Subsidiarity and Man’s Pursuit of Self-Sufficiency

February 17, 2014

This notion cannot help but have economic applications. Being naturally endowed with intelligence and free will, man tends, by his own spiritual faculties, to draw from himself all the necessary qualities to provide for his welfare. This in turn gives rise to unique expressions of self-sufficiency. From the very beginning of economy around the hearth of the home, man turned vigorously inward seeking to […]

Read the full article →

February 17 – Marvelous Apparition of Our Lady To Seven Young Nobles

February 17, 2014

St. Alexis Falconieri Born in Florence, 1200; died 17 February, 1310, at Mount Senario, near Florence. He was the son of Bernard Falconieri, a merchant prince of Florence, and one of the leaders of the Republic. His family belonged to the Guelph party, and opposed the Imperialists whenever they could consistently with their political principles. […]

Read the full article →

February 18 – Charlemagne’s envoy to the pope

February 17, 2014

St. Angilbert Abbot of Saint-Riquier, died 18 February, 814. Angilbert seems to have been brought up at the court of Charlemagne, where he was the pupil and friend of the great English scholar Alcuin. He was intended for the ecclesiastical state and must have received minor orders early in life, but he accompanied the young […]

Read the full article →

February 18 – Confronted the Emperor and annulled the Robber Council of Ephesus

February 17, 2014

St. Flavian Bishop of Constantinople, date of birth unknown; died at Hypaepa in Lydia, August, 449. Nothing is known of him before his elevation to the episcopate save that he was a presbyter and skeuophylax or sacristan, of the Church of Constantinople, and noted for the holiness of his life. His succession to St. Proclus […]

Read the full article →

February 18 – Fra Angelico brought part of heaven to earth

February 17, 2014

Blessed Fra Angelico A famous painter of the Florentine school, born near Castello di Vicchio in the province of Mugello, Tuscany, 1387; died at Rome, 1455. He was christened Guido, and his father’s name being Pietro he was known as Guido, or Guidolino, di Pietro, but his full appellation today is that of “Blessed Fra […]

Read the full article →

February 19 – St. Conrad of Piacenza

February 17, 2014

St. Conrad of Piacenza Hermit of the Third Order of St. Francis, date of birth uncertain; died at Noto in Sicily, 19 February, 1351. He belonged to one of the noblest families of Piacenza, and having married when he was quite young, led a virtuous and God-fearing life. On one occasion, when he was engaged […]

Read the full article →

Queen Elizabeth to launch Royal Navy supercarrier named after her

February 13, 2014

According to the Daily Record: The Queen will launch the Royal Navy supercarrier named after her when she visits Scotland in the summer. The 65,000-ton HMS Queen Elizabeth is set to take to the water at Rosyth dockyard in Fife in July. The HMS Queen Elizabeth was built in sections in shipyards in Glasgow and […]

Read the full article →

St. Jerome’s prayer to St. Paula, the scion of an ancient noble family of Rome

February 13, 2014

St. Jerome had taught St. Paula to love God from her childhood, and watched over her as she grew up. At an early age God took her to Himself. St. Jerome grieved over her; but knowing how innocently she had lived, he was sure she was already in Paradise. “O dear Saint Paula,” he prayed, […]

Read the full article →

A Turning Inward

February 13, 2014

In tracing this economy back to its roots, we note a prevailing concern: there is a turning inward whereby one provides for one’s own. This tendency begins with the individual and extends to the family, community, and nation. The origin of this turning inward comes from man’s natural desire to express his personality and originality. […]

Read the full article →

February 13 – Mystic and Counselor to Future Popes

February 13, 2014

St. Catherine de Ricci, Virgin (AD 1522 – 1589) The Ricci are an ancient family, which still subsists in a flourishing condition in Tuscany. Peter de Ricci, the father of our saint, was married to Catherine Bonza, a lady of suitable birth. The saint was born at Florence in 1522, and called at her baptism […]

Read the full article →

February 13 – St. Fulcran

February 13, 2014

St. Fulcran Bishop of Lodève; died 13 February, 1006. According to the biography which Bernard Guidonis, Bishop of Lodève (died 1331), has left us his saintly predecessor, Fulcran came of a distinguished family, consecrated himself at an early age to the service of the Church, became a priest, and from his youth led a pure […]

Read the full article →

February 14 – Renounced Earthly Nobility To Obtain Heavenly Nobility

February 13, 2014

Sts. Cyril and Methodius These brothers, the Apostles of the Slavs, were born in Thessalonica, in 827 and 826 respectively. Though belonging to a senatorial family they renounced secular honors and became priests. They were living in a monastery on the Bosphorus, when the Khazars sent to Constantinople for a Christian teacher. Cyril was selected […]

Read the full article →

February 15 – St. Claude de la Colombière

February 13, 2014

St. Claude de la Colombière Missionary and ascetical writer, born of noble parentage at Saint-Symphorien-d’Ozon, between Lyons and Vienne, in 1641; died at Paray-le-Monial, 15 Feb., 1682. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1659. After fifteen years of religious life he made a vow, as a means of attaining the utmost possible perfection, to […]

Read the full article →

February 16 – Founded and ruled a religious order as his family Manorhouse, but only joined that order in his old age

February 13, 2014

St. Gilbert of Sempringham Founder of the Order of Gilbertines, born at Sempringham, on the border of the Lincolnshire fens, between Bourn and Heckington. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but it lies between 1083 and 1089; died at Sempringham, 1189. His father, Jocelin, was a wealthy Norman knight holding lands in Lincolnshire; […]

Read the full article →

Prime minister asks Congress to revoke death sentence against royal family members

February 10, 2014

According to the Libya Herald: The Prime Minister has asked..to repeal Qaddafi’s laws against the royal family. These…included death sentences against members of the family as well the confiscation of their property and stripping them of Libyan nationality. The proposed law…submitted by the Prime Minister contains three clauses. The first states that the role and […]

Read the full article →

The Pizza That Was Named For A Queen – Recipe

February 10, 2014

  Margherita Teresa Giovanna, Princess of Savoy, was born in Turin, on November 20, 1851. On April 21, 1868, when just sixteen years old, she married her first cousin, Umberto, Crown Prince of Italy. Pizza Margherita was named after her. This is how it happened… In June 1898, Margherita accompanied her husband, now Umberto I, King […]

Read the full article →

February 10 – He fought socialism in both its Nazi and Soviet forms…and paid for it with his life

February 10, 2014

BL. ALOJZIJE STEPINAC was born into a large Catholic family on 8 May 1898 in Krasic. After graduation from high school in 1916, he completed military service during World War I. In 1924 he decided to study for the priesthood and was sent to Rome, where he attended the Pontifical Germanicum-Hungaricum College. He earned doctorates […]

Read the full article →

“My own name of course, what else?”

February 10, 2014

According to the Royal Fans: On this very day in 1952, King George VI of the United Kingdom died…aged just 56… Above all else during the accession, The Queen’s quiet composure in the face of such tragic circumstances are always remarked upon by experts. In the words of a member of her household ‘she bore […]

Read the full article →

King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery mark accession anniversary

February 10, 2014

According to the British Army: Soldiers around the UK have today fired Royal Gun Salutes to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s accessions to the throne in 1952. The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery fired a 41 Royal Gun Salute at noon in London’s Hyde Park. Each of the six First World War era 13 pounder […]

Read the full article →

St. Louis IX instructs Henry III of England on the merit of great sufferings

February 10, 2014

St. Louis of France, whilst speaking to the King of England on the immense sufferings he had to endure when he was in captivity, said to him: “I thank God with my whole heart for the misfortunes that befell me at that time; I am filled with more joy at the thought of the patience […]

Read the full article →

A Moral Restoration

February 10, 2014

[T]he overthrow of the rule of money requires a moral regeneration centered on the highest set of values—those of Christian civilization. Indeed, through Her teachings, liturgy, and moral example, the Church embeds principles, ideas, and moral values inside the social fabric, inspiring men not to profits, but to an ardent love of God where all […]

Read the full article →

February 10 – The Lord God Gave Her What Her Brother Would Not

February 10, 2014

St. Scholastica, Virgin (c. 480 – 10 February 547) This saint was sister to the great St. Benedict. She consecrated herself to God from her earliest youth, as St. Gregory testifies. Where her first monastery was situated is not mentioned; but after her brother removed to Mount Cassino, she choose her retreat at Plombariola, in […]

Read the full article →

February 11 – Elected pope while on Crusade in Palestine

February 10, 2014

Blessed Pope Gregory X Born 1210; died 10 January, 1276. Pope Gregory X was declared Blessed on July 8, 1713 by Pope Clement XI. The death of Pope Clement IV (29 November, 1268) left the Holy See vacant for almost three years. The cardinals assembled at Viterbo were divided into two camps, the one French […]

Read the full article →

“Time bomb” for republicans – Younger voters prefer monarchy

February 6, 2014

According to The Sydney Morning Herald: Backing for an Australian republic has collapsed to a 20-year low, with just 39.4 per cent of Australians saying they support a republic. Support was lowest among older Australians and Generation Y voters… Australians for a Constitutional Monarchy national convener David Flint said the findings were a ”time bomb” […]

Read the full article →

Samurai moves closer to sainthood

February 6, 2014

According to CNA/EWTN News: Takayama Ukon, a 16th-century samurai who faced exile rather than giving up his Catholic faith, is being considered for sainthood… The Takayama were daimyo: members of the class of ruling feudal lords… Daimyo held vast estates and were entitled to raise armies and hire samurai. In 1587, when Takayama was 35, […]

Read the full article →

Are all large fortunes caused by greed?

February 6, 2014

According to Townhall: Too many discussions of large fortunes attribute them to “greed” — as if wanting a lot of money is enough to cause other people to hand it over to you. It is a childish idea… The transfer of money was a zero-sum process. Edison, Ford, the Wright brothers, and innumerable others…created unprecedented […]

Read the full article →

Philip II punishes two nobles for showing disrespect to God

February 6, 2014

Philip II, King of Spain, was at Mass in the chapel attached to his palace; many of the nobles were also present. During the time of the holy Sacrifice the King noticed that two of them, forgetting the sanctity of the place, were behaving in a very disrespectful manner in the presence of God. He […]

Read the full article →

Embedding Honor in Society

February 6, 2014

One might ask how a rule of honor can be restored. To this we would reply: Fill society with principles, ideas, and moral values and the influence of the rule of money will greatly diminish. When guiding principles govern conduct, money cannot buy loyalty. When society is blessed with a rich and balanced intellectual life, […]

Read the full article →

February 6 – Apostle of Flanders

February 6, 2014

St. Amandus One of the great apostles of Flanders; born near Nantes, in France, about the end of the sixth century. He was, apparently, of noble extraction. When a youth of twenty, he fled from his home and became a monk near Tours, resisting all the efforts of his family to withdraw him from his […]

Read the full article →

February 7 – Refused admission to the Pontifical Noble Guard, he became Pope instead

February 6, 2014

Pope Blessed Pius IX (GIOVANNI MARIA MASTAI-FERRETTI). Pope from 1846-78; born at Sinigaglia, 13 May, 1792; died in Rome, 7 February, 1878. BEFORE HIS PAPACY His early years. After receiving his classical education at the Piarist College in Volterra from 1802-09 he went to Rome to study philosophy and theology, but left there in 1810 […]

Read the full article →

February 7 – Saintly King, and Father of Three More Saints

February 6, 2014

St. Richard, King and Confessor This saint was an English prince, in the kingdom of the West-Saxons, and was perhaps deprived of his inheritance by some revolution in the state: or he renounced it to be more at liberty to dedicate himself to the pursuit of Christian perfection. His three children, Winebald, Willibald, and Warburga, […]

Read the full article →

February 8 – A strong and mighty Angel – calm, terrible, and bright – the cross in blended red and blue, upon his mantle white

February 6, 2014

Saint John of Matha Founder of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity. He was born into Provencal nobility in 1154 at Faucon-de-Barcelonnette, France. As a youth, he was educated at Aix-en-Provence, and later studied theology at the University of Paris. While in Paris, he was urged by a vision during his first Mass to […]

Read the full article →

February 8 – Mary Queen of Scots

February 6, 2014

Mary Queen of Scots Mary Stuart, born at Linlithgow, 8 December, 1542; died at Fotheringay, 8 February, 1587. She was the only legitimate child of James V of Scotland. His death (14 December) followed immediately after her birth, and she became queen when only six days old. The Tudors endeavored by war to force on […]

Read the full article →

February 9 – Banished From the Court

February 6, 2014

St. Ansbert Archbishop of Rouen in 695, Confessor He had been chancelor to King Clotair III in which station he had united the mortification and recollection of a monk with the duties of wedlock, and of a statesman. Quitting the court, he put on the monastic habit at Fontenelle under St. Wandregisile, and when that […]

Read the full article →

This is not how The Guardian talks about Castro, or Chavez, or Woody Allen, or even Hollywood in general

February 3, 2014

According to The Guardian: …what it is like to be the poor old Queen? The boiler in Buckingham Palace is 60 years old. Obviously the answer is not pay for it herself out of her own enormous fortune because … well, she is the Queen. We – her largely indifferent subjects – should be ecstatically […]

Read the full article →

The Conversion of Clovis, King of the Franks, During the Battle of Tolbiac

February 3, 2014

About the middle of the fifth century there lived in France a great and powerful King whose name was Clovis. He was not a Christian, but he was married to a noble Princess, who was not only a good Christian, but a great Saint. Her name was Clotilda. Now, Clotilda loved her husband with the […]

Read the full article →

Character Not Capital

February 3, 2014

The greatest product of the rule of honor is the building of character. Man himself is the focal point of production where the unfathomable riches inside each soul can be developed. When the rule of honor dominates economy, it produces inside each soul what Richard Weaver lists as “the formation of character, the perfection of […]

Read the full article →

February 3 – Half Fierce Pagan Princess, Half Gentle Christian Princess

February 3, 2014

St. Werburgh of Chester (WEREBURGA, WEREBURG, VERBOURG). Benedictine, patroness of Chester, Abbess of Weedon, Trentham, Hanbury, Minster in Sheppy, and Ely, born in Staffordshire early in the seventh century; died at Trentham, 3 February, 699 or 700. Her mother was St. Ermenilda, daughter of Ercombert, King of Kent, and St. Sexburga, and her father, Wulfhere, […]

Read the full article →

February 3 – The Stuff of Which Saints Are Made

February 3, 2014

St. Anschar (Or Saint Ansgar, Anskar or Oscar.) Called the Apostle of the North, was born to the French nobility in Picardy, 8 September, 801; died 5 February, 865. He became a Benedictine of Corbie, whence he passed into Westphalia. With Harold, the newly baptized King of Denmark who had been expelled from his kingdom […]

Read the full article →

February 4 – Daughter of one king and wife of another

February 3, 2014

St. Jeanne de Valois Queen and foundress of the Order of the Annonciades, b. 1464; d. at Bourges, 4 Feb., 1505. Daughter of one king and wife of another, there are perhaps few saints in the calendar who suffered greater or more bitter humiliations than did Madame Jeanne de France, the heroic woman usually known […]

Read the full article →

February 4 – Portuguese noble and favorite of the king, he strove to convert the nobility of India – and paid for it with his life

February 3, 2014

St. John de Brito Martyr, born in Lisbon, 1 March, 1647, and was brought up at Court, martyred in India 11 February, 1693. Entering the Society of Jesus at fifteen, he obtained as his mission-field Madura in southern India. In September, 1673, he reached Goa. Before taking up his work he spent thirty days in […]

Read the full article →

February 5 – He put the Bible to verse and prose

February 3, 2014

St. Avitus (Alcimus Ecdicius). A distinguished bishop of Vienne, in Gaul, from 490 to about 518, though his death is place by some as late as 525 or 526. He was born of a prominent Gallo-Roman family closely related to the Emperor Avitus and other illustrious persons, and in which episcopal honors were hereditary. In […]

Read the full article →

February 5 – St. Adelaide of Cologne

February 3, 2014

St. Adelaide (of Cologne) Abbess, born in the tenth century; died at Cologne, 5 February, 1015. She was daughter of Megingoz, Count of Guelders, and when still very young entered the convent of St. Ursula in Cologne, where the Rule of St. Jerome was followed. When her parents founded the convent of Villich, opposite the […]

Read the full article →

February 5 – St. Agatha

February 3, 2014

St. Agatha One of the most highly venerated virgin martyrs of Christian antiquity, put to death for her steadfast profession of faith in Catania, Sicily. Although it is uncertain in which persecution this took place, we may accept, as probably based on ancient tradition, the evidence of her legendary life, composed at a later date, […]

Read the full article →

Louis XVI’s weakness leads to the massacre of his Swiss guards

January 30, 2014

“Lay down your arms, place them in the hands of the National Guard. I do not wish brave men to perish,” Louis told [Captain Durler] and, taking a piece of paper, he wrote “the King orders the Swiss to lay down their arms immediately and to retire to their barracks.” Louis had signed the death […]

Read the full article →

Riches and Honor

January 30, 2014

By affirming the rule of honor, we do not in any way disparage riches, goods, or money. All we are saying is that they should not dominate a culture. Nor do we advocate a primitive or impoverished economy devoid of luxury and splendor. Where honor rules, men make abundant use of material goods as a […]

Read the full article →

January 30 – Cured in body and in soul

January 30, 2014

St. Hyacintha Mariscotti A religious of the Third Order of St. Francis and foundress of the Sacconi; born 1585 of a noble family at Vignanello, near Viterbo in Italy; died 30 January, 1640, at Viterbo; feast, 30 January; in Rome, 6 February (Diarium Romanum). Her parents were Marc’ Antonio Mariscotti (Marius Scotus) and Ottavia Orsini. […]

Read the full article →

January 31 – St. John Bosco Meets His First Noble Patroness

January 30, 2014

Juliette Colbert, a native of Vendée, had married Marquis Tancredi Falletti of Barolo, and of her it could be said, even as we read of Tabitha in the Acts of the Apostles: “This woman had devoted herself to good works and acts of charity.” Indeed, she used her abundant wealth to help the working classes […]

Read the full article →

January 31 – The Glory of the Ladies

January 30, 2014

St. Marcella (325–410)  She was a Christian ascetic in ancient Rome. Growing up in Rome, she was influenced by her pious mother, Albina, an educated woman of wealth and benevolence. Childhood memories centered around piety, and one in particular related to Athanasius, who lodged in her home during one of his many exiles. He may […]

Read the full article →

February 1 – Immediately after his martyrdom, they lined up to venerate his relics

January 30, 2014

St. Henry Morse Martyr; born in 1595 in Norfolk; died at Tyburn, 1 Feb., 1644. He was received into the church at Douai, 5 June, 1614, after various journeys was ordained at Rome, and left for the mission, 19 June, 1624. He was admitted to the Society of Jesus at Heaton; there he was arrested […]

Read the full article →

The last words of Queen Philippa to her sons

January 27, 2014

It was to [Prince Edward], as her eldest son, that the Queen turned first. “God has chosen you to be the heir to this kingdom,” she said. “I know your virtue and your kindness, so I give you this sword of justice. With it you will govern both great and small, when at your father’s […]

Read the full article →

The value of nobility is sometimes intangible

January 27, 2014

According to Townhall, Though each of us is equal in the eyes of God, and should be equal before the law, we have diverse skills, passions and physical attributes. Where this is obvious…people are unlikely to complain. Few publicly begrudge the incomes of professional athletes, actors and high tech entrepreneurs. The greedy one percenters we […]

Read the full article →

Not all the rain in Spain…

January 27, 2014

According to The New York Times: You know a monarchy is in trouble when the queen is jeered at the Royal Theater, of all places…. This happened to Queen Sofía of Spain last year in Madrid — a scene then repeated elsewhere… What is astonishing about this turn of events is that the Spanish monarchy […]

Read the full article →

Sir Winston Churchill on monarchy

January 27, 2014

The monarchy is so extraordinarily useful. When Britain wins a battle she shouts, “God save the Queen!” When she loses, she votes down the prime minister.” ~ Sir Winston Churchill

Read the full article →

“Credo, Domine! Credo, Domine!”

January 27, 2014

Those were the last recorded words of Queen Mary Christine before her death, on January 31, 1836, days after giving birth to her only son (the future Francis II, last King of the Two Sicilies). She believed in her Lord, Who welcomed her for all eternity. (h/t Rorate Caeli) _______________ Also of interest: Maria Cristina […]

Read the full article →

Rule of Honor vs. Rule of Money

January 27, 2014

The rule of honor is a fitting response to the rule of money because it defines a lifestyle that naturally leads men to esteem and seek after those things that are excellent. It introduces into the market square a set of values that includes quality, beauty, goodness, and charity. This rule is open to the […]

Read the full article →

January 27 – Foundress of the Ursulines

January 27, 2014

St. Angela Merici Foundress of the Ursulines, born 21 March, 1474, at Desenzano, a small town on the southwestern shore of Lake Garda in Lombardy; died 27 January, 1540, at Brescia. She was left an orphan at the age of ten and together with her elder sister came to the home of her uncle at […]

Read the full article →

January 28 – Great in every sense

January 27, 2014

Charlemagne (French for Charles the Great, Carolus Magnus, or Carlus Magnus; German Karl der Grosse). The name given by later generations to Charles, King of the Franks, first sovereign of the Christian Empire of the West; born 2 April, 742; died at Aachen, 28 January, 814. At the time of Charles’ birth, his father, Pepin […]

Read the full article →

January 28 – Angelic Doctor, Count

January 27, 2014

St. Thomas Aquinas Philosopher, theologian, doctor of the Church (Angelicus Doctor), patron of Catholic universities, colleges, and schools. Born at Rocca Secca in the Kingdom of Naples, 1225 or 1227; died at Fossa Nuova, 7 March, 1274. I. LIFE The great outlines and all the important events of his life are known, but biographers differ […]

Read the full article →

February 9 – St. Paulinus II, Patriarch of Aquileia

January 27, 2014

St. Paulinus II, Patriarch of Aquileia Born at Premariacco, near Cividale, Italy, about 730-40; died 802. Born probably of a Roman family during Longobardic rule in Italy, he was brought up in the patriarchal schools at Cividale. After ordination he became master of the school. He acquired a thorough Latin culture, pagan and Christian. He […]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →