May 30 – Most Valiant King

May 30, 2013

Saint Ferdinand III of Castile King of Leon and Castile, member of the Third Order of St. Francis, born in 1198 near Salamanca; died at Seville, 30 May, 1252. He was the son of Alfonso IX, King of Leon, and of Berengeria, the daughter of Alfonso III, King of Castile, and sister of Blanche, the […]

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May 30 – Maid of Orleans

May 30, 2013

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

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May 31 – St. Camilla Battista da Varano

May 30, 2013

St. Baptista Varano (Varani). An ascetical writer, born at Camerino, in the March of Ancona, 9 Apr., 1458; died there, 31 May, 1527. Her father, Julius Caesar Varano or de Varanis, Duke of Camerino, belonged to an illustrious family; her mother, Joanna Malatesta, was a daughter of Sigismund, Prince of Rimini. At baptism Baptista received […]

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May 31 – St. Mechtildis of Edelstetten

May 30, 2013

St. Mechtildis was a Benedictine abbess and renowned miracle worker. Mechtildis was the daughter of Count Berthold of Andechs, whose wife, Sophie, founded a monastery on their estate at Diessen, Bavaria, and placed their daughter there at the age of five. In 1153, the Bishop of Augsburg placed her as Abbess of Edelstetten Abbey. Mechtildis […]

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June 1 – Kidnapped for Christ

May 30, 2013

Bl. John Story (Or Storey.) Martyr; born 1504; died at Tyburn, 1 June, 1571. He was educated at Oxford, and was president of Broadgates Hall, now Pembroke College, from 1537 to 1539. He entered Parliament as member for Hindon, Wilts, in 1547, and was imprisoned for opposing the Bill of Uniformity, 24 Jan.-2 March, 1548-9. […]

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June 1 – This Aristocrat Gave His Life for the Poor

May 30, 2013

Saint Hannibal Mary Di Francia (1851-1927)  (sometimes written as Annibale Maria Di Francia) Hannibal Mary Di Francia was born in Messina, Italy, on July 5, 1851. His father Francis was a knight, the Marquises of St. Catherine of Jonio, Papal Vice-Consul and Honorary Captain of the Navy. His mother, Anna Toscano, also belonged to an […]

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Terrorism will not stop Queen’s visit to Woolwich barracks

May 27, 2013

According to Hello Magazine: “It was a shocking and appalling act of violence that has left the nation stunned. In a move of defiance against the two men suspected of committing the atrocity on the streets of Woolwich on Wednesday, the Queen has vowed that her visit to the Woolwich barracks will go ahead as planned. The monarch, 87, […]

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Queen Elizabeth: On Sunday it will have been 60 years since her coronation

May 27, 2013

According to The Telegraph: At her Coronation 60 years ago, the most important moment for Elizabeth II was not the crowning but swearing to God to serve her people all her life. Only the weather seems the same. Sixty years ago next Sunday, on June 2 1953, the day of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth […]

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Isabella the Catholic confronts a riotous mob and restores order to Segovia

May 27, 2013

At the beginning of August, 1476, what threatened to be a serious rebellion broke out in Segovia, during the absence of the governor, Andres de Cabrera, now Marquis of Moya. The malcontents, whose disaffection had been roused  by his appointment of certain officials, succeeded by a ruse in gaining entrance to the citadel and seized […]

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Revolutionary principles subvert the medieval organic social order

May 27, 2013

Clergy, nobility, and people. This trilogy naturally brings to mind the representative assemblies that characterized many monarchies of the Middle Ages and the Ancien Régime: the Cortes of Portugal and Spain, the Estates General of France, the Parliament of England, and so forth. In these assemblies, there was an authentic national representation that faithfully mirrored […]

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May 27 – St. Augustine of Canterbury

May 27, 2013

St. Augustine of Canterbury First Archbishop of Canterbury, Apostle of the English; date of birth unknown; died 26 May, 604. Symbols: cope, pallium, and mitre as Bishop of Canterbury, and pastoral staff and gospels as missionary. Nothing is known of his youth except that he was probably a Roman of the better class, and that […]

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May 28 – Whether She Was Upstairs Or Downstairs, She Was Ever Steady

May 27, 2013

Blessed Margaret Pole Countess of Salisbury, martyr; born at Castle Farley, near Bath, 14 August, 1473; martyred at East Smithfield Green, 28 May, 1541. She was the daughter of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, and Isabel, elder daughter of the Earl of Warwick (the king-maker), and the sister of Edmund of Warwick who, under Henry […]

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May 28 – After Defeating the Saracens, He Joined the Benedictines

May 27, 2013

St. William of Gellone Born 755; died 28 May, c. 812; was the second count of Toulouse, having attained that dignity in 790. He is by some writers also given the title of Duke of Aquitaine. This saint is the hero of the ninth-century “Roman de Guillame au court nez”, but the story of his […]

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May 28 – St. Germain of Paris

May 27, 2013

St. Germain Bishop of Paris; born near Autun, Saône-et-Loire, c. 496; died at Paris, 28 May, 576. He studied at Avalon and also at Luzy under the guidance of his cousin Scapilion, a priest. At the age of thirty-four he was ordained by St. Agrippinus of Autun and became Abbot of Saint-Symphorien near that town. […]

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Death of HRH Prince Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse

May 23, 2013

The House of Hesse has confirmed the news that HRH Prince Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse, passed away earlier today, May 23, 2013. Born in Italy, on August 6, 1926, Prince Moritz was 86 years old. He had been head of the House of Hesse since October 25, 1980, at the death of his father, Prince Philipp.

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May 23 – Chevalier of the Order of Leopold

May 23, 2013

Fr. Pierre-Jean De Smet Missionary among the North American Indians, born at Termonde (Dendermonde), Belgium, 30 Jan., 1801; died at St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., 23 May, 1873. He emigrated to the United States in 1821 through a desire for missionary labours, and entered the Jesuit novitiate at Whitemarsh, Maryland. In 1823, however, at the suggestion […]

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St. Edmund, King and Martyr for his faith and people

May 23, 2013

The next year (870)  is one full of sorrow, and of glory, for Christian England. It witnesses the utter destruction of another Saxon kingdom, adds one worthy English name to the calendar of the saints, several to the roll of our heroes still remembered, and a whole people to the glorious list of those who […]

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Clergy, Nobility, and People

May 23, 2013

In the Middle Ages, society consisted of three classes, the clergy, the nobility, and the people, each of which had special duties, privileges, and honors. Besides this tripartite division, a clear distinction existed between rulers and those ruled, a distinction inherent to every social group and principally to a country. Not only the king, however, […]

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May 24 – St. Vincent of Lérins

May 23, 2013

St. Vincent of Lérins Feast on 24 May, an ecclesiastical writer in Southern Gaul in the fifth century. His work is much better known than his life. Almost all our information concerning him is contained in Gennadius, “De viris illustribus” (lxiv). He entered the monastery of Lérins (today Isle St. Honorat), where under the pseudonym […]

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May 24 – Our Lady Help of Christians, to commemorate the liberation of the Pope from prison

May 23, 2013

This commemoration was introduced in the liturgical calendar by decree of Pope Pius VII on September 16, 1815, in thanksgiving for his happy return to Rome after a long and painful captivity in Savona and France due to Napoleon’s tyrannical power. By order of Napoleon, Pius VII was arrested, 5 July, 1808, and detained a […]

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May 25 – He Forced the Emperor To Wait Three Days in the Snow

May 23, 2013

Pope St. Gregory VII (HILDEBRAND). One of the greatest of the Roman pontiffs and one of the most remarkable men of all times; born between the years 1020 and 1025, at Soana, or Ravacum, in Tuscany; died 25 May, 1085, at Salerno. The early years of his life are involved in considerable obscurity. His name, […]

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May 25 – She withstood the devil

May 23, 2013

St. Mary Magdalen de’ Pazzi Carmelite Virgin, born 2 April, 1566; died 25 May, 1607. Of outward events there were very few in the saint’s life. She came of two noble families, her father being Camillo Geri de’ Pazzi and her mother a Buondelmonti. She was baptized, and named Caterina, in the great baptistery. Her […]

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May 26 – He converted a young nobleman by showing him a vision of hell, and called the City of Rome his “Desert”

May 23, 2013

THE APOSTLE OF ROME St. Philip Romolo Neri Born at Florence, Italy, 22 July, 1515; died 27 May, 1595. Philip’s family originally came from Castelfranco but had lived for many generations in Florence, where not a few of its members had practised the learned professions, and therefore took rank with the Tuscan nobility. Among these […]

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Isabella the Catholic: Spain’s Joan of Arc

May 20, 2013

Instead of marching to seize Isabel[la], Alfonso V proceeded to Arévalo…. [I]t gave Isabella the one thing she needed—time. She pounced upon her advantage with all the energy of an awakening genius. Tireless, seemingly ubiquitous, she was almost constantly on horseback, going from one end of the kingdom to the other, making speeches, holding conferences, […]

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Chelsea Flower Show 2013: 100 years of royal approval – The Telegraph

May 20, 2013

According to The Telegraph: For a century Chelsea Flower Show has benefited from royal approval. The Queen now follows in her predecessors’ footsteps… and visits Chelsea on the Monday of show week, invariably in company with members of her family. …for 100 years, the show and its royal visitors have performed a mostly harmonious duet, […]

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9-year-old Jaipur prince becomes Maharaja of Sirmaur – India Today

May 20, 2013

According to India Today: Though the old feudal order has become a thing of the past, the former royalties still like to follow certain traditions like anointment of heads and titular heads of erstwhile princely states. In line with tradition, the nine-year-old younger prince of Jaipur, Rajkumar Lakshya Raj Singh is now the titular Maharaja […]

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With the Corruption of Democracy, Liberty Becomes Tyranny and Equality Degenerates into Mechanical Leveling

May 20, 2013

Having defined true democracy [enter link to previous post], Pius XII then describes false democracy. “Against this picture of the democratic ideal of liberty and equality in a people’s government by honest and far-seeing men, what a spectacle is that of a democratic state left to the whims of the masses! “Liberty, from being a […]

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May 20 – St. Bernardine of Siena

May 20, 2013

St. Bernardine of Siena Friar Minor, missionary, and reformer, often called the “Apostle of Italy”, b. of the noble family of Albizeschi at Massa, a Sienese town of which his father was then governor, 8 September, 1380; d. at Aquila in the Abruzzi, 20 May, 1444. Left an orphan at six Bernardine was brought up […]

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May 22 – Hanged for Publishing

May 20, 2013

Blessed James Duckett Martyr, born at Gilfortrigs in the parish of Skelsmergh in Westmoreland, England, date uncertain, of an ancient family of that county; died 9 April, 1601. He was a bookseller and publisher in London. His godfather was the well-known martyr James Leybourbe of Skelsmergh. He seems, however, to have been brought up a […]

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May 22 – Queen’s Confessor

May 20, 2013

Blessed John Forest Born in 1471, presumably at Oxford, where his surname was then not unknown; suffered 22 May, 1538. At the age of twenty he received the habit of St. Francis at Greenwich, in the church of the Friars Minor of the Regular Observance, called for brevity’s sake “Observants”. Nine years later we find […]

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Video: Queen Elizabeth II Opens Parliament 2013

May 16, 2013

Queen Elizabeth II opens sessions of Parliament 2013

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Maria Cristina of Savoy to be beatified

May 16, 2013

According to Realtà Sannita: …Servant of God Maria Cristina of Savoy, wife of Ferdinand II and Queen of the Two Sicilies….was born in Cagliari in 1812 of Vittorio Emanuele I of Savoy and Maria Theresa.  She died in the Royal Palace of Naples, due to post-partum infection, at the age of 23. The people acclaimed […]

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Charlemagne’s indirect role in the unification of England

May 16, 2013

In the year 849, when Alfred [the Great] was born at the royal burgh of Wantage, the youngest child of Aethelwulf and Osberga, the King of the West Saxons had already established his authority as lord over the other Teutonic kingdoms in England. Until the time of Egbert, the father of Aethelwulf, this overlordship had […]

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Natural Inequalities Should Also Exist in a True Democracy

May 16, 2013

[Pius XII] distinguishes between true and false democracy. The former is a corollary of the existence of a true people; the latter, on the contrary, is the consequence of reducing the people to the condition of mere human masses. “Hence, follows clearly another conclusion: the masses—as we have just defined them—are the capital enemy of […]

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St. Honoré pastry and its noble patron saint

May 16, 2013

Anyone who does much baking has had mishaps and for most of us they are very frustrating. Some even give up on the recipe involved, as if it were to blame, not our involuntary lapse. Yet while to err is human, to take a deep breath and try again, armed with prayer aforethought, is Christian. […]

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May 16 – Patron of Poland

May 16, 2013

Saint Andrew Bobola Martyr, born of an old and illustrious Polish family, in the Palatinate of Sandomir, 1590; died at Janów, 16 May, 1657. Having entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus at Wilno (1611), he was ordained in 1622, and appointed preacher in the Church of St. Casimir, Wilno. After making his solemn […]

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May 16 – Leper King

May 16, 2013

Modern society obsessively avoids suffering, risk and danger. It secures everything with seatbelts and safety rails, air conditions the summer heat, prints warnings on coffee cups and advises that that safety glasses should be used while working with hammers. Certainly such precautions have prevented misfortune. However, since heroism and excellence are born from confronting rather […]

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May 19 – Charlemagne’s Scholar

May 16, 2013

Blessed Alcuin of York An eminent educator, scholar, and theologian born about 735; died 19 May, 804. He came of noble Northumbrian parentage, but the place of his birth is a matter of dispute. It was probably in or near York. While still a mere child, he entered the cathedral school founded at that place […]

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May 19 – He Grabbed the Devil By the Nose

May 16, 2013

St. Dunstan of Canterbury Archbishop and confessor, and one of the greatest saints of the Anglo-Saxon Church; born near Glastonbury on the estate of his father, Heorstan, a West Saxon noble. His mother, Cynethryth, a woman of saintly life, was miraculously forewarned of the sanctity of the child within her. She was in the church […]

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Call for a public statue of Mary, Queen of Scots – BBC News

May 13, 2013

According to BBC News: The Marie Stuart Society said Mary…still does not have an official statue. Mary was executed on the orders of her cousin Queen Elizabeth I in 1587. Society resident Margaret Lumsdaine said: “As far as I am aware there is no official statue to the Queen in Scotland.” Mary Stuart was born […]

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39 percent of Serbians want a king again – B92 News

May 13, 2013

According to B92 News: … 39.7 percent of Serbian citizens believe that a renewal of a parliamentary monarchy would be a good idea. …the poll [was] done by Belgrade-based SAS Intelligence agency… SAS Intelligence Executive Director Miljan Premović explained…that the poll…had a 95 percent trust interval “which makes it good enough for scientific publications”. “Simon […]

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Czech crown jewels on display – Radio Prague

May 13, 2013

According to Radio Prague: Tens of thousands of people are expected to queue for hours to view the crown jewels, which have just gone on display at Prague Castle’s Vladislav Hall. Despite persistent heavy rain, a long queue had formed by 9 AM on Friday at Prague Castle, with people waiting patiently for the first […]

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Controversial royal visit to weapons producer proceeded as planned – Views and News from Norway

May 13, 2013

According to Views and News from Norway: Crown Prince Haakon went ahead with his planned visit to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth, Texas this week amidst criticism back home in Norway. The visit had been criticized because of Lockheed Martin’s history of making cluster bombs and because it was seen as a “PR coup” […]

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Alfred the Great’s fighting days started early

May 13, 2013

With such garniture then of one kind or another, gathered together in these early years, the young crown prince stands loyally by the side of the young king his brother, looking from their western home over an England already growing dark under the shadow of a tremendous storm. When it bursts, will it spend itself […]

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The People and the Shapeless Multitude: Two Distinct Concepts

May 13, 2013

The admirable teachings of Pius XII explain this difference [between people and masses] very well, clearly describing the natural concord that can and should exist between the elites and the people, contrary to the assertions of the prophets of class struggle. Pius XII affirms in his 1944 Christmas radio message: “The people, and a shapeless […]

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May 15 – Saint Jeanne de Lestonnac

May 13, 2013

Saint Jeanne de Lestonnac (December 27, 1556 – February 2, 1640) was founderess of the order The Company of Mary Our Lady. She was born in Bordeaux, France in 1556 to a prominent family. Her father, Richard de Lestonnac, was a member of the French Parliament while her mother, Jeanne Eyquem, was the sister of […]

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May 15 – Beautiful Princess, Tragic Story

May 13, 2013

St. Dymphna Virgin and martyr. The earliest historical account of the veneration of St. Dymphna dates from the middle of the thirteenth century. Under Bishop Guy I of Cambrai (1238-47), Pierre, a canon of the church of Saint Aubert at Cambrai, wrote a “Vita” of the saint, from which we learn that she had been […]

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Special Announcement!

May 9, 2013

SORRY! EWTN just called and said Mr. Horvat’s interview tonight at 8PM EST had to be rescheduled due to technical troubles. Author John Horvat will be rescheduled for another day with EWTN’s The World Over with Raymond Arroyo. Sorry for this change.

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First official engagement of the new Dutch king and queen

May 9, 2013

According to Hello! Daily News: “King Willem-Alexander and his wife Queen Maxima‘s beaming smiles and brightly-coloured outfits were nowhere to be seen at their first official engagement as the new monarchs of the Netherlands on Saturday. “Willem-Alexander, 46, and Maxima, his Queen consort, were in Amsterdam over the weekend to attend a memorial for Dutch soldiers lost during […]

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Despite her 87 years, Elizabeth II continues serving as Queen

May 9, 2013

According to the Express: “THE announcement by Buckingham Palace that the Queen will miss the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka in November is the first official acknowledgement that she is struggling to do part of her job…. “She has served the nation and Commonwealth brilliantly and still does incredible work for a woman […]

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Ongoing anti-monarchical efforts to topple the Norwegian throne

May 9, 2013

As reported in Royalty News: “This is now the 12th time, tri-partite coalition members of the Socialist Left (SV) would love to see Norway convert to being a republic. “We have been proposing this should materialise, for the last eleven terms in parliament,” Snorre Valen states. The MP, who sits on parliament’s Standing Committee on […]

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The Last Battle of the Valiant Don Alonso de Aguilar

May 9, 2013

To such as feel an interest in the fortune of the valiant Don Alonso de Aguilar, the chosen friend and companion-in-arms of Ponce de Leon, marques of Cadiz, and one of the most distinguished heroes of the war of Granada, a few particulars of his remarkable fate will not be unacceptable. For several years after […]

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Why do we have a problem with social inequality?

May 9, 2013

Before beginning the study of Pius XII’s allocutions to the Roman Patriciate and Nobility, it seems useful to forestall any shock that the reading of these commentaries may cause in people influenced by today’s radically egalitarian populism. The same shock may also come to others—perhaps even some belonging to the nobility or analogous elites—who fear […]

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May 10 – Saint Damien: A Hero Who Died on the Battlefield of Honor

May 9, 2013

Born Joseph de Veuster in Tremelo, Belgium, he took the religious name of Damien when he joined the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. There are few places on Earth more beautiful than Hawaii. While this idyllic paradise may be the destination spot for tourists and honeymooners, Joseph de Veuster was eager […]

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May 11 – Holy Merovingian

May 9, 2013

St. Aldegundis Virgin and abbess (c. 639-684), variously written Adelgundis, Aldegonde, etc. She was closely related to the Merovingian royal family. Her father and mother, afterwards honored as St. Walbert and St. Bertilia, lived in Flanders in the province of Hainault. Aldegundis was urged to marry, but she chose a life of virginity and, leaving […]

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May 12 – She said no to the crowns of England, France and the Holy Roman Empire

May 9, 2013

Blessed Joanna of Portugal Born at Lisbon, 16 February, 1452; died at Aveiro, 12 May, 1490; the daughter of Alfonso V, King of Portugal, and his wife Elizabeth. She was chiefly remarkable for the courage and persistence with which she opposed all attempts on the part of her father and brother to make her marry.  […]

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Extra! Extra! Special!

May 8, 2013
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May 6th – New Swiss Guards sworn in – Rome Reports

May 6, 2013

According to Rome Reports: The Guard’s new recruits … prepare for the swearing-in ceremony on May 6. One by one, the Colonel calls them up to take their oath to become a part of the Pope’s personal guard. With one hand on the flag of the Swiss Guard and with the other, they raise three […]

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Royal succession in Netherlands reminds us that thrones of monarchy are safe in Europe – The Irish Times

May 6, 2013

According to The Irish Times: …Europeans are in love with blue-blooded families. …royalty has proved remarkably resilient. Even as the French Revolution seemed to have sounded the death knell for kingship, the Habsburg Empire, for example, existed until the first World War. Today, 10 European countries are monarchies. The uncomfortable truth for republicans is that […]

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Queen Maria Finally Returns To Her Homeland – Royalty News

May 6, 2013

According to Royalty News: …the body of Queen Maria of Yugoslavia is at last being permitted to coming back home. The monarch, who is 2nd cousin once removed of both Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, will go back to Serbia following exhumation from the Royal burial ground at Frogmore, Windsor. Queen Maria resided in […]

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