Breaking: Abdication of King who told Chavez to “shut up”

June 5, 2014

According to City A.M.: King Juan Carlos I of Spain, whose abdication was announced today, has been a slightly more relaxed monarch than Queen Elizabeth II. The King also wasn’t above telling Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez “te callas” at at a conference in 2007. The full sentence, “Por que no te callas?” means “Why don’t […]

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Old republicans protest young monarchy

June 5, 2014

According to El País: The demonstrations were a result of King Juan Carlos’ televised address at 1pm, in which he informed Spaniards of his decision to abdicate the Spanish throne in favor of his son Felipe. The Madrid demonstration was quickly organized by leftist parties and associations… Spain’s old republican flag…featured prominently in Madrid and […]

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Queen’s Coronation anniversary marked in unique way

June 5, 2014

According to the Telegraph: A 62-gun salute has marked the anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The Honourable Artillery Company were responsible for assembling and positioning the weapons opposite HMS Belfast, before taking their places along the bank of the Thames. All 62 rounds were fired at 10-second intervals outside the Tower of […]

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García Moreno Refuses to Be Silent and Is Exiled for Denouncing His Country’s Rape

June 5, 2014

From that moment Ecuador was treated as a conquered country. Thefts, pillage, sacrilege, murders, became the order of the day. The “Tauras,” a guard of mamelukes whom Urbina called his “canons,” armed with daggers, went up and down the country, attacking inoffensive men, insulting women, and assassinating all who would not be robbed without a […]

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Sublime Civilizations

June 5, 2014

Like individuals, civilizations and cultures can also seek and appreciate the sublime. This happens when any social grouping subconsciously elaborates and appreciates together splendorous works such as art, architecture, political achievements, or religious devotions. To the degree that members of social units appreciate the sublime together, the greater is the culture or civilization. We ignore […]

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June 5 – My God Is Greater Than Your Tree

June 5, 2014

St. Boniface (WINFRID, WYNFRITH). Apostle of Germany, date of birth unknown; martyred 5 June, 755 (754); emblems: the oak, axe, book, fox, scourge, fountain, raven, sword. He was a native of England, though some authorities have claimed him for Ireland or Scotland. The place of his birth is not known, though it was probably the […]

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June 5 – Friendship is tested in adversity

June 5, 2014

Blessed Ferdinand of Portugal Prince of Portugal, born in Portugal, 29 September, 1402; died at Fez, in Morocco, 5 June, 1443. He was one of five sons, his mother being Philippa, daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and his father King John I, known in history for his victories over the Moors and […]

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June 6 – Patron and Protector of Bohemia

June 5, 2014

St. Norbert Born at Xanten on the left bank of the Rhine, near Wesel, c. 1080; died at Magdeburg, 6 June, 1134. His father, Heribert, Count of Gennep, was related to the imperial house of Germany, and his house of Lorraine. A stately bearing, a penetrating intellect, a tender, earnest heart, marked the future apostle. […]

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June 7 – The Crusaders reach the walls of Jerusalem

June 5, 2014

In June of 1099 [the First Crusade] arrived before the walls of Jerusalem, which was then held by the Fatimid Arabs of Egypt. With their usual religious zeal and grim determination, the Christians prepared to attack the walls. Their fighting force had been reduced to 1,200 knights and 10,000 foot soldiers, with a similar number […]

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June 8 – She did what St. Ignatius could not

June 5, 2014

Ven. Anne de Xainctonge Foundress of the Society of the Sisters of St. Ursula of the Blessed Virgin, born at Dijon, 21 November, 1567; died at Dôle, 8 June, 1621. She was the daughter of Jean de Xainctonge, councillor in the Dijon Parliament, and of Lady Marguerite Collard, both of noble birth and virtuous life. […]

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June 8 – Accused of theft and other misconduct

June 5, 2014

St. William of York (WILLIAM FITZHERBERT, also called WILLIAM OF THWAYT). Archbishop of York. Tradition represents him as nephew of King Stephen, whose sister Emma was believed to have married Herbert of Winchester, treasurer to Henry I. William became a priest, and about 1130 he was canon and treasurer of York. In 1142 he was […]

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June 8 – The Noble Countess Who Dedicated Her Life to Bringing Dissolute Women to Repentance

June 5, 2014

Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart (died in Porto, Portugal, June 8, 1899), born Maria Droste zu Vischering, was a noble of Germany and Roman Catholic nun best known for influencing Pope Leo XIII’s consecration of the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Pope Leo XIII called this consecration “the greatest act of my […]

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Court rules that king does not deserve a Catholic burial

June 2, 2014

According to The Telegraph: When Richard III was hacked to death in rural Leicestershire in 1485, the royal House of York fell, bringing an end to the Plantagenet line…. Many people see his death as the end of the English middle ages. …the ruling of the High Court last Friday truly made history, as three […]

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Aspiring beekeepers will receive help from Duchy

June 2, 2014

According to Blue & Green Tomorrow: The Duchy of Lancaster has offered financial support for those who wish to begin beekeeping on its land, in an effort to combat the decline of bees in the UK. Nathan Thompson, chief executive of the Duchy of Lancaster, said, “As custodian of the land with significant interest in […]

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Georgia professor knighted for work to save agriculture

June 2, 2014

According to Lancaster Farming: …a British ambassador inducted a University of Georgia professor into a chivalric order for his struggle to halt the demise of bees. …Keith Delaplane for years has studied bees and the reasons the possible reasons behind their population decline. The entomology professor conducts that research so well it recently earned him […]

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A Queen obtains mercy for six heroes

June 2, 2014

The die was cast. Calais must surrender…. [King] Edward said: “…Tell the Commandant that six of the principal citizens must come, barefoot and bareheaded, with ropes around their necks, and the keys of the city in their hands. These six shall lie at my mercy….” The bells were rung, and all the citizens assembled in […]

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Defining the Sublime

June 2, 2014

The sublime consists of those things of transcendent excellence that cause souls to be overawed by their magnificence. It provokes what Edmund Burke rightly calls “the strongest emotion which the mind is capable of feeling.”* Throughout history, man has been drawn to extraordinary panoramas, works of art, music, ideas, or heroic feats that have rightly […]

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June 2 – Saved from the Byzantine Emperor’s roaster, ironically, by the Moslems

June 2, 2014

Pope Saint Eugene I Elected August 10, 654, and died at Rome, June 2, 657. Because he would not submit to Byzantine dictation in the matter of Monothelism, St. Martin I was forcibly carried off from Rome (June 18, 653) and kept in exile till his death (September, 655). What happened in Rome after his […]

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June 3 – She had to witness her children kill each other

June 2, 2014

St. Clotilda, Queen of the Franks (French: CLOTILDE; German: CHLOTHILDE). Queen of the Franks, born probably at Lyons, c. 474; died at Tours, 3 June, 545. Her feast is celebrated 3 June. Clotilda was the wife of Clovis I, and the daughter of Chilperic, King of Burgundians of Lyons, and Caretena. After the death of […]

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June 4 – St. Francis Caracciolo

June 2, 2014

St. Francis Caracciolo Co-founder with John Augustine Adorno of the Congregation of the Minor Clerks Regular; born in Villa Santa Maria in the Abrusso (Italy), 13 October, 1563; died at Agnone, 4 June, 1608. He belonged to the Pisquizio branch of the Caracciolo and received in baptism the name of Ascanio. From his infancy he […]

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How Feudalism reformed and revived monasticism: Cluny

June 2, 2014

Congregation of Cluny (CLUNI, CLUGNI, or CLUGNY) The earliest reform, which became practically a distinct order, within the Benedictine family. It originated at Cluny, a town in Saone-et-Loire, fifteen miles north-west of Macon, where in 910 William the Pious, Duke of Aquitaine, founded an abbey and endowed it with his entire domain. Over it he […]

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Royals Join Pilgrimage and Eucharistic Adoration

May 29, 2014

According to the Luxemburger Wort: Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa…made their way through town on foot from Notre Dame Cathedral to the palace. They were joined by pilgrims for the final procession through the capital, before taking the Eucharist outside the Luxembourg City palace. The Octave pilgrimage celebrates the Virgin Mary, Our […]

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Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip Attend the Household Cavalry Standards Parade (VIDEO)

May 29, 2014

According to the British Monarchy: The Queen attended the Household Cavalry Standards Parade… – Her Majesty is Colonel in Chief. The Queen presents new standards every ten years, which are used on a daily basis in London by the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. If video does not play, please click here.

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St. Louis IX’s reasons for staying four years in the Holy Land

May 29, 2014

The following Sunday we all came back again before the king; and when the king saw we were all assembled, he made the sign of the cross upon his mouth (invoking thereby, as I think, the aid of the Holy Spirit, for my lady mother once told me that every time I wished to say […]

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A Quest for Plenitude

May 29, 2014

This driving force is found in our great desire for plenitude: that is, a sense of full satisfaction or completeness. Because of our composite nature, we are not satisfied with mere material security. In our quest for perfection, we naturally seek after spiritual satisfaction as well. Our souls are strongly attracted to that which moves […]

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May 30 – Most Valiant King

May 29, 2014

Saint Ferdinand III of Castile King of Leon and Castile, member of the Third Order of St. Francis, born in 1198 near Salamanca; died at Seville, 30 May, 1252. He was the son of Alfonso IX, King of Leon, and of Berengeria, the daughter of Alfonso III, King of Castile, and sister of Blanche, the […]

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May 30 – When God chose sides in war between two Christian nations, He sent her to win it

May 29, 2014

St. Joan of Arc In French Jeanne d’Arc; by her contemporaries commonly known as la Pucelle (the Maid). Born at Domremy in Champagne, probably on 6 January, 1412; died at Rouen, 30 May, 1431. The village of Domremy lay upon the confines of territory which recognized the suzerainty of the Duke of Burgundy, but in […]

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May 31 – St. Camilla Battista da Varano

May 29, 2014

St. Baptista Varano (also spelled Varani). An ascetical writer, born at Camerino, in the March of Ancona, 9 Apr., 1458; died there, 31 May, 1527. Her father, Julius Caesar Varano or de Varanis, Duke of Camerino, belonged to an illustrious family; her mother, Joanna Malatesta, was a daughter of Sigismund, Prince of Rimini. At baptism […]

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May 31 – St. Mechtildis of Edelstetten

May 29, 2014

St. Mechtildis was a Benedictine abbess and renowned miracle worker. Mechtildis was the daughter of Count Berthold of Andechs, whose wife, Sophie, founded a monastery on their estate at Diessen, Bavaria, and placed their daughter there at the age of five. In 1153, the Bishop of Augsburg placed her as Abbess of Edelstetten Abbey. Mechtildis […]

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June 1 – Kidnapped for Christ

May 29, 2014

Bl. John Story (Or Storey.) Martyr; born 1504; died at Tyburn, 1 June, 1571. He was educated at Oxford, and was president of Broadgates Hall, now Pembroke College, from 1537 to 1539. He entered Parliament as member for Hindon, Wilts, in 1547, and was imprisoned for opposing the Bill of Uniformity, 24 Jan.-2 March, 1548-9. […]

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June 1 – The Aristocrat Who Gave His Life for the Poor

May 29, 2014

Saint Hannibal Mary Di Francia (1851-1927)  (sometimes written as Annibale Maria Di Francia) Hannibal Mary Di Francia was born in Messina, Italy, on July 5, 1851. His father Francis was a knight, the Marquis of St. Catherine of Jonio, Papal Vice-Consul and Honorary Captain of the Navy. His mother, Anna Toscano, also belonged to an […]

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First Communion for Prince

May 26, 2014

According to The Royal Forums: The Luxembourg Grand Ducal Family…celebrated their first communion of Prince Gabriel, the elder son of Prince Louis and Princess Tessy. Taking place at the Saint Michael Church in Luxembourg City, the event was attended by the whole Grand Ducal Family, including great-grandfather Jean, as well as members of the Antony […]

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Garcia Moreno: the much-liked, volunteer tax collector

May 26, 2014

García Moreno had been one of the principal actors in this religious and political drama. Struck with the ascendancy which he exercised over all with whom he came in contact, the Government confided to him a difficult and delicate mission. It was absolutely necessary to give the troops their long arrears of pay, and as […]

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The Quest for the Sublime

May 26, 2014

By returning to a transcendental and supernatural vision of society, we touch on issues that go to the very core of our modern afflictions. We address those desires for spiritual things long suppressed by the acedia of our materialistic culture. We engage in a search for meaning beyond the frustrations of self-interest and the great […]

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May 26 – He converted a young nobleman by showing him a vision of hell, and called the City of Rome his “Desert”

May 26, 2014

THE APOSTLE OF ROME St. Philip Romolo Neri Born at Florence, Italy, 22 July, 1515; died 27 May, 1595. Philip’s family originally came from Castelfranco but had lived for many generations in Florence, where not a few of its members had practised the learned professions, and therefore took rank with the Tuscan nobility. Among these […]

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May 27 – St. Augustine of Canterbury

May 26, 2014

St. Augustine of Canterbury First Archbishop of Canterbury, Apostle of the English; date of birth unknown; died 26 May, 604. Symbols: cope, pallium, and mitre as Bishop of Canterbury, and pastoral staff and gospels as missionary. Nothing is known of his youth except that he was probably a Roman of the better class, and that […]

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May 28 – Whether She Was Upstairs Or Downstairs, She Was Ever Steady

May 26, 2014

Blessed Margaret Pole Countess of Salisbury, martyr; born at Castle Farley, near Bath, 14 August, 1473; martyred at East Smithfield Green, 28 May, 1541. She was the daughter of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, and Isabel, elder daughter of the Earl of Warwick (the king-maker), and the sister of Edmund of Warwick who, under Henry […]

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May 28 – After Defeating the Saracens, He Joined the Benedictines

May 26, 2014

St. William of Gellone Born 755; died 28 May, c. 812; was the second count of Toulouse, having attained that dignity in 790. He is by some writers also given the title of Duke of Aquitaine. This saint is the hero of the ninth-century “Roman de Guillame au court nez”, but the story of his […]

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May 28 – St. Germain of Paris

May 26, 2014

St. Germain Bishop of Paris; born near Autun, Saône-et-Loire, c. 496; died at Paris, 28 May, 576. He studied at Avalon and also at Luzy under the guidance of his cousin Scapilion, a priest. At the age of thirty-four he was ordained by St. Agrippinus of Autun and became Abbot of Saint-Symphorien near that town. […]

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Going out with a bang

May 22, 2014

According to BBC News: A Royal Marine from Devon will lead 468 servicemen in front of the Queen and Prince Philip in the final performance of a 34-year military career. James Whitwham, from Ivybridge, will front the biggest ever Beating Retreat in London in June. The bi-annual event will also feature musicians from the United […]

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The crown prince of France is spanked for poor table manners

May 22, 2014

While dining with one of his sisters, Prince Louis, eldest son of Louis XV and Dauphin of France, noticed that she helped herself first, and he made up his mind to teach her something. — “Madame,” he said to her, “I was under the impression that, whenever I am present, the honors are not given […]

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“Omne Delectamentum in se Habentem”

May 22, 2014

When we search for that which is most elevated, dignified, and noble, we inevitably encounter the supernatural and divine, which is at the pinnacle of all beauty and the true wellspring of Christian civilization. Omne delectamentum in se habentem, says the liturgy for Benediction. We might say of this vision that it has “within it […]

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May 22 – Hanged for Printing a Book

May 22, 2014

Blessed James Duckett Martyr, born at Gilfortrigs in the parish of Skelsmergh in Westmoreland, England, date uncertain, of an ancient family of that county; died 9 April, 1601. He was a bookseller and publisher in London. His godfather was the well-known martyr James Leybourbe of Skelsmergh. He seems, however, to have been brought up a […]

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May 22 – Queen’s Confessor

May 22, 2014

Blessed John Forest Born in 1471, presumably at Oxford, where his surname was then not unknown; suffered 22 May, 1538. At the age of twenty he received the habit of St. Francis at Greenwich, in the church of the Friars Minor of the Regular Observance, called for brevity’s sake “Observants”. Nine years later we find […]

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May 23 – St. John Baptist de Rossi

May 22, 2014

St. John Baptist de Rossi (De Rubeis). Born at Voltaggio in the Diocese of Genoa, 22 February, 1698; died at Rome, 23 May, 1764; feast on 23 May. His parents, Charles de Rossi and Frances Anfossi, were not rich in earthly goods, but had solid piety and the esteem of their fellow-citizens. Of their four […]

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May 23 – Chevalier of the Order of Leopold

May 22, 2014

Fr. Pierre-Jean De Smet Missionary among the North American Indians, born at Termonde (Dendermonde), Belgium, 30 Jan., 1801; died at St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., 23 May, 1873. He emigrated to the United States in 1821 through a desire for missionary labours, and entered the Jesuit novitiate at Whitemarsh, Maryland. In 1823, however, at the suggestion […]

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May 24 – St. Vincent of Lérins

May 22, 2014

St. Vincent of Lérins Feast on 24 May, an ecclesiastical writer in Southern Gaul in the fifth century. His work is much better known than his life. Almost all our information concerning him is contained in Gennadius, “De viris illustribus” (lxiv). He entered the monastery of Lérins (today Isle St. Honorat), where under the pseudonym […]

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May 24 – Our Lady Help of Christians, to commemorate the liberation of the Pope from prison

May 22, 2014

  This commemoration was introduced in the liturgical calendar by decree of Pope Pius VII on September 16, 1815, in thanksgiving for his happy return to Rome after a long and painful captivity in Savona and France due to Napoleon’s tyrannical power. By order of Napoleon, Pius VII was arrested, 5 July, 1808, and detained […]

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May 25 – He Forced the Emperor To Wait Three Days in the Snow

May 22, 2014

Pope St. Gregory VII (HILDEBRAND). One of the greatest of the Roman pontiffs and one of the most remarkable men of all times; born between the years 1020 and 1025, at Soana, or Ravacum, in Tuscany; died 25 May, 1085, at Salerno. The early years of his life are involved in considerable obscurity. His name, […]

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May 25 – She withstood the devil

May 22, 2014

St. Mary Magdalen de’ Pazzi Carmelite Virgin, born 2 April, 1566; died 25 May, 1607. Of outward events there were very few in the saint’s life. She came of two noble families, her father being Camillo Geri de’ Pazzi and her mother a Buondelmonti. She was baptized, and named Caterina, in the great baptistery. Her […]

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Prince Harry meets Estonian troops, familiar faces

May 19, 2014

According to BBC News: Prince Harry, who has twice served in Afghanistan, spent more than two hours meeting the multi-national forces, near the southern Estonian town of Otepaa. Soldiers from the 1st Battalion the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment…have worked alongside their Estonian counterparts in Afghanistan… On Friday he paid tribute to Estonia’s troops as he […]

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Monarchy Support Highest in 20 Years

May 19, 2014

According to News in English: The new poll conducted by research firm Norstat for NRK showed that more than eight out of 10 Norwegians support the royal family and don’t want any other form of government, such as a republic with an elected president. “These are clearly the highest numbers I have heard about in […]

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St. Bernard masters the fiery Duke of Aquitaine

May 19, 2014

Bernard was commonly regarded as a saint, even in his own lifetime, and he was in the habit of addressing her husband as though Louis [of France] were a mere pupil. There seems little doubt that Eleanor herself was drawn to the abbot more out of curiosity than veneration. Her father before her had clashed […]

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The Good, True, and Beautiful

May 19, 2014

The inspiration of this [vertical] vision is found inside man himself. It corresponds to the most fundamental desires of the human heart. It comes from our constant search for all that is good, true, and beautiful. This impulse is something that occurs naturally in us and sets in motion powerful movements inside our souls that […]

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May 19 – Charlemagne’s Scholar

May 19, 2014

Blessed Alcuin of York An eminent educator, scholar, and theologian born about 735; died 19 May, 804. He came of noble Northumbrian parentage, but the place of his birth is a matter of dispute. It was probably in or near York. While still a mere child, he entered the cathedral school founded at that place […]

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Alexandertorte — the Latvian delight associated with a Tsar

May 19, 2014

We do not know the origins of this delightful Latvian dessert, but convention associates it with Alexander I, Tsar of all Russias. This grandson of Catherine the Great was the most powerful monarch in Europe at his time, and after Napoleon’s 1812 occupation of Moscow, the usurper’s ruthless enemy. For the French despot who had […]

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May 19 – He Grabbed the Devil By the Nose

May 19, 2014

St. Dunstan of Canterbury Archbishop and confessor, and one of the greatest saints of the Anglo-Saxon Church; born near Glastonbury on the estate of his father, Heorstan, a West Saxon noble. His mother, Cynethryth, a woman of saintly life, was miraculously forewarned of the sanctity of the child within her. She was in the church […]

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May 20 – St. Bernardine of Siena

May 19, 2014

St. Bernardine of Siena Friar Minor, missionary, and reformer, often called the “Apostle of Italy”, b. of the noble family of Albizeschi at Massa, a Sienese town of which his father was then governor, 8 September, 1380; d. at Aquila in the Abruzzi, 20 May, 1444. Left an orphan at six Bernardine was brought up […]

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May 20 – Mentor of the Duke of Ferrara

May 19, 2014

Blessed Colomba of Rieti Born at Rieti in Umbria, Italy, 1467; died at Perugia, 1501. Blessed Colomba of Rieti is always called after her birthplace, though she actually spent the greater part of her life away from it. Her celebrity is based — as it was even in her lifetime — mainly on two things: […]

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May 20 – King of the East Angles

May 19, 2014

St. Ethelbert Date of birth unknown; died 794. King of the East Angles, was, according to the “Speculum Historiale” of Richard of Cirencester (who died about 1401), the son of King Ethelred and Leofrana, a lady of Mercia. Brought up in piety, he was a man of singular humility. Urged to marry, he declared his […]

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