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 […]

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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

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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. […]

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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 […]

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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, […]

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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 […]

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

September 22, 2011

Previous segments: Part 3 Part 2 Part 1

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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

September 15, 2011

Previous segments: Part 2 Part 1

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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 […]

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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, […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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, […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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

September 8, 2011
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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 […]

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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 […]

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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

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After Two Centuries, US House of Representatives Page Program Ended

September 5, 2011

August 31, 2011, marked the last day of the United States House of Representatives Page Program, a tradition nearly as old as Congress itself. “According to the House of Representatives Page Program website, the history of the pages themselves goes back to the first Continental Congress of 1774 (though they were not called ‘pages’ until […]

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September 5 – Unashamed to beg alms from his family

September 5, 2011

St. Laurence Justinian, Bishop and Confessor, First Patriarch of Venice (also known as Laurence Giustiniani, Lawrence Justinian, Lorenzo Giustiniani) A.D. 1455. St. Laurence was born at Venice, in 1380. His father Bernardi Justiniani (1) held an illustrious rank among the prime nobility of the commonwealth; nor was the extraction of his mother Querini less noble. […]

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Video – Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 (Part 1/7)

September 1, 2011

Other segments: Part 3 Part 2 Part 1

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Their sole “crime” was having sheltered a priest

September 1, 2011

Notwithstanding the danger with which the least kindness shown to any royalist or Catholic was attended, there were not a few of the inhabitants of Nantes who braved the fury of the terrorists, and concealed in their houses both priests and insurgents. A touching story is told of the devotion of two young ladies to […]

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Revolution, Counter-Revolution, and Dictatorship

September 1, 2011

[previous] F. Revolution, Counter-Revolution, and Dictatorship These considerations on the position of the Revolution and of Catholic thought concerning forms of government may lead some readers to inquire whether dictatorship is a revolutionary or a counter-revolutionary factor. To provide a clear answer to this question—to which many confused and even tendentious replies have been given—it […]

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September 2-3 – The September Martyrs of the French Revolution, Blessed John du Lau and Companions

September 1, 2011

Martyrs of September (Also known as: Martyrs of Paris or Martyrs of Carmes) In 1790, the revolutionary government of France enacted a law denying Papal authority over the Church in France. The French clergy were required to swear an oath to uphold this law and submit to the Republic. Many priests and religious took the […]

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Prince of Prussia marries in Potsdam – Video and Pictures

August 29, 2011

Georg Friedrich Prince of Prussia and Princess Sophie von Isenburg were married in front of 650 guests at on the grounds of the Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam on Saturday for Germany’s own “royal” wedding. The guests included nobility from around the world, as well as famous individuals from society and politics. To read more, click […]

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The panache of a French grenadier

August 29, 2011

While inspecting a battalion of his guard in the company of the ambassador of Great Britain—a country with a tradition of warring against France in numerous conflicts—Louis XIV commented: —    “These are the bravest soldiers in my kingdom. There is not one who is not covered with scars.” —    “But Sire, what do you say […]

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A Certain Democracy Goes So Far in Perversity as to Attribute Sovereignty to the People in Society and to Aim at the Suppression and Leveling of the Classes

August 29, 2011

From the apostolic letter Notre charge apostolique of Saint Pius X, August 25, 1910: “The Sillon, impelled by an ill-understood love of the weak, has fallen into error. “In effect, the Sillon puts forward as a programme the elevation and regeneration of the working classes. But in this matter the principles of Catholic doctrine are […]

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August 25 – The King who would rather die than sin

August 25, 2011

Saint Louis IX King of France, son of Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile, born at Poissy, 25 April, 1215; died near Tunis, 25 August, 1270. He was eleven years of age when the death of Louis VIII made him king, and nineteen when he married Marguerite of Provence by whom he had eleven children. […]

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Charles V and the banker

August 25, 2011

The Emperor set out from Valladolid on the 4th of November, 1556, at half-past three in the afternoon, after having dined in public, and forbidding absolutely that anyone besides his servants should take leave of him beyond the Puerta del Campo. In this second march he took an escort of cavalry and forty halberdiers. The […]

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The Error of Le Sillon: Only Democracy Will Usher in the Reign of Perfect Justice

August 25, 2011

previous Saint Pius X says in the apostolic letter Notre charge apostolique (August 25, 1910): “The Sillon* …therefore, sows amongst your Catholic youth erroneous and fatal notions upon authority, liberty and obedience. The same is to be said with regard to justice and equality. It strives, it says, to attain an era of equality, which, […]

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Two heroic deaths honor nobility of blood and nobility of soul

August 22, 2011

  Madame de Jourdain perished in the noyades with her three daughters. A republican rushed to save the youngest who was of remarkable beauty. He seized her as she was about to be precipitated from the boat, but she burst from his grasp into the river. Falling, however, on a heap of corpses, she cried […]

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August 22 – The pope who preached a Crusade against the German Emperor Frederick II

August 22, 2011

Pope Gregory IX (UGOLINO, Count of Segni). Born about 1145, at Anagni in the Campagna; died 22 August, 1241, at Rome. He received his education at the Universities of Paris and Bologna. After the accession of Innocent III to the papal throne, Ugolino, who was a nephew of Innocent III, was successively appointed papal chaplain, […]

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Navy, air force going ‘royal’ once again

August 22, 2011

The Canadian navy and air force are going back to their royal roots. “The three branches of the armed forces will drop the bureaucratic bafflegab monikers Maritime Command, Air Command and Land Force Command and will officially revert to Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force and Canadian Army, respectively, names that ceased to be […]

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The Great Siege of Malta, May 18–September 11, 1565, was won because of one man: Grand Master Jean Parisot de la Valette

August 18, 2011

On the morning of August 18th the excessively heavy bombardment of Senglea warned them that an attack was imminent. It was not slow to develop. The moment that the rumble of the guns died down, the Iayalars and Janissaries were seen streaming forward across the no-man’s-land to the south. The attack developed in the same […]

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TFP: Tradition

August 18, 2011

Written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira When we speak of tradition, many people think of England, the Queen, the House of Lords, Rolls Royces, top hats and British distinction and poise… All of these impressions, considered as a whole, cause divergent reactions in people’s minds. Very many see tradition under different hues as time goes […]

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“God Save the Queen” – sung on the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation

August 18, 2011

In 2003 , the United Kingdom celebrated the Golden Anniversary of the crowning of Queen Elizabeth II. In this video clip, the British National Anthem is sung at Westminster Abbey.

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The Revolution’s barbarism is highlighted by a sister’s heroic offer

August 15, 2011

The narrations of affecting suffering, of Christian fortitude, of providential escapes that have been recorded are innumerable. Some of them we will here set down. In the midst of all the cruelty of the terrorists, they awarded to the pregnant woman and nursing mother a respite from death. But this show of mercy only concealed […]

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The Importance of Tradition Today

August 15, 2011

While walking downtown I happened to bump into an acquaintance who challenged me by way of a greeting: “In your latest article you proved quite well that tradition is an indispensable survival of the past in the present. But is tradition important enough for you to have placed it before property and family in the […]

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

August 15, 2011

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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Unwisely, King Ferdinand lays siege to Loja—death of the youthful Don Roderigo Tellez Giron, Grand Master of Calatrava

August 11, 2011

It was about the end of June that King Ferdinand departed from Cordoba, to sit down before the walls of Loja. So confident was he of success, that he left a great part of the army at Ecija, and advanced with but five thousand cavalry and eight thousand infantry. The Marques of Cadiz, a warrior […]

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The French Revolution implemented socio-political egalitarianism

August 11, 2011

[previous] The profound action of humanism and the Renaissance among Catholics spread unceasingly throughout France in a growing chain of consequences. Favored by the weakening of piety in the faithful caused by Jansenism and the other leavens sixteenth-century Protestantism had unfortunately left in the Most Christian Kingdom, this action gave rise in the eighteenth century […]

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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 11, 2011

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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The reconquista of Granada begins: Don Roderigo Ponce de Leon chooses Alhama as his target

August 8, 2011

The Marques of Cadiz had vast possessions in the most fertile parts of Andalusia, including many towns and castles, and could lead forth an army into the field from his own vassals and dependents. On receiving the orders of the King, he burned to signalize himself by some sudden incursion into the kingdom of Granada, […]

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Omnifarious Liberty and Absolute Equality: Foolish and Even Monstruous Concepts

August 8, 2011

In the decretal of March 10, 1791, to the Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld and to the Archbishop of Aix-en-Provence, Pius VI expressed himself concerning the principles of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. “For indeed, that Assembly [the French Constituent Assembly] has decreed that it was laid down in natural law that a man established […]

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August 8 – The Persian noble promised his king that anyone who betrays Jesus could betray their king

August 8, 2011

St. Hormisdas (Martyred c. 420) Isdegerdes, king of Persia, renewed the persecution which Cosroes II had raised against the church. It is not easy, says Theodoret, to describe or express the cruelties which were then invented against the disciples of Christ. Some were flayed alive, others had the skin torn from off their backs only, […]

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August 8 – St. Dominic

August 8, 2011

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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Jean Chouan’s widowed mother obtains the King’s pardon for her son

August 4, 2011

In Maine there existed a heavy impost on salt, called the gabelle, which was not levied in Brittany. Salt, therefore, the sugar of the poor, as the poet Beranger called it, cost only a sous per pound in the latter province, while in the former the price was thirteen sous…. [T]he poor were compelled not […]

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God’s plan for men pressuposes inequality

August 4, 2011

While God could have made all men strong, wise, and rich, he was unwilling to do so. He wished instead that these men should be strong, those weak; these wise, those foolish; these rich and those poor. For if all were strong, wise and wealthy, one would not be in need of the other. The […]

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August 5 – The valiant king who waged just war to defend his people

August 4, 2011

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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One Queen – How Many Presidents?

August 1, 2011

  Clinton   George H. W. Bush   hint and the one before him   Lest we forget former President Hoover…

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The death of the de la Metairie sisters ends the Terror of Nantes

August 1, 2011

Another execution [in Nantes] also tended to change the tide of popular feeling—that of four sisters, the Demoiselles Mello de la Metairie. Deprived of both their parents, these young ladies had continued to live in their native city, devoting their lives to the care of the sick and the consolation of the poor and afflicted. […]

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