Motherless baby of homosexual couple added to Prince George playgroup

April 10, 2014

According to The Telegraph: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will introduce Prince George to parents and babies of all stripes, including a gay couple and a single mum, at their next public engagement in New Zealand. …meeting the royal visitors will be gay fathers Jared and Ryan Mullen and their daughter Isabella. Jared, from […]

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Allegiance to Canada, or to Canada’s Queen?

April 10, 2014

According to the Globe and Mail: Ontario’s top court is set to grapple with whether…an oath to the Queen…is constitutional. The Queen, Ottawa argues, is at the top of Canada’s constitutional order and therefore represents the right to dissent. “Each of the appellants objects to taking the oath because of their subjective belief that the […]

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Six Knights Are Punished for Disrespect at Mass

April 10, 2014

On the eve of Shrove Tuesday I beheld a marvel, of which I will now tell you; for on that day was buried by Lord Hugh of Landricourt, who was with me, carrying a banner. There as he lay on a bier in my chapel, six of my knights were leaning on sacks full of […]

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Self-Respect and Defending Ourselves from Massification

April 10, 2014

As we have seen, a certain standardization is needed to ensure adequate production. To insist that all production be adapted to the individual is not realistic. We must also avoid the opposite extreme of affirming that all products can be standardized indifferently without harming the individual. How standardization affects us differs as each individual is […]

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April 10 – Friend of Cluny

April 10, 2014

St. Fulbert of Chartres Bishop, born between 952 and 962; died 10 April, 1028 or 1029. Mabillon and others think that he was born in Italy, probably at Rome; but Pfister, his latest biographer, designates as his birthplace the Diocese of Laudun in the present department of Gard in France. He was of humble parentage […]

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April 11 – He excommunicated the king, who murdered him as he celebrated Mass

April 10, 2014

Saint Stanislaus of Cracow In pictures he is given the episcopal insignia and the sword. Larger paintings represent him in a court or kneeling before the altar and receiving the fatal blow. His parents, Belislaus and Bogna, pious and noble Catholics, gave him a religious education. After the death of his parents he distributed his […]

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April 12 – St. Teresa of the Andes

April 10, 2014

Saint Teresa of the Andes, O.C.D. (July 13, 1900 – April 12, 1920), also known as Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes (Spanish: Teresa de Jesús de los Andes), was a Chilean nun of the Discalced Carmelite order. She was born Juana Enriqueta Josefina de los Sagrados Corazones Fernández y Solar in Santiago, Chile […]

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April 12 – Crusader in every sense of the word

April 10, 2014

Bl. Angelo Carletti di Chivasso Moral theologian of the order of Friars Minor; born at Chivasso in Piedmont, in 1411; and died at Coni, in Piedmont, in 1495. From his tenderest years the Blessed Angelo was remarkable for the holiness and purity of his life. He attended the University of Bologna, where he received the […]

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April 13 – This Prince Defied His Family

April 10, 2014

St. Hermengild Date of birth unknown; died 13 April, 585. Leovigild, the Arian King of the Visigoths (569-86), had two sons, Hermengild and Reccared, by his first marriage with the Catholic Princess Theodosia. Hermengild married, in 576, Ingundis, a Frankish Catholic princess, the daughter of Sigebert and Brunhilde. Led by his own inclination, and influenced […]

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April 13 – Born blind, lame, deformed, hunchbacked and dwarfed

April 10, 2014

Blessed Margaret of Castello (1287–1320) is the patroness of the poor, crippled, and the unwanted. She was born blind, lame, deformed, hunchbacked and a dwarf, into a family of nobles in the castle of Metola, in southeast of Florence. As a child, her parents Parisio and Emilia imprisoned her for 14 years so no one […]

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Spy Princess honored

April 7, 2014

According to The Times of India: The year 2014 has seen a massive increase in interest in the life story of the Indian princess. Noor…landed in France in June 1943 and worked for a resistance network in Paris, under the code name Madeleine. She survived a wave of arrests among her SOE contacts but declined […]

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Breaking With Tradition: The Queen Did Not Wear Black When Visiting the Pope

April 7, 2014

According to The Guardian: …for the Queen’s visit this week, soundings were obviously taken inside the Vatican about whether it would be OK for the Queen to wear one of her signature brightly coloured outfits, and the word came back that would be absolutely fine. Which is yet another of those subtle but hugely significant […]

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Republicanism expiration date

April 7, 2014

According to The Telegraph: At last year’s federal election, a party representing republicans received just 2,997 votes – far less than that received by the pirate party, the sex party or a party for smokers’ rights. As around the world people conduct national struggles and vie for greater independence, Australians have been snuggling ever closer […]

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A king, a queen, and England’s Easter dilemma

April 7, 2014

When Finan died, leaving Bishop Coman—like himself, Irish by birth and a monk of Iona—as his successor at Lindisfarne, the dispute became at once open and general. Wilfrid had succeeded in sowing agitation and uncertainty in all minds; and the Northumbrians had come so far as to ask themselves whether the religion which had been […]

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Dependency and Charity

April 7, 2014

When this dependency is practiced with the fervor of Christian charity, we witness an excellence in the love of neighbors that goes beyond that of exercising patience and forbearance towards them. It also means admiring in others that which we ourselves lack. Charity includes taking delight in the qualities and richness of others, even experiencing […]

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April 7 – Father of Modern Pedagogy

April 7, 2014

St. John Baptist de la Salle Founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, educational reformer, and father of modern pedagogy, was born at Reims, 30 April, 1651, and died at Saint-Yon, Rouen, on Good Friday, 7 April, 1719. The family of de la Salle traces its origin to Johan Salla, who, […]

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April 8 – Together with a noble who escaped the Terror, she founded the Sisters of Notre Dame

April 7, 2014

St. Julie Billiart (Also Julia). Foundress, and first superior-general of the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame of Namur, born 12 July, 1751, at Cuvilly, a village of Picardy, in the Diocese of Beauvais and the Department of Oise, France; died 8 April, 1816, at the motherhouse of her institute, Namur, Belgium. She was […]

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April 9 – She persuaded her husband the Count to become a monk

April 7, 2014

St. Waudru She was daughter to the princess St. Bertille, elder sister to St. Aldegondes, and wife to Madelgaire, count of Hainault, and one of the principal lords of King Dagobert’s court. After bearing him two sons and two daughters, she induced him to embrace the monastic state at Haumont, near Maubeuge, taking the name […]

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Security breach for Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

April 3, 2014

According to the Mirror: Exact details of William and Kate’s New Zealand tour have been published online, in an “idiotic” move that could put them at risk of terrorism. The royals arrive there on Monday, but the country’s Governor General… tweet[ed] precise information of where the public can see them, including timings and maps of […]

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Terrorists to target Queen of England?

April 3, 2014

According to the Mirror: Security surrounding the monarch was tonight stepped up after al-Qaeda chiefs urged terrorists to blow up sports events she is most likely to go and see. An article on English-language online magazine Inspire, produced by the terror group…says: “In the beginning of summer we have Cheltenham and [at] the end of […]

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Ceremonial horses commemorated with statue

April 3, 2014

According to The British Monarchy: …The Queen…attend[ed] the unveiling of a Windsor Greys statue in Windsor Town Centre. Windsor Greys are a breed of horse which has been used by the Royal family since Victorian times to draw carriages. They…are still used at events such as Royal Ascot, Trooping the Colour and to draw the […]

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Libyan government takes steps toward constitutional monarchy

April 3, 2014

According to Magharebia: “The return of the al-Senussi monarchy is now the solution and guarantee for the return of security and stability to Libya,” Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdelaziz said… “Contacts have already been made, and we’re in touch with dignitaries and tribal chiefs in Libya, and also with the grandson of King al-Senussi, Prince Mohammed, […]

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Portuguese gallantry in the baron of Alvito’s reply

April 3, 2014

The king of Portugal sent the baron of Alvito on a diplomatic mission to the Emperor Charles V, King of Spain. The baron entered Castile accompanied by a glittering retinue of eighteen knights. At one point, a Castilian who was astonished at the number of knights asked them: —    “Do you gentlemen intend to conquer […]

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Finding the Balance Between Dependence and Self-Sufficiency

April 3, 2014

Such a concept differs greatly from that of the individualist man whose autonomy prevents him from recognizing his natural limits and the weaknesses of his fallen nature. He is a self-made man beholden to no other. This is well expressed in the ravings of Jean-Paul Sartre, who wrote that “no man should have to be […]

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April 3 – The man they trusted to collect the Crusader tax

April 3, 2014

St. Richard of Wyche Bishop and confessor, born about 1197 at Droitwich, Worcestershire, from which his surname is derived; died 3 April, 1253, at Dover. He was the second son of Richard and Alice de Wyche. His father died while he was still young and the family property fell into a state of great delapidation. […]

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April 4 – Grandmother of the Templars

April 3, 2014

Saint Aleth of Dijon Mother of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, she belonged to the highest nobility of Burgundy. Her husband, Tescelin, was lord of Fontaines. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux was the third of her seven children.  At the age of nine years, Bernard was sent to a much renowned school at Chatillon-sur-Seine, kept by the […]

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April 4 – Patron Saint of Transitions

April 3, 2014

St. Isidore of Seville Born at Cartagena, Spain, about 560; died 4 April, 636. Isidore was the son of Severianus and Theodora. His elder brother Leander was his immediate predecessor in the Metropolitan See of Seville; whilst a younger brother St. Fulgentius presided over the Bishopric of Astigi. His sister Florentina was a nun, and […]

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April 5 – St. Æthelburh and the Rose Named After Her

April 3, 2014

Saint Æthelburh (died 647), also known as Ethelburga, Ædilburh and Æthelburga (Old English: Æþelburh), was an early Anglo-Saxon queen consort of Northumbria, the second wife of King Edwin. As she was a Christian from Kent, their marriage triggered the initial phase of the conversion of the pagan north of England to Christianity. Æthelburh date of […]

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April 5 – Soul on Fire

April 3, 2014

St. Vincent Ferrer Famous Dominican missionary, born at Valencia, 23 January, 1350; died at Vannes, Brittany, 5 April, 1419. He was descended from the younger of two brothers who were knighted for their valor in the conquest of Valencia, 1238. In 1340 Vincent’s father, William Ferrer, married Constantia Miguel, whose family had likewise been ennobled […]

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April 6 – With his head split open, he wrote on the ground with his own blood: “Credo”

April 3, 2014

St. Peter of Verona Born at Verona, 1206; died near Milan, 6 April, 1252. His parents were adherents of the Manichæan heresy, which still survived in northern Italy in the thirteenth century. Sent to a Catholic school, and later to the University of Bologna, he there met St. Dominic, and entered the Order of the […]

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April 6 – He wrote the genealogy of the Danish kings to disprove the alleged impediment of consanguinity

April 3, 2014

St. William of Ebelholt (Also called William of Paris, or William of Eskilsöe) Died on Easter Sunday, 1203, and was buried at Ebelholt. He was educated by his uncle Hugh, forty-second Abbot of St-Germain-des-Pres at Paris; and having been ordained subdeacon received a canonry in the Church of Ste-Geneviève-du-Mont. His exemplary life did not commend […]

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Some 800-year traditions cost only £3.50 a year

March 31, 2014

According to the Royal Central: On March 27th 2014, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh attended a reception in the City of London to mark the 800th anniversary of the Royal Watermen. When the Royal Watermen came into being in the reign of King John, the river was a busting highway and the […]

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Paid Labour calls for expulsion of unpaid Lords

March 31, 2014

According to The Telegraph: The last hereditary peers would face expulsion under Labour plans to reform the House of Lords. All hereditary peerages would be abolished and no more should be created, the report adds. However, some hereditary peers could return to the House of Lords as life peers if they are judged to be […]

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Gradual erosion of Britain’s royal power

March 31, 2014

According to The Telegraph: The royal prerogative is now exercised by the prime minister of the day, the Crown merely assenting to his actions. It is possible that one other prerogative has now been surrendered, perhaps unintentionally, by Mr Cameron. The right to declare war (or to go to war without any declaration) has historically […]

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Marie Antoinette’s majesty in face of the abominable charge of incest

March 31, 2014

Even if the Revolutionary Tribunal could have subpoenaed Mallet or the Emperor or Fersen, it would have meant little to the result. Her guilt, if it was guilt so to scheme against the nation, was certain: what yet remained in doubt was the political necessity of such a trial at such a moment, the limit […]

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Dependency Is Necessary For Perfection

March 31, 2014

[D]ependency is an important part of our personal development since we cannot perfect ourselves alone. We depend on community—especially the family, intermediary associations, and the Christian State—to supply our deficiencies and thus reach the perfection of our essentially social nature. So important is community that Heinrich A. Rommen emphatically writes, “Any kind of seclusion from […]

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April 1 – Precursor of Our Lady of Fatima

March 31, 2014

St. Nuno De Santa Maria Álvares Pereira (1360-1431)   NUNO ÁLVARES PEREIRA was born in Portugal on 24th June 1360, most probably at Cernache do Bomjardin, illegitimate son of Brother Álvaro Gonçalves Pereira, Hospitalier Knight of St. John of Jerusalem and prior of Crato and Donna Iria Gonçalves do Carvalhal. About a year after his […]

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April 1 – St. Hugh of Grenoble

March 31, 2014

Bishop and Confessor The first tincture of the mind is of the utmost importance to virtue; and it was the happiness of this saint to receive from his cradle the strongest impressions of piety by the example and care of his illustrious and holy parents. He was born at Chateau-neuf, in the territory of Valence […]

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April 1 – Blessed Karl, Emperor of Austria

March 31, 2014

(Also known as Carlo d’Austria, Charles of Austria) Born August 17, 1887, in the Castle of Persenbeug in the region of Lower Austria, his parents were the Archduke Otto and Princess Maria Josephine of Saxony, daughter of the last King of Saxony. Emperor Francis Joseph I was Charles’ Great Uncle. Charles was given an expressly […]

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April 2 – St. Francis of Paola and the Bartlett Pear

March 31, 2014

The Bartlett pear is called “The Good Christian” in France, after St. Francis of Paola introduced it ‘poire bon chretien’ (good Christian pear) “Said to have originated in Calabria in southern Italy, Bartletts probably were introduced to France by St. Francis of Paola. St. Francis brought a young tree as a gift for King Louis […]

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Australia Will Honor Its Pre-Eminent Citizens as Knights and Dames

March 27, 2014

According to Royal News Blog: “Pre-eminent” Australians will become knights and dames at the Queen’s approval for the first time since 1989…. [Prime Minister Tony] Abbott said the award would go to “those who have accepted public office rather than sought it” which means it is unlikely to go to former politicians…. More likely recipients…would […]

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Will the UK Abolish Royal Consent on New Laws?

March 27, 2014

According to The Telegraph: The role of the Queen and Prince of Wales in signing off new laws is “arcane and complex” and could be abolished, MPs have said. The Commons’ Political and Constitutional Reform committee warned that the process is “fuelling speculation” that the monarchy has an “undue influence”…. “Its existence could be regarded […]

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King Baldwin saves the life of a Muslim princess, and his own is then saved by her husband

March 27, 2014

The caliph of Egypt, to revenge the death of his warriors, assembled an army, which advanced as far as the country round Ramla. Baldwin got together, in haste, a troop of three hundred knights and a thousand foot soldiers, and marched to meet him. When he perceived the standards of the Egyptian army, ten times […]

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Natural Protectionism

March 27, 2014

Church doctors recognize that just as rulers have the right to tax populations for the common good, they may also levy moderate import taxes to protect the local economy. Communities and nations should have the right to take an attitude of self-defense of their own culture and economy when confronted with intrusive and especially unfair […]

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March 27 – Royal Simplicity

March 27, 2014

St. Rupert (Alternative forms, RUPRECHT, Hrodperht, Hrodpreht, Roudbertus, Rudbertus, Robert, Ruprecht). First Bishop of Salzburg, contemporary of Childebert III, king of the Franks (695-711), date of birth unknown; died at Salzburg, Easter Sunday, 27 March, 718. According to an old tradition, he was a scion of the Frankish Merovingian family. The assumption of 660 as […]

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March 28 – Grandson of King Clovis

March 27, 2014

St. Gontran, King and Confessor He was son of King Clotaire, and grandson of Clovis I and St. Clotilda. Being the second son, whilst his brothers Charibert reigned at Paris, and Sigebert in Austrasia, residing at Metz, he was crowned King of Orleans and Burgundy in 661, making Challons on the Saone his capital. When […]

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March 29 – One of many Irish missionaries who labored to convert Central Europe

March 27, 2014

St. Eustace Date of birth unknown, died March 29, 625. He was second abbot of the Irish monastery of Luxeuil in France, and his feast is commemorated in the Celtic martyrologies on the 29th of March. He was one of the first companions of St. Columbanus, a monk of Bangor (Ireland), who with his disciples […]

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March 28 – “I have fought for God and king, and it is for them that I am going to die”

March 27, 2014

The capture and death of the fearless Charette On the 21st February his troop, now reduced to less than two hundred men, was attacked by General Travot, one of the ablest officers of Hoche. The Vendeans behaved with the greatest courage, but they were overwhelmed with numbers. The eldest brother of the general, Charette la […]

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Will Scotland Maintain the Monarchy?

March 24, 2014

According to The Telegraph: Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Minister, said “it will be for the people of Scotland to decide” on the Queen’s role if they vote to leave the United Kingdom in September this year. His comments undermine Alex Salmond’s official policy that the monarchy would automatically be retained… However, much of the […]

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Happy Birthday, Grand Duchess!

March 24, 2014

According to the Luxemburger Wort: Luxembourg’s Grand Duchess Maria Teresa…celebrated her 58th birthday on Saturday Maria Teresa was born on March 22, 1959, in Havana, Cuba. During the Cuban revolution under Fidel Castro the family moved to New York, and in 1965 onwards to Spain. …at the University of Geneva…she met her future husband Prince […]

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St. Thomas More rejects his wife’s pleas to abandon the Faith

March 24, 2014

Thomas More was Lord High Chancellor of England in the reign of King Henry VIII. He was a fervent Catholic, and although zealous in the service of his King, was still more so in the service of God. When Henry rebelled against the Church, he put into prison, and sometimes even condemned to death, those […]

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Self-Reliance Should not Exclude a Healthy Dependence

March 24, 2014

While temperance teaches us to see the reality that each man is capable of colossal self-sufficiency, it also reveals to us that we are contingent beings. The fact that we are dependent upon others helps, not hinders, our full development. Hence, the same person who develops admirable habits of self-reliance also takes the initiative to […]

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March 24 – A deer guarded this noble saint from the unwanted advances of men

March 24, 2014

St. Catherine of Sweden Patroness against abortion and miscarriage. The fourth child of Saint Bridget and her husband, Ulf Gudmarsson, born 1331 or 1332; died 24 March, 1381. At the time of her death Saint Catherine was head of the convent of Wadstena, founded by her mother; hence the name, Catherine Vastanensis, by which she […]

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March 25 – The Annunciation: He is King by right, and also by conquest

March 24, 2014

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira We will comment on this passage taken from Saint Luke: “And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was […]

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March 25 – Saint Lucy Filippini

March 24, 2014

St. Lucy Filippini (13 January 1672 – 25 March 1732) She was orphaned at an early age when her parents both died. From there she went to live with her aristocratic aunt and uncle who encouraged her religious inclination by entrusting her education to the Benedictine nuns at Santa Lucia. Her career began under the […]

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March 26 – One of the distinguished men of his age

March 24, 2014

Geoffrey of Vendôme (GOFFRIDUS ABBAS VINDOCINENSIS.) A cardinal, born in the second half of the eleventh century of a noble family, at Angers, France; died there, 26 March, 1132. At an early age he entered the Benedictine community of the Blessed Trinity at Vendôme in the diocese of Chartres; and in 1093, while still very […]

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March 26 – St. Ludger

March 24, 2014

St. Ludger (Lüdiger or Liudger) Missionary among the Frisians and Saxons, first Bishop of Munster in Westphalia, b. at Zuilen near Utrecht about 744; d. 26 March, 809. Feast, 26 March. Represented as a bishop reciting his Breviary, or with a swan at either side. His parents, Thiadgrim and Liafburg, were wealthy Frisians of noble […]

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Romanian Monarchists Call For Demonstrations

March 20, 2014

According to The Eponymous Flower: On Saturday, 5th April 2014 4:30 pm Romanians…again will gather with monarchic flags and portraits of members of the royal family to march for a KING in several cities… The march is organized by the National Alliance for the Restoration of the Monarchy (ANRM). This will be the second march […]

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St. Louis the King teaches his nobles to hate mortal sin

March 20, 2014

St. Louis, King of France, asked one of his nobles named Joinville what he would do if he were asked to choose between committing a mortal sin and being struck with leprosy. Joinville, without any hesitation, answered the King: “I would sooner commit ten mortal sins than be infected even once with that terrible plague.” […]

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Euthanasia Brings End to Belgian Monarchy

March 20, 2014

by Marie Meaney There has been no coup, no abdication, no revolution. It is an event that has gone largely unnoticed. The media have hardly spoken about it. Yet it is a reality. The monarchy in Belgium is done with, over, kaput. The king of Belgium has turned himself out of his royal throne by […]

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