January 24 – Saintly and Aristocrat

January 24, 2013

St. Francis de Sales Bishop of Geneva, Doctor of the Universal Church; born at Thorens, in the Duchy of Savoy, 21 August, 1567; died at Lyons, 28 December, 1622. His father, François de Sales de Boisy, and his mother, Françoise de Sionnaz, belonged to old Savoyard aristocratic families. The future saint was the eldest of […]

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January 25 – St. Poppo

January 24, 2013

St. Poppo Abbot, born 977; died at Marchiennes, 25 January, 1048. He belonged to a noble family of Flanders; his parents were Tizekinus and Adalwif. About the year 1000 he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with two others of his countrymen. Soon after this he also went on a pilgrimage to Rome. He […]

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January 25 – Blessed Teresa Grillo Michel

January 24, 2013

BL. TERESA GRILLO MICHEL was born in Spinetta Marengo (Alessandria), Italy, on 25 September 1855. She was the fifth and last child of Giuseppe, the head physician at the Civil Hospital of Alessandria, and of Maria Antonietta Parvopassau, a descendent of an illustrious family of Alessandria. At Baptism she was given the name of Maddalena. […]

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January 26 – She was from one of the first families of Rome

January 24, 2013

St. Paula Born in Rome, 347; died at Bethlehem, 404. She belonged to one of the first families of Rome. Left a widow in 379 at the age of 32 she became, through the influence of St. Marcella and her group, the model of Christian widows. In 382 took place her decisive meeting with St. […]

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220 years ago today, this king was put to death – just for being a king

January 21, 2013

His Last Will and Testament The last Will and Testament of Louis XVI, King of France and Navarre, given on Christmas day, 1792. In the name of the Very holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. To-day, the 25th day of December, 1792, I, Louis XVI King of France, being for more than four months […]

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New royal succession law despite MP’s Kaiser warning – BBC News

January 21, 2013

According to BBC News: [T]he MP for Louth and Horncastle Sir Peter Tapsell has warned of the dangers of breaking with centuries of tradition. Speaking in the Commons, the Father of the House said: “But for our law of male primogeniture, the German Kaiser would have become King of England…” A quick check on the […]

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Bahrain police disperse anti-regime protest

January 21, 2013

According to AFP: Bahrain police on Friday fired tear gas to disperse Shiite protesters who took to the streets of the capital Manama chanting anti-regime slogans, witnesses said. The demonstration coincided with the final football game in the Gulf Cup of Nations being hosted in the Sunni-ruled kingdom. “Down (King) Hamad,” yelled protesters who attempted […]

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René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, claims the Mississippi, its affluents, and the Great West for Louis XIV and France

January 21, 2013

And now they neared their journey’s end. On the sixth of April [1682] the river divided itself into three broad channels. La Salle followed that of the west, and Dautray that of the east, while Tonty took the middle passage. As he drifted down the turbid current, between the low and marshy shores, the brackish […]

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Pius XII: Allocution of January 14, 1948, to the Roman Patriciate and Nobility

January 21, 2013

Although the present difficult circumstances have advised Us this year to give your traditional audience an external form different from the custom, neither the reception of your homages and vows nor the expression of Our best wishes for you and your families has lost any of their intimate value and profound significance. Just as the […]

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January 22 – St. Vincent Mary Pallotti

January 21, 2013

St. Vincent Mary Pallotti The founder of the Pious Society of Missions (q. v.), born at Rome, 21 April, 1798; died there, 22 Jan., 1850. He lies buried in the church of San Salvatore in Onda. He was descended from the noble families of the Pallotti of Norcia and the De Rossi of Rome. His […]

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January 22 – Blessed Prince László Batthyány-Strattmann

January 21, 2013

Ladislaus Batthyány-Strattmann (1870-1931), a layman, doctor and father of a family. He was born on 28 October 1870 in Dunakiliti, Hungary, into an ancient noble family. He was the sixth of 10 brothers. In 1876 the family moved to Austria. When Ladislaus was 12 years old his mother died. He was already convinced at an […]

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January 22 – Patroness of abuse victims

January 21, 2013

Blessed Laura Vicuña Laura del Carmen Vicuña was born on April 5, 1891 in Santiago, Chile. She was the first daughter of the Vicuña Pino family. Her parents were José Domingo Vicuña, a soldier with aristocratic roots, and Mercedes Pino. Her father was in military service and her mother worked at home. At the very […]

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January 21 – A Child Shall Lead Them

January 21, 2013

St. Agnes of Rome Of all the virgin martyrs of Rome none was held in such high honour by the primitive church, since the fourth century, as St. Agnes. In the ancient Roman calendar of the feasts of the martyrs (Depositio Martyrum), incorporated into the collection of Furius Dionysius Philocalus, dating from 354 and often […]

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In Britain, royal heirs can marry a Muslim, but not a Catholic?

January 17, 2013

According to AFP: The law will…remove the ban on royal heirs marrying Roman Catholics… — there is no such prohibition on heirs marrying into Islam, Hinduism or other faiths. This presents potential problems when allied with the continuing ban on Catholics taking the throne, which is designed to protect the monarch’s position as head of […]

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German military praise for General Patton’s audacity

January 17, 2013

Patton…believed in a smashing blow on a narrower front with his power lined up more in depth. He often struck at the enemy’s strongest point and then fanned out behind their lines…. He preferred to risk heavy casualties over a relatively brief time. A war of attrition was alien to his nature and beliefs…. His […]

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Pius XII: Allocution of January 15, 1949

January 17, 2013

The Christmas holidays and the renewal of the year are for Christian families a joyous occasion for strengthening the bonds of affection and for manifesting love of one another with good wishes and mutual promise of prayers. We feel this joy today, as in accordance with ancient tradition you have come, beloved Sons and Daughters, […]

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January 17 – She Opposed Her Father the Count

January 17, 2013

St. Roseline of Villeneuve (or Rossolina.) Born at Château of Arcs in eastern Provence, 1263; d. 17 January, 1329. Having overcome her father’s opposition Roseline became a Carthusian nun at Bertaud in the Alps of Dauphiné. Her “consecration” took place in 1288, and about 1330 she succeeded her aunt, Blessed Jeanne or Diane de Villeneuve, […]

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January 18 – St. Margaret of Hungary

January 17, 2013

 St. Margaret of Hungary Daughter of King Bela I of Hungary and his wife Marie Laskaris, born 1242; died 18 Jan., 1271. According to a vow which her parents made when Hungary was liberated from the Tatars that their next child should be dedicated to religion, Margaret, in 1245 entered the Dominican Convent of Veszprem. […]

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January 19 – Blessed Marcelo Rafael José María de los Dolores Hilario Spinola y Maestre, Archbishop of Seville

January 17, 2013

Blessed Marcelo Rafael José María de los Dolores Hilario Spinola y Maestre, Archbishop of Seville born: 14 January 1835. died 20 January 1906 Marcelo Spínola was born on the island of San Fernando, Cádiz Province. His parents were Juan Spínola y Osorno, Marquis of Spínola and Antonia Maestre y Osorno; they had eight children, of […]

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January 19 – Sts. Maris, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum

January 17, 2013

Sts. Maris, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum All martyred at Rome in 270. Maris and his wife Martha, who belonged to the Persian nobility, came to Rome with their children in the reign of Emperor Claudius II. As zealous Christians, they sympathized with and succoured the persecuted faithful, and buried the bodies of the slain. This […]

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January 19 – Saintly King

January 17, 2013

St. Canute IV Martyr and King of Denmark, date of birth uncertain; died 10 July 1086, the third of the thirteen natural sons of Sweyn II surnamed Estridsen. Elected king on the death of his brother Harold about 1080, he waged war on his barbarous enemies and brought Courland and Livonia to the faith. Having […]

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Pius XII: Allocution of January 14, 1945

January 14, 2013

Once again, beloved Sons and Daughters, amid the devastation, the mourning, the anxieties of every sort presently tormenting the human family, you have come to offer Us your devout best wishes, which your illustrious representative has presented Us with nobility of sentiment and delicacy of expression. We thank you for this with all Our heart, […]

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Wars come and go, but the wine tradition endures

January 14, 2013

After five years as a prisoner of war, Gaston Huet quickly became one of France’s greatest winemakers. He also became mayor of Vouvray, a post he held for forty-six years. At age ninety, he is still active.(1) He spends a great deal of time visiting oenological schools and speaking with aspiring winemakers. His advice: “Forget […]

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Romanée-Conti: symbol of tradition and nobility

January 14, 2013

We should not be surprised that a single bottle of Romanée-Conti sometimes sells for $10,000 and more, for the Domaine Romanée-Conti (aka DRC) is one of the oldest and finest vineyards of Burgundy, France, and its wines, a veritable symbol of tradition and nobility. In 1087—eight years before Blessed Urban II would call the nobility […]

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January 14 – Blessed Devasahayam Pillai

January 14, 2013

Blessed Devasahayam Pillai Devasahayam Pillai (named Neelakanda Pillai at birth) was born into an affluent Nair-caste family at Nattalam in the present-day Kanyakumari District, on 23 April 1712. His father Vasudevan Namboodiri, hailed from Kayamkulam, in present-day Kerala state, and was working as a priest at Sri Adi Kesava Perumal temple in Thiruvattar in present-day […]

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January 14 – Matriarch of Saints

January 14, 2013

St. Macrina the Elder Our knowledge of the life of the elder Macrina is derived mainly from the testimony of the great Cappadocian Fathers of the Church, her grandchildren: Basil (Ep. 204:7; 223:3), Gregory of Nyssa (“Vita Macrinae Junioris”), and the panegyric of St. Gregory of Nazianzus on St. Basil (Gregory Naz., Oratio 43). She […]

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January 15 – Most Glorious King Ceolwulp

January 14, 2013

King Ceolwulf (also CEOLWULPH or CEOLULPH) Coelwulf, King of Northumbria and monk of Lindisfarne, date and place of birth not known; died at Lindisfarne, 764. His ancestry is thus given by the “Anglo-Saxon Chronicle”: “Ceolwulf was the son of Cutha, Cutha of Cuthwin, Cuthwin of Leoldwald, Leoldwald of Egwald, Egwald of Aldhelm, Aldhelm of Ocga, […]

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January 15 – St. Maurus & St. Placidus

January 14, 2013

St. Maurus Deacon, son of Equitius, a nobleman of Rome, but claimed also by Fondi, Gallipoli, Lavello etc.; died 584. Feast, 15 Jan. He is represented as an abbot with crozier, or with book and censer, or holding the weights and measures of food and drink given him by his holy master. He is the […]

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January 12 – If you like stained glass, here’s the man to thank

January 10, 2013

St. Benedict Biscop An English monastic founder, born of a noble Anglo-Saxon family, c. 628; died 12 January 690. He spent his youth at the court of the Northumbrian King Oswy. When twenty-five years old, he made the first of his five pilgrimages to Rome. On his return to England, Benedict introduced, whenever he could, […]

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Patton: Inspiration Wins Wars

January 10, 2013

It’s the cold glitter of the attacker’s eye, not the point of the questing bayonet, that breaks the line. It’s the fierce determination of the driver to close with the enemy, not the mechanical perfection of the tank, that conquers the trench. It’s the cataclysmic ecstasy of conflict in the flier, not the perfection of […]

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Will Jordan Be the First Arab Monarchy to Fall? – The Atlantic

January 10, 2013

According to The Atlantic: Despite longstanding governance problems and human rights abuses, the Arab monarchies have largely been spared from the popular revolts that dislodged their autocratic neighbors. Until now this monarchy “red line” has served U.S. interests…. But the monarchy red line will not last forever, and Washington will face a series of new […]

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The Seneschal de Joinville gives good counsel to Saint Louis IX

January 10, 2013

When Saint Louis IX disembarked at the castle of Hyères, the Abbot of Cluny offered the king a gift of horses with which to continue his journey and said he would return on the morrow to discuss the monastery’s interests. On the following day, the king listened to the Abbot’s long narration with great attention. […]

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January 10 – St. Peter Urseolus

January 10, 2013

St. Peter Urseolus (Orseolo) Born at Rivo alto, Province of Udina, 928; at Cuxa, 10 January, 987 (997 is less probable). Sprung from the wealthy and noble Venetian family, the Orseoli, Peter led from his youth an earnest Christian life. In the service of the republic, he distinguished himself in naval battles against the pirates. […]

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January 10 – Patient to the Penitent, Inflexible to the Impenitent

January 10, 2013

St. William, Confessor, Archbishop of Bourges (c. 1155 – January 10, 1209) William Berruyer, of the illustrious family of the ancient counts of Nevers, was educated by Peter the hermit, archdeacon of Soissons, his uncle by the mother’s side. He learned from his infancy to despise the folly and emptiness of the riches and grandeur […]

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January 12 – “The English Saint Bernard”

January 10, 2013

St. Aelred Abbot of Rievaulx, homilist and historian (1109-66). St. Aelred, whose name is also written Ailred, Æthelred, and Ethelred, was the son of one of those married priests of whom many were found in England in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. He was born at Hexham, but at an early age made the acquaintance […]

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St. Joan of Arc: her death liberated France

January 7, 2013

With Joan’s death, the way seemed clear for the English to resume their onslaught upon France and sweep to final victory. But it did not happen like that. In December of that year [1431] the King of England was crowned King of France, but not at Reims. The ceremony took place in Notre-Dame in Paris […]

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Prince William’s dramatic helicopter search for man blown into sea in 50mph gales – The Mirror

January 7, 2013

According to The Mirror: A Sea King helicopter, with the 30-year-old Prince onboard, was scrambled from RAF Valley on Anglesey, north Wales, just a few hours in to the New Year. The four-man helicopter crew battled 50 mile per hour winds while lifeboats crashed through five foot waves in the darkness – but they were […]

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Patton used the power of myth to inspire his men

January 7, 2013

Every evening, Gen. Patton arranged a type of communication which united all soldiers. This “communication” united us with the soldiers of history! Gen. Patton had buglers blow Taps! Every unit down to a company of two hundred men had their own bugler. With over twenty thousand men sleeping on the ground over a thirty-mile strip […]

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Belgium King Albert II Christmas speech draws parallels with the rise of fascism in the 1930s – BBC News

January 7, 2013

According to BBC News: The Belgian king has provoked a sharp response to a Christmas message in which he drew parallels with the rise of fascism in the 1930s. In his broadcast, the king said that “in these troubled times we live in, we should remain vigilant and see through populist arguments”. Populists were, he […]

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Giant E on the South Downs will celebrate Queen’s Diamond Jubilee – Sussex Express

January 7, 2013

According to the Sussex Express: A massive project to create a giant letter ‘E’ for Elizabeth on the South Downs is nearing completion. The striking letter, some 100 yards in length from top to bottom, has been created… “The scrub and trees which have been left behind represent a giant ‘E’ as a lasting tribute […]

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Prince of Prussia moves out of Berlin – The Royal Blog

January 7, 2013

According to The Royal Blog: Georg Friedrich, Prinz von Preußen, and his wife Sophie have moved from Berlin to Fischerhude near Bremen, a spokeswoman for the heir to the throne of Prussia and Germany confirmed. The prince, head of the former imperial House of Hohenzollern, grew up in Fischerhude. “The Prince has great memories of […]

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January 8 – Hapsburg Saint

January 7, 2013

St. Gudula (Latin, Guodila) Born in Brabant, Belgium, of Witger and Amalberga, in the seventh century; died at the beginning of the eighth century. After the birth of Gudula her mother Amalberga, who is herself venerated as a saint, embraced the religious life, and according to tradition received the veil at the hands of St. […]

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January 9 – Blessed Tommaso Reggio

January 7, 2013

Blessed Tommaso Reggio Bl. Tommaso Reggio was born in Genoa, Italy, on 9 January 1818 to the Marquis of Reggio and Angela Pareto. He had a comfortable upbringing which gave him a solid Christian and cultural background and assured him of a brilliant career. However, at the age of 20 he decided to become a […]

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Hernan Cortés: the man of faith and legend smashes the idols of the Aztec gods

January 3, 2013

[Cortés] sees the idols, and the gruesome traces of their inhuman worship, and he grows sad, wonders, questions God, offers to serve Him by freeing the land from that abomination; then, he argues about it with the [pagan] priests; hears their resolution to die for their gods, and the cautious captain in him rapidly takes […]

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Pius XII – Allocution of January 8, 1940

January 3, 2013

At the start of the New year, a twofold gift has been given us by the Roman Patriciate and Nobility by their gathering around Us: the most appreciated gift of their presence and the gift of their filial best wishes, adornments, as a flower, of the testimonial of their traditional loyalty to the Holy See, […]

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Death of the Vendean generalissimo Maurice d’Elbee

January 3, 2013

[Charette] was far away on his road to Noirmoutiers. During his absence in Anjou, General Haxo had traversed the Marais in all directions without effect, and Turreau, a man forever execrated as the organizer of the infernal columns, had been sent to supersede him. Upon this Haxo determined to attack the isle of Noirmoutiers, an […]

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January 3 – Noble “Archangel of Monks”

January 3, 2013

St. Odilo Fifth Abbot of Cluny, born c. 962; died 31 December, 1048. He was descended from the nobility of Auvergne. He early became a cleric in the seminary of St. Julien in Brioude. In 991 he entered Clunyand before the end of his year of probation was made coadjutor to Abbot Mayeul, and shortly […]

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January 3 – Saint Joseph Mary Tomasi

January 3, 2013

Saint Joseph Mary Tomasi The very eminent servant of God Joseph Mary Tomasi, Cardinal, whom Pope Pius VII decorated with the honors of the Blessed in 1803, and whom today the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II ascribes solemnly in the book of the Saints, was born at Licata, in Sicily, the Diocese of Agrigento, on […]

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January 3 – St. Genevieve

January 3, 2013

St. Genevieve Patroness of Paris, b. at Nanterre, c. 419 or 422; d. at Paris, 512. Her feast is kept on 3 January. She was the daughter of Severus and Gerontia; popular tradition represents her parents as poor peasants, though it seems more likely that they were wealthy and respectable townspeople. In 429 St. Germain […]

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January 4 – Nobility in the United States

January 3, 2013

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Foundress and first superior of the Sisters of Charity in the United States, b. in New York City, 28 Aug., 1774, of non-Catholic parents of high position; d. at Emmitsburg, Maryland, 4 Jan., 1821. Her father, Dr. Richard Bayley (b. Connecticut and educated in England), was the first professor of anatomy […]

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General Washington was among the first pioneers going West

December 31, 2012

Although Washington’s approaching marriage and his landholdings in Virginia would tie him to the East, he would remain a westerner at heart. A year before Daniel Boone moved his family to Kentucky, Washington already had sailed by boat down the Ohio as far as the Great Kanawha to claim lands and millsites granted for his […]

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Video: Christmas snow in Germany. Carols

December 31, 2012

Christmas snow in Germany. Carols  

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Prince Charles and The Duke of Westminster Come To Farmers’ Aid – The Royal Forums

December 31, 2012

According to The Royal Forums: The Prince of Wales donated £150,000 to aid those struggling through the winter months. … The money will come from The Prince’s Countryside Fund and constitutes the entirety of its emergency fund. Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster…has already pledged to donate the same sum of £150,000 to the emergency […]

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Pius XII: Allocution of January 5, 1941

December 31, 2012

A cause for deep, paternal joy in Our heart is granted Us, dear Sons and Daughters, by your welcome gathering around Us at the start of the New Year, a year no less fraught with fearful horizons than the one just passed. Here you have come to present to us your filial good wishes through […]

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January 1 – St. Fulgentius

December 31, 2012

St. Fulgentius (FABIUS CLAUDIUS GORDIANUS FULGENTIUS). Born 468, died 533. Bishop of Ruspe in the province of Byzacene in Africa, eminent among the Fathers of the Church for saintly life, eloquence and theological learning. His grandfather, Gordianus, a senator of Carthage, was despoiled of his possessions by the invader Genseric, and banished to Italy, his […]

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January 1 – Another hero from Cluny

December 31, 2012

St. William Abbot of Saint-Bénigne at Dijon, celebrated Cluniac reformer, b. on the Island of Giuglio on Lake Orta near Novara in Piedmont in 962; d. at Fecamp, one of his reformed monasteries in Normandy, 1 January 1031. At the age of seven he was brought as an ablate to the Benedictine monastery of Locedia […]

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Video: Still, Still, Still

December 27, 2012

Vienna Boys’ Choir 

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A brave and good counselor is a king’s priceless treasure

December 27, 2012

During a sermon he preached in the presence of Louis XV, the Most Reverend Jean Baptiste de Beauvais, bishop of Senez, thundered energetically against the vices and scandals of Versailles. Upon leaving the church, the king turned to the duke of Richelieu and said: —    “My dear duke, His Excellency hurled many stones onto your […]

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Allocution of Benedict XV to the Roman Patriciate and Nobility on January 5, 1920

December 27, 2012

In the recent annual commemoration of the Birth of Jesus Christ, there resounded in our faith the heavenly chant of the angels raising their hymns to God and to peace. Since that happy day there has not ceased to echo around Us, as in harmonious concert, voices of good will and affection that Our faraway […]

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December 27 – Fabiola, Splendor of the Gens Fabia

December 27, 2012

St. Fabiola of Rome A Roman matron of rank, died 27 December, 399 or 400. She was one of the company of noble Roman women who, under the influence of St. Jerome, gave up all earthly pleasures and devoted themselves to the practice of Christian asceticism and to charitable work. At the time of St. […]

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