“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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Another step into fake bloodlines and meaningless titles

May 15, 2014

According to The New York Times: The College of Arms, guardian of noble titles and insignia here since the 15th century, has issued a ruling that married same-sex couples may combine their heraldic symbols on a single shield as generations of heterosexual aristocracy have done before them. The gay rights group Stonewall welcomed the change. […]

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November 29 – The coronation of St. Louis IX of France

May 15, 2014

Traditionally, new sacred music was composed for a coronation. The motet…which was sung for the anointing of Louis IX has come down to us. It was called Gaude, felix Francia…. The boy who was to be anointed and crowned was already on a platform built in front of the chancel, surrounded by the great lords […]

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Clashing worldviews: Equality vs. Christian Inequality

May 15, 2014

Horizontal Vision of Society By returning to the source of our values, we engage in a real search for meaning and unity. It is not the scattered modern vision of things that so characterizes our age of individualism. To employ a metaphor, we might say that the present socio-economic model resembles a horizontal line drawn […]

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May 15 – Saint Jeanne de Lestonnac

May 15, 2014

Saint Jeanne de Lestonnac (December 27, 1556 – February 2, 1640) was founderess of the order The Company of Mary Our Lady. She was born in Bordeaux, France in 1556 to a prominent family. Her father, Richard de Lestonnac, was a member of the French Parliament while her mother, Jeanne Eyquem, was the sister of […]

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May 15 – Beautiful Princess, Tragic Story

May 15, 2014

St. Dymphna Virgin and martyr. The earliest historical account of the veneration of St. Dymphna dates from the middle of the thirteenth century. Under Bishop Guy I of Cambrai (1238-47), Pierre, a canon of the church of Saint Aubert at Cambrai, wrote a “Vita” of the saint, from which we learn that she had been […]

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May 16 – Patron of Poland

May 15, 2014

Saint Andrew Bobola Martyr, born of an old and illustrious Polish family, in the Palatinate of Sandomir, 1590; died at Janów, 16 May, 1657. Having entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus at Wilno (1611), he was ordained in 1622, and appointed preacher in the Church of St. Casimir, Wilno. After making his solemn […]

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May 16 – Leper King

May 15, 2014

Modern society obsessively avoids suffering, risk and danger. It secures everything with seatbelts and safety rails, air conditions the summer heat, prints warnings on coffee cups and advises that that safety glasses should be used while working with hammers. Certainly such precautions have prevented misfortune. However, since heroism and excellence are born from confronting rather […]

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May 16 – St. Honoratus of Amiens

May 15, 2014

Saint Honoratus of Amiens (Honoré, sometimes Honorius, Honortus) (d. May 16, ca. 600) was the seventh bishop of Amiens. His feast day is May 16. He was born in Port-le-Grand (Ponthieu) near Amiens to a noble family. He was said to be virtuous from birth. He was taught by his predecessor in the bishopric of […]

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May 18 – St. Eric, King of Sweden, Martyr

May 15, 2014

St. Eric, King of Sweden, Martyr Eric [1] was descended of a most illustrious Swedish family: in his youth he laid a solid foundation of virtue and learning, and took to wife Christina, daughter of Ingo IV, king of Sweden. Upon the death of King Smercher in 1141, he was, purely for his extraordinary virtues […]

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A Dauphin of France learns self-control

May 12, 2014

The count of Châtillon explained to Louis XV’s eldest son Louis, Dauphin of France, that he needed to repress his irritability, and the young prince promised that he would. — “Lord Count,” he said, “I would like to make it clear that I renounce all my stupidities and urge you to please look upon them […]

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Returning to the Wellspring

May 12, 2014

As the stage is set for a great storm, our common peril forces us to look for a vision of life that will serve to unify the nation. We believe this vision will not be inspired by economic reforms, financial policies, or government programs. The question remains as to where we must go to find […]

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May 12 – She said no to the crowns of England, France and the Holy Roman Empire

May 12, 2014

Blessed Joanna of Portugal Born at Lisbon, 16 February, 1452; died at Aveiro, 12 May, 1490; the daughter of Alfonso V, King of Portugal, and his wife Elizabeth. She was chiefly remarkable for the courage and persistence with which she opposed all attempts on the part of her father and brother to make her marry.  […]

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May 13 – “Can anyone receive Jesus into his heart and not die?”

May 12, 2014

Blessed Imelda Lambertini (1322 – May 13, 1333) is the patroness of First Holy Communicants. Imelda was born in 1322 in Bologna, the only child of Count Egano Lambertini and Castora Galuzzi. Her parents were devout Catholics and were known for their charity and generosity to the underprivileged of Bologna. As a very young girl, […]

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May 13 – St. John the Silent

May 12, 2014

St. John the Silent (Hesychastes, Silentiarius). Bishop of Colonia, in Armenia, b. at Nicopolis, Armenia, 8 Jan., 452; d. 558. His parents, Encratius and Euphemia, wealthy and honoured, belonged to families that had done great service in the State and had given to it renowned generals and governors, but they were also good Christians, and […]

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May 14 – The Right to Revolt

May 12, 2014

May 14, 1264: Simon de Montfort Defeats King Henry III at Battle of Lewes The Battle of Lewes was one of two main battles of the conflict known as the Second Barons’ War. It took place at Lewes in Sussex, on 14 May 1264. It marked the high point of the career of Simon de […]

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Prince William travels coach on private US visit

May 8, 2014

According to the London Evening Standard: William, 31, was travelling from Memphis to Dallas in the United States on Sunday after celebrating the wedding of his best friend Guy Pelly. Reporter Eli Ross, who has been covering the trip for Local 24 News…Memphis, posted a picture of the Prince on the American Airlines flight on […]

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Left-leaning royals alienate their own subjects

May 8, 2014

According to News and Views from Norway: The outspoken deputy leader of the Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet, FrP), Per Sandberg…claimed the royal couple was too left-leaning. “The royal couple is on the left of Norwegian politics, especially on environmental, climate, immigration and some questions of values,” Sandberg continued. “I note that Haakon and Mette-Marit act aggressively […]

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Royal Crown of Hanover displayed publicly for the first time

May 8, 2014

According to The Royal Forums: The heirs of Hanover yesterday officially opened The Road To The Crown – The Kingdom of Hanover and Its Rulers exhibition celebrating the history of the Hanoverian Kingdom. The exhibition features 70 pieces which illustrate Hanover’s history. The royal crown and sceptre are amongst these, displayed for the first time […]

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New Crown commissioned for reburial of Richard III

May 8, 2014

According to BBC News: An ornate golden crown that will go onto the coffin of Richard III when he is re-buried is being displayed at Tewkesbury Abbey. The crown was commissioned and paid for by the historian Dr John Ashdown-Hill who helped identify the king’s remains. Amanda Thomas from Tewkesbury Abbey said: “It’s gold with […]

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Honor: Never Leave A Poor Crusader Behind as a Muslim Captive

May 8, 2014

During these eight days the legate came to me and said that he did not see how the king could remain overseas; and he besought me, very instantly, to return with him in his ship. And I told him this was not within my power; for I was without means, having, as he knew, lost […]

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Two Americas Clash

May 8, 2014

We have observed—and many political analysts concur—that the country is divided into two Americas. One is defined by our faltering cooperative union; the other is formed around the willingness to sacrifice for God, family, and country. The outcome of this clash of mentalities depends upon the actions we will be forced to take. The force […]

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May 8 – When St. Michael Appeared

May 8, 2014

Well known is the apparition of St. Michael the Archangel (a. 494 or 530-40), as related in the Roman Breviary, 8 May, at his renowned sanctuary on Monte Gargano, where his original glory as patron in war was restored to him. To his intercession the Lombards of Sipontum (Manfredonia) attributed their victory over the Greek […]

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May 8 – Matriarch of the Carolingian family

May 8, 2014

Saint Itta (or Itta of Metz) (also Ida, Itte or Iduberga) (592–652) was the wife of Pepin of Landen, mayor of the palace of Austrasia. Her brother was Saint Modoald, bishop of Trier. Her sister was abbess Saint Severa. There is no direct record of their parents, but it has been suggested that she was […]

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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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