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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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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