Nation of Vibrant Little Nations

August 22, 2013

It is only by maintaining the delicate balance between authority and vital flux that small, medium-size, and large human groups form. From those groups, a sovereign would structure a nation of vibrant little nations—a marvelous mosaic of associations, parliaments, and hierarchies.(1) It is from the order of these intermediary groups—vibrant little nations—that the State draws […]

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August 22 – The Queenship of Mary

August 22, 2013

Pope Pius XII in the Papal Encyclical Ad Coeli Reginam proposed the traditional doctrine on the Queenship of Mary and established this feast for the Universal Church. Pope Pius IX said of Mary’s Queenship: “Turning her maternal Heart toward us and dealing with the affair of our salvation, she is concerned with the whole human […]

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August 22 – The pope who preached a Crusade against the German Emperor Frederick II

August 22, 2013

Pope Gregory IX (UGOLINO, Count of Segni). Born about 1145, at Anagni in the Campagna; died 22 August, 1241, at Rome. He received his education at the Universities of Paris and Bologna. After the accession of Innocent III to the papal throne, Ugolino, who was a nephew of Innocent III, was successively appointed papal chaplain, […]

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August 24 – Chancellor of the court

August 22, 2013

St. Ouen (OWEN; DADON, Latin Audaenus). Archbishop of Rouen, b. at Sancy, near Soissons about 609; d. at Clichy-la-Garenne, near Paris, 24 Aug., 683. His father, Autharius, and his mother, Aiga, belonged to the Gallo-Roman race. Shortly after Ouen’s birth they came to Ussy-sur-Marne, where he spent his childhood, with which tradition connects a series […]

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August 25 – King, Crusader, Saint

August 22, 2013

Saint Louis IX King of France, son of Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile, born at Poissy, 25 April, 1215; died near Tunis, 25 August, 1270. He was eleven years of age when the death of Louis VIII made him king, and nineteen when he married Marguerite of Provence by whom he had eleven children. […]

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Order of the Knights of Christ

August 22, 2013

Order of the Knights of Christ A military order which sprang out of the famous Order of the Temple (see Knights Templars). As Portugal was the first country in Europe where the Templars settled (in 1128), so it has been the last to preserve any remnant of that order. The Portuguese Templars had contributed to […]

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Isabel the Catholic is buried in Granada, the city she conquered for Christianity

August 19, 2013

Isabel herself knew the end was not far off, and bade those about her restrain their tears. When she heard of the processions and pilgrimages made throughout the kingdom in the hope of restoring her to health she asked that her subjects should pray “not for the safety of her life but the salvation of […]

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The Principle of Subsidiarity

August 19, 2013

A society with authority and vital flux is one of an immensely rich social life. Every family, social group, profession, region, and State tends to gather together under natural leaderships to address the needs so proper to our social nature. Each unit produces by custom and good sense that which it is capable of producing. […]

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August 19 – The prince who was made bishop at age 22

August 19, 2013

St. Louis of Toulouse Bishop of Toulouse, generally represented vested in pontifical garments and holding a book and a crosier, b. at Brignoles, Provence, Feb., 1274; d. there, 19 Aug., 1297. He was the second son of Charles II of Anjou, called the Lame, King of Naples (1288- 1309), and nephew of St. Louis IX […]

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August 20 – The Knights Templar owe him

August 19, 2013

St. Bernard of Clairvaux Born in 1090, at Fontaines, near Dijon, France; died at Clairvaux, 21 August, 1153. His parents were Tescelin, lord of Fontaines, and Aleth of Montbard, both belonging to the highest nobility of Burgundy. Bernard, the third of a family of seven children, six of whom were sons, was educated with particular […]

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August 21 – He was one of a network of aristocrat bishops

August 19, 2013

Saint Sidonius Apollinaris Gaius Sollius (Modestus) Apollinaris Sidonius or Saint Sidonius Apollinaris (November 5[1] of an unknown year, perhaps 430 – August, 489) was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Sidonius is “the single most important surviving author from fifth-century Gaul” according to Eric Goldberg.[2] He was one of four fifth-to sixth-century Gallo-Roman aristocrats whose letters […]

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Military Order of Alcántara

August 19, 2013

Military Order of Alcántara Alcántara, a town on the Tagus (here crossed by a bridge—cantara, whence the name), is situated in the plain of Estremadura, a great field of conflict for the Moslems and Christians of Spain in the twelfth century. First taken in 1167 by the King of Leon, Fernando II, Alcántara fell again […]

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Thailand celebrates birthday of Catholic-educated Queen Sirikit

August 15, 2013

According to Catholic News Agency: Catholics in Thailand are joining in prayer to celebrate the 81st birthday of Queen Sirikit…which is celebrated as both a national holiday and Mother’s Day in the country. More than 250 Catholic schools and institutions also gathered with thousands of students and parents to pray and show respect for the […]

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Prince Charles accused of too many meetings with ministers

August 15, 2013

According to The Telegraph: You have to admire the anti-monarchists’ persistence, if not their wisdom… Their latest target is the Prince of Wales, who stands accused…of exercising undue political influence by having 36 meetings with Coalition ministers over three years… …a future King should acquaint himself with the governance of the nation. Think of the […]

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The Empress who challenged the political correctness of her times

August 15, 2013

The Empress [Augusta Victoria] had always sympathized with the Roman Catholic Church, though the rumor that she had joined it had no justification. But she had many Catholic friends, and she was by nature adverse to any kind of persecution, be it religious or political. The Kulturkampf had been for her a source of great […]

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Principle of Authority as Coordinator

August 15, 2013

This complementary interplay of authority and vital flux differs completely from modern conceptions of authority as being despotic and tyrannical. Leaders must lead based on perceptions of what society needs and where it wants to go. Those manifesting the vital flux have every right to defend themselves should they be forced to act in a […]

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August 16 – Apostle of the North

August 15, 2013

St. Hyacinth Dominican, called the Apostle of the North, son of Eustachius Konski of the noble family of Odrowacz [or Odrowaz]; born 1185 at the castle of Lanka, at Kamin, in Silesia, Poland…; died 15 August, 1257, at Cracow. Feast, 16 Aug. A near relative of Saint Ceslaus, he made his studies at Cracow, Prague, […]

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August 17 – Her great beauty aroused the jealousy of the queen

August 15, 2013

St. Beatrix da Silva A Portuguese nun, died 1 September, 1490. In Portuguese she is known as Blessed Brites. She was a member of the house of Portalegre and descended from the royal family of Portugal. She accompanied the Portuguese Princess Isabel to Spain, when she married John II of Castile. There Beatrix seems to […]

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August 18 – The Empress who found the True Cross

August 15, 2013

Saint Helena (also known as Saint Helen, Helena Augusta or Helena of Constantinople) The mother of Constantine the Great, born about the middle of the third century, possibly in Drepanum (later known as Helenopolis) on the Nicomedian Gulf; died about 330. She was of humble parentage; St. Ambrose, in his “Oratio de obitu Theodosii”, referred […]

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Military Order of Calatrava – the knights who slept in armour

August 15, 2013

Founded in Castile, in the twelfth century, as a military branch of the great Cistercian family. In the Cistercian Order, then only recently formed (1098), there had been a large number of knights or sons of knights. In Calatrava, on the contrary, those who had been monks became knights. Monastic life has been called “a […]

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Royal Canadian Mint Unveil New Coins Honoring Baby Prince

August 12, 2013

According to the Daily Express: …the Royal Canadian Mint have unveiled…coins, which feature rattles, carriages and tiny shoes. One in three of the coins…show a sleeping baby in a crib with a beaver and a moose. “Canadians are delighted with the recent arrival of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first child, who will someday […]

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Overwhelming Trust in New Netherlands King

August 12, 2013

According to Dutch News: King Willem-Alexander enjoys the trust of 86% of the Dutch population, a survey by RTL news shows. A quarter of those questioned said they have ‘a great deal of trust’ in the king. Willem-Alexander, who celebrates 100 days as king today, has seen his trust rating increase from 79.2% just before […]

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Don Pelayo starts the Reconquista with the battle of Covadonga

August 12, 2013

By contrast with the catastrophic loss of Spain, the chroniclers tell us that through Divine Providence liberty was restored to the Christian people and the Asturian kingdom was brought into being. This reportedly occurred when the majority of the Goths of royal blood came to the Asturias and elected as king Pelayo (719-737), son of […]

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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 – 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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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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