Pius XII: Allocution of January 5, 1942

January 5, 2026

Beloved Sons and Daughters, the loftily worded message of greeting that your illustrious representative has communicated to Us, wishes, it seems to us, to manifest above all that filial attachment to the Apostolic See which spurs your faith and is the finest glory of the Roman Patriciate and Nobility. With great joy and exaltation, We […]

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January 5 – Pope St. Telesphorus

January 5, 2026

(About 125-136.) St. Telesphorus was the seventh Roman bishop in succession from the Apostles, and, according to the testimony of St. Irenæus (Adv. hæreses, III, iii, 3), suffered a glorious martyrdom. Eusebius (Hist. eccl., IV, vii, xiv) places the beginning of his pontificate in the twelfth of Hadrian’s reign (128-129), his death in the first […]

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Allocution of Benedict XV to the Roman Patriciate and Nobility on January 5, 1920

January 5, 2026

In the recent annual commemoration of the Birth of Jesus Christ, there resounded in our faith the heavenly chant of the angels raising their hymns to God and to peace. Since that happy day there has not ceased to echo around Us, as in harmonious concert, voices of good will and affection that Our faraway […]

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January 6 – The Kingship of Christ Is Manifest to the Pagan World

January 5, 2026

The Epiphany of Our Lord Saints Balthasar, Caspar and Melchior Epiphany, which in the original Greek signifies appearance or manifestation, as St. Augustin observes, (1) is a festival principally solemnized in honor of the discovery Jesus Christ made of himself to the Magi, or wise men; who, soon after his birth, by a particular inspiration […]

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First recorded Mass in the Americas: January 6, 1494 at La Isabela, Dominican Republic

January 5, 2026

Columbus’s second fleet of seventeen assorted ships carried between twelve hundred and fifteen hundred men and was organized to establish a permanent colony that would serve as a base for trade with the people of this new land. The fleet left Cádiz on 25 September 1493 and arrived in the Caribbean in November. Columbus was […]

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January 6 – St. Joan of Arc was born on this day over 600 years ago

January 5, 2026

St. Joan of Arc In French Jeanne d’Arc; by her contemporaries commonly known as la Pucelle (the Maid). Born at Domremy in Champagne, probably on 6 January, 1412; died at Rouen, 30 May, 1431. The village of Domremy lay upon the confines of territory which recognized the suzerainty of the Duke of Burgundy, but in […]

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January 7 – St. Aldric

January 5, 2026

St. Aldric Bishop of Le Mans in the time of Louis le Debonnaire, born c. 800; died at Le Mans, 7 January, 856. As a youth he lived in the court of Charlemagne, at Aix la Chapelle, as well as in that of his son and successor Louis. By both monarchs he was highly esteemed, […]

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January 7 – Ordered bandits of royal blood to hang from the highest mast

January 5, 2026

St. Canut Second son of Eric the Good, king of Denmark, he was made duke of Sleswig, his elder brother Nicholas being king of Denmark. Their father, who lived with his people as a father with his children, and no one ever left him without comfort, says the ancient chronicle Knytling-Saga, p. 71. died in […]

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January 7 – St. Kentigerna

January 5, 2026

St. Kentigerna, Widow She is commemorated on the 7th of January, in the Aberdeen Breviary, from which we learn, that she was of royal blood, daughter of Kelly, prince of Leinster in Ireland, as Colgan proves from ancient monuments. She was mother of the holy abbot St. Fœlan, or Felan. After the death of her […]

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January 1 – The Virgin Mary was “of the house of David”

January 1, 2026

Mary’s Davidic ancestry St. Luke (2:4) says that St. Joseph went from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be enrolled, “because he was of the house and family of David”. As if to exclude all doubt concerning the Davidic descent of Mary, the Evangelist (1:32, 69) states that the child born of Mary without the intervention of […]

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January 1 – As bishop, he was harsh to himself, to his clergy, and to any king

January 1, 2026

St. Fulgentius (FABIUS CLAUDIUS GORDIANUS FULGENTIUS). Born 468, died 533. Bishop of Ruspe in the province of Byzacene in Africa, eminent among the Fathers of the Church for saintly life, eloquence and theological learning. His grandfather, Gordianus, a senator of Carthage, was despoiled of his possessions by the invader Genseric, and banished to Italy, his […]

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January 2 – The Infant of Prague

January 1, 2026

Its earliest history can be traced back to Prague in the year 1628 when the small, 19-inch high, wooden and coated wax statue of the Infant Jesus was given by Princess Polyxena von Lobkowicz (1566–1642) to the Discalced Carmelites, to whom she had become greatly attached. The princess had received the statue as a wedding […]

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January 2 – St. Basil the Great

January 1, 2026

St. Basil the Great Bishop of Caesarea, and one of the most distinguished Doctors of the Church. Born probably 329; died 1 January, 379. He ranks after Athanasius as a defender of the Oriental Church against the heresies of the fourth century. With his friend Gregory of Nazianzus and his brother Gregory of Nyssa, he […]

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January 2 – St. Gregory of Nazianzus

January 1, 2026

St. Gregory of Nazianzus Doctor of the Church, born at Arianzus, in Asia Minor, c. 325; died at the same place, 389. He was son — one of three children — of Gregory, Bishop of Nazianzus (329-374), in the south-west of Cappadocia, and of Nonna, a daughter of Christian parents. The saint’s father was originally […]

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January 3 – Discoverer of Oregon and of the entire California coast

January 1, 2026

Estévan (Juan) Cabrillo A Portugese in the naval service of Spain, date and place of birth unknown; died on the island of San Bernardo, 3 Jan., 1543. In 1541 Pedro de Alvarado gathered a fleet of twelve vessels on the coast of Western Mexico (Navidad) for an expedition to the Moluccas. Alvarado was soon after […]

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January 3 – The saint who twice saved Paris

January 1, 2026

St. Genevieve Patroness of Paris, born at Nanterre, circa 419 or 422; died at Paris, 512. Her feast is kept on 3 January. She was the daughter of Severus and Gerontia; popular tradition represents her parents as poor peasants, though it seems more likely that they were wealthy and respectable townspeople. In 429 St. Germain […]

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January 3 – They called him the “Archangel”

January 1, 2026

St. Odilo Fifth Abbot of Cluny, born c. 962; died 31 December, 1048. He was descended from the nobility of Auvergne. He early became a cleric in the seminary of St. Julien in Brioude. In 991 he entered Cluny and before the end of his year of probation was made coadjutor to Abbot Mayeul, and […]

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January 3 – Saint Joseph Mary Tomasi

January 1, 2026

Saint Joseph Mary Tomasi The very eminent servant of God Joseph Mary Tomasi, Cardinal, whom Pope Pius VII decorated with the honors of the Blessed in 1803, and whom today the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II ascribes solemnly in the book of the Saints, was born at Licata, in Sicily, the Diocese of Agrigento, on […]

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January 4 – Patroness of those afflicted by sexual temptation

January 1, 2026

Blessed Angela of Foligno Umbrian penitent and mystical writer. She was born at Foligno in Umbria, in 1248, of a rich family; died 4 January, 1309. Married at an early age, she loved the world and its pleasures and, worse still, forgetful of her dignity and duties as wife and mother, fell into sin and […]

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January 4 – Nobility in the United States

January 1, 2026

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Foundress and first superior of the Sisters of Charity in the United States, b. in New York City, 28 Aug., 1774, of non-Catholic parents of high position; d. at Emmitsburg, Maryland, 4 Jan., 1821. Her father, Dr. Richard Bayley (b. Connecticut and educated in England), was the first professor of anatomy […]

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The Charm of the Curtsey

January 1, 2026

A young Englishwoman of title visited this country recently she expressed astonishment at the ignorance of the art of formal social behavior which American girls displayed. They did not know how to bow correctly, the curtsey seemed to have become an obsolete social form here; they had not learned the graceful way to proceed down the […]

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December 29 – Blessed William Howard

December 29, 2025

Blessed William Howard 1st Viscount Stafford, martyr; born 30 November, 1614; beheaded Tower-Hill, 29 December, 1680. He was grandson of the Saint Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel, mentioned above, fifth son of Earl Thomas (the first great art collector of England), and uncle of Thomas Philip, Cardinal Howard. Brought up as a Catholic, he was […]

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December 29 – King, Sinner, Penitent, Prophet

December 29, 2025

King David In the Bible the name David is borne only by the second king of Israel, the great-grandson of Boaz and Ruth (Ruth, iv, 18 sqq.). He was the youngest of the eight sons of Isai, or Jesse (I Kings, xvi, 8; cf. I Par., ii, 13), a small proprietor, of the tribe of […]

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December 29 – His Staff Did More Damage Than His Sword

December 29, 2025

St. Thomas à Becket Martyr, Archbishop of Canterbury, also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London, born at London, 21 December, c. 1118; died at Canterbury, 29 December, 1170. St. Thomas was born of parents who, coming from Normandy, had settled in England some years previously. No reliance can be placed upon the […]

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December 30 – Princess, Orphan, Foundress

December 29, 2025

Blessed Margaret Colona Poor Clare, also known as Margarita Colonna, born in Rome, date uncertain; died there, 20 September, 1284. Her father, Prince Odo Colonna, and her mother died in Rome when she was still a young girl, and she was left to the care of her two brothers, the youngest of whom was raised […]

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December 30 – He Preached Sanctity in Marriage and Chastity in Priesthood

December 29, 2025

St. Egwin Third Bishop of Worcester; date of birth unknown; d. (according to Mabillon) 20 December, 720, though his death may have occurred three years earlier. His fame as founder of the great Abbey of Evesham no doubt tended to the growth of legends which, though mainly founded on facts, render it difficult to reconcile […]

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December 31 – The patrician girl who befriended St. Augustine, St. Jerome, and the Empress

December 29, 2025

St. Melania (the Younger) Born at Rome, about 383; died in Jerusalem, 31 December, 439. She was a member of the famous family of Valerii. Her parents were Publicola and Albina, her paternal grandmother of the same name is known as Melania, Senior. Little is known of the saint’s childhood, but after the time of […]

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December 31 – Ideal Bishop, Skilled Goldsmith

December 29, 2025

St. Marius Aventicus (Or AVENTICENSIS) Bishop of Avenches (Switzerland) and chronicler, born about 530 in the present Diocese of Autun; died at Lausanne, 31 December, 594. Of the events of his life little is known. From an inscription on his tomb in the church of St. Thyrsius in Lausanne (published in the “Monumenta Germ. Scriptores”, […]

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Christmas in Italy, Germany, and Brazil

December 25, 2025

Three different ways of commemorating Christmas; three varieties of contemplation Saint of the Day, December 21, 1973 If we imagine an elaborate nativity scene in certain regions of Italy, we can see all the figures taking very emphatic attitudes: the Child Jesus lying in the manger, reaching out to Our Lady; She bent over her […]

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The Christmas Rose

December 25, 2025

The Christmas rose blooms at Christmastime. Really!  The flower pushes up out of the snow. The blooms last for weeks and the plant lasts for years. It is said that it bloomed outside the stable at Bethlehem, although the plant is not a native of the Holy Land. The rose reminds us of the stable […]

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Christmas Is Here: The Gate Of Pardon And Hope Are Open

December 25, 2025

By Plinio Correa de Oliveira The secret to the proper organization of earthly life is found in the words the angels sang to the enraptured shepherds on Christmas night: “Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to men of good will.” When men recognize the plenitude of all perfections in God and […]

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December 25 – On Christmas Day, He Died

December 25, 2025

St. Peter Nolasco Born at Mas-des-Saintes-Puelles, near Castelnaudary, France, in 1189 (or 1182); died at Barcelona, on Christmas Day, 1256 (or 1259). He was of a noble family and from his youth was noted for his piety, almsgiving, and charity. Having given all his possessions to the poor, he took a vow of virginity and, […]

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Christmas Story Collection

December 25, 2025

Our Lord as the Point of Reference Some Reflections on the Story of the Little Drummer Boy Christmas Preparation The Count and The Chimneysweep How did St. Nicholas evolve into Santa Claus and why? For Christmas Gifts, St. Louis IX of France Gives His Nobles Crusader Crosses Seeking the True Joy of Christmas Empress Sisi’s […]

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Christmas in French Salons

December 25, 2025

Since no door in the town of Bethlehem was opened to the Holy Family, the Infant Jesus was born in a poor stable manger heated only with an ox and ass. In reparation for such lack of hospitality, every year at Christmas, French noble houses open their doors to the Christ Child, his holy Mother, […]

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For Christmas Gifts, St. Louis IX of France Gives His Nobles Crusader

December 25, 2025

Louis IX occupied himself constantly in carrying his design into execution, and neglected no mean of winning to his purpose all the nobility of his kingdom; his piety did not disdain to employ, for what he considered a sacred cause, all the empire that kings generally possess over their courtiers. . . . After an […]

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Inside the Kitchens at Buckingham Palace: Christmas Ginger Bread Biscuits

December 25, 2025

According to the British Royal Household: ‘Its always best to let the dough rest, so it’s great if you can make the dough the night before,’ reveals one Royal Pastry Chefs. ‘You can also roll out the dough, cut the shapes and put them in a freezer for an hour. This ensures they keep their […]

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The Legend of St. Dismas

December 25, 2025

by Pauline Sanders Many years ago, after Jesus was born, the evil King Herod waited for the three kings from the Orient to return to his kingdom with news of the newborn King. When they did not return, Herod grew afraid that this new King would cause him to lose his throne. Because of this, […]

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Christmas Preparation

December 22, 2025

Alphonsus of Aragon, [King Alfonso V of Aragón], whose piety was equal to his greatness, went to visit one of the nobles of his kingdom a little before the festival of Christmas. This nobleman, although possessed of much wealth, neglected his religious duties, and was leading a very sinful life. When he heard that his […]

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The Story of the Christmas Tree and Why Catholics Decorate Them

December 22, 2025

In the seventh century a monk from Crediton, Devonshire, went to Germany to teach the word of God. His name was Saint Boniface. He did many good works there and spent much time in Thuringia, a region later to become the center of the Christmas decoration industry. Tradition has it that Saint Boniface used the […]

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December 22 – “I swear by St. Eimhin’s bell…”

December 22, 2025

St. Eimhin Abbot and Bishop of Ros-mic-Truin (Ireland), probably in the sixth century. He came of the royal race of Munster, and was brother of two other saints, Culain and Dairmid. Of the early part of his religious life little is known. When he became abbot of the monastery of Ros-mic-Truin, in succession to its […]

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December 23 – The Knights of Aviz and Their Cistercian Founder

December 22, 2025

Saint John of Cirita Memorial: 23 December Benedictine monk, also known as John Ziritu. Hermit in Galacia. Monk at Toronca, Portugal, which he helped turn into a Cistercian house. Wrote the Rule of the Knights of Aviz (Portuguese: Ordem Militar de Avis).  Died, c. 1164. The Military Order of St. Benedict of Aviz A military […]

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December 23 – Duke of Guise

December 22, 2025

HENRI I DE LORRAINE Prince de Joinville, and in 1563 third Duke of Guise, born 31 Dec. 1550, the son of François de Guise and Anne d’Este; died at Blois, 23 Dec., 1588. The rumours which attributed to Coligny a share in the murder of François de Guise hailed in the young Henri de Guise, […]

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December 23 – He Always Held His Soul in His Hands

December 22, 2025

Saint Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão Born 1739, in the village of Santo Antonio da Vila de Guaratinguetá, Brazil; died 23 December, 1822, at the Convent of Light, São Paulo, Brazil. His father, also named Anthony, belonged to an illustrious Portuguese family and was well educated, as evidenced by his writings. He excelled in business, the […]

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December 24 – Sts. Irmina and Adela

December 22, 2025

Princesses Irmina and Adela were daughters of St. Dagobert II, King of the Francs. Their father had acceded to the throne at the age of seven but had been deposed soon after and had fled to Ireland for safety. During his exile he married the Anglo-Saxon princess, Matilda, and had five children, among them Adela […]

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December 24 – Adam and Eve

December 22, 2025

Adam The first man and the father of the human race. ETYMOLOGY AND USE OF WORD There is not a little divergence of opinion among Semitic scholars when they attempt to explain the etymological signification of the Hebrew word adam (which in all probability was originally used as a common rather than a proper name), […]

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December 24 – Vasco da Gama

December 22, 2025

Vasco da Gama The discover of the sea route to East Indies; born at Sines, Province of Alemtejo, Portugal, about 1469; died at Cochin, India, 24 December, 1524. His father, Estevão da Gama, was Alcaide Mor of Sines, and Commendador of Cercal, and held an important office at court under Alfonso V. After the return […]

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In Society There Should be Princes and Vassals, Proprietors and Proletarians, Rich and Poor, Learned and Ignorant, Nobles and Plebeians

December 18, 2025

In the motu proprio Fin dalla prima, of December 18, 1903, Saint Pius X summarizes the doctrine of Leo XIII on social inequalities: 1. Human society, as God established it, is composed of unequal elements, just as the members of the human body are unequal. To make them all equal would be impossible, and would […]

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December 18 – St. Flannan

December 18, 2025

St. Flannan mac Toirrdelbaig, was the son of Turlough, the King of Thomond in Ireland. He became a monk at the monastery of Killaloe, and at a certain point made a pilgrimage to Rome where Pope John IV consecrated him bishop. He was the first bishop of Killaloe, the diocese becoming one of twenty-four established […]

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December 19 – How Tumultuous Times Reveal Noble Souls

December 18, 2025

Pope Blessed Urban V Guillaume de Grimoard, born at Grisac in Languedoc, 1310; died at Avignon, 19 December, 1370. Born of a knightly family, he was educated at Montpellier and Toulouse, and became a Benedictine monk at the little priory of Chirac near his home. A Bull of 1363 informs us that he was professed […]

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December 20 – Jacob

December 18, 2025

Jacob The son of Isaac and Rebecca, third great patriarch of the chosen people, and the immediate ancestor of the twelve tribes of Israel. The incidents of his life are given in parts of Gen., xxv, 21-1, 13, wherein the documents (J, E, P) are distinguished by modern scholars (see ABRAHAM, I, 52). His name— […]

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December 20 – Isaac

December 18, 2025

Isaac The son of Abraham and Sara. The incidents of his life are told in Genesis 15-35, in a narrative the principal parts of which are traced back by many scholars to three several documents (J, E, P) utilized in the composition of the Book of Genesis (see ABRAHAM). According to Genesis 17:17; 18:12; 21:6, […]

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December 20 – Her church ranks third in Rome

December 18, 2025

St. Anastasia This martyr enjoys the distinction, unique in the Roman liturgy, of having a special commemoration in the second Mass on Christmas day. This Mass was originally celebrated not in honour of the birth of Christ, but in commemoration of this martyr, and towards the end of the fifth century her name was also […]

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December 20 – Abraham

December 18, 2025

Abraham The original form of the name, Abram, is apparently the Assyrian Abu-ramu. It is doubtful if the usual meaning attached to that word “lofty father”, is correct. The meaning given to Abraham in Genesis 17:5 is popular word play, and the real meaning is unknown. The Assyriologist, Hommel suggests that in the Minnean dialect, […]

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December 21 – Doctor of the Church & Second Apostle of Germany

December 18, 2025

St. Peter Canisius Born at Nimwegen in the Netherlands, 8 May, 1521; died in Fribourg, 21 November, 1597. His father was the wealthy burgomaster, Jacob Canisius; his mother, Ægidia van Houweningen, died shortly after Peter’s birth. In 1536 Peter was sent to Cologne, where he studied arts, civil law, and theology at the university; he […]

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December 15 – St. Drostan

December 15, 2025

St. Drostan (DRUSTAN, DUSTAN, THROSTAN) A Scottish abbot who flourished about a.d. 600. All that is known of him is found in the “Breviarium Aberdonense” and in the “Book of Deir”, a ninth-century MS. now in the University Library of Cambridge, but these two accounts do not agree in every particular. He appears to have […]

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December 16 – Saint Judicael ap Hoel

December 15, 2025

Saint Judicael ap Hoel (c. 590 – 16 or 17 December 658) was the King of Domnonée and a Breton high king in the mid-seventh century. According to Gregory of Tours, the Bretons were divided into various regna (subkingdoms) during the sixth century, of which Domnonée, Cornouaille, and Broweroch are the best known; they had […]

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December 16 – Afonzo de Albuquerque

December 15, 2025

Albuquerque, Afonzo de (also Dalboquerque), surnamed “the Great”, b. in Portugal, in 1453; d. at Goa, 16 December, 1515. He was second son of Gonzallo de Albuquerque, lord of Villaverde, and became attached to the person of the king of Portugal. He went to Otranto with Alphonso V in 1480, and made his first voyage […]

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December 17 – St. Olympias

December 15, 2025

Born 360-5; died 25 July, 408, probably at Nicomedia. This pious, charitable, and wealthy disciple of St. John Chrysostom came from an illustrious family in Constantinople. Her father (called by the sources Secundus or Selencus) was a “Count” of the empire; one of her ancestors, Ablabius, filled in 331 the consular office, and was also […]

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December 17 – St. Sturmius and the diocese of Fulda

December 15, 2025

To systematize the work of evangelizing Germany, St. Boniface organized a hierarchy on the usual ecclesiastical basis; in Bavaria the Dioceses of Salzburg, Freising, Ratisbon, and Passau; in Franconia and Thuringia, Würzburg, Eichstätt, Buraburg near Fritzlar, and Erfurt. To facilitate missionary work farther north, especially among the Saxons, he sought a suitable spot for the […]

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Monaco’s Prince blocks bill to legalize abortion

December 11, 2025

h/t The Catholic Herald According to The Catholic Herald: A European Catholic monarch is refusing to sign a bill that would have legalised abortion in his Catholic country. Prince Albert II of Monaco has declined to sign a bill passed by the National Council that would have legalised abortion in the Principality. The proposed legislation, […]

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