August 16 – His nobles and subjects mourned him for three years

August 16, 2012

St. Stephen of Hungary First King of Hungary, b. at Gran, 975; d. 15 August, 1038. He was a son of the Hungarian chief Géza and was baptized, together with his father, by Archbishop St. Adalbert of Prague in 985, on which occasion he changed his heathen name Vaik (Vojk) into Stephen. In 995 he […]

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The Follower Problem – The New York Times

August 13, 2012

According to David Brooks, of The New York Times: We live in a culture that finds it easier to assign moral status to victims of power than to those who wield power… It’s hard in this frame of mind to define and celebrate greatness, to hold up others who are immeasurably superior to ourselves. The […]

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Queen Sirikit Celebrates 80th Birthday – The Royal Forums

August 13, 2012

According to The Royal Forums: Queen Sirikit of Thailand, née Mom Rajawongse Sirikit Kitiyakara, celebrates her 80th birthday today, 12 August. The Queen was born as the oldest daughter and third child of Prince Nakkhatra Mangkala Kitiyakara, Prince of Chanthaburi, and Mom Luang Bua Sanidvongs. Her siblings are the late Mom Rajawongse Galyanakit Kitiyakara, Mom Rajawongse […]

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A rough soldier’s prayer (La Hire)

August 13, 2012

La Hire [was] the common name, meaning “the growler,” of Etienne de Vignolles (1387-1442), a rough, freebooting Gascon captain who became one of Joan of Arc’s devoted adherents. It is said that, under the Maid’s influence, he strove hard to give up swearing blasphemous oaths, but that, to give him some means of venting his […]

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Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation

August 13, 2012

At age 16, George Washington copied out these 110 rules for morals and good manners and the manuscript is preserved at the Library of Congress. While some believe they were authored by Washington himself, it appears that they were originally written by French Jesuits in 1595. They made their first appearance in English in 1640, […]

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August 13 – Crusader nun

August 13, 2012

 Bl. Gertrude of Aldenberg Abbess of the Premonstratensian convent of Aldenberg, near Wetzlar, in the Diocese of Trier; born about 1227, died 13 August, 1297. She was the youngest of three children of Louis VI, margrave of Thuringia, and his wife St. Elizabeth of Hungary. Gertrude’s father died on his way to the Holy Land […]

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August 13 – The Ottomans lived in fear of this Capuchin

August 13, 2012

Blessed Mark of Aviano (1631–1699) Capuchin friar. His baptismal name was Carlo Domenico Cristofori, his birthplace Aviano, a small community in the Republic of Venice (Italy). From an early age, he felt attracted to a life of devotion and martyrdom. Educated at the Jesuit College in Gorizia, at 16 he tried to reach the island […]

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A sword’s symbolism

August 9, 2012

One of the earliest complete systems of symbolism for knightly arms was produced by Robert of Blois in his Enseignement des princes…. The sword is clear and well polished—the knight should be honest and straight. The shield represents charity which covers many sins. The lance which pierces the foe before he gets near symbolizes foresight. […]

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Many members of the Society of the Cincinnati were killed during the Terror

August 9, 2012

One of the more agreeable duties that took [the Count of] Rochambeau to Paris was the organization of the French members of the Society of the Cincinnati…. Some difficulties had to be ironed out, since no foreign order was then allowed in France, but the King was so much interested in the whole proceeding that […]

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August 11 – As soldiers scaled the walls of the convent, she met them with ciborium in hand and put them to flight

August 9, 2012

St. Clare of Assisi Cofoundress of the Order of Poor Ladies, or Clares, and first Abbess of San Damiano; born at Assisi, 16 July, 1194; died there 11 August, 1253. She was the eldest daughter of Favorino Scifi, Count of Sasso-Rosso, the wealthy representative of an ancient Roman family, who owned a large palace in […]

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August 10 – His sister founded the Conceptionists

August 9, 2012

João Mendes de Silva Better known as Amadeus of Portugal, O.F.M., (1420–1482), was a Portuguese nobleman who became first a monk, then left that life to become a friar of the Franciscan Order. Later he became a reformer of that Order, which led to his founding of a distinct branch of the Friars Minor that […]

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August 10 – Defiant under torture, he inspires noble souls until today

August 9, 2012

St. Lawrence Martyr; died 10 August, 258. St. Lawrence, one of the deacons of the Roman Church, was one of the victims of the persecution of Valerian in 258, like Pope Sixtus II and many other members of the Roman clergy. At the beginning of the month of August, 258, the emperor issued an edict, […]

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Heroic residents save Nigerian emir from suicide bomber – AFP

August 6, 2012

According to AFP: A top Muslim traditional leader in northeastern Nigeria escaped a suicide attack on Friday, when the bomber was thwarted by local people before blowing himself up, residents said. The target of the attack was Muhammad Abali, the top Muslim traditional leader in Yobe state, where Potiskum is located, and whose official title […]

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The Viennese nobility feeds Vienna’s poor with Christian charity

August 6, 2012

One of the finest traits of the Empress was certainly her untiring charity, and her methods were always notable for the extreme delicacy of feeling which she showed in all things. It was she who caused the Viennese to realize the very decided difference which exists between men reduced to poverty through no fault of […]

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The main elements of the common good of the intermediate bodies, the region, and the State are already present in the individual and the family—the fruitful family: a small world

August 6, 2012

Experience shows that a family’s vitality and unity are usually in direct proportion to its fecundity. In large families, the children normally look up to the parents as leaders of a sizeable community, given the number of its members as well as the considerable religious, moral, cultural, and material values inherent to the family unit. […]

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August 8 – The Rosary is really a weapon

August 6, 2012

St. Dominic Founder of the Order of Preachers, commonly known as the Dominican Order; born at Calaroga, in Old Castile, c. 1170; died 6 August, 1221. His parents, Felix Guzman and Joanna of Aza, undoubtedly belonged to the nobility of Spain, though probably neither was connected with the reigning house of Castile, as some of […]

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August 6 – He told his assassins “God does not die!”

August 6, 2012

Garcia Moreno Ecuadorean patriot and statesman; born at Guayaquil, 24 December, 1821; assassinated at Quito, 6 August, 1875. His father, Gabriel García Gomez, a native of Villaverde, in Old Castile, had been engaged in commerce at Callao before removing to Guayaquil, where he married Dona Mercedes Moreno, the mother of the future Ecuadorean martyr president. […]

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August 5 – Valor in a King

August 2, 2012

St. Oswald of Northumbria, King and Martyr The English Saxon kingdom of Northumbria was founded by Ida in 547. After his death the northern part called Bernicia was preserved by his children; but Deira, that is, the southern part, comprising Yorkshire and Lancashire, was occupied by Ælla or Alla, and after his death was recovered […]

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Absenteeism and omission: sin of the elites

August 2, 2012

Unfortunately, not a few members of the nobility and the traditional elites have a tendency to isolate themselves from contemporary life. Imagining themselves to be protected from the uncertainties of life by a secure patrimony and absorbed in memories of bygone days, some of them estrange themselves from real life. They shut themselves off from […]

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The Royal Forums: Prince Hans Adam II and Princess Marie Celebrate Sapphire Wedding Anniversary

August 2, 2012

The Royal Forums: Prince Hans Adam II and Princess Marie of Liechtenstein, née Countess Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau, are celebrating their sapphire wedding anniversary (aka 45 years) today, 30 July 2012. The couple now has 3 sons and 1 daughter, and 9 grandsons and 8 granddaughters. (See below) Prince Hans Adam was born on […]

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Fiji to scrap holiday celebrating Queen’s birthday

August 2, 2012

According to The Telegraph: The former British colony in the South Pacific, which became a republic in 1987, said it expected the move to boost economic output. Those to suffer most from the decision will be the islands’ largely impoverished workforce, who will enjoy only nine public holidays a year from 2013. Last year Fiji […]

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Isabella the Catholic offers her jewels to fund Columbus’ discovery of America

August 2, 2012

It is impossible not to admire the great constancy of purpose and loftiness of spirit displayed by Columbus ever since he had conceived the sublime idea of his discovery. More than eighteen years had elapsed since his correspondence with Paulo Toscanelli of Florence, wherein he had announced his design. The greatest part of that time […]

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August 3 – Secretive Leader

August 2, 2012

St. Nicodemus A prominent Jew of the time of Christ, mentioned only in the Fourth Gospel. The name is of Greek origin, but at that epoch such names were occasionally borrowed by the Jews, and according to Josephus (Ant. of the Jews, XIV, iii, 2) Nicodemus was the name of one of the ambassadors sent […]

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The Telegraph: Prince William’s preference for cider sends sales soaring

July 30, 2012

According to The Telegraph: …the Queen is to double the production of cider from apples grown at her estate in Sandringham. Sandringham has housed the royal apple orchards for more than 70 years after George VI planted the first tree on the estate. The Duke of Cambridge…has frequently proclaimed his preference for cider and had […]

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General Lee’s one rule for students: “Be a gentleman”

July 30, 2012

A new student once asked President Lee for a copy of the rules of Washington College. Lee replied, “Young gentleman, we have no printed rules. We have but one rule here, and it is that every student must be a gentleman.” What did Lee mean when he used the word “gentleman?” Found among his papers […]

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From the individual to the family, from the family to the gens, and finally to the tribe—the process toward the foundation of the civitas—the State is born

July 30, 2012

Marriage is the common state of man. Therefore, it is as a member of his family that a man joins the great fabric of families that make up the social body of a country. The social body is also formed of other intermediate groups such as guilds, universities, and local governments. An individual’s admission into […]

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July 30 – Patron of Charcoal

July 30, 2012

St. Theobald Born at Provins in the Province of Champagne, France, in 1017; died at Salanigo in Italy 30 June, 1066. He was a member of a noble family. In 1054 without the knowledge of his parents he and his friend Walter gave themselves to the life of hermits at Sussy in the Ardennes, then […]

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July 31 – St. Germain

July 30, 2012

St. Germain Bishop of Auxerre, born at Auxerre c. 380; died at Ravenna, 31 July, 448. He was the son of Rusticus and Germanilla, and his family was one of the noblest in Gaul in the latter portion of the fourth century. He received the very best education provided by the distinguished schools of Arles […]

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July 31 – St. Helen of Sköfde

July 30, 2012

St. Helen of Sköfde Martyr in the first half of the twelfth century. Her feast is celebrated 31 July. Her life (Acta SS., July, VII, 340) is ascribed to St. Brynolph, Bishop of Skara, in Sweden (d. 1317). She was of noble family and is generally believed to have been the daughter of the Jarl […]

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July 31 – Militant Means Something

July 30, 2012

St. Ignatius Loyola Youngest son of Don Beltrán Yañez de Oñez y Loyola and Marina Saenz de Lieona y Balda. Born in 1491 at the castle of Loyola above Azpeitia in Guipuscoa; died at Rome, 31 July, 1556. The saint was baptized Iñigo, after St. Enecus (Innicus), Abbot of Oña: the name Ignatius was assumed […]

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Condolences from Queen Elizabeth II

July 26, 2012

The following message of condolence was sent by The Queen to President Obama following the recent tragic loss of life in Denver: I was saddened to learn of the tragic loss of life earlier today in Denver, Colorado. Prince Philip joins me in extending our heartfelt sympathy to you and the people of America at […]

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The Guardian: The seating plan from hell? Queen lunches with four prime ministers

July 26, 2012

According to The Guardian: [T]he Queen paid a rare visit to Downing Street for a lunchtime gathering of all but one of her surviving prime ministers. The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were joined by four of the twelve prime ministers to have served during her 60-year-reign. Winston Churchill, who was much taken with the […]

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Death of the Margrave of Meissen, Head of the House of Saxony

July 26, 2012

HRH Prince Maximilian Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen, head of the Royal House of Saxony died July 23 at the age of 86 at his Villa La Tour de Peilz at  Genfer Lake. The Margrave of Meissen was heir to the Kingdom of Saxony which was part of the German Empire. He succeeded his father, […]

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King Ferdinand and the nobility of Andalucia rush to the aid of Don Roderigo Ponce de Leon in Alhama

July 26, 2012

Ferdinand and Isabella were at Medina del Campo, when tidings came of the capture of Alhama. The King was at mass when he received the news, and ordered a Te Deum to be chanted for this signal triumph of the holy faith. When the first flush  of triumph had subsided, and the King learnt the imminent […]

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The State as a perfect society—its sovereignty and majesty—its supreme nobility

July 26, 2012

The common good in this sense encompasses all subordinate goods without absorbing or repressing them. This encompassing gives the State a supremacy of mission, power, and, therefore, intrinsic dignity, which is adequately expressed by the word majesty.(1) A nation normally constitutes a complete and perfect(2) society. Regardless of its form of government, this society is sovereign […]

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Recipe – A Delicious Mistake

July 26, 2012

As with many culinary successes, a mistake led to the world famous Crepes Suzette. In 1895, Henri Charpentier, a 14-year old assistant at Monte Carlo’s Cafe in Paris, was preparing dessert for the Prince of Wales and his party. Inadvertently, the brandy and Grand Marnier liqueur he put into his crepe pan caught fire and […]

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July 27 – Wanted: Noble Men for the Missions, Never to Return Home

July 26, 2012

Martyrs of Cuncolim On Monday, 25 July, 1583 (N.S.), the village of Cuncolim in the district of Salcete, territory of Goa, India, was the scene of the martyrdom of five religious of the Society of Jesus: Fathers Rudolph Acquaviva, Alphonsus Pacheco, Peter Berno, and Anthony Francis, also Francis Aranha, lay brother. Rudolph Acquaviva was born […]

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News: Belgium’s National Day

July 23, 2012

  King Albert II of the Belgians gave his traditional National Day address, expressing sympathy to the families whose children died in March’s coach crash in Switzerland.  The King also talked about Belgium’s economy and job growth.   Click here for more on the King’s address

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American Thinker: The Intellectual and Moral Poverty of Egalitarianism

July 23, 2012

Jack Kerwick comments on 19th century American sociologist William Graham Sumner criticism of economic egalitarianism. Sumner affirms that “the dogma that all men are equal” is “the most flagrant falsehood and the most immoral doctrine which men have ever believed[.]”   Read more

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News: Norway’s Monarchy is Uncertain

July 23, 2012

The Socialist party (SV) wants a republic, not a monarchy, and is pushing for a new referendum concerning the future of the Monarchy in Norway. “Given that (Norway’s) democracy is considerably broader today (than it was in 1905), it wouldn’t hurt to have a new referendum, out of consideration for the legitimacy of the monarchy,” […]

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Empress Sisi comforts a young widow

July 23, 2012

While staying in England at the seaside resort of Cromer, in July 1887, she gave one of these proofs of delicacy of heart which are not easily forgotten among the humbler classes. She was walking on a stormy morning along the shore, when she suddenly caught sight of a group of sailors who were carrying […]

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A liberal, reformist, and egalitarian philanthropy

July 23, 2012

Moved by such false compassion, many wealthy people believe that their own happiness will not be complete as long as others suffer from having less. This attitude leads them to philanthropic sentimentalism. They feel a certain personal well-being in materially helping not only the truly needy, but all those less fortunate than themselves. To assure […]

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July 23 – St. Bridget of Sweden

July 23, 2012

St. Bridget of Sweden The most celebrated saint of the Northern kingdoms, born about 1303; died 23 July, 1373. She was the daughter of Birger Persson, governor and provincial judge (Lagman) of Uppland, and of Ingeborg Bengtsdotter. Her father was one of the wealthiest landholders of the country, and, like her mother, distinguished by deep […]

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July 24 – Chaste Queen

July 23, 2012

Saint Kinga of Poland (also known as Cunegunda, Kunigunda, Kunegunda, Cunegundes, Kioga, Zinga; Polish: Święta Kinga, Hungarian: Szent Kinga) Poor Clare and patroness of Poland and Lithuania; born in 1224; died 24 July, 1292, at Sandeck, Poland. She was the daughter of King Bela IV and niece of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, and from her […]

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July 24 – She Was Fearless, Courageous, and Unswerving

July 23, 2012

Matilda of Canossa Countess of Tuscany, daughter and heiress of the Marquess Boniface of Tuscany, and Beatrice, daughter of Frederick of Lorraine, b. 1046; d. 24 July, 1114. In 1053 her father was murdered. Duke Gottfried of Lorraine, an opponent of the Emperor Henry III, went to Italy and married the widowed Beatrice. But, in […]

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The Telegraph: The Queen Appoints New Crown Jeweller

July 19, 2012

The Queen has appointed a new Crown Jeweller four years after Garrard, of Mayfair, was replaced by a little-known businessman from the Home Counties. More here at the Telegraph

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Wort.lu: 100 days and Counting

July 19, 2012

Crown Prince Guillaume and Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy will tie the knot on October 20 in the cathedral Notre Dame. The countdown is on for Luxembourg’s Royal couple as only 100 days remain until their wedding. More here

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Asahi News: Interview with the Grand Steward of the Imperial House

July 19, 2012

In his seven years as grand steward of the Imperial Household Agency, Shingo Haketa has an abiding memory of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko: Their heartfelt concern for victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Click here to read the rest of the interview

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An earlier Washington holds Worcester for the king against heavy odds

July 19, 2012

One of the direct descendants of the grantee of Sulgrave was Sir William Washington, of Packington, in the county of Kent. He married a sister of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, the unfortunate favorite of Charles I. This may have attached the Sulgrave Washingtons to the Stuart dynasty, to which they adhered loyally and generously […]

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A Misconception of Compassion

July 19, 2012

Not a few Americans have an aversion to social and economic inequalities. This repulsion arises not so much from philosophical convictions as from a temperamental disposition at the heart of which lies a serious misconception about the nature of compassion. Such mentalities believe that inequalities, particularly those of a social or economic character, invariably cause […]

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July 19 – Her whole family became saints

July 19, 2012

St. Macrina the Younger Born about 330; died 379. She was the eldest child of Basil the Elder and Emmelia, the granddaughter of St. Macrina the Elder, and the sister of the Cappadocian Fathers, Sts. Basil and Gregory of Nyssa. The last-mentioned has left us a biography of his sister in the form of a […]

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July 20 – Carolingian Reformer

July 19, 2012

St. Ansegisus Born about 770, of noble parentage; died 20 July, 833, or 834. At the age of eighteen he entered the Benedictine monastery of Fontanelle (also called St. Vandrille after the name of its founder) in the diocese of Rouen. St. Girowald, a relative of Ansegisus, was then Abbot of Fontanelle. From the beginning […]

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July 16 – Alfonso VIII of Castile crushes the Moors at Las Navas de Tolosa

July 16, 2012

The Almohads, the new dynasty of Moroccan fanatics who had subdued all the Moslems in al Andalus, launched an all-out attack on the Christians by moving a huge army north into south central Spain. The impetuous Alfonso VIII of Castile, without waiting for reinforcements, attempted to bar the way at Alarcos. On July 18, 1195, […]

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William the Conqueror’s extraordinary leadership gifts

July 16, 2012

A warrior age salutes a warrior, and in the young William it found a warrior to salute. Tall in stature and of great physical strength, his personal exploits in battle (particularly in the campaigns of 1051 and 1052) had attracted notice, and more sober contemporaries might already have detected in him a commander of considerable […]

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The aristocracy synthesizes the perfections of the community

July 16, 2012

The reflections above consider the aristocracy from the point of view of the pole of perfection toward which it should tend. But the aristocracy can be considered further as expressing the collective perfection of a city or region. In effect, every city or region has what could be called a collective personality or a “common […]

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July 17 – Martyred in the Name of Equality

July 16, 2012

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 – “You Do Not Know What You Do”

July 16, 2012

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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July 18 – “Don’t drink water, drink beer” said the bishop

July 16, 2012

Saint Arnulf of Metz Statesman, bishop under the Merovingians, born c. 580; died c. 640. His parents belonged to a distinguished Frankish family, and lived in Austrasia, the eastern section of the kingdom founded by Clovis. In the school in which he was placed during his boyhood he excelled through his talent and his good […]

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July 18 – This King Would Not Wear a Crown of Gold Where Jesus Wore a Crown of Thorns

July 16, 2012

Godfrey of Bouillon Duke of Lower Lorraine and first King of Jerusalem, son of Eustache II, Count of Boulogne, and of Ida, daughter of Godfrey the Bearded, Duke of Lower Lorraine; b. probably at Boulogne-sur-Mer, 1060; d. at Jerusalem, 18 July, 1100 (according to a thirteenth-century chronicler, he was born at Baisy, in Brabant; see […]

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BBC: Prince William installed as Knight of the Order of the Thistle

July 12, 2012

According to BBC: Prince William has been installed as a Knight of the Order of the Thistle, the highest honour available in Scotland. The ceremony at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh was followed by a parade down the Royal Mile led by 400 pipers. The event was followed by a procession involving pipers, drummers and […]

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