May 9 – Known personally to the King, he was falsely accused of conspiring to murder him

May 8, 2014

Ven. Thomas Pickering Lay brother and martyr, a member of an old Westmoreland family, born circa 1621; executed at Tyburn, 9 May, 1679. He was sent to the Benedictine monastery of St. Gregory at Douai, where he took vows as a lay brother in 1660. In 1665 he was sent to London, where, as steward […]

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May 9 – St. Nicholas Albergati

May 8, 2014

Cardinal and Bishop of Bologna, born at Bologna in 1357; died at Sienna, 9 May, 1443. He entered the Carthusian Order in 1394, served as prior in various monasteries, and was made Bishop of Bologna, against his will, in 1417. In this office he still followed the Rule of his Order, was zealous for the […]

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May 10 – Saint Damien: A Hero Who Died on the Battlefield of Honor

May 8, 2014

Born Joseph de Veuster in Tremelo, Belgium, he took the religious name of Damien when he joined the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. There are few places on Earth more beautiful than Hawaii. While this idyllic paradise may be the destination spot for tourists and honeymooners, Joseph de Veuster was eager […]

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May 11 – Holy Merovingian

May 8, 2014

St. Aldegundis Virgin and abbess (c. 639-684), variously written Adelgundis, Aldegonde, etc. She was closely related to the Merovingian royal family. Her father and mother, afterwards honored as St. Walbert and St. Bertilia, lived in Flanders in the province of Hainault. Aldegundis was urged to marry, but she chose a life of virginity and, leaving […]

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May 11 – Martyr of the House of Rochester

May 8, 2014

Blessed John Rochester Priest and martyr, born probably at Terling, Essex, England, about 1498; died at York, 11 May, 1537. He was the third son of John Rochester, of Terling, and Grisold, daughter of Walter Writtle, of Bobbingworth. He joined the Carthusians, was a choir monk of the Charterhouse in London, and strenuously opposed the […]

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Napoleon meets the tradition of Prince Massimo

May 5, 2014

The family tradition of the Massimos, a Roman princely family of ancient extraction, is that they descend from Quintus Fabius Maximus (c. 275 BC – 203 BC), who is known as the Cunctator (the Delayer), because of the military tactic he employed when fighting Hannibal, the Carthaginian general defeated by the Roman republic during the […]

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America: Change is Coming

May 5, 2014

Amid the comfort and complacency of everyday life, we must convince modern man to go beyond self-interest and make the great sacrifice of returning to order. Men act when outside circumstances force them to do so. This might be seen, for example, in the case of a person who is forced by a rainstorm to […]

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May 7 – The Pope who adopted two princes

May 5, 2014

Pope St. Benedict II Date of birth unknown; died 8 May, 685; was a Roman, and the son of John. Sent when young to the schola cantorum, he distinguished himself by his knowledge of the Scriptures and by his singing, and as a priest was remarkable for his humility, love of the poor, and generosity. […]

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May 7 – Bl. Agnellus of Pisa

May 5, 2014

Bl. Agnellus of Pisa Friar Minor and founder of the English Franciscan Province, born at Pisa c. 1195, of the noble family of the Agnelli; died at Oxford, 7 May, 1236. In early youth he was received into the Seraphic Order by St. Francis himself, during the latter’s sojourn in Pisa, and soon became an […]

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Most Irish want British Royal to attend independence centenary

May 1, 2014

According to The [Irish] Sunday Independent: …support for a royal presence in 2016 is highest amongst older voters, with 64 per cent of over-55s looking forward to seeing Prince Charles (most likely) in Dublin in two years’ time. Older voters clearly don’t have time for the passionate resentments that periodically grip the young. Opposition to […]

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The Count of Blois is scolded by his wife for deserting the Crusade

May 1, 2014

The return of the Crusaders, and the account of their conquests, excited great enthusiasm, and renewed the eagerness for crusades and pilgrimages among the nations of the West. They were not now affected by the passion for delivering the holy places, but by that of visiting and defending them. Europe exhibited a second time the […]

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The Necessary Spirit of the Crusader

May 1, 2014

In general, medieval men understood the role of fortitude in maintaining their Christian culture. They had no illusions about their own weaknesses and vices. They understood the need to confront the disorders and evils that will always plague this vale of tears. Calling upon God, the faithful in varying degrees summoned from themselves the strength […]

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May 1 – St. Sigismund, King of Burgundy

May 1, 2014

This saint was son of Gondebald, the Arian king of the Burgundians; but embraced the Catholic faith through the instructions of St. Alcimus Avitus, bishop of Vienne. (1) He succeeded to the kingdom of his father in 516, and in the midst of barbarism lived humble, mortified, penitent, devout, and charitable, even on the throne; […]

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Why has the Royal Tour been so successful in Australia and New Zealand?

April 28, 2014

According to BBC New: …for all the changes which have occurred in Australia and New Zealand over the past 60 years, the system of constitutional monarchy appears, at the moment, to be more firmly entrenched in both countries than it has been for a good many years. Mr Abbott expressed it this way: “The best […]

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Crusader king’s bones to be DNA tested

April 28, 2014

According to the Mirror: The skull of Sweden’s most enigmatic king is going on display as his bones are DNA tested. Erik IX, known as Erik the Saint is shrouded in mystery because no historical records of him survive. He ruled Sweden from around 1155 until his death in 1160. Despite his short reign Erik […]

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Louis XIV: Life Is not the Supreme Value

April 28, 2014

When Louis XIV left to besiege Mons, Madame de Maintenon questioned the Marquis of Louvois, his minister of war: — “Sir, do you guarantee his life?” — “No, Madam, but I guarantee him glory.”   Edmond Guérard, Dictionnaire encyclopédique d’anecdotes (Paris: Firmin Didot, 1872), Vol. 2, 318. (Nobility.org translation.) Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and […]

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Continually Engaged in the Struggle

April 28, 2014

[T]he present crisis can well serve as the occasion for acquiring the virtue of fortitude since it rips off the veil of these modern illusions so often portrayed by Hollywood. It allows us to see that we must always be engaged in the struggle against misfortune, which is our lot due to Original Sin. Moreover, […]

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April 29 – The Templars, Knights of Calatrava, of St. Lazarus, of Alcantara, of Avis, of St. Maurice, all trace their existence to this austere monk

April 28, 2014

St. Robert of Molesme Born about the year 1029, at Champagne, France, of noble parents who bore the names of Thierry and Ermengarde; died at Molesme, 17 April, 1111. When fifteen years of age, he commenced his novitiate in the Abbey of Montier-la-Celle, or St. Pierre-la-Celle, situated near Troyes, of which he became later prior. […]

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April 29 – In 11th century Christendom, no king or bishop dare oppose him

April 28, 2014

Saint Hugh the Great Abbot of Cluny, born at Semur (Brionnais in the Diocese of Autun), 1024; died at Cluny, 28 April, 1109. His early life The eldest son of Count Dalmatius of Semur and Aremberge (Aremburgis) of Vergy, Hugh was descended from the noblest families in Burgundy. Dalmatius, devoted to war and the chase, […]

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800-year anniversary of the birth of St. Louis IX of France

April 24, 2014

On April 25, 1214–800 years ago–St. Louis the King was born in Poissy. He was the sixth child of Louis VIII of France and Queen Blanche of Castile. He was crowned king in the Cathedral of Rheims at the tender age of 12, three weeks after his father’s death, and, as Regine Pernoud points out, the […]

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Queen Elizabeth’s 88th birthday marked with gun salutes, some with curious history

April 24, 2014

According to BBC News: The Queen’s 88th birthday has been marked across the UK with traditional gun salutes. The Queen was born on 21 April 1926… However, her birthday is also celebrated officially each year in June at the Trooping the Colour service – which this year will take place on 14 June. The 62-shot […]

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Royal Victorian Order for 21 years of service

April 24, 2014

According to Bucks Free Press: The Queen’s Royal Swan Marker has been awarded a personal gift from the Monarch after 21 years’ service to the cause. David Barber received the Royal Victorian Order from Her Majesty the Queen in recognition of his long involvement with the centuries-old tradition of Swan Upping. Royal Swan Upping dates […]

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Sad: Schoenbrunn Palace to open as hotel

April 24, 2014

According to AFP: Schoenbrunn Palace was Marie-Antoinette’s summer childhood home and the beautiful and tragic Sissi’s favoured residence. And from April 30, tourists too can sojourn in…a converted suite of rooms with views over the palace gardens, even with butler, cook and horse-drawn conveyance. The main targets are wealthy tourists who flock to Vienna from […]

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Agnès de La Barre de Nanteuil, the Pantheon’s Forgotten One

April 24, 2014

With Joan of Arc, she is the only woman to have given her name to a class of Saint-Cyr-Coëtquidan. The dolt at the controls (well, that’s what he thinks) has “pantheonized” two certainly remarkable women but forgot one who deserved the honor more than Jean Zay, a deserter in 1940, who was convicted and spent […]

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The Need for Fortitude

April 24, 2014

Fortitude is the virtue by which the appetites and passions are guided by the rational soul with courage and constancy.* It helps us brave the greatest dangers and resist intense persecution and obstacles so that we might achieve our goals. The virtue of fortitude is perfected by the gift of fortitude. This gift of the […]

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April 24 – Mother Mary Euphrasia Pelletier

April 24, 2014

Mother Mary Euphrasia Pelletier, foundress of the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd and canonized May 2, 1940 by Pope Pius XII. The aim of this institute is to provide a shelter for girls and women of dissolute habits, who wish to do penance for their iniquities and to lead a […]

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Old Age: Decrepitude or Glory?

April 24, 2014

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira How the modern world, caught up in sensuality, deceives itself when it sees only decadence in aging. When one knows how to esteem the spirit more highly than the body, growing old is to grow into what is most noble, the soul. Although aging does entail bodily decadence, this is […]

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April 24 – “I came to extirpate heresy, not to embrace it”

April 24, 2014

St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen Born in 1577, at Sigmaringen, Prussia, of which town his father Johannes Rey was burgomaster; died at Sevis, 24 April, 1622. On the paternal side he was of Flemish ancestry. He pursued his studies at the University of Freiburg in the Breisgau, and in 1604 became tutor to Wilhelm von Stotzingen, […]

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April 25 – Builder

April 24, 2014

Blessed Meinwerk Tenth Bishop of Paderborn, d. 1036: Meinwerk (Meginwerk) was born of the noble family of the Immedinger and related to the royal house of Saxony. His father was Imad (Immeth), Count of Teisterbant and Radichen, and his mother’s name was Adela (Adala, Athela). In early youth he was dedicated by his parents to […]

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April 26 – She inspired the Albanians to resist the Turks

April 24, 2014

Our Lady of Good Counsel January of 1467 saw the death of the last great Albanian leader, George Castriota, better known as Scanderbeg. Raised by an Albanian chief, he placed himself at the head of his own people. Subsequently, Scanderbeg inflicted stunning defeats on the Turkish army and occupied fortresses all over Albania. With Scanderbeg’s […]

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April 26 – Nephew of the Duke of Maqueda

April 24, 2014

St. Rafael Arnáiz Barón (9 April 1911, Burgos, Spain – 26 April 1938, Dueñas, Palencia, Spain) Rafael Arnáiz, known in the monastery as Brother María Rafael, was born on 9 April 1911 in the city of Burgos, in north-central Spain. He was the first of four sons born to a well-to-do, deeply Christian and Catholic […]

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April 27 – Noble Model of Confidence

April 24, 2014

St. Peter Armengol was born in Guárdia dels Prats, a small village in the archdiocese of Tarragon, Spain in 1238. He belonged to the house of the barons of Rocafort, descendants of the counts of Urgel, whose ancestors were directly linked to the counts of Barcelona and the monarchs of Aragon and Castile. From Brigand […]

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Knights and dames reinstated

April 21, 2014

According to the Guardian: A formal document signed by the Queen to reinstate Australian knights and dames has been published in the commonwealth Gazette… Among the specific amendments to the constitution of the Order of Australia to implement the prime minister’s shock unilateral decision last month to reinstate knights and dames is one proclaiming that […]

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Sissi plaque found hidden in stud farm granary

April 21, 2014

According to the Prague Daily Monitor: A granite memorial plaque dedicated to Habsburg Empress Elisabeth (1837-1898) was accidentally found during the reconstruction of the National Stud Farm in Kladruby… “We can naturally speculate about that everything connected with the Habsburgs was considered wrong and was being destroyed after 1918… Someone may have screwed off the […]

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Australian PM Tony Abbot: Monarch is fountain of justice and honor

April 21, 2014

According to the Guardian: And what about prime minister Tony Abbott? An avowed monarchist, he wrote in 2006 that: The monarch has an important symbolic role too: as ‘fountain of justice and honour’; guardian of the integrity of the armed forces and the public service; embodiment of the unity of the Commonwealth of Nations; and a reminder […]

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Luxembourg marks 175 years of independence

April 21, 2014

According to the Luxemburger Wort: April 19, 2014, marks 175 years of independence in Luxembourg. But, while Luxembourg struck out on its own when it signed the Treaty of London in 1839, the Grand Duchy was actually created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna. The conference of ambassadors of European states held in Vienna […]

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Garcia Moreno Refuses His Presidential Salary, Until Ecuador’s Finances Are Balanced

April 21, 2014

Garcia Moreno set to work immediately to clear out this Augean stable of a country where revolution had reigned supreme for over a quarter of a century. The specialty of all revolutionary governments is to consume without producing, not to help the people to live but to live at their expense. The first thing they […]

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The Spiritual Dimension in Everyday Life

April 21, 2014

This same union of material and spiritual dimensions is not limited to highly specialized projects like cathedrals; it can also be seen in products found in everyday life. The spiritual dimension introduced added value, culture, and warmth to the most common things. About such production, Lewis Mumford writes, “No article, even of vulgar daily use, […]

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April 21 – Adventurous in youth and adulthood

April 21, 2014

St. Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury, Doctor of the Church; born at Aosta a Burgundian town on the confines of Lombardy, died 21 April, 1109. His father, Gundulf, was a Lombard who had become a citizen of Aosta, and his mother, Ermenberga, came of an old Burgundian family. Like many other saints, Anselm learnt the first […]

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April 23 – The Original Knight in Shining Armor

April 21, 2014

St. George Martyr, patron of England, suffered at or near Lydda, also known as Diospolis, in Palestine, probably before the time of Constantine. According to the very careful investigation of the whole question recently instituted by Father Delehaye, the Bollandist, in the light of modern sources of information, the above statement sums up all that […]

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April 23 – Archbishop author of war-song

April 21, 2014

St. Adalbert of Bohemia Born 939 of a noble Bohemian family; died 997. He assumed the name of the Archbishop Adalbert (his name had been Wojtech), under whom he studied at Magdeburg. He became Bishop of Prague, whence he was obliged to flee on account of the enmity he had aroused by his efforts to […]

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Fr. Damien of Molokai died 125 years ago

April 17, 2014

According to All About Royal Families: King David Kalakaua of Hawaii bestowed him the honor ‘Royal Commander of the Royal Order of the Kalakaua’. He died on April 15th. 1889. On February 12th. 1935, King Leopold III of Belgium wrote a letter to president Franklin D. Roosevelt to ask the return of the remains of […]

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The Spiritual Dimension and Technology

April 17, 2014

[W]hen the spiritual dimension becomes the primary element of production, it can also end up satisfying and putting in order our material necessities. This can be seen, for example, in the development of technology. It is simply false to say that technology calls for greater standardization. In pre-modern production, we note that the emphasis on […]

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Vanilla: From the halls of Montezuma to palaces and pastry shops worldwide

April 17, 2014

For centuries, the vanilla bean extract was a cultural treasure enjoyed solely by the natives of Totonaca, the present state of Veracruz, in Eastern Mexico. The Persian, Macedonian, and Roman Empires all came and went without any of their rulers every tasting vanilla.  For all these centuries, no one but God and the Totonacs knew […]

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Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria-Hungary, washes the feet of the poor on Holy Thursday

April 17, 2014

In 1850, Franz Joseph participated…as emperor in the second of the traditional Habsburg expressions of dynastic piety: the Holy Thursday foot-washing ceremony, part of the four-day court observance of Easter. The master of the staff and the court prelates chose twelve poor elderly men, transported them to the Hofburg, and positioned them in the ceremonial […]

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Queen Mary washes the feet of the poor on Maundy Thursday

April 17, 2014

… and on Holy Thursday, at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the most Serene Queen performed the ceremony of feet-washing, thus – Her Majesty being accompanied by the Right Reverend Legate and by the Council, entered a large hall, at the head of which was my Lord Bishop of Ely as Dean (come Decano) of […]

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Queen Mary Welcomes the Sick on Good Friday

April 17, 2014

On [Good] Friday morning the offertory was performed according to custom in the Church of the Franciscan Friars, which is contiguous to the palace. After the Passion, the Queen came down from her oratory for the adoration of the Cross, accompanied by my lord the right reverend Legate, and kneeling at a short distance from […]

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For Contrast: Two Royal Attitudes to Washing the Feet of the Poor

April 17, 2014

In February, he returned to Castile, arriving in time to observe Holy Week at San Lorenzo, and to wash the feet of the poor on Holy Thursday “with his usual great tenderness and humility.” On Good Friday he adored the wood of the True Cross and pardoned several men who had been condemned to death, […]

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April 17 – He rescued his country from crushing debt, yet waged incessant war

April 17, 2014

Maximilian I Duke of Bavaria, 1598-1622, Elector of Bavaria and Lord High Steward of the Holy Roman Empire, 1623-1651; born at Munich, 17 April, 1573; died at Ingolstadt, 27 September, 1651. The lasting services he rendered his country and the Catholic Church justly entitle him to the surname of “Great”. He was the son of […]

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April 17 – One of the many nobles who spread the Cluny reform

April 17, 2014

St. Robert Founder of the Abbey of Chaise-Dieu in Auvergne, born at Aurilac, Auvergne, about 1000; died in Auvergne, 1067. On his father’s side he belonged to the family of the Counts of Aurilac, who had given birth to St. Géraud. He studied at Brioude near the basilica of St-Julien, in a school open to […]

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April 17 – Third Religious Rebel

April 17, 2014

St. Stephen Harding Confessor, the third Abbot of Cîteaux, was born at Sherborne in Dorsetshire, England, about the middle of the eleventh century; died 28 March, 1134. He received his early education in the monastery of Sherborne and afterwards studied in Paris and Rome. On returning from the latter city he stopped at the monastery […]

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April 18 – Blessed Marie de l’Incarnation

April 17, 2014

Bl. Marie de l’Incarnation Known also as Madame Acarie, foundress of the French Carmel, born in Paris, 1 February, 1566; died at Pontoise, April, 1618. By her family Barbara Avrillot belonged to the higher bourgeois society in Paris. Her father, Nicholas Avrillot was accountant general in the Chamber of Paris, and chancellor of Marguerite of […]

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April 19 – The saintly warrior pope

April 17, 2014

Pope St. Leo IX Pope St. Leo IX earnestly spread the Cluny reform Born at Egisheim, near Colmar, on the borders of Alsace, 21 June, 1002, Pope St. Leo IX died on 19 April, 1054. He belonged to a noble family which had given or was to give saints to the Church and rulers to […]

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April 19 – Captured by pirates

April 17, 2014

St. Alphege (or Elphege), Saint, born 954; died 1012; also called Godwine, martyred Archbishop of Canterbury, left his widowed mother and patrimony for the monastery of Deerhurst (Gloucestershire). After some years as an anchorite at Bath, he there became abbot, and (19 Oct., 984) was made Bishop of Winchester. In 994 Elphege administered confirmation to […]

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April 19 – Blessed Conrad of Ascoli

April 17, 2014

Friar Minor and missionary, born at Ascoli in the March of Ancona in 1234; died there, 19 April, 1289. He belonged to the noble family of Milliano and from his earliest years made penance the predominating element of his life. He entered the Order of Friars Minor at Ascoli together with his townsman and lifelong […]

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St. Louis IX: A King of France Cannot Be Ransomed With Money

April 14, 2014

When they saw that they could not prevail over the good king [St. Louis IX of France] by threats, they came back to him and asked how much money he would give to the soldan [of Egypt], besides surrendering Damietta. And the king replied that if the soldan would accept a reasonable sum, he would […]

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A Preferential Option for Quality

April 14, 2014

[L]et us look at the goal of production. We produce to fill a need. While this can be done by simply supplying the minimum necessary to fill a physical necessity, it will not necessarily satisfy certain human desires that vary from person to person, or address spiritual appetites for beauty, excellence, or refinement. Such desires […]

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April 14 – She suffered for the moral corruption and decay of her time

April 14, 2014

Saint Lydwine In 1380, Saint Lydwine was born in the small town of Schiedam in Holland. Her father was a wealthy noble named Peter, and her mother was from a poor family who worked their own farm. Her father’s family lost their fortune, and the whole family was reduced to poverty. At that time, all […]

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April 14 – St. Peter Gonzalez (aka St. Elmo)

April 14, 2014

St. Peter Gonzalez Popularly known as St. Elmo, b. in 1190 at Astorga, Spain; d. 15 April, 1246, at Tuy. He was educated by his uncle, Bishop of Astorga, who gave him when very young a canonry. Later he entered the Dominican Order and became a renowned preacher; crowds gathered to hear him and numberless […]

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April 16 – Martyred in the name of Equality

April 14, 2014

Just a few of the many martyrs during the French Revolution († 1792-1799) 16 April 1794 in Avrillé, Maine-et-Loire (France) Pierre Delépine layperson of the diocese of Angers born: 24 May 1732 in Marigné, Maine-et-Loire (France) Jean Ménard layperson of the diocese of Angers; married born: 16 November 1736 in Andigné, Maine-et-Loire (France) Renée Bourgeais […]

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