Coronation Festival brings royal warrant holders to Buckingham Palace – BBC News

July 15, 2013

According to BBC News: More than 200 suppliers to the Royal Family have gathered at Buckingham Palace for a festival… Members of the public are able to attend…, and 48,000 have paid £30 for a day ticket or £90 to attend an evening gala. The firms involved are all royal warrant holders, so-called because the […]

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Chicago exhibit on Nazi and Communist extermination of Poland’s elite

July 15, 2013

The Polish Consulate in Chicago has opened an exhibit titled: ”The Destruction of the Polish Elite: Operation AB – Katyń” The Consulate General of the Republic of Poland has brought to Chicago a historical exhibit by Poland’s National Institute of Remembrance IPN. It will be displayed across the region in cooperation with the Consulate’s many […]

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Churchill on American Presidential Elections

July 15, 2013

To turn his thoughts I [Lord Moran] told him of an article about the Presidential election in America. There seems to be no market in an election there for close reasoning; all they appear to want are vague generalities and a comfortable personality like Ike [General Eisenhower]. Winston commented drily: “It is as well to […]

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A Principle of Autonomy

July 15, 2013

Man is a rational being endowed with free will. As such, he naturally enjoys a personal autonomy where he exerts control of himself, his character, and the world immediately around him. The individualist limits this personal autonomy to a mere means to construct a separate little world and further a pursuit of happiness, while in […]

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Queen Elizabeth II Tea Scones

July 15, 2013

Queen Elizabeth II tea scones   3 Cups all purpose flour 1/3 Cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 ½ teaspoons (double acting) baking powder ½ teaspoon salt * 1½ sticks ( ¾ Cup) salted butter softened ¾ Cup buttermilk 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract 1 Cup cranberries   3 teaspoons (your choice) of loose Orange […]

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July 17 – Martyred in the Name of Equality

July 15, 2013

The Sixteen Blessed Teresian Martyrs of Compiègne Guillotined at the Place du Trône Renversé (now called Place de la Nation), Paris, 17 July, 1794. They are the first sufferers under the French Revolution on whom the Holy See has passed judgment, and were solemnly beatified 27 May, 1906. Before their execution they knelt and chanted […]

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July 17 – The day the Tsar was murdered

July 15, 2013

Execution of Tsar Nicholas II and his family In the early hours of 17 July 1918, the royal family was awakened around 2:00 am, told to dress, and led down into a half-basement room at the back of the Ipatiev house. The pretext for this move was the family’s safety — that anti-Bolshevik forces were […]

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Republican MPs to boycott king’s swearing-in – Flanders News

July 11, 2013

According to Flanders News: On 21 July Crown Prince Filip will take his oath of allegiance to the Belgian Constitution making him the seventh King of the Belgians. The prince will swear the oath in front of a joint meeting of the two houses of the Belgian Parliament, but some Republican lawmakers are boycotting the […]

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Baby will be called Prince or Princess of Cambridge – The Royal Forums

July 11, 2013

According to The Royal Forums: Buckingham Palace has announced today that the child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will get the title Prince or Princess of Cambridge. A palace spokesman said, “The royal couple’s child will officially be known as His or Her Royal Highness the Prince or Princess of Cambridge.” The Duke […]

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The Nobility: A Particularly Distinguished Order in Human Society—It Will Have Special Accounts to Render to God

July 11, 2013

An application of these rich and solid teachings to the contemporary condition of the nobility may be found in the allocution of John XXIII to the Roman Patriciate and Nobility on January 9, 1960. “The Holy Father is pleased to note that the distinguished audience is a reminder of what human society is as a […]

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July 11 – The noble saint who fled the world, but the world ran after him

July 11, 2013

Saint Benedict of Nursia Founder of western monasticism, born at Nursia, c. 480; died at Monte Cassino, 543. The only authentic life of Benedict of Nursia is that contained in the second book of Saint Gregory’s “Dialogues”. It is rather a character sketch than a biography and consists, for the most part, of a number […]

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July 13 – The Crusaders attack Jerusalem

July 11, 2013

The attack began the night of July 13, [1099,] and the defenders let loose a hail of stones and rivers of Greek fire…. The battle hung in the balance during the morning hours of July 15. Archers shot blazing firebrands to drive the defenders from the walls, but the siege towers were battered and burned. […]

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July 13 – Saintly Elite

July 11, 2013

St. Marie-Azélie “Zélie” Martin née Guérin (23 December 1831 – 28 August 1877) was a French laywoman and the mother of Saint Thérèse de Lisieux. Her husband was Saint Louis Martin. Marie-Azélie Guérin was born in Saint-Denis-sur-Sarthon, Orne, France and was the second daughter of Isidore Guérin and Louise-Jeanne Macé. She had an older sister, […]

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July 13 – Good King Henry

July 11, 2013

St. Henry II German King and Holy Roman Emperor, son of Duke Henry II (the Quarrelsome) and of the Burgundian Princess Gisela; b. 972; d. in his palace of Grona, at Gottingen, 13 July, 1024. Like his predecessor, Otto III, he had the literary education of his time. In his youth he had been destined […]

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July 13 – Author of “The Golden Legend”

July 11, 2013

Bl. Jacopo de Voragine (Also DI VIRAGGIO). Archbishop of Genoa and medieval hagiologist, born at Viraggio (now Varazze), near Genoa, about 1230; died 13 July, about 1298. In 1244 he entered the Order of St. Dominic, and soon became famous for his piety, learning, and zeal in the care of souls. His fame as a […]

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July 14 – The Lily of the Mohawks

July 11, 2013

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Lily of the Mohawks Kateri Tekakwitha was daughter of Kenneronkwa, a Mohawk chief, and Tagaskouita, a devout Roman Catholic Algonquian woman. She was born in the Mohawk fortress of Ossernenon near present-day Auriesville, New York, in 1656. Kateri’s mother was baptized and educated by French missionaries in Trois-Rivières, like many of Abenaki […]

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More modern monarchs choose not to rule until death – AFP

July 8, 2013

According to AFP: Retirement is not traditionally on the cards for queens, kings or popes, but a string of abdications in recent months, some unprecedented, show many are choosing to step aside instead of labouring on until death. Belgian King Albert, 79,  became the latest…, a little over a week after the emir of Qatar […]

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Children increase popularity of the monarchy – The Royal Forums

July 8, 2013

According to The Royal Forums: …support for the monarchy in Denmark as a form of government has increased in recent years. This was not the popularity of each individual member, which typically fluctuates over time, but the monarchy as a whole. The 1,015 respondents…polled in June this year…saw support for the monarchy increase for the […]

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Abdication gives rise to debate on reduction of royal power – Together Magazine

July 8, 2013

According to Together Magazine: The announcement of the abdication of King Albert II in favour of Crown Prince Philippe has opened up the debate about the powers of the Belgian monarchy. Following the announcement from the Palace, the politicians were quick to launch into the debate. The Flemish nationalists (N-VA) immediately told parliament that King […]

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Young Don Juan fans the flame of Spanish chivalry

July 8, 2013

The Turkish Fleet was gathering in strength in the Golden Horn (spring 1565)…. Jean de Valette, Grand Master of the Knights of Malta, had no doubt of the objective of this great fleet. He sent out an appeal from Malta to all the Christian princes…. Don John had gone…. Nobody knew where he had gone […]

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The Formation of Elites Even in Countries Without a Monarchical or Aristocratic Past

July 8, 2013

The formation of traditional elites with an aristocratic note is so profoundly natural that it occurs even in countries without a monarchical or an aristocratic past. “Even in democracies of recent date that have no vestiges of a feudal past behind them, a kind of new nobility or aristocracy has been forming by force of […]

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July 8 – The Pope who fought the democrats

July 8, 2013

Pope Blessed Eugene III Bernardo Pignatelli, born in the neighbourhood of Pisa, elected 15 Feb., 1145; died at Tivoli, 8 July, 1153. On the very day that Pope Lucius II succumbed, either to illness or wounds, the Sacred College, foreseeing that the Roman populace would make a determined effort to force the new pontiff to […]

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July 10 – Seven Holy Noble Brethren

July 8, 2013

Saints, martyred in Rome, in 150. According to legend, they were the sons of Saint Felicitas, and suffered martyrdom under Emperor Antoninus. Januarius, Felix, and Philip were scourged to death; Silvanus was thrown over a precipice; Alexander, Vitalis, and Martialis were beheaded. Feast, Roman Calendar, 10 July. St. Felicitas, Martyr The earliest list of the […]

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July 10 – Charlemagne Was Punished for His Rudeness to Her

July 8, 2013

St. Amalberga A virgin, very much revered in Belgium, who is said to have been sought in marriage by Charles, afterwards Charlemagne. Continually repulsed, Charles finally attempted to carry her off by force, but though he broke her arm in the struggle he was unable to move her from the altar before which she had […]

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King Albert II of Belgium announces he will abdicate on July 21

July 4, 2013

The Royal Forums reports: Come July 21st, Belgium will have a new monarch – King Philippe. King Albert II, the current monarch, announced his pending abdication earlier this evening, Belgian time, in a live address to the nation. The King cited health issues and his age as reasons for his decision. For the full story […]

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“A people without a king is not to be feared” – a Muslim general

July 4, 2013

These things happened on the first day of Lent (the 9th of February, 1250). On that very day a valiant Saracen—made sheik by our enemies in the place of Scecedin, the sheik’s son, whom they had lost in the battle on Shrove Tuesday—took the Count of Artois’s coat of arms, and showed it to all […]

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The Highest Social Function of the Nobility: To Preserve, Defend, and Spread the Christian Teachings Contained in Its Distinctive Noble Traditions

July 4, 2013

In his 1958 allocution, the Pontiff mentions the moral duty to resist modern corruption as a general charge to the upper classes, which include the Roman Patriciate and Nobility: “We would like, finally, for your influence on society to save it from a grave danger inherent in modern times. It is well known that society […]

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July 4 – Patroness of victims of adultery, jealousy and unfaithfulness

July 4, 2013

St. Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal A.D. 1336. ST. ELIZABETH was daughter of Peter III,  king of Aragon, and granddaughter of James I, who had been educated under the care of St. Peter Nolasco, and was surnamed the Saint, and from the taking of Majorca and Valentia, Expugnator or the Conqueror. Her mother, Constantia, was daughter […]

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July 5 – He founded the Barnebites and reformed two religious orders, but only lived 37 years

July 4, 2013

St. Antonio Maria Zaccaria Founder of the Clerks Regular of St. Paul, commonly known as the Barnabites; born in Cremona, Italy, 1502; died 5 July, 1539. While he was still an infant his father died, leaving the care of the child’s education to his mother, who taught him compassion for the poor and suffering by […]

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July 6 – Mother-in-law Woes

July 4, 2013

St. Godelina Born at Hondeforte-lez-Boulogne, c. 1049; died at Ghistelles, 6 July, 1070. The youngest of the three children born to Hemfrid, seigneur of Wierre-Effroy, and his wife Ogina, Godelina was accustomed as a child to exercises of piety and was soon distinguished for a solidity of virtue extraordinary for one of her years. The […]

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July 6 – The King Had Three Daughters, All Saints

July 4, 2013

St. Sexburga of Ely Died about 699. Her sisters, Sts. Ethelburga and Saethrid, were both Abbesses of Faremontier in Brie, St. Withburga was a nun at Ely, and St. Etheldreda became Abbess of Ely. Sexburga was the daughter of Anna, King of the East Angles, and was married about 640 to Earconbert, King of Kent. […]

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July 6 – Nobility dedicated to the eradication of slavery

July 4, 2013

Blessed Maria Teresia Ledóchowska (29 April 1863 – 6 July 1922) was a Roman Catholic nun and African missionary. She was the eldest of seven children. Members of the Polish nobility, she and her siblings – including Wlodimir Ledóchowski, Ursula Ledóchowska and Ignacy Kazimierz Ledóchowski were born on the estate of their father, Count Antoni […]

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July 1 – Found guilty of “high treason” for promoting the Catholic faith, he responded “Deo gratias”

July 1, 2013

Saint Oliver Plunket Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland, born at Loughcrew near Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland, 1629; died 11 July, 1681. His is the brightest name in the Irish Church throughout the whole period of persecution. He was connected by birth with the families which had just then been ennobled, the Earls […]

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Teacups and mugs: quality and quantity

July 1, 2013

For generations, we have taken teacups for granted. They were a happy part of family life. But today, due to our egalitarian culture, the teacup is coming under some pressure. While formal dining sets are still widely available, many dishware sets, and not just the cheaper ones, feature only mugs. This is a disturbing trend, […]

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The Marquis of Lescure destroys two thirds of Westermann’s army and saves the lives of captured enemy soldiers

July 1, 2013

While the grand army were under the walls of Nantes, several engagements had taken place in La Vendée. Westermann, at the head of a German legion, advanced into the heart of the Bocage, after making himself master of Parthenay, on the 20th June. On the 1st July he burned the town of Amaillon; he then […]

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July 1 – Born to Gallic nobility, he renounced all to embrace religious poverty

July 1, 2013

Saint Gal (Gall) of Clermont Saint Gal was born at Clermont in Auvergne, about the year 489. His father was of the first houses of that province, and his mother was descended from the family of Vettius Apagatus, the celebrated Roman who suffered at Lyons for the faith of Christ. They both took special care […]

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July 1 – Venerable Thomas Maxfield

July 1, 2013

Ven. Thomas Maxfield (Vere Macclesfield) English priest and martyr, born in Stafford gaol, about 1590, martyred at Tyburn, London, Monday, 1 July, 1616. He was one of the younger sons of William Macclesfield of Chesterton and Maer and Aston, Staffordshire (a firm recusant, condemned to death in 1587 for harbouring priests, one of whom was […]

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July 2 – Caught Between Two Masters

July 1, 2013

Saint Otto Bishop of Bamberg, born about 1060; died 30 June, 1139. He belonged to the noble, though not wealthy, family of Mistelbach in Swabia, not to the Counts of Andechs. He was ordained priest, but where he was educated is not known. While still young he joined the household of Duke Wladislaw of Poland; […]

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New Exhibition reveals the real Mary, Queen of Scots – The Scotsman

June 27, 2013

According to The Scotsman: Mary will be revealed through documents, artefacts and letters, from her first note…to her final missive on the morning of her execution, asking that her servants be paid. There’s her prized Jesus crown thorn relic, an ivory and mother-of-pearl crossbow, and…an astrolabe like the ones mariners used to cross the Atlantic […]

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Head of Royal Family on Hunger Strike – The Independent

June 27, 2013

According to The Independent: The head of a once-powerful royal family in the north-east of India is on hunger-strike after state authorities announced plans to force him from his palace and seize control of the building. …the titular King of Manipur, Leisemha Sanajaob, said he was beginning the fast after the state government…announced its decision […]

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Capitalising on the Monarchy – The Observer

June 27, 2013

According to The Observer: A visit to Hampton Court may make one think about capitalising on the monarchy During the Jubilee last summer, keen believers in democracy were inclined to be sniffy about the monarchy… Monarchies such as ours…are just an excellent centrepiece of anyone’s affection for the land they live in – symbols, not […]

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The magnificent splendor of Isabella the Catholic’s dress and jewels

June 27, 2013

“A King must outshine his subjects,” says Pulgar with a conviction born of his intimate knowledge of Spanish character…. [A]nd Ferdinand and Isabel, children of their race, were fully alive to the appeal of surroundings suitable to their rank. Of the impression made by their magnificence on foreigners we can gather from the diary of […]

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A Sublime Example: The Couple of Royal Lineage in Whose House the God-Man Was Born and Dwelt

June 27, 2013

This elevated teaching takes examples from the public administration of government and from other offices usually held by the bourgeoisie. But it also brings to mind the couple of the royal line of David in whose house, at once princely and working-class, the God-Man was born and lived for thirty years. Such a reflection is […]

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June 27 – The Saint-King elected to lead the First Crusade

June 27, 2013

St. Ladislaus (or Ladislas) St. Ladislaus the First, called by the Hungarians László, and in old French, Lancelot, was son of Bela king of Hungary, and born in 1041. By the pertinacious importunity of the people he was compelled, much against his own inclination, to ascend the throne in 1080, the kingdom being then elective. […]

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June 28 – He fought to preserve the Pope’s independence

June 27, 2013

Pope Saint Paul I Date of birth unknown; died at Rome, 28 June, 767. He was a brother of Pope Stephen II. They had been educated for the priesthood at the Lateran palace. Stephen entrusted his brother, who approved of the pope’s course in respect to King Pepin, with many important ecclesiastical affairs, among others […]

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June 30 – How the New York Upper Class Was Transformed by One Humble Servant

June 27, 2013

Servant of God Pierre Toussaint (1766-1853) Born to slavery in Saint Domingue (present-day Haiti), Toussaint came to New York in 1789 with his master, Jean Bérard du Pithon, a French noble and prosperous planter who was fleeing the turmoil unleashed in Saint Domingue by the French Revolution. Two years later, his master died without having […]

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Sovereign Military Order of Malta – 900 years

June 24, 2013

On Saturday Pope Francis I met with Fra’ Matthew Festing,the Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta marking the 900th anniversary of Papal recognition of the Order’s sovereignty. _____________________ Also of interest: Nine Hundred Years of Chivalry for the Knights of Malta April 30 – Crusader Pope Don John of Austria runs away […]

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The Lord of Joinville’s chaplain routs eight Saracen chiefs

June 24, 2013

At nightfall we returned, the king [St. Louis IX of France] and all of us, from the perilous battle aforementioned, and lodged in the place from which we had driven our enemies. My people, who had remained in the camp whence we started, brought me a tent which the Templars had given me, and pitched […]

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The Specific Virtues and Qualities of the Nobility Imbue Its Work

June 24, 2013

[Pius XII states:] “It is clear, however, that vigor and fruitful works cannot still manifest themselves today in forms that have been eclipsed. This does not mean that the field of your activities has been reduced; on the contrary, it has been broadened in the total number of professions and functions. The entire range of […]

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June 25 – Simon de Montfort

June 24, 2013

Simon de Montfort An Earl of Leicester, date of birth unknown, died at Toulouse, 25 June, 1218. Simon (IV) de Montfort was descended from the lords of Montfort l’Amaury in Normandy, being the second son of Simon (III), and Amicia, daughter of Robert de Beaumont, third Earl of Leicester. Having succeeded his father as Baron […]

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June 26 – Chartreuse is not only a drink

June 24, 2013

St. Anthelm of Belley (1107 – 1178) Prior of the Carthusian Grand Chartreuse and bishop of Belley. He was born near Chambéry in 1107. He would later receive an ecclesiastical benefice in the area of Belley. When he was thirty years old, he resigned from this position to become a Carthusian monk at Portes. Only […]

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June 22 – He Confronted the Mandate

June 20, 2013

St. Thomas More Saint, knight, Lord Chancellor of England, author and martyr, born in London, 7 February, 1477-78; executed at Tower Hill, 6 July, 1535. He was the sole surviving son of Sir John More, barrister and later judge, by his first wife Agnes, daughter of Thomas Graunger. While still a child Thomas was sent […]

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King Abdullah II warns that Syrian civil war may embroil Jordan

June 20, 2013

According to the Los Angeles Times: Amid escalating concern about spillover effects of the war in neighboring Syria, Jordan’s King Abdullah II has warned that his kingdom is able “at any moment” to protect its national interests. Addressing a group of cadets in a graduation ceremony at Mutah Military Academy on Sunday, the king, in full battle […]

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Spanish town visited by Samurai 400 years ago receives Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito

June 20, 2013

According to the Bangkok Post: Japan’s Crown Prince Naruhito on Friday honored a 17th-century samurai who established the first ties between his country and Spain 400 years ago, in a small town where to this day hundreds of local Spaniards bear the name “Japon”. Naruhito, the 53-year-old son and heir of Emperor Akihito, planted a […]

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Shame: Girl Guides remove God and country from 103 year-old pledge, but keep Queen

June 20, 2013

According to The Guardian: God, Queen and country – the foundations of the Girl Guides were trumpeted from the very first days of the organisation’s existence in 1910. But now, following a consultation with members, God and country are out – leaving just the Queen. In one of the biggest overhauls undergone by guiding in […]

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Queen Isabel the Catholic pawns her crown jewels to keep up the siege of Baeza

June 20, 2013

[I]n the next spring, [Ferdinand the Catholic] and Queen Isabel appeared in Jaen, determined on the reduction of Baeza, the most important town in eastern Granada. The preparations were on a scale that surpassed all former efforts of the kind; for the neighboring country with its thick orchards and easily flooded rivers was difficult and […]

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Even Those Who Show Disdain for the Old Ways of Life Are Not Totally Immune to the Splendor of the Nobility

June 20, 2013

Pius XII emphasizes vigor and fertility of works as characteristic of genuine nobility and encourages the nobles to contribute such qualities to the common good. “Vigor and fruitful works! Behold two characteristics of true nobility, to which heraldic symbols, stamped in bronze or carved in marble, are a perennial testimony, for they represent as it […]

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June 21 – He Was More Angel than Man

June 20, 2013

St. Aloysius Gonzaga Aloysius Gonzaga was son of Ferdinand Gonzaga, prince of the holy empire, and marquis of Castiglione, removed in the third degree of kindred from the duke of Mantua. His mother was Martha Tana Santena, daughter of Tanus Santena, lord of Cherry, in Piedmont. She was lady of honor to Isabel, the wife […]

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June 22 – St. John Fisher

June 20, 2013

St. John Fisher Cardinal, Bishop of Rochester, and martyr; born at Beverley, Yorkshire, England, 1459 (?1469); died 22 June, 1535. John was the eldest son of Robert Fisher, merchant of Beverley, and Agnes his wife. His early education was probably received in the school attached to the collegiate church in his native town, whence in […]

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June 22 – St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola

June 20, 2013

St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola (Pontius Meropius Anicius Paulinus.) Born at Bordeaux about 354; died 22 June, 431. He sprang from a distinguished family of Aquitania and his education was entrusted to the poet Ausonius. He became governor of the Province of Campania, but he soon realized that he could not find in public life […]

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