most cultured, learned, and illustrious, mythicize the figure of Luther, the heresiarch, in their zeal to favor an ecumenical rapprochement directly with Protestantism and indirectly with all the religions, schools of philosophy, and so forth. Do […]

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January 22 – Defended by a raven

January 22, 2015

St. Vincent of Saragossa Deacon of Saragossa, and martyr under Diocletian, 304; mentioned in the Roman Martyrology, 22 Jan., with St. Anastasius the Persian, honoured by the Greeks, 11 Nov. This most renowned martyr of Spain is represented in the dalmatic of a deacon, and has as emblems a cross, a raven, a grate, or […]

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January 24 – They called him “Ironmonger”

January 22, 2015

Blessed William Ireland (Alias Ironmonger.) Jesuit martyr, born in Lincolnshire, 1636; executed at Tyburn, 24 Jan. (not 3 Feb.), 1679; eldest son of William Ireland of Crofton Hall, Yorkshire, by Barbara, a daughter of Ralph Eure, of Washingborough, Lincolnshire (who is to be distinguished from the last Lord Eure) by his first wife. He was […]

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January 24 – Saintly and Aristocrat

January 22, 2015

St. Francis de Sales Bishop of Geneva, Doctor of the Universal Church; born at Thorens, in the Duchy of Savoy, 21 August, 1567; died at Lyons, 28 December, 1622. His father, François de Sales de Boisy, and his mother, Françoise de Sionnaz, belonged to old Savoyard aristocratic families. The future saint was the eldest of […]

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January 25 – St. Poppo

January 22, 2015

St. Poppo Abbot, born 977; died at Marchiennes, 25 January, 1048. He belonged to a noble family of Flanders; his parents were Tizekinus and Adalwif. About the year 1000 he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with two others of his countrymen. Soon after this he also went on a pilgrimage to Rome. He […]

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January 25 – Blessed Teresa Grillo Michel

January 22, 2015

BL. TERESA GRILLO MICHEL was born in Spinetta Marengo (Alessandria), Italy, on 25 September 1855. She was the fifth and last child of Giuseppe, the head physician at the Civil Hospital of Alessandria, and of Maria Antonietta Parvopassau, a descendent of an illustrious family of Alessandria. At Baptism she was given the name of Maddalena. […]

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January 25 – St. Ildephonsus

January 22, 2015

St. Ildephonsus Archbishop of Toledo; died 23 January, 667. He was born of a distinguished family and was a nephew of St. Eugenius, his predecessor in the See of Toledo. At an early age, despite the determined opposition of his father, he embraced the monastic life in the monastery of Agli, near Toledo. While he […]

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January 26 – She was from one of the first families of Rome

January 22, 2015

St. Paula Born in Rome, 347; died at Bethlehem, 404. She belonged to one of the first families of Rome. Left a widow in 379 at the age of 32 she became, through the influence of St. Marcella and her group, the model of Christian widows. In 382 took place her decisive meeting with St. […]

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Luxembourg Grand Ducal family will visit Auschwitz-Birkenau and Slonsk

January 19, 2015

According to the Luxemburger Wort: Luxembourg’s Grand Ducal couple, as well as Prince Guillaume and Princess Stéphanie, are set to travel to Poland later this month to mark the 70th anniversaries of the liberation of Auschwitz and a prison massacre in Slonsk. Guillaume and Stéphanie will attend a ceremony on January 27 to remember the […]

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French prince: “I am not Charlie”

January 19, 2015

According to Free Republic: Prince Charles-Philippe d’Orléans…is not a part of this vast movement “I’m Charlie” although obviously he condemns these acts that have so shaken France and worldwide. Here is his statement: “Charlie Hebdo is a vulgar paper, despising all opinions except its own, which, under the guise of freedom of expression, will allow […]

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A king shows repentance

January 19, 2015

In 1699, the famous sacred orator Father Jean Baptiste Massillon was made Court preacher at Versailles. After one of his sermons, Louis XIV thanked him saying: “Father, I have heard many preachers who leave me feeling happy with myself. But when I hear your sermons I always feel very dissatisfied.” Edmond Guérard, Dictionnaire encyclopédique d’anécdotes […]

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Pagan Manliness and False Christian Patience

January 19, 2015

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira If we compare the features of this third-century Roman, represented in a splendid sculpture from the Capitoline Palace, with those of the famous Apollo Belvedere, its irregularities become evident. In this sense, we could not exactly call this man handsome. Nonetheless, no one can deny that his countenance possesses a […]

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January 20 – A dove landed on his head, and you would not believe what happened next!

January 19, 2015

Pope St. Fabian (FABIANUS) Pope (236-250), the extraordinary circumstances of whose election is related by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl., VI, 29). After the death of Anterus he had come to Rome, with some others, from his farm and was in the city when the new election began. While the names of several illustrious and noble persons […]

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January 20 – St. Sebastian

January 19, 2015

A.D. 288. St. Sebastian was born at Narbonne, in Gaul, but his parents were of Milan, in Italy, and he was brought up in that city. He was a fervent servant of Christ, and though his natural inclinations gave him an aversion to a military life, yet, to be better able, without suspicion, to assist […]

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January 21 – None was held in such high honor

January 19, 2015

St. Agnes of Rome Of all the virgin martyrs of Rome none was held in such high honour by the primitive church, since the fourth century, as St. Agnes. St. Ambrose gives her age as twelve (De Virginibus, I, 2; P.L., XVI, 200-202: Haec duodecim annorum martyrium fecisse traditur), St. Augustine as thirteen (Agnes puella […]

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January 21 – He was put to death, just for being a king

January 19, 2015

His Last Will and Testament The last Will and Testament of Louis XVI, King of France and Navarre, given on Christmas day, 1792. In the name of the Very holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. To-day, the 25th day of December, 1792, I, Louis XVI King of France, being for more than four months […]

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January 22 – Patroness of abuse victims

January 19, 2015

Blessed Laura Vicuña Laura del Carmen Vicuña was born on April 5, 1891 in Santiago, Chile. She was the first daughter of the Vicuña Pino family. Her parents were José Domingo Vicuña, a soldier with aristocratic roots, and Mercedes Pino. Her father was in military service and her mother worked at home. At the very […]

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January 22 – The noble who often gave away even his shoes

January 19, 2015

St. Vincent Mary Pallotti The founder of the Pious Society of Missions, born at Rome, 21 April, 1798; died there, 22 Jan., 1850. He lies buried in the church of San Salvatore in Onda. He was descended from the noble families of the Pallotti of Norcia and the De Rossi of Rome. His early studies […]

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January 22 – Blessed Prince

January 19, 2015

Blessed Prince László Batthyány-Strattmann Ladislaus Batthyány-Strattmann (1870-1931), a layman, doctor and father of a family. He was born on 28 October 1870 in Dunakiliti, Hungary, into an ancient noble family. He was the sixth of 10 brothers. In 1876 the family moved to Austria. When Ladislaus was 12 years old his mother died. He was […]

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St. Elizabeth of Portugal

January 15, 2015

St. Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal, had nothing so much at heart as the promotion of those outward signs and ceremonies which are the ornaments of God’s worship. “To enable men to whom God has given a body as well as a soul to fix their minds on heavenly things,” she used to say,” it is […]

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Divorce and Romanticism

January 15, 2015

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Saint Angela Merici wisely observed, “disorder in the world is the result of disorder in the family.” Over the last generation, the disorder in American family life has grown exponentially. In 1940, there was one divorce for every six marriages; by 1975, the U.S. divorce rate had climbed to one […]

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January 16 – St. Euphrosyne

January 15, 2015

Saint Euphrosyne Died about 470. Her story belongs to that group of legends which relate how Christian virgins, in order the more successfully to lead the life of celibacy and asceticism to which they had dedicated themselves, put on male attire and passed for men. According to the narrative of her life in the “Vitae […]

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January 16 – When the Emporor insisted that the lapsed be readmitted to communion without penance, one man stood in his way. This is his story.

January 15, 2015

Pope St. Marcellus I His date of birth unknown; elected pope in May or June, 308; died in 309. For some time after the death of Marcellinus in 304 the Diocletian persecution continued with unabated severity. After the abdication of Diocletian in 305, and the accession in Rome of Maxentius to the throne of the […]

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January 16 – The true disciple of St. Francis who sent the Moorish king into a fit of rage

January 15, 2015

St. Berard of Carbio (Or BERALDUS). Friar Minor and martyr; d. 16 January, 1220. Of the noble family of Leopardi, and a native of Carbio in Umbria, Berard was received into the Franciscan Order by the Seraphic Patriarch himself, in 1213. He was well versed in Arabic, an eloquent preacher, and was chosen by St. […]

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January 16 – Irish Prince and Saint

January 15, 2015

St. Fursey An Abbot of Lagny, near Paris, died 16 Jan., about 650. He was the son of Fintan, son of Finloga, prince of South Muster, and Gelgesia, daughter of Aedhfinn, prince of Hy-Briuin in Connaught. He was born probably amongst the Hy-Bruin, and was baptized by St. Brendan the Traveller, his father’s uncle, who […]

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January 17 – Sister of the Grand Master of Malta

January 15, 2015

St. Roseline of Villeneuve (or Rossolina.) Having overcome her father’s opposition Roseline became a Carthusian nun at Bertaud in the Alps of Dauphiné. Her “consecration” took place in 1288, and about 1330 she succeeded her aunt, Blessed Jeanne or Diane de Villeneuve, as Prioress of Celle-Robaud in the Diocese of Fréjus near her home. In […]

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January 17 – Scanderbeg: the hero of Christendom

January 15, 2015

In a history, where so much is spoken of the regions, from whence the miraculous Image of Our Lady of Good Counsel came, it will be of great use to take a brief glance at the once entirely Catholic nation in which it so long remained, and at the great client of its Sanctuary in […]

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January 18 – St. Margaret of Hungary

January 15, 2015

St. Margaret of Hungary Daughter of King Bela I of Hungary and his wife Marie Laskaris, born 1242; died 18 Jan., 1271. According to a vow which her parents made when Hungary was liberated from the Tatars that their next child should be dedicated to religion, Margaret, in 1245 entered the Dominican Convent of Veszprem. […]

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January 19 – Archbishop Senator of the Spanish Kingdom

January 15, 2015

Blessed Marcelo Rafael José María de los Dolores Hilario Spinola y Maestre, Archbishop of Seville born: 14 January 1835. died 20 January 1906 Marcelo Spínola was born on the island of San Fernando, Cádiz Province. His parents were Juan Spínola y Osorno, Marquis of Spínola and Antonia Maestre y Osorno; they had eight children, of […]

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January 19 – Noble martyrs of Persia

January 15, 2015

Sts. Maris, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum All martyred at Rome in 270. Maris and his wife Martha, who belonged to the Persian nobility, came to Rome with their children in the reign of Emperor Claudius II. As zealous Christians, they sympathized with and succoured the persecuted faithful, and buried the bodies of the slain. This […]

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January 19 – Saintly King

January 15, 2015

St. Canute IV Elected king on the death of his brother Harold about 1080, he waged war on his barbarous enemies and brought Courland and Livonia to the faith. Having married Eltha, daughter of Robert, Count of Flanders, he had a son Charles, surnamed the good. He was a strong ruler, as is proved by […]

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Prince Harry signs book of condolence (Video)

January 12, 2015

According to The Royal Correspondent: On Friday, January 9, 2015, His Royal Highness Prince Harry of Wales arrived at the French Embassy in London to sign the book of condolence… Source.

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Queen Elizabeth II sends message to the people of France

January 12, 2015

According to the official website of the British monarchy: Prince Philip and I send our sincere condolences to the families of those who have been killed and to those who have been injured in the attack in Paris this morning. We send our thoughts and prayers to all those who have been affected, Elizabeth R. […]

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A Polish princess gives alms to the poor

January 12, 2015

While passing through Metz in 1725 on her way to become Queen of France, Maria Leszczynska received from the Jews of the city a rich gift of gold and silver vases. After admiring them for some moments, the Polish princess ordered them to be delivered to the city’s bishop, then sold, so that the proceeds […]

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If someone were to suffer a sudden disturbance of his eyes…

January 12, 2015

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira The famous painting by Velasquez, “The Little Girls”, is taken, and rightly so, as one of the great works of pictorial art. The childish and candid grace of “La Infanta”, the most dignified and respectful kindness of the young noble women who serve her, the proud and noble bearing of […]

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January 13 – The bold strategic vision of Cluny

January 12, 2015

Saint Berno of Cluny (c. 850 – 13 January 927) was first abbot of Cluny from its foundation in 910 until he resigned in 925. He was subject only to the pope and began the tradition of the Cluniac reforms which his successors brought to fruition across Europe. Berno was first a monk at St. […]

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January 13 – This Saint Opposed Bishop Lucifer

January 12, 2015

St. Hilary of Poitiers Bishop, born in that city at the beginning of the fourth century; died there 1 November, according to the most accredited opinion, or according to the Roman Breviary, on 13 January, 368. Belonging to a noble and very probably pagan family, he was instructed in all the branches of profane learning, […]

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January 13 – The Count Who Converted the King

January 12, 2015

St. Remigius of Rheims Apostle of the Franks, Archbishop of Rheims, b. at Cerny or Laon, 437; d. at Rheims, 13 January 533. His father was Emile, Count of Laon. He studied literature at Rheims and soon became so noted for learning and sanctity that he was elected Archbishop of Rheims in his twenty-second year. […]

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January 14 – Blessed Devasahayam Pillai

January 12, 2015

Blessed Devasahayam Pillai Devasahayam Pillai (named Neelakanda Pillai at birth) was born into an affluent Nair-caste family at Nattalam in the present-day Kanyakumari District, on 23 April 1712. Devasahayam’s family had much influence in the royal palace of Maharaja Marthanda Varma, king of Travancore, and Devasahayam went into the service of the royal palace as […]

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January 14 – Matriarch of Saints

January 12, 2015

St. Macrina the Elder Our knowledge of the life of the elder Macrina is derived mainly from the testimony of the great Cappadocian Fathers of the Church, her grandchildren: Basil (Ep. 204:7; 223:3), Gregory of Nyssa (“Vita Macrinae Junioris”), and the panegyric of St. Gregory of Nazianzus on St. Basil (Gregory Naz., Oratio 43). She […]

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January 15 – St. Maurus & St. Placidus

January 12, 2015

St. Maurus Deacon, son of Equitius, a nobleman of Rome, but claimed also by Fondi, Gallipoli, Lavello etc.; died 584. Feast, 15 Jan. He is represented as an abbot with crozier, or with book and censer, or holding the weights and measures of food and drink given him by his holy master. He is the […]

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January 14 – The Ten Year Old Saint and Some Of Her Miracles

January 12, 2015

Ven. Anne de Guigné When St. Thomas Aquinas’s sister asked him how to become a Saint, he told her to just “will it.” Venerable Anne de Guigné¹ was a child with an iron will and from the moment of her conversion, she willed only one thing…to be a Saint. “To become a Saint is to […]

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January 15 – Most Glorious King Ceolwulp

January 12, 2015

King Ceolwulf (also CEOLWULPH or CEOLULPH) Coelwulf, King of Northumbria and monk of Lindisfarne, date and place of birth not known; died at Lindisfarne, 764. His ancestry is thus given by the “Anglo-Saxon Chronicle”: “Ceolwulf was the son of Cutha, Cutha of Cuthwin, Cuthwin of Leoldwald, Leoldwald of Egwald, Egwald of Aldhelm, Aldhelm of Ocga, […]

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Charlemagne and charity

January 8, 2015

When Charlemagne was informed of the death of one of his bishops he asked: — “How much did he leave for the poor?” — “Two pounds of silver.” A young priest who was present interjected, saying: — “That’s a very small viaticum to take on such a long journey.” The Emperor was pleased with the […]

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On Overcoming Difficulties

January 8, 2015

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira  from the “Saint of Day,” November 14, 1987   To live well, we must choose in life a noble and beautiful difficulty to overcome. We must desire to overcome that difficulty and prepare ourselves to do so. There is no other way. With this, life has a purpose. Imagine a […]

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January 9 – Blessed Tommaso Reggio

January 8, 2015

Blessed Tommaso Reggio Bl. Tommaso Reggio was born in Genoa, Italy, on 9 January 1818 to the Marquis of Reggio and Angela Pareto. He had a comfortable upbringing which gave him a solid Christian and cultural background and assured him of a brilliant career. However, at the age of 20 he decided to become a […]

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January 9 – St. Adrian of Canterbury

January 8, 2015

St. Adrian of Canterbury An African by birth, died 710. He became Abbot of Nerida, a Benedictine monastery near Naples, when he was very young. Pope Vitalian intended to appoint him Archbishop of Canterbury to succeed St. Deusdedit, who had died in 664, but Adrian considered himself unworthy of so great a dignity, and begged […]

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January 9 – St. Peter of Sebaste

January 8, 2015

St. Peter of Sebaste Bishop, born about 340; died 391. He belonged to the richly blest family of Basil and Emmelia of Caesarea in Cappadocia, from which also sprang St. Macrina the Younger (q.v.) and the two great Cappadocian doctors, Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nyssa. He was the youngest of a large family, […]

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January 10 – Doge of Venice and Saint of Heaven

January 8, 2015

St. Peter Urseolus (Orseolo) Born at Rivo alto, Province of Udina, 928; at Cuxa, 10 January, 987 (997 is less probable). Sprung from the wealthy and noble Venetian family, the Orseoli, Peter led from his youth an earnest Christian life. In the service of the republic, he distinguished himself in naval battles against the pirates. […]

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January 10 – Patient to the Penitent, Inflexible to the Impenitent

January 8, 2015

St. William, Confessor, Archbishop of Bourges (c. 1155 – January 10, 1209) William Berruyer, of the illustrious family of the ancient counts of Nevers, was educated by Peter the hermit, archdeacon of Soissons, his uncle by the mother’s side. He learned from his infancy to despise the folly and emptiness of the riches and grandeur […]

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