October 3 – Military turned monk

October 2, 2014

St. Gérard, Abbot of Brogne Born at Staves in the county of Namur, towards the end of the ninth century; died at Brogne or St-Gérard, 3 Oct. 959. The son of Stance, of the family of dukes of Lower Austrasia, and of Plectrude, sister of Stephen, Bishop of Liège, the young Gérard, like most men […]

Read the full article →

October 3 – Mother Théodore Guérin

October 2, 2014

Many of the early pioneers faced the hardships of this country where wars, famine and disease were the norm. Leaving everything behind, heroic souls came not only to save the souls of Indian nations, but also to minister to these frontier families. One such person was St. Mother Théodore Guérin, who became the eighth American Saint […]

Read the full article →

October 3 – Enemy of King St. Louis, but still his friend in Christ

October 2, 2014

St. Thomas of Hereford (THOMAS DE CANTELUPE). Born at Hambledon, Buckinghamshire, England, about 1218; died at Orvieto, Italy, 25 August, 1282. He was the son of William de Cantelupe and Millicent de Gournay, and thus a member of an illustrious and influential family. He was educated under the care of his uncle, Walter de Cantelupe, […]

Read the full article →

October 4 – He chose a greater chivalry

October 2, 2014

St. Francis of Assisi Founder of the Franciscan Order, born at Assisi in Umbria, in 1181 or 1182 — the exact year is uncertain; died there, 3 October, 1226. His father, Pietro Bernardone, was a wealthy Assisian cloth merchant. Of his mother, Pica, little is known, but she is said to have belonged to a […]

Read the full article →

October 5 – St. Galla

October 2, 2014

A Roman widow of the sixth century; feast, 5 October. According to St. Gregory the Great (Dial. IV, ch. xiii) she was the daughter of the younger Symmachus, a learned and virtuous patrician of Rome, whom Theodoric had unjustly condemned to death (525). Becoming a widow before the end of the first year of her […]

Read the full article →

October 6 – Princes and popes coveted the advice of this silent man

October 2, 2014

St. Bruno Confessor, ecclesiastical writer, and founder of the Carthusian Order. He was born at Cologne about the year 1030; died 6 October, 1101. He is usually represented with a death’s head in his hands, a book and a cross, or crowned with seven stars; or with a roll bearing the device O Bonitas. His […]

Read the full article →

Army straightens out Prince Harry

September 29, 2014

According to The Telegraph: Prince Harry’s biographer Penny Junor [said]: “It’s only been in the last four years that Harry’s found his path. The Army was the making of him. He tried to go to Iraq but couldn’t as the press outed him. That moment could have sent him off the rails, but didn’t. Instead, […]

Read the full article →

Dignity and courtesy in a military retreat

September 29, 2014

Count Jean de Gassion was wounded on the bridge of Cameretz while fighting next to the duke of Rohan. As he did not want to be separated from his commanding officer, the latter asked him: —    “But will you be able to accompany us?” —    “I don’t see what would prevent me. After all, your […]

Read the full article →

True Sanctity Lies in Strength of Soul and Not in Sentimental Softness

September 29, 2014

Written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira The Church teaches that true and complete sanctity is the heroism of virtue. The honor of the altars is not granted to weak, hypersensitive souls that flee from profound thoughts, from acute suffering, from the fight, in short, from the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Mindful of the […]

Read the full article →

The Crusading Bagel

September 29, 2014

Several nations claim the bagel as their own, but none of the accounts on the origins of this tasty roll are as epic as the Polish. The Poles tell us that the bagel was invented by a grateful Jewish baker in a rescued and half-destroyed Vienna. He wanted to honor King John Sobieski of Poland […]

Read the full article →

September 30 – The cantankerous noble who became a saint

September 29, 2014

St. Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church Born at Stridon, a town on the confines of Dalmatia and Pannonia, about the year 340-2; died at Bethlehem, 30 September, 420. He had a brother much younger than himself, whose name was Paulinian. His father, called Eusebius, was descended from a good family, and had a […]

Read the full article →

October 1 – How the “man sent by God” spent his last moments

September 29, 2014

Alarm was ended on the fourth day, seeing that the fever and other ills left D. John. But the next day, which was a Saturday, he suddenly grew worse, and while the other invalids went on getting better and became convalescent, he showed other symptoms of a strange illness, palpitations which made him get up […]

Read the full article →

October 1 – St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Chapter II: A Catholic Household & Chapter III: Pauline Enters the Carmel

September 29, 2014

ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX Excerpts from THE STORY OF A SOUL: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX SOEUR THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX, THE LITTLE FLOWER OF JESUS ______________________________ PROLOGUE: THE PARENTAGE & BIRTH OF MARIE FRANÇOISE THÉRÈSE MARTIN and CHAPTER ONE – EARLIEST MEMORIES ______________________________ CHAPTER II A CATHOLIC HOUSEHOLD My dear Mother died on August […]

Read the full article →

October 2 – Falsely charged, mutilated and martyred

September 29, 2014

St. Leodegar (also Leger or Leodegarius) Bishop of Autun, born about 615; died a martyr in 678, at Sarcing, Somme. His mother was called Sigrada, and his father Bobilo. His parents being of high rank, his early childhood was passed at the court of Clotaire II. He went later to Poitiers, to study under the […]

Read the full article →

Queen’s statement after Scotland’s historic independence vote

September 25, 2014

On Friday, September 19, Queen Elizabeth II released a statement on Scotland’s historical referendum to remain in the United Kingdom. In a vote that is reported to have seen the largest turnout in 64 years, 55% of the voters voted NO for independence. The reverberations were felt worldwide. Here is the Queen’s statement: After many months of discussion, debate, and careful […]

Read the full article →

The Dauphin Kneels for the Blessed Sacrament

September 25, 2014

Louis, son of Louis XV and Dauphin of France, was riding in a carriage with his sisters and wife on one of Paris’s boulevards, when he came across a small procession that was bringing the Blessed Sacrament to the house of a sick person. The prince ordered his carriage to stop, and joined by the […]

Read the full article →

Can Only Sacred Art Be Christian?

September 25, 2014

Written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Through tall stained glass windows comes abundant but soft streams of light. This light is reflected everywhere: on the floor, the polished metal of the weapons and suits of armor, and the bronze and crystal of the immense candelabras. It even seems to touch with difficulty the ceiling ribbing […]

Read the full article →

September 26 – Fr. Frederick William Faber

September 25, 2014

Fr. Frederick William Faber Oratorian and devotional writer, b. 28 June, 1814, at Calverley, Yorkshire, England; d. in London, 26 Sept., 1863. After five years at Harrow School he matriculated at Balliol in 1832, became a scholar at University College in 1834, and a fellow of that College in 1837. Of Huguenot descent Faber was […]

Read the full article →

September 27 – Fr. Peter Skarga: Court Preacher

September 25, 2014

Fr. Peter Skarga Theologian and missionary, born at Grojec, 1536; died at Cracow, 27 Sept., 1612. He began his education in his native town in 1552; he went to study in Cracow and afterwards in Warsaw. In 1557 he was in Vienna as tutor to the young Castellan, Teczynski; returning thence in 1564, he received […]

Read the full article →

September 27 – St. Vincent de Paul had special charity to the impoverished nobility

September 25, 2014

St. Vincent de Paul founded a special organization for the relief of the nobility of Lorraine who had sought refuge in Paris during the Thirty Years War. In that period of the war known as the French period Lorraine, Trois-Evechés, Franche-Comté, and Champagne underwent for nearly a quarter of a century all the horrors and […]

Read the full article →

September 27 – These exemplary nobles personified virtue

September 25, 2014

Saint Elzéar of Sabran, Count of Arian, and Saint Delphina of Glandenes St. Elzear (also spelled Eleazarus) was descended of the ancient and illustrious family of Sabran, in Provence; his father, Hermengaud of Sabran, was created count of Arian (Ariano), in the kingdom of Naples; his mother was Lauduna of Albes, a family no less […]

Read the full article →

September 28 – Franciscan money lender

September 25, 2014

Bl. Bernardine of Feltre Friar Minor and missionary, born at Feltre, Italy, in 1439 and died at Pavia, 28 September, 1494. He belonged to the noble family of Tomitano and was the eldest of nine children. In 1456 St. James of the Marches preached the Lenten course at Padua, and inspired to enter the Franciscan […]

Read the full article →

September 28 – Good King Wenceslaus

September 25, 2014

(Also Vaclav, Vaceslav.) Duke, martyr, and patron of Bohemia, born probably 903; died at Alt-Bunzlau, 28 September, 935. His parents were Duke Wratislaw, a Christian, and Dragomir, a heathen. He received a good Christian education from his grandmother (St. Ludmilla) and at Budweis. After the death of Wratislaw, Dragomir, acting as regent, opposed Christianity, and […]

Read the full article →

September 29 – In battle or in prison, he never missed Mass

September 25, 2014

Blessed Charles of Blois (1320- September 29, 1364) Charles is the son of Guy I of Blois-Châtillon, count of Blois, by Margaret of Valois, a sister of king Philip VI of France. Early in life, he felt a call to be a Franciscan friar, but political duty kept him in secular life. Following his marriage […]

Read the full article →

September 29 – Military Orders of St. Michael

September 25, 2014

Military Orders of St. Michael (1) A Bavarian Order, founded in 1721 by Elector Joseph Clemens of Cologne, Duke of Bavaria, and confirmed by Maximilian Joseph, King of Bavaria, 11 September 1808. Pius VII, 5 Feb. 1802 granted to priests decorated with this order all the privileges of domestic prelates. Under Louis I it was […]

Read the full article →

September 29 – The Angelic Inspiration of Chivalry

September 25, 2014

Saint Michael the Archangel: “Who is like God?” In Hebraic, mîkâ’êl, means “Who is like God?” The Scriptures refer to the Archangel Saint Michael in four different passages: two of them, in Daniel’s prophesy (chap. 10, 13 and 21; and chap. 12, 1); one in Saint Jude Thaddeus (single chapter, vers. 9) and, finally, in […]

Read the full article →

Monarchy referendum crushed

September 22, 2014

According to RIA Novosti: Spain’s lower house of parliament has decided against a referendum on the future of the monarchy, local news agency EFE reported. The initiative of the United Left (Izquierda Unida, IU) received support of only 26 parliamentarians, while 274 others voted against it and 15 abstained from the vote. The idea of […]

Read the full article →

Godfrey of Bouillon refuses the crown of Jerusalem

September 22, 2014

In 1099, after the conquest of Jerusalem during the First Crusade, the leaders of the Catholic Army decided to keep Godfrey of Bouillon in overall command and offered to make him king of Jerusalem. He refused, saying: — “I will never wear a gold crown where the Redeemer was crowned with thorns.” Vicente Vega, Diccionario […]

Read the full article →

Two Paintings, Two Mentalities, Two Doctrines

September 22, 2014

Written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Indulge in an exercise of fantasy, and suppose that by rewinding the thread of bygone centuries it has become possible for you to return to the time of Christ and walk into a room of the Holy Family’s humble dwelling in Nazereth. Imagine that you find the Virgin playing […]

Read the full article →

September 23 – He ensured the immunity of non-combatants in warfare

September 22, 2014

St. Adamnan of Ireland, Abbot He was the eighth in descent from the great Nial, king of Ireland, and from Conal the Great, ancestor of St. Columbkille. His parents were eminent for their rank and virtue. He was born in the year 626, at Rathboth, (1) now called Raphoe, in the county of Donegal, and […]

Read the full article →

September 24 is the feast of Our Lady of Mercy

September 22, 2014

Feast of Our Lady of Ransom (also Our Lady of Mercy) 24 September commemorates the foundation of the Mercedarians. Read more.  

Read the full article →

September 24 – “There is nothing so sublime as the papacy nor so exalted as the imperial throne”

September 22, 2014

Pope Innocent II (Gregorio Papereschi) Elected 14 Feb., 1130; died 24 Sept., 1143. He was a native of Rome and belonged to the ancient family of the Guidoni. His father’s name is given as John. The youthful Gregory became canon of the Lateran and later Abbot of Sts. Nicholas and Primitivus. He was made Cardinal-Deacon […]

Read the full article →

September 24 – Founding Father

September 22, 2014

Fr. François Vaillant de Gueslis Jesuit missionary, born at Orleans, 20 July, 1646; died at Moulins, 24 Sept., 1718. He entered the Society of Jesus, 10 Nov., 1665; came to Canada in 1670; and was ordained priest at Quebec, 1 Dec., 1675. He first evangelized the Mohawks (1679-84). In the beginning of 1688 he was […]

Read the full article →

September 25 – St. Aunarius

September 22, 2014

St. Aunarius (Or Aunacharius). Bishop of Auxerre in France, born 573, died 603. Being of noble birth, he was brought up in the royal court, but evinced a desire to enter the clerical state, was ordained priest by St. Syagrius of Autum, and eventually was made Bishop of Auxerre. His administration is noted for certain […]

Read the full article →

September 25 – Princely Umpire in a deadly sport

September 22, 2014

St. Albert of Jerusalem Patriarch of Jerusalem, one of the conspicuous ecclesiastics in the troubles between the Holy See and Federick Barbarossa; date of birth uncertain; died 14 September, 1215. He was in fact asked by both Pope and Emperor to act as umpire in their dispute and, as a reward, was made Prince of […]

Read the full article →

The Catholic Duke and the Heretical Assassin

September 18, 2014

Prior to his assassination by a Protestant fanatic in 1563, the duke of Guise was the target of a previous attempt to kill him. Upon being interrogated, the criminal stated that religious sentiment was his sole motive in trying to kill the duke. The leader of the Catholic League set him free, but warned him: […]

Read the full article →

Painting the Human Soul

September 18, 2014

Written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira One of the most frequent tendencies in the artists whose work might be considered typical of the twentieth century is the deformation of man. Fleeing from copying reality with the form habitually seen by the human eye, they represent it with alterations aimed at manifesting its deeper aspect. Theoretically […]

Read the full article →

September 19 – She begged donations to ransom Christian captives

September 18, 2014

Blessed Mary de Cervellione (or De Cervello) Popularly styled “de Socos” (of Help) Saint, born about 1230 at Barcelona; died there 19 September, 1290. She was a daughter of a Spanish nobleman named William de Cervellon. One day she heard a sermon preached by Blessed Bernard de Corbarie, the superior of the Brotherhood of Our […]

Read the full article →

September 19 – Pope to Princess: please marry so as to help the Church

September 18, 2014

Another voice, the most august of all, was now to break silence. The arguments of Kings, Cardinals, Ambassadors, and of her own family had failed to shake the purpose or convince the mind of the young Princess. Moved by a desire to benefit the Catholics of England, and as much perhaps by the solicitations of […]

Read the full article →

September 20 – Court preacher to the Emperor

September 18, 2014

Saint Alonso de Orozco Mena Alphonsus de Orozco was born in Oropesa, Province of Toledo, Spain, on the 17th of October 1500, where his father was governor of the local castle. He began his studies in the nearby Talavera de la Reina and for three years he was a choir boy in the Cathedral of […]

Read the full article →

September 20 – Starved to death for the faith

September 18, 2014

Bl. Thomas Johnson Carthusian martyr, died in Newgate gaol, London, 20 September, 1537. On 18 May, 1537, the twenty choir monks and eighteen brothers remaining in the London Charterhouse were required to take the Oath of Supremacy. Of these choir monks Thomas Johnson, Richard Bere, Thomas Green (priests), and John Davy (deacon) refused; and of […]

Read the full article →

September 20 – “Threats do not terrify me”

September 18, 2014

Pope St. Agapetus I (Also AGAPITUS.) Reigned 535-536. Date of birth uncertain; died 22 April, 536. He was the son of Gordianus, a Roman priest who had been slain during the riots in the days of Pope Symmachus. His first official act was to burn in the presence of the assembled clergy the anathema which […]

Read the full article →

September 22 – Saint Emmeram

September 18, 2014

Saint Emmeram Bishop of Poitiers and missionary to Bavaria, born at Poitiers in the first half of the seventh century; martyred at Ascheim (Bavaria) towards the end of the same century. Of a noble family of Aquitaine, he received a good education and was ordained priest. According to some authors Emmeram occupied the See of […]

Read the full article →

Queen Warns About Independence Vote

September 15, 2014

According to The Telegraph: The Queen has made a dramatic and highly unusual intervention in the referendum debate to urge voters to think “very carefully” before they vote on Thursday. The comment, to members of the public waiting outside Crathie Church, appeared to be a deliberate move on her part. She is understood to have […]

Read the full article →

Scottish Nobility Fearful of Independence

September 15, 2014

According to the Tatler: The Scottish aristocracy is nervous. …you’d be hard pushed to find a single Scottish grandee who favours the split. Those who are most fearful of the impending referendum are the nobility. Given the fairly feudal distribution of land in Scotland, you can perhaps see why the big landowners are nervous. …Old […]

Read the full article →

Isabella, the Catholic Queen, comforts her ladies

September 15, 2014

Stretched out on her deathbed, Isabella the Catholic comforted her ladies and retainers who were weeping over her approaching death, saying:   — “Do not weep for me nor waste any time on useless prayers for my recovery. Pray rather for the salvation of my soul.” Vicente Vega, Diccionario ilustrado de frases célebres y citas […]

Read the full article →

Dignity

September 15, 2014

Written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira A magistrate has a dignity that is proper to him that a servant does not have. Dignity and mutual respect in dealing with men make social life bearable and even agreeable. Because of the sad consequences of Original Sin coupled the vulgarity of our times, human convivium becomes impossible […]

Read the full article →

September 16 – St. Cyprian of Carthage

September 15, 2014

St. Cyprian of Carthage (Thaschus Cæcilius Cyprianus). Bishop and martyr. Of the date of the saint’s birth and of his early life nothing is known. At the time of his conversion to Christianity he had, perhaps, passed middle life. He was famous as an orator and pleader, had considerable wealth, and held, no doubt, a […]

Read the full article →

September 16 – The pope who exacted tribute from the Mohammedan ruler of Tunis

September 15, 2014

Pope Blessed Victor III Born in 1026 or 1027 of a non-regnant branch of the Lombard dukes of Benevento; died in Rome, 16 Sept., 1087. Being an only son his desire to embrace the monastic state was strenuously opposed by both his parents. After his father’s death in battle with the Normans, 1047, he fled […]

Read the full article →

September 17 – Noble calm in all controversy, even when correcting the pope

September 15, 2014

St. Robert Francis Romulus Bellarmine (Also, “Bellarmino”). A distinguished Jesuit theologian, writer, and cardinal, born at Montepulciano, 4 October, 1542; died 17 September, 1621. His father was Vincenzo Bellarmino, his mother Cinthia Cervini, sister of Cardinal Marcello Cervini, afterwards Pope Marcellus II. He was brought up at the newly founded Jesuit college in his native […]

Read the full article →

September 17 – Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi

September 15, 2014

Early in August, 1224, Francis retired with three companions to “that rugged rock ‘twixt Tiber and Arno”, as Dante called La Verna, there to keep a forty days fast in preparation for Michaelmas. During this retreat the sufferings of Christ became more than ever the burden of his meditations; into few souls, perhaps, had the […]

Read the full article →

September 17 – Greatly venerated even during her life

September 15, 2014

St. Hildegard Born at Böckelheim on the Nahe, 1098; died on the Rupertsberg near Bingen, 1179; feast 17 September. The family name is unknown of this great seeress and prophetess, called the Sibyl of the Rhine. The early biographers give the first names of her parents as Hildebert and Mechtildis (or Mathilda), speak of their […]

Read the full article →

A Countess Who Desired the Election of Pope St. Pius X

September 11, 2014

Before traveling to Rome for the conclave that would elect him Pope, St. Pius X received a visit from the Countess of Capegna who expressed her desire that he be the chosen one: —    “Your Eminence, I pray that the Holy Ghost will deign to land upon you.” —    “Countess,” replied the saint, “your opinion […]

Read the full article →

Catholic Universality and Pagan Internationalism

September 11, 2014

Written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira   Our article deals with two Japanese works of modern art. In the first picture, Japanese painter Nobuya Abe (1913-1971) presents the suffering of a contemporary oriental man imploring the aid of humanity. It is a scene of diabolical ugliness, absolute despair and a total absence of any thought […]

Read the full article →

September 12 – The Holy Name of the Virgin Mary; in thanksgiving for the victory over the Turks at Vienna

September 11, 2014

The Festival of the Holy Name of the Virgin Mary Pope Innocent XI extended this feast to the universal Church as a solemn thanksgiving for the relief of Vienna, when it was besieged by the Turks in 1683. The Turks had formerly laid siege to Vienna, under Solyman the Magnificent, in 1529, in the reign […]

Read the full article →

Video – How Sobieski Redefeated the Turks at the Battle of Vienna, September 12, 1683

September 11, 2014

Before he set out, Sobieski had sent a letter to Innocent XI, in which he wrote: “When the good of the Church and Christianity is concerned I shed my blood to the last drop, together with the whole kingdom. Since my kingdom and I are two bulwarks of Christianity”. To commemorate Sobieski’s victory Pope Innocent […]

Read the full article →

Simon de Montfort Crushes the Albigensians at Muret

September 11, 2014

At the Battle of Muret on 12 September 1213 the Crusading army of Simon IV de Montfort defeated the Catharist, Aragonese and Catalan forces of Peter II of Aragon, at Muret near Toulouse. Simon IV de Montfort was the leader of the Albigensian Crusade to destroy the Cathar heresy and incidentally to join the Languedoc […]

Read the full article →

September 13 – He had a mouth of gold

September 11, 2014

St. John Chrysostom (Chrysostomos, “golden-mouthed” so called on account of his eloquence). Doctor of the Church, born at Antioch, c. 347; died at Commana in Pontus, 14 September, 407. John — whose surname “Chrysostom” occurs for the first time in the “Constitution” of Pope Vigilius (cf. P.L., LX, 217) in the year 553 — is […]

Read the full article →

September 14 – His gallant defeat spared Canada from the French Revolution

September 11, 2014

Marquis de Louis-Joseph Montcalm-Gozon A French general, born 28 Feb., 1712, at Candiac, of Louis-Daniel and Marie-Thérèse de Lauris; died at Quebec 14 Sept., 1759. He was descended from Gozon, Grand Master of Rhodes of legendary fame, The warlike spirit of his ancestors had given rise to the saying: “War is the tomb of the […]

Read the full article →

September 14 – Formerly a sign of abject disgrace, it now adorns even crowns and crests

September 11, 2014

The Cross could not be decently mentioned amongst Romans, who looked upon it as an unlucky omen, and as Cicero says, not to be named by a freeman. However, the Emperor Constantine attributed his victory in the Quintian fields, near the bridge Milvius, to the Cross of the Christians, the inscription of which he caused […]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →