January 10 – Maria Theodor Ratisbonne

January 9, 2025

A distinguished preacher and writer, and director of the Archconfraternity of Christian Mothers, b. of Jewish parentage at Strasburg, 28 Dec., 1802; d. in Paris, 10 Jan. 1884. He was raised in luxury, was educated at the Royal College of his native city, and at the age of manhood, was considered a leader among his […]

Read the full article →

January 10 – St. Diarmaid the Just

January 9, 2025

A famous Irish confessor of the mid-sixth century; d. 542. His name is associated with the great monastery of Inisclothran (Iniscleraun) on Lough Ree, in the Dioeese of Ardagh, which he founded about the year 530. He was of princely origin and a native of Connacht. Wishing to found an oratory far from the haunts […]

Read the full article →

January 10 – Jean-Baptiste Régis

January 9, 2025

Born at Istres, Provence, 11 June, 1663, or 29 Jan., 1664; died at Peking, 24 Nov., 1738. He was received into the Society of Jesus, 14 Sept. 1683, or 13 Sept. 1679, and in 1698 went on the Chinese mission, where he served science and religion for forty years, and took the chief share in […]

Read the full article →

Pius XII: Allocution of January 11, 1943

January 9, 2025

How, beloved Sons and Daughters, could the warm and heartfelt greetings that the lofty words of your illustrious representative conveyed to Us in your name fail to find their response in the offerings We now raise to God on your behalf? Unvanquished by the sorrows of the present hour, We feel, at this moment, a […]

Read the full article →

January 12 – Prominent Jesuit Missionary in Early Mexico

January 9, 2025

Pedro Díaz Missionary, b. at Lupedo, Diocese of Toledo, Spain, in 1546; d. in Mexico, 12 Jan., 1618. Though but twenty years of age when he joined the Society of Jesus he had already been a teacher of philosophy for two years. In 1572 he was sent by St. Francis Borgia to Mexico with the […]

Read the full article →

January 12 – Tyrolese priest and patriot

January 9, 2025

Johann Simon (Joachim) Haspinger A Tyrolese priest and patriot; b. at Gries, Tyrol, 28 October, 1776; d. in the imperial palace of Mirabell, Salzburg, 12 January, 1858. His parents were well-to-do country people, and destined their son for the priesthood. It was, however, only in 1703 after having devoted himself until his seventeenth year to […]

Read the full article →

January 12 – Father of the Modern Oratorio

January 9, 2025

Giacomo Carissimi The most influential and prolific Italian composer of his time, b. in 1604 at Marino in the Papal States; d. 12 Jan., 1674, in Rome. After completing his musical education in Rome, Carissimi became choirmaster at Assisi, and, in 1628, he was appointed to a like position at the church of St. Apollinaris […]

Read the full article →

January 12 – Countess, convert and authoress

January 9, 2025

Ida Hahn-Hahn Countess, convert and authoress, born 22 June, 1805; died 12 January, 1880. She was descended from a family that formerly was one of the wealthiest and most illustrious of the Mecklenburg nobility. Her father, the tragic and famous “Theatergraf” (theatrical count), squandered such huge sums on his one hobby, the drama, that he […]

Read the full article →

January 12 – Bernard Jungmann

January 9, 2025

Bernard Jungman A dogmatic theologian and ecclesiastical historian, born at Münster in Westphalia, 1 March, 1833; died at Louvain, 12 Jan., 1895. He belonged to an intensely Catholic family of Westphalia; like him, two of his brothers entered the service of the Church, one joining the Society of Jesus and the other becoming a missionary […]

Read the full article →

January 12 – Physician

January 9, 2025

Daniel Noble Physician, b. 14 Jan., 1810; d. at Manchester, 12 Jan, 1885. He was the son of Mary Dewhurst and Edward Noble of Preston, a descendant of an old Yorkshire Catholic family. Apprenticed to a Preston surgeon named Thomas Moore, Noble was in time admitted a member of the Royal College of Surgeons and […]

Read the full article →

RCR Book

January 6, 2025

Foreword Since its first publication in the Brazilian cultural journal Catolicismo in 1959, Revolution and Counter-Revolution has gone through a number of editions in Portuguese, English, French, Italian, and Spanish. The present edition is the first to be published digitally in the United States. It includes recent commentaries on Revolution and Counter-Revolution’s third part, which […]

Read the full article →

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

January 6, 2025

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 […]

Read the full article →

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

January 6, 2025

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 […]

Read the full article →

January 6 – St. Roch

January 6, 2025

St. Roch Born at Montpellier towards 1295; died 1327. His father was governor of that city. At his birth St. Roch is said to have been found miraculously marked on the breast with a red cross. Deprived of his parents when about twenty years old, he distributed his fortune among the poor, handed over to […]

Read the full article →

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

January 6, 2025

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 […]

Read the full article →

January 7 – St. Aldric

January 6, 2025

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, […]

Read the full article →

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

January 6, 2025

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 […]

Read the full article →

Allocution of January 8, 1940

January 6, 2025

At the start of the New year, a twofold gift has been given us by the Roman Patriciate and Nobility by their gathering around Us: the most appreciated gift of their presence and the gift of their filial best wishes, adornments, as a flower, of the testimonial of their traditional loyalty to the Holy See, […]

Read the full article →

January 8 – Hapsburg Saint

January 6, 2025

St. Gudula (Latin, Guodila) Born in Brabant, Belgium, of Witger and Amalberga, in the seventh century; died at the beginning of the eighth century. After the birth of Gudula her mother Amalberga, who is herself venerated as a saint, embraced the religious life, and according to tradition received the veil at the hands of St. […]

Read the full article →

Pius XII: Allocution of January 8, 1947

January 6, 2025

The homage of your loyalty and devotion, and the wishes of good tidings which you, beloved Sons and Daughters, come to offer Us each year by ancient custom, and which have been so beautifully expressed by your most excellent representative, always fill Our heart with sincere gratitude. Naturally, they usually reflect the thoughts and worries […]

Read the full article →

Three Reasons Why Abolishing the Hereditary Lords in the English Parliament Is a Big Mistake

January 2, 2025

By John Horvat II The United Kingdom’s Labour Party government is presenting a bill to abolish the hereditary lords from the upper chamber of Parliament. Hereditary lords are those House of Lords’ members who inherit the right to sit in the upper House based on services rendered to the realm. Many storied families have retained […]

Read the full article →

Aging Gracefully or Shamefully

January 2, 2025

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira In today’s society, at least as it pertains to the natural aging process, “young” is “in”—“old” is “out.” Everyone wants to appear young. There is a strange anomaly here. While it is fashionable to collect antiques and even vintage automobiles, a deep-rooted sentiment of displeasure exists among those for whom […]

Read the full article →

The Charm of the Curtsey

January 2, 2025

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 […]

Read the full article →

January 2 – The Infant of Prague

January 2, 2025

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 […]

Read the full article →

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

January 2, 2025

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 […]

Read the full article →

January 3 – The saint who twice saved Paris

January 2, 2025

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 […]

Read the full article →

January 4 – Patroness of those afflicted by sexual temptation

January 2, 2025

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 […]

Read the full article →

January 4 – Nobility in the United States

January 2, 2025

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 […]

Read the full article →

The Great Coronation Banquet

December 30, 2024

A century has passed since Emperor Karl was crowned King of Hungary on December 30, 1916. The coronation ceremony took place at St. Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest, attended by illustrious guests from throughout Europe. Usually a coronation is an occasion of mirth and celebration. However, Hungary was reeling from the ongoing First World War, just […]

Read the full article →

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

December 30, 2024

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 […]

Read the full article →

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

December 30, 2024

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 […]

Read the full article →

St. Louis and The Holy Name Of God

December 30, 2024

St. Louis, King of France, was one of the gentlest and most pious of monarchs. One thing only did he punish with great severity, and this was disrespect to, and profanation of, the Holy Name of God. At that time, as in our own days, nothing was more dishonored than God’s holy Name. To put […]

Read the full article →

The Dauphin’s gift to the Queen on New Year’s Day

December 30, 2024

At Marie Antoinette’s insistence, the four-year-old Dauphin promised: “By the end of the year, I will learn how to read. It will be my New Year’s gift to you.” Soon after he asked his tutor, Father Avaux, “How long is it before the end of the year?” “A little more than a month,” the priest […]

Read the full article →

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

December 30, 2024

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 […]

Read the full article →

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

December 30, 2024

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 […]

Read the full article →

Was There No Zeal For The Well-being of The Common People in The Centuries of Faith?

December 30, 2024

Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Two rooms.   The first belongs to a building with thick walls, easily seen by the deep encasement of the two windows that allow the light to enter through their thick panes yet protect the room from the cold. The wide borders of carved wood and the finely sculpted ceiling beams […]

Read the full article →

December 26 – He had the face of an angel

December 26, 2024

St. Stephen One of the first deacons and the first Christian martyr; feast on 26 December. In the Acts of the Apostles the name of St. Stephen occurs for the first time on the occasion of the appointment of the first deacons (Acts, vi, 5). Dissatisfaction concerning the distribution of alms from the community’s fund […]

Read the full article →

Excerpt from Pope Pius XII’s Allocution to the Pontifical Noble Guard on December 26, 1942

December 26, 2024

“None can be envious upon seeing that We bear you such special affection. To whom, in truth, is the immediate protection of Our person entrusted, if not to you? And are you not the first of Our guards? “Guard! What lofty resonance there is in this word: the soul trembles therewith; thoughts take wing. An […]

Read the full article →

December 27 – Son of Thunder

December 26, 2024

St. John the Apostle and Evangelist Styled in the gospel, The beloved disciple of Christ, and called by the Greeks The Divine, he was a Galilean, the son of Zebedee and Salome, and younger brother to St. James the Great, with whom he was brought up to the trade of fishing. From his acquaintance with […]

Read the full article →

December 27 – The divorced saint

December 26, 2024

St. Fabiola of Rome A Roman matron of rank, died 27 December, 399 or 400. She was one of the company of noble Roman women who, under the influence of St. Jerome, gave up all earthly pleasures and devoted themselves to the practice of Christian asceticism and to charitable work. At the time of St. […]

Read the full article →

The Legend of St. Dismas

December 26, 2024

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, […]

Read the full article →

The Socialists Declare That the Right of Property Is a Human Invention Opposed to the Innate Equality of Man

December 26, 2024

[From Leo XIII’s encyclical Quod Apostolici muneris, of December 28, 1878]: But Catholic wisdom, sustained by the precepts of natural and divine law, provides with especial care for public and private tranquility in its doctrines and teachings regarding the duty of government and the distribution of the goods which are necessary for life and use. […]

Read the full article →

The Universe, the Church, and Civil Society Reflect the Love of God in an Organic Inequality

December 26, 2024

[From Leo XIII’s encyclical Quod Apostolici muneris, of December 28, 1878]: For, He who created and governs all things has, in His wise providence, appointed that the things which are lowest should attain their ends by those which are intermediate, and these again by the highest. Thus, as even in the kingdom of heaven He […]

Read the full article →

Elitism

December 26, 2024

Folha de São Paulo, December 28, 1977 by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira In more than one progressivist-inspired publication I have run into the adjective, “elitist,” needless to say employed in a strongly pejorative sense. Indeed, from the psychological standpoint, progressivism is an amalgamation of all kinds of mediocrity, triviality and even vulgarity. As a consequence, […]

Read the full article →

December 29 – His Staff Did More Damage Than His Sword

December 26, 2024

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 […]

Read the full article →

Christmas Story Collection

December 23, 2024

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 […]

Read the full article →

December 25 – On Christmas Day, He Died

December 23, 2024

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, […]

Read the full article →

Christmas in French Salons

December 23, 2024

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, […]

Read the full article →

The Christmas Rose

December 23, 2024

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 […]

Read the full article →

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

December 23, 2024

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 […]

Read the full article →

Christmas in Italy, Germany, and Brazil

December 23, 2024

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 […]

Read the full article →

Princess Louise de France, Daughter of Louis XV, Carmelite

December 23, 2024

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira She fought the Revolution when she lived in the Court and later in the Carmel. She died poisoned by the revolutionaries, but her example continues to bear fruit to this day. Ed.: The author makes comments throughout the reading of the text on Princess Louise Marie of France. The English […]

Read the full article →

Spiritual Richness in the Common Life of the People

December 19, 2024

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira The National Museum of Ancient Art in Portugal preserves, among other valuable works, the nativity scene from the church of St. Vincent de Fora sculpted by Joaquim Machado de Castro in the eighteenth century. In our photograph, we present one detail from this nativity scene: the shepherds coming to adore […]

Read the full article →

December 19 – How Tumultuous Times Reveal Noble Souls

December 19, 2024

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 […]

Read the full article →

December 20 – Abraham

December 19, 2024

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, […]

Read the full article →

December 20 – Her church ranks third in Rome

December 19, 2024

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 […]

Read the full article →

December 20 – John Dubois

December 19, 2024

John Dubois Third Bishop of New York, educator and missionary, b. in Paris, 24 August, 1764; d. in New York, 20 December, 1842. His early education was received at home until he was prepared to enter the Collége Louis­le­Grand, where he had for fellow-students Robespierre and Desmoulins. Ordained priest at the Oratorian Seminary of St-Magloire, […]

Read the full article →

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

December 19, 2024

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 […]

Read the full article →

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

December 19, 2024

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 […]

Read the full article →

The Story of the Christmas Tree and Why Catholics Decorate Them

December 19, 2024

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 […]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →