October 19 – This Earl was found guilty of praying, and starved to death in the Tower

October 17, 2011

 Saint Philip Howard Martyr, Earl of Arundel; born at Arundel House, London, 28 June 1557, died in the Tower of London, 19 October, 1595. He was the grandson of Henry, Earl of Surrey, the poet, executed by Henry VIII in 1547, and son of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk executed by Elizabeth 1572. Philip II of […]

Read the full article →

October 19 – Barefoot from Spain to Rome

October 17, 2011

St. Peter of Alcántara Born at Alcántara, Spain, 1499; died 18 Oct., 1562. His father, Peter Garavita, was the governor of the place, and his mother was of the noble family of Sanabia. After a course of grammar and philosophy in his native town, he was sent, at the age of fourteen, to the University […]

Read the full article →

While hunting, Marie Antoinette took pains not to damage the harvest

October 17, 2011

One time, when Louis XVI was hunting in Compiègne, Marie Antoinette followed the beaters in a barouche. The buck fled straight to where the king and the hunt were waiting, racing straight through a wheat field. Marie Antoinette ordered her driver not to follow the pursued animal. She did not want to damage the harvest […]

Read the full article →

Part I, Chapter VI: The March of the Revolution

October 17, 2011

CHAPTER VI The March of the Revolution The previous considerations gave us some data about the march of the Revolution, namely, its processive character, its metamorphoses, its outbreak in the innermost recesses of the human soul, and its externalization in acts. As can be seen, the Revolution has a whole dynamic of its own. We […]

Read the full article →

October 18 – A date which will live in infamy

October 17, 2011

Destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre On October 18, 1009, under Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, orders for the complete destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection, were carried out. The measures against the church were part of a more general campaign against Christian places […]

Read the full article →

Lord Nicholas Windsor takes public stand against abortion

October 13, 2011

Chivalry commands us to “respect all weaknesses, and … constitute thyself the defender of them.” So it is very encouraging to see a member of the British royal family help to launch an international initiative defending the weakest of our neighbors, the unborn threatened by abortion. The National Catholic Register announces that: “Lord Nicholas Windsor, […]

Read the full article →

Nobles Gather to Study Their Role in Society

October 13, 2011

The Wall Street Journal reports a gathering of the Association for the Mutual Assistance of the French Nobility (ANF) from the southern French region of Auvergne in the castle of Parentignat to mingle and share ideas. Talks were entitled: “The role of the nobility in European civilization,” “The nobility in a Europe on the move,” […]

Read the full article →

Video of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 (Part 7/7)

October 13, 2011

Previous segments: Part 6 Part 5 Part 4 Part 3 Part 2 Part 1

Read the full article →

Last Letter of Marie-Antoinette

October 13, 2011

October 16, 1793 letter written by Marie-Antoinette Queen of France a few hours before her execution to her sister-in-law Madame Elisabeth: 16th October, 4.30 A.M. It is to you, my sister, that I write for the last time. I have just been condemned, not to a shameful death, for such is only for criminals, but […]

Read the full article →

Marie Antoinette, Archduchess of Austria, Queen of France and Capetian Widow

October 13, 2011

(A lecture by Plinio Correa de Oliveira) Most Reverend Monsignor Director of this Academy, Gentlemen Academicians: A simple listing of the titles with which she was known during her short life as Marie Antoinette of Hapsburg, and later Marie Antoinette of Bourbon, brings to memory the series of extraordinary and unforeseen events that together make […]

Read the full article →

October 13 – His reign was one of almost unbroken peace

October 13, 2011

St. Edward the Confessor King of England, born in 1003; died 5 January, 1066. God often gives bad princes in his wrath; but in a good king he bestows a great public blessing on a nation. A wise king is the upholding of his people. (1) As the judge of the people is himself, so […]

Read the full article →

Why celebrate Columbus Day?

October 10, 2011

Columbus and Divine Providence by Jeremias Wells Christopher Columbus certainly ranks as one of the greatest men of achievement the world has ever known, and also justly one of the most renowned, for the entire history of Europeans in America originated from his vision, religious sense and adventurous spirit. As can be expected in a […]

Read the full article →

The United States: An Aristocratic Nation Within a Democratic State

October 10, 2011

Introduction  (part 2) The United States is universally considered the republic par excellence, whose very Declaration of Independence consecrated the principle that “all men are created equal.” It is the nation of “self-made men,” where anyone can rise “from rags to riches”; the nation of individual liberties, where authority and hierarchy are viewed with suspicion; […]

Read the full article →

October 11 – Model Archduke, both spiritual and temporal

October 10, 2011

St. Bruno the Great, Archbishop of Cologne Bruno the Great (or Bruno I) (925–965) was Archbishop of Cologne, Germany, from 953 until his death, and Duke of Lotharingia from 954. He was the brother of Otto I, king of Germany and later Holy Roman Emperor. Bruno was the youngest son of Henry the Fowler and […]

Read the full article →

October 10 – This man is proof that God can take good out of evil

October 10, 2011

St. Francis Borgia (also known as Francisco de Borja y Aragon), born 28 October, 1510, was the son of Juan Borgia, third Duke of Gandia, and of Juana of Aragon; died 30 September, 1572. The future saint was unhappy in his ancestry. His grandfather, Juan Borgia, the second son of Alexander VI, was assassinated in Rome […]

Read the full article →

October 7 – How the Rosary saved Christendom

October 6, 2011

The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary Here is but a small fraction of the victories directly obtained from God through the Holy Rosary: The Battle of Lepanto which saved Rome and Vienna, and thus the Pope and the Emperor, from Moslem subjugation The deliverance of Vienna by Sobieski The victory given to Prince […]

Read the full article →

The United States: An Aristocratic Nation Within a Democratic State

October 6, 2011

Introduction  (part 1) The main text of this book established the legitimacy, utility, and role of the nobility and other traditional elites within contemporary society. Special attention was placed on the traditional nobility in the European context, that is, the military nobility of rural origin. In his memorable allocutions to the Roman Patriciate and Nobility, […]

Read the full article →

Video of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 (Part 6/7)

October 6, 2011

http://youtu.be/X8hDPGPV-k0 Previous segments: Part 5 Part 4 Part 3 Part 2 Part 1

Read the full article →

October 6 – Princes and popes coveted the advice of this silent man

October 6, 2011

St. Bruno Confessor, ecclesiastical writer, and founder of the Carthusian Order. He was born at Cologne about the year 1030; died 6 October, 1101. He is usually represented with a death’s head in his hands, a book and a cross, or crowned with seven stars; or with a roll bearing the device O Bonitas. His […]

Read the full article →

Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: Distinguished Apostle, Ardent and Intrepid Polemist

October 3, 2011

by Bernardino Cardinal Echeverría Ruiz, O.F.M. The unexpected news of the death of Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira has moved us to ponder some chapters of his life and to reflect that the more intense the evils of an epoch, the more exceptional are the figures Divine Providence calls to face them. It is a reflection […]

Read the full article →

Who Fights for Us?

October 3, 2011

Some Americans continue to believe that the military is overwhelmingly composed of those with no other options. Charlie Rangel: “No young, bright individual wants to fight just because of a bonus and just because of educational benefits. And most all of them come from communities of very, very high unemployment. If a young fella has […]

Read the full article →

Frederick II, the beginning of the decline for chivalry

October 3, 2011

Although Frederick was Emperor of Germany through his father Henry VI, in spirit and moral outlook he had more in common with the Moslems and Sicilians with whom he spent his formative years. Possessing high intelligence and enormous energy, he was also beset by instability and a passionate nature that he rarely brought under self-control. […]

Read the full article →

October 4 – You Want Chivalry? A More Heavenly Chivalry? Try This.

October 3, 2011

The Last Will and Testament of St. Francis of Assisi This is how God inspired me, Brother Francis, to embark upon a life of penance. When I was in sin, the sight of lepers nauseated me beyond measure; but then God himself led me into their company, and I had pity on them. When I […]

Read the full article →

October 3 – What does a pious soldier do after a difficult assignment?

October 3, 2011

St. Gérard, Abbot of Brogne Born at Staves in the county of Namur, towards the end of the ninth century; died at Brogne or St-Gérard, 3 Oct. 959. The son of Stance, of the family of dukes of Lower Austrasia, and of Plectrude, sister of Stephen, Bishop of Liège, the young Gérard, like most men […]

Read the full article →

September 30 – The cantankerous noble who became a saint

September 29, 2011

St. Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church Born at Stridon, a town on the confines of Dalmatia and Pannonia, about the year 340-2; died at Bethlehem, 30 September, 420. He had a brother much younger than himself, whose name was Paulinian. His father, called Eusebius, was descended from a good family, and had a […]

Read the full article →

September 29 – Who inspired Chivalry?

September 29, 2011

Saint Michael the Archangel: “Who is like God?” In Hebraic, mîkâ’êl, means “Who is like God?” The Scriptures refer to the Archangel Saint Michael in four different passages: two of them, in Daniel’s prophesy (chap. 10, 13 and 21; and chap. 12, 1); one in Saint Jude Thaddeus (single chapter, vers. 9) and, finally, in […]

Read the full article →

The destruction of the order par excellence

September 29, 2011

[previous] E: The destruction of the order par excellence Indeed, the order of things being destroyed is medieval Christendom. Now, medieval Christendom was not just any order, or merely one of many possible orders. It was the realization, in the circumstances inherent to the times and places, of the only authentic order among men, namely, […]

Read the full article →

The standard-bearer who was honored with a reprimand

September 29, 2011

One incident in the battle [of Renty] is worth recalling. The Duke’s standard-bearer M. de Saint-Phal, had started before the signal, and ridden ahead farther than he should have. The Duke [Francis, Duke of Guise], greatly vexed, galloped after him and struck him a sharp blow on the helmet to stop him. M. de Saint-Phal […]

Read the full article →

Video of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 (Part 5/7)

September 29, 2011

Previous segments: Part 4 Part 3 Part 2 Part 1

Read the full article →

September 29 – In battle or in prison, he never missed Mass

September 29, 2011

Blessed Charles of Blois (1320- September 29, 1364) Charles is the son of Guy I of Blois-Châtillon, count of Blois, by Margaret of Valois, a sister of king Philip VI of France. Early in life, he felt a call to be a Franciscan friar, but political duty kept him in secular life. Following his marriage […]

Read the full article →

El Cid: A living legend who was the beating heart of the Spanish Reconquista

September 26, 2011

The Reconquest of Spain from the Moslem occupation suffered several setbacks and reversals. But in the darkest hours, a selfless hero always arose to stem an impending onslaught. Such a danger threatened the Spanish Christians late in the eleventh century when a fanatical horde of North African Berbers invaded the peninsula. An overwhelming disaster was […]

Read the full article →

Announcement: Votive Mass of Blessed Karl, Lecture of Archduke Carl-Christian

September 26, 2011

St. Mary, Mother of God Church in Washington, D.C. will celebrate the Feast Day of Blessed Emperor Karl of Austria with a traditional Latin Solemn High Mass on Friday, October 21, at 7:30 p.m. After the Mass there will be a reception downstairs, with refreshments and a program about Blessed Karl. This is the fourth […]

Read the full article →

Tradition is a fertile patrimony, an inheritance that must be preserved

September 26, 2011

From an allocution of Paul VI to his fellow countrymen of Brescia, September 26, 1970: “Allow a fellow-citizen of yours from yesterday to render homage to one of the most precious values of human life, and one of the most neglected in our day: tradition. It is a fertile patrimony, a heritage to be preserved. […]

Read the full article →

September 27 – These exemplary nobles personified virtue

September 26, 2011

Saint Elzéar of Sabran, Count of Arian, and Saint Delphina of Glandenes St. Elzear (also spelled Eleazarus) was descended of the ancient and illustrious family of Sabran, in Provence; his father, Hermengaud of Sabran, was created count of Arian (Ariano), in the kingdom of Naples; his mother was Lauduna of Albes, a family no less […]

Read the full article →

Pride and Egalitarianism

September 22, 2011

[previous] A. Pride and Egalitarianism The proud person, subject to another’s authority, hates first of all the particular yoke that weighs upon him. In a second stage, the proud man hates all authority in general and all yokes, and, even more, the very principle of authority considered in the abstract. Because he hates all authority, […]

Read the full article →

Louis XV foregoes entertainment to prevent an officer’s suffering

September 22, 2011

  An Army officer of Louis XV who had spent his fortune in the King’s service asked His Majesty for 1,000 golden louises to replace what he had spent, thus enabling him to continue fighting. The king promised that his request would be granted, but the Treasurer said he did not have sufficient funds. The […]

Read the full article →

Video of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 (Part 4/7)

September 22, 2011

Previous segments: Part 3 Part 2 Part 1

Read the full article →

September 23 – He ensured the immunity of non-combatants in warfare

September 22, 2011

St. Adamnan of Ireland, Abbot He was the eighth in descent from the great Nial, king of Ireland, and from Conal the Great, ancestor of St. Columbkille. His parents were eminent for their rank and virtue. He was born in the year 626, at Rathboth, (1) now called Raphoe, in the county of Donegal, and […]

Read the full article →

Mary of Modena, the Princess who wanted to become a nun, but was asked by the Pope to marry James II of England

September 19, 2011

Another voice, the most august of all, was now to break silence. The arguments of Kings, Cardinals, Ambassadors, and of her own family had failed to shake the purpose or convince the mind of the young Princess. Moved by a desire to benefit the Catholics of England, and as much perhaps by the solicitations of […]

Read the full article →

The Liberty and Equality Spread by the French Revolution: Fallacious Concepts Disseminated by Most-Perfidious Philosophers

September 19, 2011

Pius VI repeatedly condemned the false concept of liberty and equality. In the Secret Consistory of June 17, 1793, quoting the words of the encyclical Inscrutabilie Divinae Sapientiae of December 25, 1775, he declared: “‘The most perfidious philosophers go farther. They dissolve all those bonds by which human beings are joined to one another and […]

Read the full article →

September 19 – She begged to ransom Christian captives

September 19, 2011

Blessed Mary de Cervellione (or De Cervello) Popularly styled “de Socos” (of Help) Saint, born about 1230 at Barcelona; died there 19 September, 1290. She was a daughter of a Spanish nobleman named William de Cervellon. One day she heard a sermon preached by Blessed Bernard de Corbarie, the superior of the Brotherhood of Our […]

Read the full article →

September 20 – Court preacher to Charles V

September 19, 2011

Saint Alonso de Orozco Mena Alphonsus de Orozco was born in Oropesa, Province of Toledo, Spain, on the 17th of October 1500, where his father was governor of the local castle. He began his studies in the nearby Talavera de la Reina and for three years he was a choir boy in the Cathedral of […]

Read the full article →

RIP HIRH Archduke Felix – forever in the hearts of Austrians

September 15, 2011

Archduke Felix of Austria (given names: Felix Friedrich August Maria vom Siege Franz Joseph Peter Karl Anton Robert Otto Pius Michael Benedikt Sebastian Ignatius Marcus d’Aviano; 31 May 1916 – 6 September 2011) was the last surviving child of the last Austrian Emperor Charles I and a member of the House of Hapsburg-Lorraine. He was […]

Read the full article →

The various aspects of revolutionary radical and metaphysical egalitarianism

September 15, 2011

[previous] a. Equality between men and God. Pantheism, immanentism, and all esoteric forms of religion aim to place God and men on an equal footing and to invest the latter with divine properties. An atheist is an egalitarian who, to avoid the absurdity of affirming that man is God, commits the absurdity of declaring that […]

Read the full article →

September 15 – The noble apostle of purgatory

September 15, 2011

St. Catherine of Genoa (also known as Caterina Fieschi Adorno.) Born at Genoa in 1447, died at the same place 15 September, 1510. The life of St. Catherine of Genoa may be more properly described as a state than as a life in the ordinary sense. When about twenty-six years old she became the subject […]

Read the full article →

The second Earl of Stair gives precedence to the Blessed Sacrament

September 15, 2011

While British Ambassador to the court of France, John Dalrymple, second Earl of Stair, forbade his coachman to give right of way to any other vehicle whatsoever. One day he came across a carriage carrying the Blessed Sacrament and his coachman asked: — “Your Lordship, would you be so kind as to allow passage for […]

Read the full article →

Video of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II 1953 (Part 3/7)

September 15, 2011

Previous segments: Part 2 Part 1

Read the full article →

September 16 – The pope who exacted tribute from the Mohammedan ruler of Tunis

September 15, 2011

Pope Blessed Victor III Born in 1026 or 1027 of a non-regnant branch of the Lombard dukes of Benevento; died in Rome, 16 Sept., 1087. Being an only son his desire to embrace the monastic state was strenuously opposed by both his parents. After his father’s death in battle with the Normans, 1047, he fled […]

Read the full article →

I Have Found the Precious Pearl of the Gospel

September 12, 2011

João Filipe Osório de Menezes Pita Count of Proença-a-Velha Born in Lisbon in 1928 It was with enormous joy that I accepted the invitation to collaborate with this book dedicated to outline some facets of the personality and work of Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira. I never met him personally, which is an immense pity, […]

Read the full article →

September 12 – The Holy Name of the Virgin Mary; in thanksgiving for the victory over the Turks at Vienna

September 12, 2011

The Festival of the Holy Name of the Virgin Mary Pope Innocent XI extended this feast to the universal Church as a solemn thanksgiving for the relief of Vienna, when it was besieged by the Turks in 1683. The Turks had formerly laid siege to Vienna, under Solyman the Magnificent, in 1529, in the reign […]

Read the full article →

A secret unveiled by fire: Don John was the Emperor’s son

September 12, 2011

[Luis Quijada] found nothing changed in Villagarcia, Doña Magdalena was still the model of all virtues and the helper of the poor, and Jeromín [Don John of Austria] the joy of the castle and the sun which shed light and movement and happiness around him. An extraordinary event occurred at this time to strengthen more […]

Read the full article →

In Honor of the 1683 Battle of Vienna

September 12, 2011

To celebrate the victory of 1683 over the Turks, the bakers of Vienna designed a cake in the shape of a turban, which was the Sultan’s headdress. Sometimes this recipe is spelled Gugelhupf, which literally means “ball head.” (The Austrians write it Kugelhupf.) It soon became quite popular throughout Europe when the Emperor of Austria, […]

Read the full article →

Video – Sobieski at Vienna 1683

September 12, 2011

Before he set out, Sobieski had sent a letter to Innocent XI, in which he wrote: “When the good of the Church and Christianity is concerned I shed my blood to the last drop, together with the whole kingdom. Since my kingdom and I are two bulwarks of Christianity”. To commemorate Sobieski’s victory Pope Innocent […]

Read the full article →

September 8 – The Blessed Virgin Mary descended from King David

September 8, 2011

As we celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us recall her Davidic ancestry. St. Luke (2:4) says that St. Joseph went from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be enrolled, “because he was of the house and family of David”. As if to exclude all doubt concerning the Davidic descent of Mary, the Evangelist […]

Read the full article →

The King of Italy sends an ultimatum to Blessed Pope Pius IX

September 8, 2011

As the French military situation deteriorated [in the Franco-Prussian War], the government in Florence grew bolder. Near the end of August [1870], the Italian cabinet issued a circular letter to all the governments of Europe, in which it declared that the time had come to end the Roman Question. On the one hand, the document […]

Read the full article →

Nobility of Blood Is a Powerful Stimulus for the Practice of Virtue

September 8, 2011

From the magnificent sermon of Saint Charles Borromeo (1538-1584), Archbishop of Milan, on the feast of Our Lady, September 8, 1584: “The beginning of the Holy Gospel written by Saint Matthew, which was proclaimed to you from this place a short while ago by Holy Mother Church, inspires us above all to examine attentively the […]

Read the full article →

Video – Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 (Part 2/7)

September 8, 2011
Read the full article →

Maybe a smart king could help

September 8, 2011

On the morning the French celebrate the founding of their republic, Paris was silent. We were practically alone on the metro.   “What are you doing for July 14th?” we asked a colleague. “Nothing. I don’t celebrate it. It’s nothing to celebrate. I only recognise religious holidays. France would have been better off without the […]

Read the full article →

The Abuse of Liberty and Equality Leads to Socialism and Communism

September 5, 2011

In his encyclical Nostis et nobiscum of December 8, 1849, Pius IX denounces a false understanding of these words. “As regards this teaching and these theories [about distancing the peoples of Italy from obedience to the Pope and the Holy See], it is now generally known that the special goal of their proponents is to […]

Read the full article →

September 7 – Video: Richard the Lionheart defeats Saladin at Arsuf

September 5, 2011

Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 106

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →