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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Archduke Albrecht: an elite soul

May 6, 2013

There was one person at the Austrian court who thoroughly understood and appreciated the anxiety displayed by the Empress with regard to the Crown Prince’s marriage and who also thoroughly mistrusted the possibility of his future happiness with Stéphanie. That was old Archduke Albrecht, the uncle of the Emperor, and one of the few persons […]

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The Legitimacy and Even Necessity of Just and Proportional Inequalities Among the Social Classes

May 6, 2013

The Marxist doctrine of class struggle considers all inequalities unjust and harmful. Consequently, it proclaims the legitimacy of the mobilization of the lower classes on a global scale in order to suppress the higher classes. “Workers of the world unite!” is the well-known cry with which Marx and Engels ended the Communist Manifesto of 1848. On the […]

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May 6 – Prince, priest, pioneer

May 6, 2013

Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin Prince, priest, and missionary, born at The Hague, Holland, 22 December, 1770; died at Loretto, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., 6 May, 1840. He was a scion of one of the oldest, wealthiest, and most illustrious families of Russia. His father, Prince Demetrius Gallitzin (d. 16 March, 1803), Russian ambassador to Holland at the time […]

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May 6 – Blessed Francis de Montmorency Laval

May 6, 2013

Blessed Francis de Montmorency Laval First bishop of Canada, born at Montigny-sur-Avre, 30 April, 1623, of Hughes de Laval and Michelle de Péricard; died at Quebec on 6 May, 1708. He was a scion of an illustrious family, whose ancestor was baptized with Clovis at Reims, and whose motto reads: “Dieu ayde au primer baron […]

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May 7 – The Pope who adopted two princes

May 6, 2013

Pope St. Benedict II Date of birth unknown; died 8 May, 685; was a Roman, and the son of John. Sent when young to the schola cantorum, he distinguished himself by his knowledge of the Scriptures and by his singing, and as a priest was remarkable for his humility, love of the poor, and generosity. […]

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May 7 – Bl. Agnellus of Pisa

May 6, 2013

Bl. Agnellus of Pisa Friar Minor and founder of the English Franciscan Province, born at Pisa c. 1195, of the noble family of the Agnelli; died at Oxford, 7 May, 1236. In early youth he was received into the Seraphic Order by St. Francis himself, during the latter’s sojourn in Pisa, and soon became an […]

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May 8 – Apparition of St. Michael

May 6, 2013

Well known is the apparition of St. Michael the Archangel (a. 494 or 530-40), as related in the Roman Breviary, 8 May, at his renowned sanctuary on Monte Gargano, where his original glory as patron in war was restored to him. To his intercession the Lombards of Sipontum (Manfredonia) attributed their victory over the Greek […]

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May 8 – Matriarch of the Carolingian family

May 6, 2013

Saint Itta (or Itta of Metz) (also Ida, Itte or Iduberga) (592–652) was the wife of Pepin of Landen, mayor of the palace of Austrasia. Her brother was Saint Modoald, bishop of Trier. Her sister was abbess Saint Severa. There is no direct record of their parents, but it has been suggested that she was […]

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First official picture of the new Dutch king and queen – Hello! Magazine

May 2, 2013

According to Hello! Magazine: King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and his wife Queen Maxima have released their first official photo as leaders of the House of Orange. The couple, who have been married for 11 years, were both resplendent in their regal finery and looked confident ahead of their new roles. Following a ceremony on […]

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As Dutch prepare for new king, republicans ask to abolish monarchy – The Christian Science Monitor

May 2, 2013

According to The Christian Science Monitor: …anti-monarchists numbers are small. The workshop in Amsterdam was attended by nine republicans – they were almost outnumbered by journalists. The Dutch monarchy…is something of an oddity in Europe. While many European nations had a monarchy first and then a republic, the Netherlands took a different, anachronistic route. At […]

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MacArthur’s “I shall return” becomes the symbol of hope in the Philippines

May 2, 2013

The next day, Wednesday, March 18, the New York Times banner headline had read: MACARTHUR IN AUSTRALIA AS ALLIED COMMANDER/MOVE HAILED AS FORESHADOWING TURN OF THE TIDE. Now it was Friday, and he was in the Adelaide station. Knowing that reporters would be there, asking for a statement, he had scrawled a few words on […]

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A multi-secular struggle between nobility and leveling egalitarianism

May 2, 2013

In the Middle Ages, the nobility had constituted a social class with specific functions within the State, which entailed certain honors and corresponding obligations. During modern times this situation had gradually lost its stability, prominence, and brilliance, so that even before the Revolution of 1789, the distinction between the nobility and the people was considerably […]

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Desktop Wallpapers – 4 New Ones To Choose From

May 2, 2013

To add any of these desktop wallpapers to your computer, click on the size that you want for that image and save it to your computer. Then right-click on the desktop – select Properties from the context menu – go the Desktop tab – Browse and open the image you made – position the image (Center, […]

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May 2 – The princess with two sisters who are also saints

May 2, 2013

St. Mafalda of Portugal In the year 1215, at the age of eleven, Princess Mafalda (i.e. Matilda), daughter of King Sancho I of Portugal, was married to her kinsman King Henry I of Castile, who was like herself a minor. The marriage was annulled the following year on the ground of the consanguinity of the […]

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May 3 – Sword-bearer to the Emperor

May 2, 2013

St. Ansfried of Utrecht Ansfried (aka Ansfridus or Aufridus) was born ca. 940, and died May 3, 1010 near Leusden.) He was a nobleman in the Holy Roman Empire and sword-bearer for Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor. Till 995 he was Count of Huy, then he became bishop of Utrecht. He is also the founder […]

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May 4 – They believed in the religious exemption, but only at first

May 2, 2013

The Carthusian Martyrs were the monks of the London Charterhouse, the monastery of the Carthusian Order in central London, who were put to death by the English state in a period lasting from the 19 June 1535 till the 20 September 1537. The method of execution was hanging, disembowelling while still alive and then quartering. […]

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The Hungarian countess whom communism sent into impoverished exile

April 29, 2013

The New York Times writes about an exiled Hungarian countess who died in New York on April 15: “The death of Ilona DeVito di Porriasa last week, at 73, went largely unnoticed beyond her family and friends. But if nothing else, her story, as recounted by surviving relatives, peels back the hard shell of the city, […]

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Dutch egalitarian anti-royalists protest their new king

April 29, 2013

According to Expatica.com: “While the Netherlands parties in gaudy orange as the new king takes the throne on April 30, a small group of defiant republicans will protest the monarchy’s very existence by wearing white…. “The monarchy is something from another century that no longer fits with democratic values,” Anjo Clement, head of the Netherlands […]

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Caving to egalitarian pressure, the UK ends male primogeniture in royal succession

April 29, 2013

According to the BBC: “A bill which ends succession to the Crown based on gender has become law. “It means the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first child could become monarch, regardless of whether it is a boy or a girl. “Under the previous law, dating back to 1701, women were superseded by their brothers […]

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