The Link between Authority and Vital Flux

August 12, 2013

In a truly organic society, the driving force of any human group is found in that vibrant vital flux that comes from below. The role of true authority is to interpret, distill, and direct this impulse of the vital flux that comes from below, and not impose itself and destroy freedom. “An organic and diversified […]

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Military Order of Montesa

August 12, 2013

Military Order of Montesa This order was established in the Kingdom of Aragon to take the place of the Order of the Temple, of which it was in a certain sense the continuation. It derived its title from St. George of Montesa, its principal stronghold. The Templars were received with enthusiasm in Aragon from their […]

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August 12 – St. Jane Frances de Chantal

August 12, 2013

Born at Dijon, France, 28 January, 1572; died at the Visitation Convent Moulins, 13 December, 1641. Her father was president of the Parliament of Burgundy, and leader of the royalist party during the League that brought about the triumph of the cause of Henry IV. In 1592 she married Baron de Chantal, and lived in […]

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August 12 – His pontificate was spent in opposing royal absolutism

August 12, 2013

Pope Blessed Innocent XI (Benedetto Odescalchi) Born at Como, 16 May, 1611; died at Rome, 11 August, 1689. He was educated by the Jesuits at Como, and studied jurisprudence at Rome and Naples. Urban VIII appointed him successively prothonotary, president of the Apostolic Camera, commissary at Ancona, administrator of Macerata, and Governor of Picena. Innocent […]

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August 13 – The Ottomans lived in fear of this Capuchin

August 12, 2013

Blessed Mark of Aviano (1631–1699) Capuchin friar. His baptismal name was Carlo Domenico Cristofori, his birthplace Aviano, a small community in the Republic of Venice (Italy). From an early age, he felt attracted to a life of devotion and martyrdom. Educated at the Jesuit College in Gorizia, at 16 he tried to reach the island […]

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August 13 – Crusader nun

August 12, 2013

Bl. Gertrude of Aldenberg Abbess of the Premonstratensian convent of Aldenberg, near Wetzlar, in the Diocese of Trier; born about 1227, died 13 August, 1297. She was the youngest of three children of Louis VI, margrave of Thuringia, and his wife St. Elizabeth of Hungary. Gertrude’s father died on his way to the Holy Land […]

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Denmark Crown Prince ready for throne – Poll

August 8, 2013

According to The Copenhagen Post: A slim majority want to see Crown Prince Frederik become king now and a full 77 percent feel he is up to the task In a poll conducted by YouGov for Søndagsavisen newspaper, 51 percent of respondents said that Queen Margrethe should abdicate the throne and make way for her […]

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MacArthur: The solitude of leadership

August 8, 2013

[D]espite the companionship of his closest staff members, MacArthur was always alone, in the sense that any supreme commander is always thrown upon his own resources. After all the discussions and the reports and the advice, there is only one man who can make the decisions on which he will act and on which will […]

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Vital Flux

August 8, 2013

There is a complementary ordering principle, found in the extraordinary dynamism in all living things, which we call “vital flux.”(1) Vital flux can be seen, for example, in the vigorous growth of plants or energetic movements of animals. But it is especially in man that we see unlocked talents and qualities that can unleash tremendous […]

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August 8 – The Rosary is really a weapon

August 8, 2013

St. Dominic Founder of the Order of Preachers, commonly known as the Dominican Order; born at Calaroga, in Old Castile, c. 1170; died 6 August, 1221. His parents, Felix Guzman and Joanna of Aza, undoubtedly belonged to the nobility of Spain, though probably neither was connected with the reigning house of Castile, as some of […]

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August 8 – He told his king that anyone who betrays Jesus could betray their king

August 8, 2013

St. Hormisdas (Martyred c. 420) Isdegerdes, king of Persia, renewed the persecution which Cosroes II had raised against the church. It is not easy, says Theodoret, to describe or express the cruelties which were then invented against the disciples of Christ. Some were flayed alive, others had the skin torn from off their backs only, […]

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August 10 – Defiant under torture, he inspires noble souls until today

August 8, 2013

St. Lawrence Martyr; died 10 August, 258. St. Lawrence, one of the deacons of the Roman Church, was one of the victims of the persecution of Valerian in 258, like Pope Sixtus II and many other members of the Roman clergy. At the beginning of the month of August, 258, the emperor issued an edict, […]

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August 10 – His sister founded the Conceptionists

August 8, 2013

Blessed João Mendes de Silva Better known as Amadeus of Portugal, O.F.M., (1420–1482), was a Portuguese nobleman who became first a monk, then left that life to become a friar of the Franciscan Order. Later he became a reformer of that Order, which led to his founding of a distinct branch of the Friars Minor […]

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August 11 – As soldiers scaled the walls of the convent, she met them with ciborium in hand and put them to flight

August 8, 2013

St. Clare of Assisi Cofoundress of the Order of Poor Ladies, or Clares, and first Abbess of San Damiano; born at Assisi, 16 July, 1194; died there 11 August, 1253. She was the eldest daughter of Favorino Scifi, Count of Sasso-Rosso, the wealthy representative of an ancient Roman family, who owned a large palace in […]

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Royal families have more family milestones than presidential families

August 5, 2013

According to The New York Times: …a royal family might come in handy. The closest thing we have to a royal family is the one belonging to the president, and presidents tend to be middle-aged men who produce very few family milestones. Even when they do, the country’s reaction is sometimes remarkably surly. Only one […]

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Even Washington finds magic in the British monarchy

August 5, 2013

According to The Independent: …even…in this city of a thousand receptions, the hottest ticket in town in recent weeks was for the party held by the British Ambassador to celebrate the Prince’s birth. The elite of Washington society, movers, shakers, politicos, business leaders, and media figures gathered on the landscaped lawns of the ambassadorial residence… […]

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Egyptian prince and Afghan princess will marry this month

August 5, 2013

According to Hello Magazine: Prince Muhammad Ali of Egypt and Princess Noal Zaher, granddaughter of King Zaher Shah of Afghanistan, are busy preparing for their impending royal wedding. The couple…are set to tie the knot on 30 August… Muhammad and Noal’s union is unusual nowadays as the descedants of two royal households rarely marry one […]

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The young daughter of an American elite family had the fondest memories of Pius IX, the Pope-King

August 5, 2013

Pio Nono reigned over the Papal States. We used to see him driving about in his great glass coach with outriders and caparisoned horses. We all knelt on the sidewalk to receive his blessing as he went by. He often came to the Pincio, the public garden where our mornings and most of our afternoons […]

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“Parceled Out Sovereignty”

August 5, 2013

This great sense of autonomy permeated all Christendom and gave rise to multiple levels of authority. In this order, authority is neither absolute nor centralized since there was a “parceling out of sovereignty” all over society.(1) Each one assumes dominion over a domain while integrating and having recourse to that of higher human groups only […]

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August 5 – Valor in a King

August 5, 2013

St. Oswald of Northumbria, King and Martyr The English Saxon kingdom of Northumbria was founded by Ida in 547. After his death the northern part called Bernicia was preserved by his children; but Deira, that is, the southern part, comprising Yorkshire and Lancashire, was occupied by Ælla or Alla, and after his death was recovered […]

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August 6 – Garcia Moreno: Heroic President of Ecuador

August 5, 2013

by José Maria dos Santos Gabriel Garcia Moreno, heroic President of Ecuador, assassinated for his Faith and Christian Charity. Manly Catholic of intransigent principles, slain by the enemies of the Faith because of his consistency and courage in defense of the Church and Papacy Gabriel Garcia Moreno was born in Guayaquil, in southern Ecuador on […]

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August 6 – Noble widower made pope

August 5, 2013

Pope St. Hormisdas Date of birth unknown, elected to the Holy See, 514; died at Rome, 6 August, 523. This able and sagacious pontiff belonged to a wealthy and honourable family of Frosinone (Frusino) in the Campagna di Roma (Latium). Before receiving higher orders he had been married; his son became pope under the name […]

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August 7 – St. Cajetan

August 5, 2013

St. Cajetan (GAETANO.) Nobleman of the dynasties of Da Porto and Thiene of Vicenza, Italy. Founder of the Theatines, born October, 1480 at Vicenza in Venetian territory; died at Naples in 1547. Under the care of a pious mother he passed a studious and exemplary youth, and took his degree as doctor utriusque juris at […]

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Prince George will use replica Christening gown

August 1, 2013

According to Hello Magazine: For 167 years, Britain’s royal babies wore a one-of-a-kind, custom-made, hand-me down Christening gown. …over 30 newborns including Prince William, Prince Charles and the Queen, have all worn the same Honiton lace and white satin gown… Prince George, however, will wear a new form of the family heirloom to celebrate this […]

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Order of Bath honor annulled after criminal conviction

August 1, 2013

According to The Guardian: Four months after her conviction and imprisonment for perverting the course of justice…the ex-wife of the former energy secretary Chris Huhne has been stripped of the rare honour – on the command of the Queen. An official announcement published in the London Gazette read: “The Queen has directed that the appointment […]

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Scotland independents struggle with monarchy

August 1, 2013

According to the Scottish Express: CIVIL war erupted in the independence campaign yesterday after the leader of Yes Scotland insisted that Prince George of Cambridge should never be King of Scots. Dennis Canavan said a breakaway country should scrap the monarchy through a second referendum if the Nationalists win next year’s poll. The former Labour […]

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Maharaja fortune will go to his daughters

August 1, 2013

According to BBC News: The daughters of a former Indian maharaja have won a 21-year court battle to inherit more than $4bn (£2.6bn) worth of assets. A court in the northern city of Chandigarh said the will of Harinder Singh Brar, Maharaja of Faridkot – who died in 1989 – had been forged. It had […]

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The education Queen Isabel gave her daughters

August 1, 2013

Two other Italians of note at that time in the world of scholarship, Antonio and Alessandro Geraldino, were appointed as tutors to the young princesses; and from their instructions Isabel’s daughters emerged fitting contemporaries of the famous D’Este sisters of Ferrara. It is said that Joanna, the second of the Castilian Infantas, astonished the Flemish […]

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We Are Unequal in Our Accidents

August 1, 2013

Comparisons of society to living beings have circulated since Plato and Aristotle and were only abandoned with the rise of the Enlightenment’s mechanistic conceptions of the universe. By these comparisons, we see the consistent use of the organic metaphor to convey the idea that society must adapt to our needs as both living individuals and […]

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August 1 – From impoverished Neapolitan nobility to Doctor of the Church

August 1, 2013

St. Alphonsus Liguori Born at Marianella, near Naples, 27 September, 1696; died at Nocera de’ Pagani, 1 August, 1787. The eighteenth century was not an age remarkable for depth of spiritual life, yet it produced three of the greatest missionaries of the Church, St. Leonard of Port Maurice, St. Paul of the Cross, and St. […]

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August 2 – Legate to the Emperor laden with responsibilities and threats

August 1, 2013

Saint Eusebius Bishop of Vercelli, born in Sardinia circa 283; died at Vercelli, Piedmont, August 1, 371. He was made lector in Rome, where he lived some time, probably as a member, or head, of a religious community (Spreitzenhofer, Die Entwickelung des alten Monchtums in Italien, Vienna, 1894, 14 sq.). Later he came to Vercellae, […]

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August 3 – Secretive Leader

August 1, 2013

St. Nicodemus A prominent Jew of the time of Christ, mentioned only in the Fourth Gospel. The name is of Greek origin, but at that epoch such names were occasionally borrowed by the Jews, and according to Josephus (Ant. of the Jews, XIV, iii, 2) Nicodemus was the name of one of the ambassadors sent […]

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Baby Prince George makes the monarchy more popular in Canada

July 29, 2013

According to the National Post: A new Forum Poll…suggests Canadians are now much more supportive of the monarchy after the birth of Prince George Alexander Louis compared to earlier this year. “It’s astonishing the salutary effect a little bundle of Royal joy will have on attitudes to the monarchy,” Forum Research President Lorne Bozinoff said. […]

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New challenge to Britain’s egalitarian change in rules of royal succession

July 29, 2013

According to the Daily Express: …plans to update the succession rules in 16 countries where the Queen is head of state ran into further trouble yesterday. The Canadian Royal Heritage Trust became the latest of four groups…to argue that Canada’s federal government has acted incorrectly in its efforts to change the rules. Similar challenges have […]

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Misguided effort to abolish male primogeniture in Britain’s peerage

July 29, 2013

According to The Independent: …proposals to allow first-born girls to inherit aristocratic titles look likely to be given the green light after senior cabinet sources indicated the move would not be opposed by the Government. Changes to the Royal Family’s line of succession…prompted a campaign…to give similar rights to women in the wider peerage. …campaigners […]

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British monarchy popularity soars, poll shows

July 29, 2013

According to The Telegraph: While the Queen is the most admired member of the Royal family overall, among those aged between 18 and 24, the Duchess of Cambridge emerges as the single most popular figure. Prince Harry, emerges from the poll as Britain’s third-favourite member of the Royal family, suggesting that his service in Afghanistan […]

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Passing of Count Andreas von Bismarck-Schönhausen, father of Baroness Stephanie von und zu Guttenberg

July 29, 2013

Count Andreas von Bismarck-Schönhausen, father of Baroness Stephanie von und zu Guttenberg, died on July 20 in Salzburg. He was 72 years old. Count Andreas was the great-grandson of Otto Prince von Bismark, the Iron Chancellor of the German Empire.  Together with Count Claus von Stauffenberg and other members of the German nobility, Gottfried von Bismarck-Schönhausen, […]

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Saint Louis the King leads the counter-charge against the Saracens

July 29, 2013

Then he [the Muslim general] caused the drums called nacaires to be beaten; and then they charged us, foot and horse. And first I will tell you of the King of Sicily—who was then Count of Anjou—because he was first on the side towards Babylon. The foe came against him as men play chess, for […]

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Significance and Value of True Tradition

July 29, 2013

Respect for tradition is a very rare virtue in our day. On the one hand, the Revolution (1) turned the craving for novelties and the disdain for the past into common attitudes. On the other hand, the defenders of tradition sometimes understand it in an entirely false manner. Tradition is not merely a historic value, nor […]

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July 29 – He regained the hearts of his people only after his death

July 29, 2013

St. Olaf Haraldson Martyr and King of Norway (1015-30), born 995; died 29 July, 1030. He was a son of King Harald Grenske of Norway. According to Snorre, he was baptized in 998 in Norway, but more probably about 1010 in Rouen, France, by Archbishop Robert. In his early youth he went as a viking […]

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July 29 – With one sermon, he launched the Crusades

July 29, 2013

Pope Blessed Urban II (Otho, Otto or Odo of Lagery), 1088-1099, born of a knightly family, at Châtillon-sur-Marne in the province of Champagne, about 1042; died 29 July, 1099. Under St. Bruno (afterwards founder of the Carthusians) Otho studied at Reims, where he later became canon and archdeacon. About 1070 he retired to Cluny and […]

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July 30 – Patron of Charcoal

July 29, 2013

St. Theobald Born at Provins in the Province of Champagne, France, in 1017; died at Salanigo in Italy 30 June, 1066. He was a member of a noble family. In 1054 without the knowledge of his parents he and his friend Walter gave themselves to the life of hermits at Sussy in the Ardennes, then […]

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July 31 – St. Germain

July 29, 2013

St. Germain Bishop of Auxerre, born at Auxerre c. 380; died at Ravenna, 31 July, 448. He was the son of Rusticus and Germanilla, and his family was one of the noblest in Gaul in the latter portion of the fourth century. He received the very best education provided by the distinguished schools of Arles […]

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July 31 – Soldier of Jesus

July 29, 2013

St. Ignatius Loyola Youngest son of Don Beltrán Yañez de Oñez y Loyola and Marina Saenz de Lieona y Balda. Born in 1491 at the castle of Loyola above Azpeitia in Guipuscoa; died at Rome, 31 July, 1556. The saint was baptized Iñigo, after St. Enecus (Innicus), Abbot of Oña: the name Ignatius was assumed […]

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July 31 – St. Helen of Sköfde

July 29, 2013

St. Helen of Sköfde Martyr in the first half of the twelfth century. Her feast is celebrated 31 July. Her life (Acta SS., July, VII, 340) is ascribed to St. Brynolph, Bishop of Skara, in Sweden (d. 1317). She was of noble family and is generally believed to have been the daughter of the Jarl […]

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Video: Gun salutes mark royal birth – BBC News

July 25, 2013

According to BBC News: Simultaneous gun salutes have marked the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first child in London. The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery fired a 41-gun salute in Green Park at 14:00 BST, after riding past Buckingham Palace. At the same time, the Honourable Artillery Company – the City of […]

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Video: Town crier heralds birth of future king outside Lindo Wing

July 25, 2013

A traditionally dressed town crier announces the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s son on the steps of the Lindo Wing in west London. “On this day, the 22nd of July, the year 2013, we welcome with humble duty a future king, the first born of the Royal Highness, the Duke and Duchess […]

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Video and Pictures: World celebrates royal birth – BBC News

July 25, 2013

Video: Gavin Esler talks to Michael Wolff, contributing editor of Vanity Fair magazine, Dr Lucy Worsley, chief curator of Historic Royal Palaces, Peter Conradi, author of The Great Survivors and Joan Smith, a columnist for the Independent on Sunday, about why people overseas are so interested in the British royal family. In pictures: World celebrates […]

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Royal girl succession law still awaits test of history – AFP

July 25, 2013

According to AFP: The birth of a royal baby boy…may remove the sense of urgency around a historic change in the law…[e]nding male primogeniture… The premiers of Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the 12 other countries where Queen Elizabeth reigns reached agreement in principle at the last Commonwealth summit in October 2011. The law […]

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United States President Congratulates Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

July 25, 2013

The White House Office of the Press Secretary Statement by the President and Mrs. Obama Congratulating Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Michelle and I are so pleased to congratulate The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the joyous occasion of the birth of their first child. We wish them all the […]

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Queen Henrietta’s piercing analysis of Calvin

July 25, 2013

When Henrietta Maria of France married Charles I, king of England, he called her attention to a Van Dyck hanging in one of the rooms. The painting showed Calvin holding a quill, and looking up, heavenwards. Silently and intently, the queen pondered the masterpiece. At last the king asked: —“What are your thoughts?” —“Now I […]

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Are elites enemies of progress?

July 25, 2013

Revolutionary spirits often raise the following objection against the nobility and the traditional elites: Being traditional, they are constantly turned toward the past and have their backs to the future, where true progress lies. They thus constitute an obstacle for any society wishing to pursue progress. Pius XII teaches us, however, that authentic progress lies […]

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July 26 – Blessed John Ingram

July 25, 2013

Blessed John Ingram English martyr, born at Stoke Edith, Herefordshire, in 1565; executed at Newcastle-on-Tyne, 26 July, 1594. He was probably the son of Anthony Ingram of Wolford, Warwickshire, by Dorothy, daughter of Sir John Hungerford. He was educated first in Worcestershire, then at the English College, Reims, at the Jesuit College, Pont-a-Mousson, and at […]

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July 27 – Wanted: Noble Men for the Missions, Never to Return Home

July 25, 2013

Martyrs of Cuncolim On Monday, 25 July, 1583, the village of Cuncolim in the district of Salcete, territory of Goa, India, was the scene of the martyrdom of five religious of the Society of Jesus: Fathers Rudolph Acquaviva, Alphonsus Pacheco, Peter Berno, and Anthony Francis, also Francis Aranha, lay brother. Rudolph Acquaviva was born 2 […]

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The Knights Templars

July 25, 2013

The Knights Templars were the earliest founders of the military orders, and are the type on which the others are modelled. They are marked in history (1) by their humble beginning, (2) by their marvellous growth, and (3) by their tragic end. (1) THEIR HUMBLE BEGINNING Immediately after the deliverance of Jerusalem, the Crusaders, considering […]

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It’s a boy! – ABC News

July 22, 2013

According to ABC News: “Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a son at 4.24 p.m.,” the palace said in a statement. “The baby weighs 8 lbs. 6 oz. The Duke of Cambridge was present for the birth.” “The queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of […]

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America does royal baby mania bigger and better – The Guardian

July 22, 2013

According to The Guardian: We clearly crave royalty; we yearn for splendour and try to create it by worshipping quarterbacks, eating up stories about what Michelle Obama wore yesterday and crowning teenaged girls in long white gloves Peanut Princess or Watermelon Queen with a diamante tiara…. …here we are, acting for all the world like […]

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Video highlights: Philippe becomes new Belgian king – BBC News

July 22, 2013

According to BBC News: The Oxford- and Stanford-educated, trained air force pilot took the oath as the country’s seventh king in a ceremony in parliament. To warm applause, King Philippe, 53, promised to uphold the constitution. In a colourful ceremony topped off by trumpet fanfare and cannon-fire, Philippe took his oath in the country’s three […]

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The Maid of Orleans asks the King to give France to God

July 22, 2013

When Joan came to find the King, he was at the town of Chinon, and I at Saint Florent. I was riding out on a quail hunt when a message came that a Maid had come to the King who maintained that she was sent by God to drive away the English, and to raise […]

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Elites: Propelling Forces of True Progress and Guardians of Tradition

July 22, 2013

There is a link between nobility and tradition. The former is the natural guardian of the latter. In temporal society, the nobility is par excellence the class entrusted with keeping alive the link whereby the wisdom of the past guides the present without, however, paralyzing it. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, Nobility and Analogous Traditional Elites […]

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