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 […]

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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 […]

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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. […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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: […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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, […]

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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 […]

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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, […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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November 20 – Queen Elizabeth II Wedding Anniversary

November 17, 2014

 

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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… […]

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November 16 – St. Agnes of Assisi

November 13, 2014

St. Agnes of Assisi Younger sister of St. Clare and Abbess of the Poor Ladies, born at Assisi, 1197, or 1198; died 1253. She was the younger daughter of Count Favorino Scifi. Her saintly mother, Blessed Hortulana, belonged to the noble family of the Fiumi, and her cousin Rufino was one of the celebrated “Three […]

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November 16 – St. Margaret of Scotland: In the Middle Ages, the Marvelous Was Something Achievable

November 13, 2014

Saint Margaret of Scotland Commentaries made by Prof. Plinio Correa de Oliveira … Sovereign and patroness of Scotland, 11th century. Although it is a very good intention to comment on the life of St. Margaret, at times one does not have the slightest biographical data on a saint. For lack of a better biography, I […]

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November 16 – St. Mechtilde

November 13, 2014

St. Mechtilde (MATILDA VON HACKEBORN-WIPPRA). Benedictine; born in 1240 or 1241 at the ancestral castle of Helfta, near Eisleben, Saxony; died in the monastery of Helfta, 19 November, 1298. She belonged to one of the noblest and most powerful Thuringian families… Read more here.

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November 16 – St. Gertrude the Great

November 13, 2014

St. Gertrude the Great Saint, Benedictine and mystic writer; born in Germany, January 6, 1256; died at Helfta, near Eisleben, Saxony, November 17, 1301 or 1302. In compliance with a petition from the King of Spain she was declared Patroness of the West Indies; in Peru her feast is celebrated with great pomp, and in […]

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November 17 – St. Hugh of Lincoln

November 13, 2014

St. Hugh of Lincoln Born about the year 1135 at the castle of Avalon, near Pontcharra, in Burgundy; died at London, 16 Nov., 1200. His father, William, Lord of Avalon, was sprung from one of the noblest of Burgundian houses; of his mother, Anna, very little is known. After his wife’s death, William retired from […]

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November 17 – Saint Gregory of Tours

November 13, 2014

Saint Gregory of Tours Born in 538 or 539 at Arverni, the modern Clermont-Ferrand; died at Tours, 17 Nov., in 593 or 594. He was descended from a distinguished Gallo-Roman family, and was closely related to the most illustrious houses of Gaul. He was originally called Georgius Florentius, but in memory of his maternal great-grandfather, […]

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November 17 – The Queen Gave Good Example Caring for the Sick and Suffering

November 13, 2014

St. Elizabeth of Hungary Also called St. Elizabeth of Thuringia, born in Hungary, probably at Pressburg, 1207; died at Marburg, Hesse, 17 November (not 19 November), 1231. She was a daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary (1205-35) and his wife Gertrude, a member of the family of the Counts of Andechs-Meran; Elizabeth’s brother succeeded […]

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Queen braves the threat from Islamist terrorists

November 10, 2014

According to The Telegraph: As police continued to question four men arrested last week over fears of an Islamist plot to attack Remembrance Sunday commemorations, the Queen, politicians and thousands of veterans refused to be distracted from remembering their dead. After a shot from a 13-pounder First World War gun rang out across Horse Guards Parade […]

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Princess Anne at Arlington’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

November 10, 2014

According to The Washington Post: “On her first official visit to the U.S. since 1994, Princess Anne also attended a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.” To read the entire article in The Washington Post, please click here

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Marshal de Villars: Commanding at 81 years of age

November 10, 2014

In 1734, Louis XV declared war on the House of Austria and the Marshal de Villars was chosen to command the combined armies of France, Spain, and Sardinia that were fighting in Italy. In clashes before Pizzigitone, when an officer cautioned that he was exposing himself to many dangers, the Marshal replied: — “You would […]

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Expressions of Tenderness

November 10, 2014

The signs of this tender love could be seen everywhere as medieval man sought to express the infinite perfections of Christ through tangible symbols. Indeed, love seeks nothing except to give itself and to communicate the riches it enjoys. Thus, Taylor observes, “And the same need of grasping the infinite and universal through symbols was […]

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November 11 – Patron of Veterans and Soldiers

November 10, 2014

St. Martin of Tours Bishop; born at Sabaria (today Steinamanger in German, or Szombathely in Hungarian), Pannonia (Hungary), about 316; died at Candes, Touraine, most probably in 397. In his early years, when his father, a military tribune, was transferred to Pavia in Italy, Martin accompanied him thither, and when he reached adolescence was, in […]

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November 12 – Saint Cunibert

November 10, 2014

Saint Cunibert (also Cunipert, or Kunibert) (c. 600 – 12 November c. 663) was the ninth Bishop of Cologne from 627 to his death. Contemporary sources only mention him between 627 and 643. Cunibert (also spelled ‘Honoberht’) was born somewhere along the Moselle to a family of the local Ripuarian Frankish aristocracy. He entered the church […]

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November 12 – Four years in Stalin’s concentration camp

November 10, 2014

Blessed Hryhorij Lakota Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church auxiliary bishop who suffered religious persecution and was martyred by the Soviet Government. Hryhorij Lakota was born 31 January 1893 in Holodivka, Lviv Oblast… Read more here.

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November 12 – Fearless and Bold

November 10, 2014

St. Lebwin (LEBUINUS or LIAFWIN). Apostle of the Frisians and patron of Deventer, b. in England of Anglo-Saxon parents at an unknown date; d. at Deventer, Holland, about 770. Educated in a monastery and fired by the example of St. Boniface, St. Willibrord, and other great English missionaries, Lebwin resolved to dovote his life to […]

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November 12 – Kidnapped, sold as a slave, ransomed by a bishop, and confidante of the emperor

November 10, 2014

St. Nilus (Neilos) Nilus the elder, of Sinai (died circa 430), was one of the many disciples and fervent defenders of St. John Chrysostom. We know him first as a layman, married, with two sons. At this time he was an officer at the Court of Constantinople, and is said to have been one of […]

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November 12 – Noble Ruthenian Stock

November 10, 2014

St. Josaphat Kuncevyc Martyr, born in the little town of Volodymyr in Lithuania (Volyn) in 1580 or — according to some writers — 1584; died at Vitebsk, Russia, 12 November, 1623. The saint’s birth occurred in a gloomy period for the Ruthenian Church. Even as early as the beginning of the sixteenth century the Florentine […]

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November 12 – How a Constable of France dies in battle

November 10, 2014

Anne de Montmorency had proven many times before that his race does not degenerate and the brave blood of an illustrious line of ancestors flowed in his veins. Imperious, severe, of a stern mood, he had undeniable bravery and strict fidelity to his duty. Although success had not always been… Read more here.

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November 13 – Patroness of missionaries

November 10, 2014

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, M.S.C. Also called Mother Cabrini, she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, a religious institute which was a major support to the Italian immigrants to the United States. She was the first citizen of the United States to be canonized by the Catholic Church. She was born in Sant’Angelo […]

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November 13 – Grand Master of the Order of Christ

November 10, 2014

Prince Henry the Navigator Born 4 March, 1394; died 13 November, 1460; he was the fourth son of John I, King of Portugal, by Queen Philippa, a daughter of John of Gaunt. In 1415 he commanded the expedition which captured Ceuta, Portugal’s first oversea conquest, and there won his knightly spurs. Three years later he […]

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November 13 – Pure and noble, he received Holy Communion from the hands of angels

November 10, 2014

St. Stanislas Kostka Born at Rostkovo near Prasnysz, Poland, about 28 October, 1550; died at Rome during the night of 14-15 August, 1568. He entered the Society of Jesus at Rome, 28 October, 1567, and is said to have foretold his death a few days before it occurred. His father, John Kostka, was a senator […]

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November 13 – He calmed the fear of the end of the world

November 10, 2014

St. Abbon (or Abbo), born near Orléans c. 945; died at Fleury, 13 November, 1004, a monk of the Benedictine monastery of Fleury sur Loire (Fleuret), conspicuous both for learning and sanctity, and one of the great lights of the Church in the stormy times of Hugh Capet of France and of the three Ottos […]

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November 13 – One of the Great Popes of the Middle Ages

November 10, 2014

Pope St. Nicholas I Born at Rome, date unknown; died 13 November, 867; one of the great popes of the Middle Ages, who exerted decisive influence upon the historical development of the papacy and its position among the Christian nations of Western Europe. He was of a distinguished family, being the son of the Defensor […]

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Conclusion – King St. Ferdinand endures war from his father

November 6, 2014

[Earlier] One act of justice was left to administer, but this the King of Heaven assumed as His responsibility. The wicked Don Alvaro was sick in bed the night the truce was agreed upon. When he heard the news, he fell into despair and commanded his men to move him quickly to Toro. The rapid […]

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Prince Charles on the persecution of Christians in Syria

November 6, 2014

According to BBC News: Prince Charles has described threats to Christians in the Middle East as “an indescribable tragedy”. Prince Charles said events in Iraq and Syria, where civil war and Islamic State extremists have caused thousands to be displaced, were “heartbreaking”. …across the world, Christians remain the most persecuted religious minority… “It is an […]

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Our Lord as the Point of Reference

November 6, 2014

In fact, Our Lord was the point of reference for all things. “About the figure of the Divinity,” writes Johan Huizinga, “a majestic system of correlated figures crystallizes, which all have reference to Him, because all things derive their meaning from Him.”* It was not just an abstract figure of the Divinity that so attracted […]

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November 7 – He Went on Crusade to Atone for His Sins

November 6, 2014

Saint Engelbert of Cologne Archbishop of that city (1216-1225); born at Berg, about 1185; died near Schwelm, 7 November 1225. His father was Engelbert, Count of Berg, his mother, Margaret, daughter of the Count of Gelderland. He studied at the cathedral school of Cologne and while still a boy was, according to an abuse of […]

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