September 15 – Grandmother of Good King Wenceslaus

September 12, 2013

St. Ludmilla Wife of Boriwoi, the first Christian Duke of Bohemia, born at Mielnik, circa 860; died at Tetin, near Beraun, 15 September, 921. She and her husband were baptized, probably by St. Methodius, in 871. Pagan fanatics drove them from their country, but they were soon recalled, and after reigning seven more years they […]

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September 11 – Burned slowly to death at Nagasaki

September 9, 2013

Blessed Charles Spinola Born in Genoa in 1564, he was the son of the Count of Tassarolo, and the nephew of Cardinal Philip Spinola. He was educated in Spain and in the Jesuit school in Nola, Italy. He entered the noviatiate in 1584, and was ordained in 1594. In 1596, he received a letter appointing […]

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Left-wing protesters burn Queen Elizabeth in effigy

September 9, 2013

According to Sky News: Left-wing protesters have staged a demonstration against Britain’s involvement in the International Olympics Committee in Buenos Aires. Around 250 demonstrators chanted anti-British slogans and burned an effigy of the Queen and a Union Flag outside the committee. The protest was the latest by the Quebracho group that in April last year […]

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Princess Royal threatened during visit to Argentina

September 9, 2013

According to The Telegraph: The five-day visit is being made in Princess Anne’s capacity as a member of the International Olympic Committee. Protest group Quebracho…has vowed to disrupt proceedings, claiming it will be able to enter the theatre. Quebracho, a far left-wing group, not only wants the return of the Falklands to Argentina but also […]

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Cambodia opposition party appeal to King to resolve election impasse

September 9, 2013

According to AFP: Cambodia’s opposition party has called on the nation’s king to resolve a festering dispute over elections in July which saw strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen retain power. …opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) …allege massive vote-rigging. …its leader Sam Rainsy on Monday sent a letter to Cambodia’s constitutional monarch King Norodom Sihamoni […]

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Alfred the Great’s dying words to his son

September 9, 2013

The last of the works attributed to Alfred which need be specially mentioned, is the collection of proverbs, or sayings, in verse and prose, found amongst the Cotton manuscripts…. In almost the last of the series, the King addresses his son: “Thus quoth Alfred: My dear son, sit thou now beside me, and I will […]

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The Family Spirit and the State

September 9, 2013

This family spirit permeated the truly Christian State, which assumed images and customs by which “people soon began to conceive of the State as a kind of family.”(*) The Christian State came to be governed with great family-like affection and even by families themselves. This sentiment of affection is actually a most important element of […]

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September 10 – Arrested while preaching

September 9, 2013

St. Edward Ambrose Barlow (Alias RADCLIFFE and BRERETON.) Priest and martyr, born at Barlow Hall, 1585; died 10 September, 1641. He was the fourth son of Sir Alexander Barlow, Knight of Barlow Hall, near Manchester, by Mary, daughter of Sir Uryan Brereton, Knight of Handforth Hall, Co. Chester, and was baptized at Didsbury Church 30 […]

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Bethlehemites: Military and Religious Orders

September 9, 2013

Bethlehemites I. MILITARY ORDERS There were two military orders dedicated to Our Lady of Bethlehem and known under the name of Bethlehemites. Mathew Paris calls attention to the former in his “Grande Chronique” (tr. Huillard-Bréholles, Paris, 1840, 8vo, III, 300) where he mentions that Henry III of England authorized them to open a house in […]

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Heredity’s role in the making of General Douglas MacArthur

September 5, 2013

The story behind General Douglas MacArthur—what makes his gallant stand in World War II one of the great fighting epics of history—is told here for the first time. There are more than a thousand years of Fighting MacArthurs in his blood. One of the oldest proverbs in Scotland is: “There is nothing older, unless the […]

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He pledged on his honor to return to prison, and amazingly, he did

September 5, 2013

According to the Metro: Capt Robert Campbell wrote to Kaiser Willhelm II during World War I begging to be released so he could see his mother, Louise, for the final time. The German leader granted him two weeks’ compassionate leave as long as he kept his word as an officer to go back to the […]

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Scottish independents voice disdain for hereditary head of state

September 5, 2013

According to the Daily Express: Some 63 per cent of voters called for a ballot on Scotland’s next head of state in the event of separation, with only 22 per cent saying the royals should be retained without question. …repeated demands for an independent Scotland to become a republic have obviously shaken confidence in the […]

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The Family and Intermediary Associations

September 5, 2013

Leo XIII speaks of the family as a social matrix when he states that “the family may be regarded as the cradle of civil society, and it is in great measure within the circle of family life that the destiny of the States is fostered.”(1) Hence, we see the spirit of the family mirrored in […]

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September 5 – Unashamed to beg alms even from his noble family

September 5, 2013

St. Laurence Justinian, Bishop and Confessor, First Patriarch of Venice Bishop and first Patriarch of Venice, born in 1381, and died 8 January, 1456. He was a descendant of the Giustiniani, a Venetian patrician family which numbered several saints among its members. Lawrence’s pious mother sowed the seeds of a devout religious life in the […]

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September 7 – The Outrage of Anagni

September 5, 2013

It had been the practice to speak of the spiritual and temporal powers in terms of pope and emperor, and it was long before it was realized, at least on the papal side, that the civil power, defeated as emperor, had returned to the attack with more aggressive vigour as the Monarchy and the State. […]

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September 7: Richard the Lionheart defeats Saladin at Arsuf – Video

September 5, 2013

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September 7 – Grandson of Queen St. Clotilda

September 5, 2013

St. Cloud, Confessor A.D. 560. St. Cloud, called in Latin Chlodoardus, is the first and most illustrious saint among the princes of the royal family of the first race in France. He was son of Chlodomir, king of Orleans, the eldest son of St. Clotilda, and was born in 522. He was scarcely three years […]

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September 8 – The Davidic ancestry of Mary

September 5, 2013

As we celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us recall her 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 […]

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Knights of the Cross

September 5, 2013

Knights of the Cross (Ordo Militaris Crucigerorum cum Rubea Stella.) A religious order famous in the history of Bohemia, and accustomed from the beginning to the use of arms, a custom which was confirmed in 1292 by an ambassador of Pope Nicholas IV. The grand master is still invested with a sword at his induction […]

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Clare Boothe Luce argues vigorously against birth control

September 2, 2013

Ann Clare Boothe was born on April 10, 1903, in a dismal apartment house on Riverside Drive in New York City…. Clare herself once succinctly pictured her unpropitious prospects as a baby. Shortly after her conversion to Catholicism, she was attacked by an ardent disciple of Mrs. Sanger for the Catholic stand against birth control. […]

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Trust in new King of the Belgians jumps 18% in two months

September 2, 2013

According to Flanders News: Since he became the new King of the Belgians on 21 July, people are putting more trust in Filip. That’s according to a poll carried out by De Morgen, Le Soir and the commercial TV stations RTL and VTM. In June, the then crown prince Filip obtained a score of 51 […]

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Egyptian Prince marries Afghan Princess

September 2, 2013

According to NettyRoyal.nl: On 30 August 2013 Prince Muhammad Ali of Egypt and Princess Noal Zaher of Afghanistan got married at the Çirağan Palace in Istanbul, Turkey. To read the entire post in NettyRoyal.nl, please click here. _______________________ Also of interest: Egyptian prince and Afghan princess will marry this month Islamists desire to topple the […]

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Preserving the Continuity of the Family

September 2, 2013

[In] pre-modern times, the family took measures to ensure a continuity that spanned the centuries. Family members became trustees who shared not only a common blood of heredity, but a common spiritual and material inheritance that each generation must hold as a sacred trust to be safeguarded and increased. The Christian family, regardless of social […]

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September 3 – All the principles of Catholicism can be found in his life

September 2, 2013

Pope St. Gregory I (“the Great”) Doctor of the Church; born at Rome about 540; died 12 March 604. Gregory is certainly one of the most notable figures in Ecclesiastical History. He has exercised in many respects a momentous influence on the doctrine, the organization, and the discipline of the Catholic Church. To him we […]

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September 4 – She predicted the speedy death of the emperor

September 2, 2013

St. Rose of Viterbo (also Rosalia, and in Sicily affectionately nicknamed La Santuzza) Virgin, born at Viterbo, 1235; died 6 March, 1252. The chronology of her life must always remain uncertain, as the Acts of her canonization, the chief historical sources, record no dates. Those given above are accepted by the best authorities. Born of […]

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Military Orders

September 2, 2013

Military Orders Including under this term every kind of brotherhood of knights, secular as well as religious, historians of the military orders have enumerated as many as a hundred, even after eliminating the apocryphal and stillborn. This great number is explained by the eagerness with which the Middle Ages welcomed an institution so thoroughly corresponding […]

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St. Bernard and the Templar warrior-monks: a new vocation

August 29, 2013

St. Bernard took a strong liking to Hugues, promising to compile a rule for him and find recruits. “They can fight the battle of the Lord and indeed be soldiers of Christ.” In 1128 a council was convened at Troyes and, on Bernard’s advice, Hugues attended it. Though the abbot was not present he sent […]

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The Stability of Generations

August 29, 2013

When speaking of the traditional family, we must see it as more than just the sum of living members composed of a father, mother, and children. Throughout history, the family has always been understood to mean the unity of the whole lineage of ancestors and descendants. It was only with the Enlightenment that this universally […]

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August 30 – Gallant Lady

August 29, 2013

St. Margaret Ward Martyr, born at Congleton, Cheshire; executed at Tyburn, London, 30 Aug., 1588. Nothing is known of her early life except that she was of good family and for a time dwelt in the house of a lady of distinction named Whitall then residing in London. Knowing that William Watson, the priest who […]

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August 30 – Saved by the cross

August 29, 2013

Blessed Bronislava (or Bronislawa) of Poland Born in 1230 to an important Polish family, her grandfather had founded the Premonstratensian monastery at Zwierzyniec near Cracow where Bronislava’s aunt Gertrude had entered, later becoming prioress at Imbramowice. Bronislava was also a cousin of the Dominican Saint Hyacinth and related to Saint Jacek and Blessed Czeslaw. Bronislava entered the convent at Zwierzyniec at the […]

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August 31 – Born of a dead mother

August 29, 2013

St. Raymond Nonnatus (Not-Born) (In Spanish SAN RAMON). Born 1200 or 1204 at Portello in the Diocese of Urgel in Catalonia; died at Cardona, 31 August, 1240. His feast is celebrated on 31 August. He is pictured in the habit of his order surrounded by ransomed slaves, with a padlock on his lips. He was […]

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Teutonic Order

August 29, 2013

Teutonic Order A medieval military order modeled on the Hospitallers of St. John, which changed its residence as often as the latter. These residences, marking as many stages in its development, are: (1) Accon (Acre), its cradle in Palestine (1190-1309); (2) Marienburg, Prussia, the centre of its temporal domination as a military principality (1309-1525); (3) […]

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First official photographs of Prince George released

August 26, 2013

According to Hello! Magazine: The world was treated to the first official photographs of Prince George on Monday. The snaps of the newest addition to the British royal family were surprisingly informal and relaxed. Taken at the Middleton home, the cameraman was none other than Kate’s dad Michael Middleton. William and Kate are seen smiling […]

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Son of Maori King Calls for Inspirational Leadership

August 26, 2013

According to the Waikato Times: The heir to the Kingitanga throne made his inaugural speech at Turangawaewae Marae and used the opportunity to send a message to tribal elders to…work for the future. Illness forced the Maori King, Tuheitia, to hand official duties to Whatumoana Paki, 22, and he watched as his eldest son addressed […]

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Duchess of Medinaceli – RIP

August 26, 2013

According to The Telegraph: Victoria Eugenia Fernández de Córdoba y Fernández de Henestrosa was born in Madrid on April 16 1917, the eldest daughter of Don Luis Jesús Fernández de Córdoba y Salabert, 17th Duke of Medinaceli, and Doña Ana María Fernández de Henestrosa y Gayoso de los Cobos. The Dukedom of Medinaceli, one of […]

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The Family: The Most Basic Institution

August 26, 2013

Although the modern world has glorified the individual, we can have no illusions. Isolated man accomplishes very little by himself. It is upon man in association with others that a civilization is built. That is why the family is so important. The family is the first and most basic social, political, and economic unit without […]

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August 26 – This noblewoman survived the Terror and founded the Daughters of the Cross

August 26, 2013

Saint Elizabeth Bichier des Ages She was born of a rich, noble family on July 5, 1773, at the Château des Ages, France. Raised in a pious home, she developed at an early age a close relationship with God and a genuine love for the poor. She was twenty-five when she first met André Hubert […]

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August 28 – Restless Heart

August 26, 2013

St. Augustine of Hippo The great St. Augustine’s life is unfolded to us in documents of unrivaled richness, and of no great character of ancient times have we information comparable to that contained in the “Confessions,” which relate the touching story of his soul, the “Retractations,” which give the history of his mind, and the […]

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Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem

August 26, 2013

Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem The military order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem originated in a leper hospital founded in the twelfth century by the crusaders of the Latin Kingdom. Without doubt there had been before this date leper hospitals in the East, of which the Knights of St. Lazarus claimed to be the […]

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Lord Moran on Churchill’s State Funeral

August 22, 2013

He was taken at night to Westminster, to the Hall of William Rufus, and there for three days he lay in state, while the people gathered in crowds that stretched over Lambeth Bridge to the far side of the river, to do honor to the man they loved for his valor. On the fourth day […]

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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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