December 8 – The Immaculate Conception: The Celebration of Privilege

December 4, 2014

The new dogma deeply shocked the essentially egalitarian mentality of the French Revolution, which since 1789 had despotically held sway in the West. The Blessed Virgin Mary “in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the […]

Read the full article →

Prince Harry admits behavior not up to princely standards

December 1, 2014

In an interview with Man of the World magazine to be released Wednesday, Prince Harry admits his behavior in Las Vegas was not up to a prince’s standards: “It was probably a classic case of me being too much Army and not enough prince.”

Read the full article →

Royals visit Sir Nicholas Winton, who saved hundreds of children from the Nazis

December 1, 2014

According to BBC News: The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were given a tour of…Holyport College… During the visit, the royal couple met Sir Nicholas Winton, who lives near the school which has named its reception building after him. Sir Nicholas, dubbed the “British Schindler”, helped to save hundreds of children, mainly from Jewish […]

Read the full article →

American social mobility identical to medieval England

December 1, 2014

According to CBS13: A UC Davis economics professor…Gregory Clark is sharing his research as a hard truth… “America has no higher rate of social mobility than medieval England…” Clark crunched the numbers in the U.S. from the past 100 years. His data shows…that social mobility here is no different than in the rest of the […]

Read the full article →

Saying the truth to an immoral king, but with spirit

December 1, 2014

When passing through a town, Henry IV asked that they bring him the wittiest citizen, to entertain him during lunch. He was introduced to a M. Gaillard, who sat down at the table across from the king. The king immediately quipped: ― “What is the distance between gaillard (daring, entertaining, gallant) and paillard (libertine, dissolute)?” […]

Read the full article →

Grand Return Home

December 1, 2014

We have presented the specter of a great crisis that has as its immediate cause an impending economic crash that will trigger as its effect the breakdown of our national consensus and American way of life. Although this crisis will wreak great material havoc upon us, its greatest damage will be spiritual. While we have […]

Read the full article →

December 2 – Cause of Our Joy

December 1, 2014

Our Lady of Joy (aka Notre Dame de Liesse, or Causa Nostrae Laetitiae) In 1134 three Knights of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, prisoners of the Muslims in Egypt, miraculously found or received in their prison a statue of Our Lady, which they named Our Lady of Joy, or Notre Dame de Liesse. […]

Read the full article →

December 2 – St. Chromatius

December 1, 2014

St. Chromatius Bishop of Aquileia, died about 406-407. He was probably born at Aquileia, and in any case grew up there. He became a priest of that church and about 387 or 388, after the death of Valerianus, bishop of that important city. He was one of the most celebrated prelates of his time and […]

Read the full article →

December 3 – Apostle of the Indies

December 1, 2014

St. Francis Xavier Born in the Castle of Xavier near Sanguesa, in Navarre, 7 April, 1506; died on the Island of Sancian near the coast of China, 2 December, 1552. In 1525, having completed a preliminary course of studies in his own country, Francis Xavier went to Paris, where he entered the collège de Sainte-Barbe. […]

Read the full article →

December 4 – Saint Barbara

December 1, 2014

Saint Barbara Virgin and Martyr. There is no reference to St. Barbara contained in the authentic early historical authorities for Christian antiquity, neither does her name appear in the original recension of St. Jerome’s martyrology. Veneration of the saint was common, however, from the seventh century. At about this date there were in existence legendary […]

Read the full article →

December 4 – Saint Osmund, founder of the Cathedral system of Church governance

December 1, 2014

Saint Osmund Bishop of Salisbury, died 1099; his feast is kept on 4 December. Osmund held an exalted position in Normandy, his native land, and according to a late fifteenth-century document was the son of Henry, Count of Séez, and Isabella, daughter of Robert, Duke of Normandy, who was the father of William the Conqueror […]

Read the full article →

December 4 – From a Muslim court, he opposed the Christian Emperor…and won!

December 1, 2014

St. John Damascene Born at Damascus, about 676; died some time between 754 and 787. The only extant life of the saint is that by John, Patriarch of Jerusalem, which dates from the tenth century (P.G. XCIV, 429-90). This life is the single source from which have been drawn the materials of all his biographical […]

Read the full article →

The Tartars Besiege The Church Of Kiev

November 27, 2014

St. Hyacinth had just completed a magnificent church at Kiev, in Poland, which he dedicated to the Most Holy Mother of God. One day as he had just finished the celebration of Holy Mass, it was announced to him that the Tartars, the most implacable enemies of the Christian name, had reached the walls of […]

Read the full article →

The Approaching Storm

November 27, 2014

The storm approaches. Each of us has a job to do. On a personal level, we should look for ways to rid ourselves of frenetic intemperance and adopt more organic and temperate lifestyles as a means of preparing for the coming crisis. Yet more important is to go beyond our personal lives and consider the […]

Read the full article →

November 28 – December 27 – Siege of Jasna Góra

November 27, 2014

Lessons in Psychological Warfare from the Siege of Jasna Góra, November 28-December 27, 1655 This account of the siege of  Częstochowa is based on the Memoirs of the Siege of Czestochowa by Father Augustine Kordecki (Pamietnik oblezenia Częstochowy, edited and with a preface by Jan Tokarski, London, Veritas, 1956.) Written by Friar Kordecki in response […]

Read the full article →

November 28 – Count Louis de Baude Frontenac

November 27, 2014

Count Louis de Baude Frontenac A governor of New France, born at Paris, 1662; died at Quebec, 28 Nov., 1698. His father was captain of the royal castle of St-Germain-en-laye; his mother, née Phelypeaux, was the daughter of the king’s secretary of state; Louis XIII was his godfather. By his valour and skill he won […]

Read the full article →

November 29 – Grandson of the one who defeated Charles Martel in battle

November 27, 2014

St. Radbod, Bishop of Utrecht, Confessor This holy prelate was, by his father, of noble French extraction; and, by his mother, Radbod, the last king or prince of the Frisons was his great grandfather, whose name was given him by his mother. The first tincture of learning and piety he received under the tuition of […]

Read the full article →

November 29 – The coronation of St. Louis IX of France

November 27, 2014

Traditionally, new sacred music was composed for a coronation. The motet…which was sung for the anointing of Louis IX has come down to us. It was called Gaude, felix Francia…. The boy who was to be anointed and crowned was already on a platform built in front of the chancel, surrounded by the great lords […]

Read the full article →

December 1 – The Virgin Mary appears to General Gaston de Sonis after his army’s losses at Patay promising that France would survive

November 27, 2014

On the night of December 1 [1870], the Zouaves were ordered to advance to Patay [France], where Joan of Arc had won a renowned victory against the English. [General Louis-Gaston de] Sonis asked [Colonel Athanase de] Charette, who had no flag of his own, to lend him… Read more here.

Read the full article →

December 1 – Billionaire Saint

November 27, 2014

Saint Eligius (French: Eloi), Bishop of Noyon-Tournai, born at Chaptelat near Limoges, France, circa 590, of Roman parents, Eucherius and Terrigia; died at Noyon, December 1, 660. His father, recognizing unusual talent in his son, sent him to the noted goldsmith Abbo, master of the mint at Limoges. Later Eligius went to Neustria, where he […]

Read the full article →

December 1 – He Hid Priests in His Manorhouse

November 27, 2014

Blessed Richard Langley Layman and martyr, b. probably at Grimthorpe, Yorks, England, date unknown; d. at York, 1 Dec., 1586. From his father, Richard Langley, of Rathorpe Hall, Walton, he probably inherited Rathorpe, but for the greater part of his life continued to reside on his estate at Ousethorpe, in the East Riding. His mother […]

Read the full article →

Labour MP demands a wallflower king

November 24, 2014

According to The Guardian: Prince Charles’ intention to become an “activist” king could force the nation’s political class to rethink the role of the monarchy, MPs have been told. [Labour MP Roger] Godsiff told parliament on Thursday that “…parliaments…are going to have to decide what the role of the monarchy is in relation to the […]

Read the full article →

Brides-to-be sacrificed their gowns so the Princess bride could have a better one

November 24, 2014

According to Hello Magazine: Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary on Thursday …the pair have seen the country go through many changes in their 67 years of marriage. In 1947, rationing was still in place when Elizabeth and Philip’s nuptials took place two years after WWII had finished. Ahead […]

Read the full article →

No jeans, Royals remind US reporters

November 24, 2014

According to Politico: Buckingham Palace advises reporters covering the royals to adhere to a certain dress code, according to guidance posted on the palace website. “Journalists wishing to cover Royal engagements, whether in the United Kingdom or abroad, should comply with the dress code on formal occasions out of respect for the guests of The […]

Read the full article →

Louis XV risks his life for the morale of his troops

November 24, 2014

During the battle of Fontenoy, some officers urged Louis XV to leave the battlefield, thus avoiding unnecessary exposure of his royal person to the dangers. He turned down their advice concerned with the harmful effect his leaving would have on the morale of his troops. Right then, the Marshal de Saxe rode up and the […]

Read the full article →

An Appeal to Sacrifice

November 24, 2014

It is not enough to understand the crisis or even to engage in the debate. The future belongs to those who believe America is worth fighting for. Ours is an appeal to sacrifice. It is an appeal to leave behind the party of frenetic intemperance that captivates so many with games, gadgets, and amusements—modern bread […]

Read the full article →

Queen of Puddings Recipe

November 24, 2014

Just as an innocent child associates what is excellent and best with a fabulous queen, a princess, or a king, so also in daily life, we naturally associate superior and sublime things with the uplifting world of royalty and nobility. The “Queen of Puddings” is an example of this trait. It is commonly believed that […]

Read the full article →

November 25 – The day a 16 year old invalid and a handful of men defeated a huge professional army

November 24, 2014

The Battle of Montgisard was fought between the Ayyubids and the Kingdom of Jerusalem on November 25, 1177. The 16 year old King Baldwin IV, seriously afflicted by leprosy, led an out-numbered Christian force against the army of Saladin. The Islamic force was routed and their casualties were massive, only a fraction managed to flee […]

Read the full article →

November 25 – She Defied the Emperor

November 24, 2014

St. Catherine of Alexandria A virgin and martyr whose feast is celebrated in the Latin Church and in the various Oriental churches on 25 November, and who for almost six centuries was the object of a very popular devotion. Of noble birth and learned in the sciences, when only eighteen years old, Catherine presented herself […]

Read the full article →

November 25 & 26 – Blessed Hugh Taylor & Blessed Marmaduke Bowes

November 24, 2014

Blessed Hugh Taylor English martyr, born at Durham; hanged, drawn, and quartered at York, 25 (not 26) November, 1585. He arrived at Reims on 2 May, 1582, and having been ordained a priest was sent thence on the mission on 27 March, 1585. He was the first to suffer under the Statute 27 Eliz. c. […]

Read the full article →

November 26 – How a Catholic Queen gave Spain its Golden Age

November 24, 2014

Queen Isabella I (“The Catholic”) Queen of Castile; born in the town of Madrigal de las Altas Torres, 22 April, 1451; died a little before noon, 26 November, 1504, in the castle of La Mota, which still stands at Medina del Campo (Valladolid). She was the daughter of John II, King of Castile, by his […]

Read the full article →

November 27 – The king who made France “First-born daughter of the Church”

November 24, 2014

Clovis Son of Childeric, King of the Salic Franks; born in the year 466; died at Paris, 27 November, 511. He succeeded his father as the King of the Franks of Tournai in 481. His kingdom was probably one of the States that sprang from the division of Clodion’s monarchy like those of Cambrai, Tongres […]

Read the full article →

The Nobleman In The Tyrol

November 20, 2014

During the seventeenth century a nobleman was dying at Innsbruck, in the Tyrol. A great number of his friends and relations had assembled round his death-bed to wait for the end which they saw approaching. Whilst they were there, the physician gave him a very bitter medicine to drink, and, to encourage him to take […]

Read the full article →

Exploring Organic Alternatives

November 20, 2014

We have also outlined the positive principles of an organic order that lend themselves to personal applications. Our second task consists in evaluating the extent to which we might apply these principles to our personal lives. Organic remedies are accessible to all. Some of these involve very simple things that come naturally to man. We […]

Read the full article →

November 21 – Pope St. Gelasius I

November 20, 2014

Pope St. Gelasius I Died at Rome, 19 Nov., 496. Gelasius, as he himself states in his letter to the Emperor Anastasius (Ep. xii, n. 1), was Romanus natus. The assertion of the “Liber Pontificalis” that he was natione Afer is consequently taken by many to mean that he was of African origin, though Roman […]

Read the full article →

November 21 – St. Albert

November 20, 2014

St. Albert Cardinal, Bishop of Liège, died 1192 or 1193. He was a son of Godfrey III, Count of Louvain, and brother of Henry I, Duke of Lorraine and Brabant, and was chosen Bishop of Liège in 1191 by the suffrages of both people and chapter. The Emperor Henry VI violently intruded his own venal […]

Read the full article →

November 22 – The Eternal Glory of the Caecilia Family

November 20, 2014

St. Cecilia Virgin and martyr, patroness of church music, died at Rome. This saint, so often glorified in the fine arts and in poetry, is one of the most venerated martyrs of Christian antiquity. The oldest historical account of St. Cecilia is found in the “Martyrologium Hieronymianum”; from this it is evident that her feast […]

Read the full article →

November 23 – St. Trudo

November 20, 2014

St. Trudo (also called TRON, TROND, TRUDON, TRUTJEN, TRUYEN). Apostle of Hasbein in Brabant; died 698 (or perhaps 693). Feast 23 November. He was the son of Blessed Adela of the family of the dukes of Austrasia. Devoted from his earliest youth to the service of God, Trudo came to St. Remaclus, Bishop of Liège […]

Read the full article →

November 23 – Blessed Margaret of Savoy

November 20, 2014

Bl. Margaret of Savoy Marchioness of Montferrat, born at Pignerol in 1382; died at Alba, 23 November, 1464. She was the only daughter of Louis of Savoy, Prince of Achaia, and of Bonne, daughter of Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy, and was given in marriage in 1403 to Theodore, Marquis of Montferrat, a descendant of […]

Read the full article →

November 23 – Saint Ferdinand takes Seville

November 20, 2014

The Moors had no choice but to accept the iron will of that King Ferdinand, who, like a curse of Allah, crossed Andalusia exterminating Islam. The ambassadors returned with broader powers to act, and then Don Ferdinand received them. After they had been conducted to his tent, they found him waiting surrounded by his whole […]

Read the full article →

November 24 – Christ the King? Or Christ the President?

November 20, 2014

A heavenly King above all, but a King whose government is already exercised in this world. A King who by right possesses the supreme and full authority. The King makes laws, commands and judges. His sovereignty becomes effective when his subjects recognize his rights, and obey his laws. “Jesus Christ has rights over us all: […]

Read the full article →

November 24 – Saint Joseph Mary Pignatelli, S.J.

November 20, 2014

(also known as St. Giuseppe Maria Pignatelli) Born 27 December, 1737, in Saragossa, Spain; died 11 November, 1811. His family was of Neapolitan descent and noble lineage. After finishing his early studies in the Jesuit College of Saragossa, he entered the Society of Jesus (8 May, 1753) notwithstanding his family’s opposition. On concluding his ecclesiastical […]

Read the full article →

A French nobleman’s finesse at the English court

November 17, 2014

While exiled in England, the Duke of Grammont attended a lunch of Charles II. The protocol of the time demanded that the officers serve the king on their knees. The king noticed the duke’s surprise and commented: ― “This is a sign of respect that no other king receives.” Since, from time immemorial, French and […]

Read the full article →

Accepting Suffering

November 17, 2014

Here we find the secret of the “Way of the Cross” society. With similar rectitude, medieval man logically embraced his own suffering, paying special attention to the hardest part of his situation. This is frequently represented in medieval pictures and stained glass where each is engaged in his craft. All work diligently but without hurry, […]

Read the full article →

November 18 – He Started the Cluniac Reform

November 17, 2014

St. Odo of Cluny Odo was born in 879 in Maine,and was the son of a pious and surprisingly learned layman, Abbo. Though vowed by his father to St. Martin in babyhood, he was given a military training and became a page at the court of Duke William. But the exercises of war and hunting […]

Read the full article →

November 19 – St. Nerses I, Bishop of Armenia, Martyr

November 17, 2014

Nerses I Armenian patriarch, surnamed “the Great”. Died 373. Born of the royal stock, he spent his youth in Caesarea where he married Sanducht, a Mamikonian princess. After the death of his wife, he was appointed chamberlain to King Arshak of Armenia. A few years later, having entered the ecclesiastical state, he was elected catholicos, […]

Read the full article →

August 13 – The Pope Who Resigned

November 17, 2014

Pope St. Pontian Dates of birth and death unknown. The “Liber Pontificalis” (ed. Duchesne, I, 145) gives Rome as his native city and calls his father Calpurnius. With him begins the brief chronicle of the Roman bishops of the third century, of which the author of the Liberian Catalogue of the popes made use in […]

Read the full article →

November 19 – Teacher, Engineer, Army Officer, Prisoner of War, Royal Tutor, and Priest

November 17, 2014

St. Raphael Kalinowski, O.C.D. (1835-1907) [Also known as Father Raphael of St. Joseph, O.C.D] Father Raphael of Saint Joseph Kalinowski, was born at Vilna, 1st September 1835, and at baptism received the name Joseph. Under the teaching of his father Andrew, at the Institute for Nobles at Vilna, he progressed so well that he received […]

Read the full article →

November 20 – Queen Elizabeth II Wedding Anniversary

November 17, 2014

 

Read the full article →

November 20 – St. Edmund the Martyr

November 17, 2014

St. Edmund the Martyr King of East Anglia, born about 840; died at Hoxne, Suffolk, November 20, 870. The earliest and most reliable accounts represent St. Edmund as descended from the preceding kings of East Anglia, though, according to later legends, he was born at Nuremberg (Germany), son to an otherwise unknown King Alcmund of […]

Read the full article →

November 20 – St. Ambrose of Camaldoli

November 17, 2014

St. Ambrose of Camaldoli An Italian theologian and writer, born at Portico, near Florence, 16 September, 1386; died 21 October, 1439. His name was Ambrose Traversari. He entered the Order of the Camaldoli when fourteen and became its General in 1431. He was a great theologian and writer, and knew Greek as well as he […]

Read the full article →

November 20 – Another strong and mighty angel

November 17, 2014

St. Felix of Valois Born in 1127; died at Cerfroi, 4 November, 1212. He is commemorated 20 November. He was surnamed Valois because, according to some, he was a member of the royal branch of Valois in France, according to others, because he was a native of the province of Valois. At an early age […]

Read the full article →

King and Queen at memorial for victims of downed flight MH17

November 13, 2014

According to The Telegraph: “Flags flew at half mast across the Netherlands for an emotional ceremony to pay tribute to MH17 victims attended by the country’s Royal couple King Willem Alexander and Queen Maxima. “The shooting down of MH17, and the deaths of 193 Dutch people, was the country’s worst single loss of life since […]

Read the full article →

The Holy Priest Montegazon

November 13, 2014

During the terrible Revolution that undermined the kingdom of France at the end of last century, a certain holy priest, named Montegazon, was driven from his home by the insurgents, and compelled to flee from village to village. But, faithful to his mission as a priest wherever he went, he gave the consolations of religion […]

Read the full article →

Medieval Uprightness

November 13, 2014

To be like Our Lord Jesus Christ was the ideal that inspired the Middle Ages. Medieval man desired to be linked to Him in the most complete way possible; to lose himself in Him. These sentiments were not only loving movements of admiration and awe. Medieval man took them to their final consequences, reasoning that […]

Read the full article →

November 14 – St. Lawrence O’Toole

November 13, 2014

St. Lawrence O’Toole (Lorcan ua Tuathail; also spelled Laurence O’Toole) Confessor, born about 1128, in the present County Kildare; died 14 November, 1180, at Eu in Normandy; canonized in 1225 by Honorius III. His father was chief of Hy Murray, and his mother one of the Clan O’Byrne. At the age of ten he was […]

Read the full article →

November 14 – Saint Erconwald

November 13, 2014

Saint Erconwald St. Erkenwald instructing monks. A historiated initial from the Chertsey Breviary. Bishop of London, died. about 690. He belonged to the princely family of the East Anglian Offa, and devoted a considerable portion of his patrimony to founding two monasteries, one for monks at Chertsey, and the other for nuns at Barking in […]

Read the full article →

November 15 – Martyred for God (and Money…)

November 13, 2014

Bl. Richard Whiting Last Abbot of Glastonbury and martyr, parentage and date of birth unknown, executed 15 Nov., 1539; was probably educated in the claustral school at Glastonbury, whence he proceeded to Cambridge, graduating as M.A. in 1483 and D.D. in 1505. If, as is probable, he was already a monk when he went to […]

Read the full article →

November 15 – Universal Doctor

November 13, 2014

St. Albert the Great Known as Albert the Great; scientist, philosopher, and theologian, born c. 1206; died at Cologne, 15 November 1280. He is called “the Great”, and “Doctor Universalis” (Universal Doctor), in recognition of his extraordinary genius and extensive knowledge, for he was proficient in every branch of learning cultivated in his day, and […]

Read the full article →

November 15 – Profoundly impressed by the religious atmosphere of his home

November 13, 2014

St. Desiderius of Cahors Bishop, born at Obrege (perhaps Antobroges, name of a Gaulish tribe), on the frontier of the Provincia Narbonnensis, of a noble Frankish family from Aquitaine, which possessed large estates in the territory of Albi; died 15 Nov., 655—though Krusch has called this date in question. In his childhood Desiderius was profoundly… […]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →