Prince Charles describes Islamic State as “diabolic evil”

September 8, 2014

According to The Telegraph: The Prince of Wales has written… “Although words seem hopelessly inadequate at such an unimaginable time of suffering, I did just want to offer, through you, my special prayers and profound sympathy to all the members of the Caldean Catholic Church in Iraq. “It is my fervent hope and prayer that […]

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St. Pius X Refuses to Bless Austria’s Troops

September 8, 2014

As his troops mobilized and prepared to march against Serbia in 1914, starting the First World War, Franz Josef asked Saint Pius X to give the Apostolic Blessing to the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s soldiers. The holy Pontiff answered: — “I am the Pope of all Catholics and cannot bless some as they attack the others.” Vicente […]

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Spiritual Decoration vs. Materialist Decoration

September 8, 2014

Written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira In the first picture, 1,500 representatives of the United Nations meet in the Assembly Chamber of the Luxembourg Palace built between 1615 and 1620 for Maria de Medici under the direction of Solomon de Brosse. The ambience is admirably suited to an event of such magnitude. The very natural […]

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September 9 – Wife of a dissolute husband

September 8, 2014

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 […]

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September 9 – St. Omer

September 8, 2014

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, […]

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September 10 – Arrested while preaching

September 8, 2014

St. Edward Ambrose Barlow (Alias RADCLIFFE and BRERETON.) Priest and martyr, born at Barlow Hall, 1585; died 10 September, 1641. He was the fourth son of Sir Alexander Barlow, Knight of Barlow Hall, near Manchester, by Mary, daughter of Sir Uryan Brereton, Knight of Handforth Hall, Co. Chester, and was baptized at Didsbury Church 30 […]

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September 10 – They always carried a copy of his Bible in battle

September 8, 2014

St. Finnian of Moville Born about 495; died 589. Though not so celebrated as his namesake of Clonard, he was the founder of a famous school about the year 540. He studied under St. Colman of Dromore and St. Mochae of Noendrum (Mahee Island), and subsequently at Candida Casa (Whithern), whence he proceeded to Rome, […]

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

September 8, 2014

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 […]

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

September 8, 2014

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 […]

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September 11 – Burned slowly to death for Christ

September 8, 2014

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 […]

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The Great Siege of Malta, May 18–September 11, 1565, was won because of one man

September 8, 2014

On the morning of August 18th the excessively heavy bombardment of Senglea warned them that an attack was imminent. It was not slow to develop. The moment that the rumble of the guns died down, the Iayalars and Janissaries were seen streaming forward across the no-man’s-land to the south. The attack developed in the same […]

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Dutch King opens enthanol plant in Iowa

September 4, 2014

According to RoyalBlog.nl: The King will officially open the plant and receive a tour of the new facility [which] will process 770 tons of corn cobs, leaves, husk and some stalk daily to produce 20 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year, later ramping up to 25 million gallons per year. Plant personnel are currently […]

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Louis XV fends off flattery

September 4, 2014

While visiting the office of the Minister of War, Louis XV saw a pair of spectacles on the table. He picked them up and said: “Let me try them, to see how good they are.” He began to read a paper that had been left on the table with feigned neglect and immediately perceived that […]

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Refinement without Weakness, Strength without Brutality

September 4, 2014

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira   Public opinion in the Romantic era was attracted by refined, subtle and fragile souls. We would say exaggeratedly fragile, if fragility was not already in itself a defect and an exaggeration. In our days, when the struggle for survival of body and soul requires ceaseless effort, people’s admiration turns […]

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September 5 – Unashamed to beg alms even from his noble family

September 4, 2014

St. Laurence Justinian, Bishop and Confessor, First Patriarch of Venice Bishop and first Patriarch of Venice, born in 1381, and died 8 January, 1456. He was a descendant of the Giustiniani, a Venetian patrician family which numbered several saints among its members. Lawrence’s pious mother sowed the seeds of a devout religious life in the […]

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September 6 – Blessed Thomas Tsuji

September 4, 2014

Born to the Japanese nobility in Sonogi on the island of Kyushu about the year 1571. Educated by Jesuits at Arima, he joined the Society of Jesus in 1587. He traveled all over Japan and became known for his eloquent, persuasive preaching. After the publication of an edict banning Catholic priests, he followed eighty of […]

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September 7 – The Outrage of Anagni

September 4, 2014

It had been the practice to speak of the spiritual and temporal powers in terms of pope and emperor, and it was long before it was realized, at least on the papal side, that the civil power, defeated as emperor, had returned to the attack with more aggressive vigour as the Monarchy and the State. […]

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September 7: Richard the Lionheart defeats Saladin at Arsuf – Video

September 4, 2014

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September 7 – Grandson of Queen St. Clotilda

September 4, 2014

St. Cloud, Confessor A.D. 560. St. Cloud, called in Latin Chlodoardus, is the first and most illustrious saint among the princes of the royal family of the first race in France. He was son of Chlodomir, king of Orleans, the eldest son of St. Clotilda, and was born in 522. He was scarcely three years […]

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September 8 – The Davidic ancestry of Mary

September 4, 2014

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 […]

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September 8 – He added the Agnus Dei to the Mass

September 4, 2014

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 […]

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Blessed Marco d’Aviano – God’s Preacher During the 1683 Siege of Vienna

September 1, 2014

Father Marco d’Aviano, an Italian mission preacher calling to repentance did not stint his zeal at this gloomy moment. For some time previously his reputation had attracted attention north of the Alps. Charles of Lorraine’s court at Innsbruck wished to invite him, but Pope Innocent at first refused permission. Then the Wittelsbach court in Munich, […]

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The Deception of Utopias

September 1, 2014

Someone might object that such concepts do not correspond to reality. Men often seek false “utopias,” only to be disillusioned, a fact which gives foundation to the popular notion that all dreams are illusions or even dangerous fantasies. We would not dispute such claims. Like all things linked to man’s fallen nature and fertile imagination, […]

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September 2-3 – The September Martyrs of the French Revolution, Blessed John du Lau and Companions

September 1, 2014

Martyrs of September (Also known as: Martyrs of Paris or Martyrs of Carmes) In 1790, the revolutionary government of France enacted a law denying Papal authority over the Church in France. The French clergy were required to swear an oath to uphold this law and submit to the Republic. Many priests and religious took the […]

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September 3 – All the principles of Catholicism can be found in his life

September 1, 2014

Pope St. Gregory I (“the Great”) Doctor of the Church; born at Rome about 540; died 12 March 604. Pope Gregory is certainly one of the most notable figures in Ecclesiastical History. He has exercised in many respects a momentous influence on the doctrine, the organization, and the discipline of the Catholic Church. To him […]

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September 3 – St. Hereswitha

September 1, 2014

St. Hereswitha (HAERESVID, HERESWYDE). Daughter of Hereric and Beorhtswith and sister of St. Hilda of Whitby. She was the wife of Aethelhere, King of East Anglia, to whom she bore two sons, Aldwulf and Alfwold. By the “Liber Eliensis” she is stated to have been the wife of King Anna, the leder brother of King […]

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September 4 – She predicted the speedy death of the emperor

September 1, 2014

St. Rose of Viterbo (also Rosalia, and in Sicily affectionately nicknamed La Santuzza) Virgin, born at Viterbo, 1235; died 6 March, 1252. The chronology of her life must always remain uncertain, as the Acts of her canonization, the chief historical sources, record no dates. Those given above are accepted by the best authorities. Born of […]

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St. Bertha, Queen of Kent

September 1, 2014

St. Bertha, Queen of Kent Died circa 612. She was a Frankish princess, daughter of Charibert and the pious Ingoberga. In marrying the pagan King Ethelbert of Kent, she brought her chaplain Liudhard with her, and restored a Christian church in Canterbury, which dated form the Roman occupation, dedicating it to St. Martin. The present […]

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Charlemagne’s sword and seal

August 28, 2014

Charlemagne had his seal embossed in the pummel of his sword, and used it to seal his letters, which he would then hand over to a courier, saying, “These are my orders.” He would then show his sword, and add, “And here is what makes my enemies respect them.” Edmond Guérard, Dictionnaire encyclopédique d’anécdotes (Paris: […]

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King now more protected from military coups

August 28, 2014

According to the Middle East Monitor: A number of constitutional amendments passed by the Jordanian parliament recently are designed to make King Abdullah II immune from potential coups, analysts say. Welcomed by pro-monarchy MPs and opposed by Islamists, the amendments grant the king the power to appoint and dismiss senior army officers. Abdelhady Al-Magaly MP […]

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Unusual Royal Warrant Holders

August 28, 2014

According to the Londonist: Have you ever wondered who’s responsible for the Queen’s internet connection, or whom she might call if Buckingham Palace were suddenly overrun with rats? It’s a tough job, but somebody needs to make sure Her Majesty has 24/7 access to the internet. BT stepped up to the mark in 2007, and…is […]

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Practical Nature of These Dreams

August 28, 2014

If these terms sound too abstract and unattainable, historian Lewis Mumford clarifies the issue by emphasizing the extremely practical nature of our dreams and distinguishing them from idle fantasy. He defines a dream very simply as an ideal vision whereby a social unit conceives “a reconstituted environment which is better adapted to the nature and […]

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August 28 – Restless Heart

August 28, 2014

St. Augustine of Hippo The great St. Augustine’s life is unfolded to us in documents of unrivaled richness, and of no great character of ancient times have we information comparable to that contained in the “Confessions,” which relate the touching story of his soul, the “Retractations,” which give the history of his mind, and the […]

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August 29 – At the helm during the French Revolution

August 28, 2014

Pope Pius VI (GIOVANNI ANGELICO BRASCHI). Born at Cesena, 27 December, 1717; elected 15 February, 1775; died at Valence, France, 29 Aug., 1799. He was of a noble but impoverished family, and was educated at the Jesuit College of Cesena and studied law at Ferrara. After a diplomatic mission to Naples, he was appointed papal […]

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August 29 – Passion of St. John the Baptist

August 28, 2014

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

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August 29 – Converted by her slave

August 28, 2014

St. Sabina Widow of Valentinus and daughter of Herod Metallarius, suffered martyrdom about 126. According to the Acts of the martyrdom, which however have no historic value, she lived at Rome and was converted to Christianity by her female slave Serapia. Serapia was put to death for her faith and later, in the same year, […]

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August 29 – King and Confessor

August 28, 2014

St. Sebbi, or Sebba This prince was the son of Seward, and in the year 664, which was remarkable for a grievous pestilence, began to reign over the East Saxons, who inhabited the country which, now comprises Essex, Middlesex, and the greater part of Hertfordshire; he being the tenth king from Erkinwin, founder of that […]

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August 30 – Gallant Lady

August 28, 2014

St. Margaret Ward Martyr, born at Congleton, Cheshire; executed at Tyburn, London, 30 Aug., 1588. Nothing is known of her early life except that she was of good family and for a time dwelt in the house of a lady of distinction named Whitall then residing in London. Knowing that William Watson, the priest who […]

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August 30 – Saved by the cross

August 28, 2014

Blessed Bronislava (or Bronislawa) of Poland Born in 1230 to an important Polish family, her grandfather had founded the Premonstratensian monastery at Zwierzyniec near Cracow where Bronislava’s aunt Gertrude had entered, later becoming prioress at Imbramowice. Bronislava was also a cousin of the Dominican Saint Hyacinth and related to Saint Jacek and Blessed Czeslaw. Bronislava entered the convent at Zwierzyniec at the […]

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August 31 – Born of a dead mother

August 28, 2014

St. Raymond Nonnatus (Not-Born) (In Spanish SAN RAMON). Born 1200 or 1204 at Portello in the Diocese of Urgel in Catalonia; died at Cardona, 31 August, 1240. His feast is celebrated on 31 August. He is pictured in the habit of his order surrounded by ransomed slaves, with a padlock on his lips. He was […]

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September 1 – Gideon the Judge

August 28, 2014

Gideon or Gedeon (Hebrew “hewer”), also called JEROBAAL (Judges, vi, 32; vii, 1; etc.), and JERUBESHETH (II Kings, xi, 21, in the Hebrew text). Gideon was one of the Greater Judges of Israel. He belonged to the tribe of Manasses, and to the family of Abiezer (Judges, vi, 34). Gideon’s father was Joas, and lived […]

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September 1 – St. Giles

August 28, 2014

(Latin Ægidius.) An Abbot, said to have been born of illustrious Athenian parentage about the middle of the seventh century. Early in life he devoted himself exclusively to spiritual things, but, finding his noble birth and high repute for sanctity in his native land an obstacle to his perfection, he passed over to Gaul, where […]

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An infant King learns his manners

August 25, 2014

Upon being introduced to His Excellency, Most Rev. Henri Charles du Cambout de Coislin, bishop of Metz, Louis XV, a child at the time, exclaimed: “My, how ugly he is.” Upon leaving, the bishop said: “We have a very rude boy here.” Edmond Guérard, Dictionnaire encyclopédique d’anécdotes (Paris: Firmin Didot, 1872), Vol. 2, p. 42 […]

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Romanian presidential candidates unanimously pay tribute to King Mihai

August 25, 2014

According to Royalblog: The reason for the tribute is the 70th anniversary of the “coup” that King Mihai committed… The coup was daring because Romania could not expect the allies to come to its aid; and the USSR especially was not happy with the turnaround. Stalin wanted to control Romania and didn’t want it as […]

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Egalitarianism: The True Religious Battle of Our Days

August 25, 2014

For over five hundred years a terrible ideological battle has been waging throughout the world, especially the Christian West. It aims to create a culture and civilization that entirely subverts not only the order of God’s creation, but also the very idea of God Himself. According to the Marxist doctrine, this can only be accomplished […]

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August 25 – King, Crusader, Saint

August 25, 2014

Saint Louis IX King of France, son of Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile, born at Poissy, 25 April, 1215; died near Tunis, 25 August, 1270. He was eleven years of age when the death of Louis VIII made him king, and nineteen when he married Marguerite of Provence by whom he had eleven children. […]

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August 25 – How do you portray a saint?

August 25, 2014

August 25 is the feast of Saint Louis IX, king, confessor of the Faith, Crusader and model of a Catholic head of state. There are two different ways people picture Saint Louis IX. One is as he truly was, the other is a soft, effeminate distortion of his person. This dichotomy is similar to the […]

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August 26 – She survived the Terror and founded the Daughters of the Cross

August 25, 2014

Saint Elizabeth Bichier des Ages She was born of a rich, noble family on July 5, 1773, at the Château des Ages, France. Raised in a pious home, she developed at an early age a close relationship with God and a genuine love for the poor. She was twenty-five when she first met André Hubert […]

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August 27 – Never underestimate the prayers of a mother

August 25, 2014

St. Monica Widow; born of Christian parents at Tagaste, North Africa, in 333; died at Ostia, near Rome, in 387. We are told but little of her childhood. She was married early in life to Patritius who held an official position in Tagaste. He was a pagan, though like so many at that period, his […]

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August 27 – “Conform I would not, for it was against my conscience”

August 25, 2014

Saint David Lewis, alias Charles Baker (Recté, according to his own entry in the English College David Henry Lewis). An English Jesuit martyr, born in Monmouthshire in 1616; died at Usk, 27 August, 1679. His father, Morgan Lewis, was a lax Catholic, afterwards converted; his mother, Margaret Pritchard, was a very devout Catholic. David was […]

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August 24 – Saint Bartholomew’s Day: the real story

August 24, 2014

Saint Bartholomew’s Day This massacre of which Protestants were the victims occurred in Paris on 24 August, 1572 (the feast of St. Bartholomew), and in the provinces of France during the ensuing weeks, and it has been the subject of knotty historical disputes. The first point argued was whether or not the massacre had been […]

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St. Ferdinand is acclaimed King of Castile

August 21, 2014

The men with the most authority and wisdom in Valladolid then assembled to consider where the public proclamation the new King would take place. Not finding a place in town large enough, they decided to build a platform on the Mercado field, close to the walls of the city. It took only a few hours […]

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Forging a New Argument To Use in the Battle of Ideas Is Like Issuing a New Weapon to a Soldier

August 21, 2014

There is a famous moment in the life of St. Thomas Aquinas that illustrates well the importance of finding arguments. St. Thomas was having lunch with King St. Louis of France. During the conversation, forgetful of the fact that he was at the table of the king, St. Thomas began thinking about other matters. Suddenly […]

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August 21 – La Vallete

August 21, 2014

Jean Parisot de La Valette Forty-eighth Grand Master of the Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem; born in 1494; died in Malta, 21 Aug., 1568. He came from an old family of Southern France, several members of which had been capitouls (chief magistrates) in Toulouse. When still young he entered the Order […]

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August 21 – He was one of a network of aristocrat bishops

August 21, 2014

Saint Sidonius Apollinaris Gaius Sollius (Modestus) Apollinaris Sidonius or Saint Sidonius Apollinaris (November 5[1] of an unknown year, perhaps 430 – August, 489) was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Sidonius is “the single most important surviving author from fifth-century Gaul” according to Eric Goldberg.[2] He was one of four fifth-to sixth-century Gallo-Roman aristocrats whose letters […]

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August 21 – What Saint Pius X says about equality

August 21, 2014

In the motu proprio Fin dalla prima, of December 18, 1903, Saint Pius X summarizes the doctrine of Leo XIII on social inequalities: 1. Human society, as God established it, is composed of unequal elements, just as the members of the human body are unequal. To make them all equal would be impossible, and would […]

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August 22 – The Queenship of Mary

August 21, 2014

Pope Pius XII in the Papal Encyclical Ad Coeli Reginam proposed the traditional doctrine on the Queenship of Mary and established this feast for the Universal Church. Pope Pius IX said of Mary’s Queenship: “Turning her maternal Heart toward us and dealing with the affair of our salvation, she is concerned with the whole human […]

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August 22 – The pope who preached a Crusade against the German Emperor Frederick II

August 21, 2014

Pope Gregory IX (UGOLINO, Count of Segni). Born about 1145, at Anagni in the Campagna; died 22 August, 1241, at Rome. He received his education at the Universities of Paris and Bologna. After the accession of Innocent III to the papal throne, Ugolino, who was a nephew of Innocent III, was successively appointed papal chaplain, […]

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August 22 – Venerable John Wall

August 21, 2014

Blessed John Wall Martyr, born in Lancashire, 1620; suffered near Worcester, 22 August, 1679; known at Douay and Rome as John Marsh, and when on the Mission under the aliases of Francis Johnson, Webb, and Dormore. The son of wealthy and staunch Lancashire Catholics, he was sent when very young to Douai College. He entered […]

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August 23 – St. Rose of Lima

August 21, 2014

St. Rose of Lima Virgin, patroness of America, born at Lima, Peru 20 April, 1586; died there 30 August, 1617. Saint Rose was born Isabel Flores y de Oliva in the city of Lima, the Viceroyalty of Peru, then part of New Spain. She was one of the many children of Gaspar Flores, a harquebusier […]

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