October 22 – St. Wendelin of Trier

October 21, 2013

St. Wendelin of Trier Born about 554; died probably in 617. His earliest biographies, two in Latin and two in German, did not appear until after 1417. Their narrative is the following: Wendelin was the son of a Scottish king; after a piously spent youth he secretly left his home on a pilgrimage to Rome. […]

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October 23 – The amazing story of San Juan Capistrano and the Siege of Belgrade

October 21, 2013

St. John of Capistrano Born at Capistrano, in the Diocese of Sulmona, Italy, 1385; died 23 October, 1456. His father had come to Naples in the train of Louis of Anjou, hence is supposed to have been of French blood, though some say he was of German origin. His father dying early, John owed his […]

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Prince William dubs his first knight today

October 17, 2013

According to the Daily Express: The Duke of Cambridge will represent the Queen during the hour-long event on Thursday when he will hand out medals and dub new knights with a sword. …a royal insider said…“he realises this is the biggest day in the lives of some people who are being honoured, and he wants […]

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Duke and Duchess of Cambridge break with traditions in choice of royal godparents and venue

October 17, 2013

According to The Telegraph: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have once again broken with royal tradition to choose friends from their schools and university to be godparents to Prince George. The couple’s decision…is in stark contrast to William’s own godparents from his 1982 christening: the former King Constantine of Greece, Princess Alexandra, the Honourable […]

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October 17 – Anniversary of state visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Vatican

October 17, 2013

According to Royal News 24: On this day in 1980, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom made history by becoming the first British monarch to pay a state visit to the Vatican. The Queen had visited the Vatican before, first as Princess Elizabeth during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII and again […]

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October 17 – The Battle of Cholet

October 17, 2013

The Battle of Cholet was fought on 17 October 1793 during the French Revolutionary Wars, between French Republican forces under General Léchelle and French Royalist Forces under Louis d’Elbée. The battle was fought in the town of Cholet in the Maine-et-Loire department of France, and resulted in a Republican victory. D’Elbée was wounded and captured; […]

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October 18 – The day that sparked the Crusades

October 17, 2013

Destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre On October 18, 1009, under Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, orders for the complete destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection, were carried out. The measures against the church were part of a more general campaign against Christian places […]

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October 19 – Barefoot from Spain to Rome

October 17, 2013

St. Peter of Alcántara Born at Alcántara, Spain, 1499; died 18 Oct., 1562. His father, Peter Garavita, was the governor of the place, and his mother was of the noble family of Sanabia. After a course of grammar and philosophy in his native town, he was sent, at the age of fourteen, to the University […]

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October 19 – Prayer was his crime

October 17, 2013

Saint Philip Howard Martyr, Earl of Arundel; born at Arundel House, London, 28 June 1557, died in the Tower of London, 19 October, 1595. He was the grandson of Henry, Earl of Surrey, the poet, executed by Henry VIII in 1547, and son of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk executed by Elizabeth 1572. Philip II of […]

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The Boal family and its gradual social rise

October 16, 2013

by Raymond Drake For many people worldwide, our pervasive liberal culture leads them to think of America as frenetic Wall Street trading or gambling in Las Vegas. Or they recall sports figures like Michael Phelps or film stars like Clint Eastwood. Others will remember our magnificent landscapes such as the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls. […]

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King of Bhutan will end polygamy in his monarchy

October 14, 2013

Today is the wedding anniversary of Their Majesties the King and Queen of Bhutan. King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck married Jetsun Pema, the granddaughter of the Governor of Trashigang, at Punakha Dzong in 2011. During the ceremony, she was presented with the Crown of the Druk Gyal-tsuen and declared Queen consort of Bhutan. Although Bhutanese […]

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For Monarchy: Marriage Boosts Popularity, Divorce Makes It Plummet

October 14, 2013

According to Hello! Magazine: The British Social Attitudes survey…found that…in 2012 only 5% of people said that they thought the monarchy should be abolished…while 45% of people said that they felt it is “very important” that Britain continues to have a monarchy. The positive result in 2012 came six years after the figure dropped to […]

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Who Was Christopher Columbus, and Why Is He Important?

October 14, 2013

Christopher Columbus (Italian CRISTOFORO COLOMBO; Spanish CRISTOVAL COLON.) Born at Genoa, or on Genoese territory, probably 1451; died at Valladolid, Spain, 20 May 1506. His family was respectable, but of limited means, so that the early education of Columbus was defective. Up to his arrival in Spain (1485) only one date has been preserved. His […]

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We Need Representative Characters Today

October 14, 2013

Our needs are different from those of feudal times. We do not seek the military chieftains who, in the face of barbarian invasions, took upon themselves the task of resisting barbarian hordes. Instead we seek those figures who take upon themselves the more subtle task of becoming what some sociologists call “representative characters” who, not […]

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The Queen’s German prince and the beef recipe in his honor

October 14, 2013

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha married his first cousin, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, when they were both 20. Contrary to today’s contraceptive culture, nine children blessed their marriage. He administered ably and expanded the patrimony of the British royal family. He championed the abolition of slavery and strove to eliminate child labor […]

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October 15 – Interior Castle

October 14, 2013

St. Teresa of Avila Teresa Sanchez Cepeda Davila y Ahumada, born at Avila, Old Castile, 28 March, 1515; died at Alba de Tormes, 4 Oct., 1582. The third child of Don Alonso Sanchez de Cepeda by his second wife, Doña Beatriz Davila y Ahumada, who died when the saint was in her fourteenth year, Teresa […]

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October 16 – Duchess and saint

October 14, 2013

St. Hedwig Duchess of Silesia, born about 1174, at the castle of Andechs; died at Trebnitz, 12 or 15 October, 1243. She was one of eight children born to Berthold IV, Count of Andechs and Duke of Croatia and Dalmatia. Of her four brothers, two became bishops, Ekbert of Bamberg, and Berthold of Aquileia; Otto […]

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October 16 – Marie Antoinette, Archduchess of Austria, Queen of France and Capetian Widow

October 14, 2013

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Most Reverend Monsignor Director of this Academy, Gentlemen Academicians: A simple listing of the titles with which she was known during her short life as Marie Antoinette of Habsburg, and later Marie Antoinette of Bourbon, brings to memory the series of extraordinary and unforeseen events that together make up the […]

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New Prince George Christening coins go on sale

October 10, 2013

According to The Telegraph: The special coins…go on sale today to mark the christening of…Prince George. The design features the Lily Font from the Tower of London and two harp-playing cherubs. At the foot of the coin is the royal motto “Dieu et mon droit” – God and my right. Prince George will be christened […]

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Grand Ducal Family honors late Grand Duchess with concert

October 10, 2013

According to the Luxemburger Wort: Luxembourg’s Grand Duke Jean together with Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Princess Stéphanie on Friday honoured Grand Duchess Joséphine Charlotte with a concert at the Philharmonie. Friday’s concert saw the Paris Orchestra perform… Joséphine-Charlotte was born on October 11, 1927, as the oldest child and only daughter of King Leopold […]

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Knights of Malta visit King of Sweden

October 10, 2013

According to the Swedish Royal Court: On Friday 4 October, The King received representatives of the…the Order of Malta at the Royal Palace of Stockholm. The King has been patron of the Swedish Order of Saint John since 1974. During their visit to Sweden, representatives…also visited Stockholm Nursing Home and Stockholm City Mission. The Order […]

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For Charlemagne, a king should strive to bring his people to God

October 10, 2013

“One key—probably the most important one—to Charlemagne’s political thought is Augustine’s City of God, which, next to the Bible, was his favorite book. In reflecting on the temporal and heavenly realms, the patriarch took issue with ascetics who urged withdrawal from fallen human society in pursuit of an attainable holiness. He pointed out that perfection […]

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Could the Feudal Bond Be Helpful to Us Today?

October 10, 2013

Notwithstanding its human shortcomings, [the feudal bond] is a flexible and creative bond inside a family-like relationship. It is a bond that permeated all society from top to bottom generating ties of friendship and mutual responsibility. It is a sacred bond founded upon roots of a religious unity. We find in it the balanced application […]

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Desktop Wallpapers – More To Choose From

October 10, 2013

To add any of these desktop wallpapers to your computer, click on the size that you want for that image and save it to your computer. Then right-click on the desktop – select Properties from the context menu – go the Desktop tab – Browse and open the image you made – position the image (Center, […]

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October 10 – How to overcome bad ancestry

October 10, 2013

St. Francis Borgia (also known as Francisco de Borja y Aragon), born 28 October, 1510, was the son of Juan Borgia, third Duke of Gandia, and of Juana of Aragon; died 30 September, 1572. The future saint was unhappy in his ancestry. His grandfather, Juan Borgia, the second son of Alexander VI, was assassinated in Rome […]

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October 10 – St. Paulinus, Archbishop of York

October 10, 2013

St. Paulinus Archbishop of York, died at Rochester, 10 October, 644. He was a Roman monk in St. Andrew’s monastery at Rome, and was sent by St. Gregory the Great in 601, with St. Mellitus and others, to help St. Augustine and to carry the pallium to him. He laboured in Kent — with the […]

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October 11 – Model Archduke, both spiritual and temporal

October 10, 2013

St. Bruno the Great, Archbishop of Cologne Bruno the Great (or Bruno I) (925–965) was Archbishop of Cologne, Germany, from 953 until his death, and Duke of Lotharingia from 954. He was the brother of Otto I, king of Germany and later Holy Roman Emperor. Bruno was the youngest son of Henry the Fowler and […]

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October 11 – He dared step into the gap during the crisis

October 10, 2013

Pope Boniface VIII (BENEDETTO GAETANO) Born at Anagni about 1235; died at Rome, 11 October, 1303. He was the son of Loffred, a descendant of a noble family originally Spanish, but long established in Italy—first at Gaeta and later at Anagni. Through his mother he was connected with the house of Segni, which had already […]

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October 12 – Difficulties in his youth prepared him for later trials

October 10, 2013

St. Wilfrid Bishop of York, son of a Northumbrian thegn, born in 634; died at Oundle in Northamptonshire, 709. He was unhappy at home, through the unkindness of a stepmother, and in his fourteenth year he was sent away to the Court of King Oswy, King of Northumbria. Here he attracted the attention of Queen […]

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October 12 – Martyr King

October 10, 2013

St. Edwin The first Christian King of Northumbria, born about 585, son of Aella, King of Deira, the southern division of Northumbria; died October 12, 633. Upon Aella’s death in 588, the sovereignty over both divisions of Northumbria was usurped by Ethebric of Bernicia, and retained at his death by his son Ethelfrid; Edwin, Aella’s […]

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October 13 – King Confessor

October 10, 2013

St. Edward the Confessor Saint, King of England, born in 1003; died January 5, 1066. He was the son of Ethelred II and Emma, daughter of Duke Richard of Normandy, being thus half-brother to King Edmund Ironside, Ethelred’s son by his first wife, and to King Hardicanute, Emma’s son by her second marriage with Canute. […]

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Order of the Swan

October 10, 2013

Order of the Swan A pious confraternity, indulgenced by the pope, which arose in 1440 in the Electorate of Brandenburg, originally comprising, with the Elector Frederick at their head, thirty gentleman and seven ladies united to pay special honour to the Blessed Virgin. It spread rapidly, numbering in 1464 about 330 members, as well as […]

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October 7 – How the Rosary saved Christendom

October 7, 2013

by Jeremias Wells The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary Here is but a small fraction of the victories directly obtained from God through the Holy Rosary: The Battle of Lepanto which saved Rome and Vienna, and thus the Pope and the Emperor, from Moslem subjugation The deliverance of Vienna by Sobieski The victory […]

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Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Saves the Philippines from the Invading Dutch Fleet – Part 2

October 7, 2013

(2nd in a 2-part series) (Please click here to read Part 1) THE FIVE BATTLES  First Battle Upon reaching Mariveles, the Spanish found no trace of the Dutch. Continuing on to Bolinao in Lingayen Gulf, they finally caught sight of one enemy ship in mid-morning of March 15, 1646. At 1:00 pm, after a hot […]

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Australian Prime Minister: “I regret to say that not every Australian is a monarchist”

October 7, 2013

According to The Telegraph: Tony Abbott, the Australian prime minister, has welcomed Prince Harry to Sydney – but apologised that not everyone was pleased to see him. …he said: “I regret to say that not every Australian is a monarchist, but today everyone feels like a monarchist.” He added: “You grace us as your family […]

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Princess of Kent to resume royal engagements

October 7, 2013

According to Royal News 24: Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Kent is to begin undertaking royal engagements once more after a lengthy absence due to illness. The Princess cancelled all engagements in April this year after being diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica. Tomorrow, Her Royal Highness will visit the Queen Mother’s Clothing Guild of which […]

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The Feudal Bond Was a Sacred Bond

October 7, 2013

In the ceremony of homage, the two elements of protection and service were symbolically pledged by the superior placing his hands over the other’s folded hands. An act of fealty was added whereby the parties swore on the Gospels or relics of the saints to be faithful to one another. Christ and His saints served […]

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October 9 – Even in his lifetime his reputation was for great holiness and miraculous powers

October 7, 2013

St. John Twenge Canon regular, Prior of St. Mary’s, Bridlington, born near the town, 1319; died at Bridlington, 1379. He was of the Yorkshire family Twenge, which family in Reformation days supplied two priest-martyrs and was also instrumental in establishing the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Bar Convent, York. John completed his studies […]

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October 9 – Royal penitent

October 7, 2013

Bl. Gunther A hermit in Bohemia in the eleventh century; born about 955; died at Hartmanitz, Bohemia, 9 Oct., 1045. The son of a noble family, he was a cousin of St. Stephen, the King of Hungary, and is numbered among the ancestors of the princely house of Schwarzburg. He passed the earlier of his […]

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October 9 – Superb and valiant knight

October 7, 2013

Baron Athanase-Charles-Marie Charette de la Contrie Born at Nantes, 3 Sept., 1832; died at Basse-Motte (Ille-et-Vilaine), 9 Oct., 1911. His father was a nephew of the famous General Charette who was shot at Nantes, 29 March, 1795, during the rising of the Vendee. His mother, Louise, Countess de Vierzon, was the daughter of the Duc […]

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Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem

October 7, 2013

(Also known as KNIGHTS OF MALTA). The most important of all the military orders, both for the extent of its area and for its duration. It is said to have existed before the Crusades and is not extinct at the present time. During this long career it has not always borne the same name. Known […]

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October 4 – He chose a greater chivalry

October 3, 2013

St. Francis of Assisi Founder of the Franciscan Order, born at Assisi in Umbria, in 1181 or 1182 — the exact year is uncertain; died there, 3 October, 1226. His father, Pietro Bernardone, was a wealthy Assisian cloth merchant. Of his mother, Pica, little is known, but she is said to have belonged to a […]

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Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Saves the Philippines from the Invading Dutch Fleet

October 3, 2013

THE BATTLES OF LA NAVAL DE MANILA Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Saves the Philippines from the Invading Dutch Fleet Inside the Dominican church of Santo Domingo in Quezon City sits in celestial splendor and glory one of the most venerated and beloved image of the Most Holy Virgin in the Philippines. Among […]

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Labour MPs consider Royal 12% profit insufficient, demand more control

October 3, 2013

According to The Guardian: Gareth Thomas, chair of the Co-op party’s group of 33 Labour MPs, said…“Modernising the rules governing the crown estate could, for example, allow it to invest in up-and-coming property markets… or in new technology businesses…” The estate manages the £8.6bn of land and property that the crown owns, but which the […]

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Palace reminds joggers to be polite

October 3, 2013

According to AFP: Japanese joggers are being warned to mind their manners when they run around the Imperial Palace in central Tokyo, after a spate of rudeness. Officials say tourists and older visitors to the grounds have complained of runners crashing into them from behind and then trotting off without saying sorry. While the emperor’s […]

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MacArthur rebukes the Congressmen who insulted him

October 3, 2013

While Chief of Staff, MacArthur was called before a Congressional Committee to make a report. It is the intolerant practice of some congressmen and senators to throw monkey-wrenches into the wheels of progress in an attempt to make themselves important in the eyes of their constituents back home. Instead of constructively trying to get at […]

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The Feudal Bond Involved Mutual Responsibility

October 3, 2013

The strength of this feudal bond leads James Westfall Thompson to observe that “no more intensely personal form of government was ever conceived than that of feudalism, and the cardinal principle of it was mutual responsibility.”(1) That is to say, it was not a unilateral bond of submission, but a highly personal bond in which […]

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October 3 – Military turned monk

October 3, 2013

St. Gérard, Abbot of Brogne Born at Staves in the county of Namur, towards the end of the ninth century; died at Brogne or St-Gérard, 3 Oct. 959. The son of Stance, of the family of dukes of Lower Austrasia, and of Plectrude, sister of Stephen, Bishop of Liège, the young Gérard, like most men […]

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October 3 – Mother Théodore Guérin

October 3, 2013

Many of the early pioneers faced the hardships of this country where wars, famine and disease were the norm. Leaving everything behind, heroic souls came not only to save the souls of Indian nations, but also to minister to these frontier families. One such person was St. Mother Théodore Guérin, who became the eighth American Saint […]

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October 3 – Enemy of King St. Louis, but still his friend in Christ

October 3, 2013

St. Thomas of Hereford (THOMAS DE CANTELUPE). Born at Hambledon, Buckinghamshire, England, about 1218; died at Orvieto, Italy, 25 August, 1282. He was the son of William de Cantelupe and Millicent de Gournay, and thus a member of an illustrious and influential family. He was educated under the care of his uncle, Walter de Cantelupe, […]

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October 5 – St. Galla

October 3, 2013

A Roman widow of the sixth century; feast, 5 October. According to St. Gregory the Great (Dial. IV, ch. xiii) she was the daughter of the younger Symmachus, a learned and virtuous patrician of Rome, whom Theodoric had unjustly condemned to death (525). Becoming a widow before the end of the first year of her […]

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October 6 – Princes and popes coveted the advice of this silent man

October 3, 2013

St. Bruno Confessor, ecclesiastical writer, and founder of the Carthusian Order. He was born at Cologne about the year 1030; died 6 October, 1101. He is usually represented with a death’s head in his hands, a book and a cross, or crowned with seven stars; or with a roll bearing the device O Bonitas. His […]

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New Coat of Arms for Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Includes Diana Label

September 30, 2013

According to their official website: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have a new Conjugal Coat of Arms which will represent them in heraldic terms as a married couple. Designed by The College of Arms in London, Conjugal Arms traditionally show the separate shields of a Royal husband and wife, side by side. Both shields […]

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A British Royal Comes to America to Tell the Catholic Story

September 30, 2013

by Austin Ruse Next week Washington DC will be treated to the arrival of a pro-life Catholic who is also a member of the British royal family. How is that possible? Nicholas Windsor gave up his place in line to the British throne when he converted to the Catholic Church in 2001. He became “the […]

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Democrats Heckle Royals

September 30, 2013

According to AFP: Belgium’s newly-crowned royals, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, faced a crowd of separatist hecklers on their first foray into the rebellious port city of Antwerp on Friday. Though several hundred people lined up to greet Philippe…an equally big crowd of republican separatists massed nearby shouting “Death to Belgium” and waving the Flemish […]

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The Feudal Bond: Establishing Friendship not Hatred

September 30, 2013

While there were exceptions, the feudal bond tended to generate ties of great friendship. Those who swore such bonds, Bloch notes, were addressed as “friend” to the point that “friend” and “vassal” were considered synonymous. There was a true linking together of lives, a great interpenetration of interests and ideas. In general, feudal bonds were […]

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Honor above all, even at the cost of freedom and life

September 30, 2013

Egas Moniz de Ribadouro, the Tutor, (1080 – 1146) was a rich man in the County of Portucale (from which Portugal would later be born). He hailed from the noble lineage of the Ribadouro, one of the five great families of the county of Entre-Douro-e-Minho in the 12th century. Henry of Burgundy, Count of Portucale, had entrusted the […]

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September 30 – The cantankerous noble who became a saint

September 30, 2013

St. Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church Born at Stridon, a town on the confines of Dalmatia and Pannonia, about the year 340-2; died at Bethlehem, 30 September, 420. He had a brother much younger than himself, whose name was Paulinian. His father, called Eusebius, was descended from a good family, and had a […]

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October 1 – The martial and pious death of Don John of Austria: “A man sent by God”

September 30, 2013

Alarm was ended on the fourth day, seeing that the fever and other ills left D. John. But the next day, which was a Saturday, he suddenly grew worse, and while the other invalids went on getting better and became convalescent, he showed other symptoms of a strange illness, palpitations which made him get up […]

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October 1 – St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Prologue: The Parentage & Birth of Marie Françoise Thérèse Martin & Chapter I: Earliest Memories

September 30, 2013

ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX Excerpts from THE STORY OF A SOUL: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX SOEUR THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX, THE LITTLE FLOWER OF JESUS ______________________________ PROLOGUE: THE PARENTAGE & BIRTH OF MARIE FRANÇOISE THÉRÈSE MARTIN “To the Sacred Memory of Louis Joseph Stanislaus Martin and of Zélie Guérin, the blessed parents of […]

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