Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria-Hungary, washes the feet of the poor on Holy Thursday

March 28, 2024

In 1850, Franz Joseph participated…as emperor in the second of the traditional Habsburg expressions of dynastic piety: the Holy Thursday foot-washing ceremony, part of the four-day court observance of Easter. The master of the staff and the court prelates chose twelve poor elderly men, transported them to the Hofburg, and positioned them in the ceremonial […]

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Queen Mary washes the feet of the poor on Maundy Thursday

March 28, 2024

… and on Holy Thursday, at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the most Serene Queen performed the ceremony of feet-washing, thus – Her Majesty being accompanied by the Right Reverend Legate and by the Council, entered a large hall, at the head of which was my Lord Bishop of Ely as Dean (come Decano) of […]

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For Contrast: Two Royal Attitudes to Washing the Feet of the Poor

March 28, 2024

In February, he returned to Castile, arriving in time to observe Holy Week at San Lorenzo, and to wash the feet of the poor on Holy Thursday “with his usual great tenderness and humility.” On Good Friday he adored the wood of the True Cross and pardoned several men who had been condemned to death, […]

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Queen Mary Welcomes the Sick on Good Friday

March 28, 2024

On [Good] Friday morning the offertory was performed according to custom in the Church of the Franciscan Friars, which is contiguous to the palace. After the Passion, the Queen came down from her oratory for the adoration of the Cross, accompanied by my lord the right reverend Legate, and kneeling at a short distance from […]

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The Crown of Thorns, in Paris

March 28, 2024

Baldwin the Second, Emperor of Constantinople, having come to France to solicit the king’s aid against the Greeks, who were besieging that imperial city, thought he would gain the heart of King Louis by making him a present of the Holy Crown of Thorns. He was not mistaken: the king assisted with money and troops, […]

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Easter in Imperial Russia: the Royal Doors

March 28, 2024

The time to arrive was about 11:30 p.m., when the great church, packed to its doors by a vast throng, was wrapped in almost total darkness…. As the eyes grew accustomed to the shadows, tens of thousands of unlighted candles, outlining the arches, cornices, and other architectural features of the cathedral, were just visible. These […]

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A king, a queen, and England’s Easter dilemma

March 28, 2024

When Finan died, leaving Bishop Coman—like himself, Irish by birth and a monk of Iona—as his successor at Lindisfarne, the dispute became at once open and general. Wilfrid had succeeded in sowing agitation and uncertainty in all minds; and the Northumbrians had come so far as to ask themselves whether the religion which had been […]

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King Stanislaus and Lent

March 25, 2024

King Stanislaus of Poland was a faithful observer of the ancient discipline of the Church; he made but one meal in Lent, not even allowing himself the collation; moreover, on Fridays he denied himself the use of fish and eggs. From his dinner on Holy Thursday, till the following Saturday, at noon, he denied himself […]

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The Little Barrel

March 25, 2024

(from an old French medieval tale) Between Normandy and Brittany, next to the sea, in times of old there used to be a castle so strong and so well defended that it feared no king, prince or duke of any sort. The lord that possessed it was of great stature, beautiful bearing, rich and high […]

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Love and Fear in Christian Piety

March 25, 2024

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira According to Church teaching, love and fear of God are virtues. Since neither antagonism nor contradiction can exist among the virtues, love does not exclude fear and fear does not exclude love. Furthermore, both of these virtues are essential for salvation. If we cannot envision a saint without love of […]

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Hope of a Hopeless World

March 25, 2024

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira                                       Legionário, N.º 410, 21 de julho de 1940 (*)   If there is an age whose sole hope lies in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, it is our own. The evils committed by mankind today can scarcely be exaggerated. To mention just a few, these include blasphemy, the destruction of […]

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Part 1 – Contemplating Christ in the Perfection of His Person

March 25, 2024

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira “If any man say, I love God, and hateth his brother; he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother, whom he seeth, how can he love God whom he seeth not?” (John 4:20). I dare say that most of us have meditated, though no doubt insufficiently, on […]

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Part 2 – Contemplating Christ in the Perfection of His Person

March 25, 2024

Part 1 by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Man of Sorrows Just as a fruit exudes its sweetest nectar and displays its most beautiful color when it is ripe, so does Our Lord express His full grandeur in suffering. In suffering, we see human misery most clearly. Crushed by suffering, man groans, moans, cries, flees, weeps, […]

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Royals commemorate Korean War veterans

March 21, 2024

According to Royal Central: Princess Anne ended the speech by telling the veterans that it is a duty to always remember the ‘Forgotten War’, and that “We salute all those who remain among us, and offer our most heartfelt and undying gratitude for those who have gone before. Your service and your sacrifice will echo […]

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Our Lady is the flower and pearl of Creation

March 21, 2024

She is a mother defined by a single word, the sea (o mar), which in its turn gives origin to a name. A name that in itself is a paradise: Maria. Our Lady could very well be referred to as the Mater Inimaginabilis (the Unfathomable Mother). The incommensurable ocean of perfections and graces within Her […]

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March 21-22 – James Harrison

March 21, 2024

James Harrison Priest and martyr; born in the Diocese of Lichfield, England, date unknown; died at York, 22 March, 1602. He studied at the English College at Reims, and was ordained there in September, 1583. In the following year he went on the English mission, where he laboured unobtrusively. In the early part of 1602 […]

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He stared Hitler in the face and didn’t blink

March 21, 2024

Blessed Clemens August Graf von Galen “Lion of Münster” Born     March 16, 1878 Dinklage Castle, Dinklage, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, German Confederation Died     March 22, 1946 (aged 68) Münster, Province of Westphalia, Germany Beatified     9 October 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI Feast     22 March The Blessed Clemens August Graf von Galen […]

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March 23 – They sought the honour of his company

March 21, 2024

Claude Bernard A French ecclesiastic known as “the poor priest” (le pauvre prêtre), b. at Dijon 23 December, 1588; d. in Paris, 23 March, 1641. His father was a distinguished lawyer, and filled successively offices of honour and responsibility. Young Bernard was educated at the Jesuit College of Dole and was remarked for his brilliant […]

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Jacques-Charles de Brisacier

March 21, 2024

Jacques-Charles de Brisacier Orator and ecclesiastical writer, b. at Bourges in 1641, d. at Paris, 23 March, 1736. At the age of twenty-five he entered the Society of the Foreign Missions at Paris, and devoted seventy years of his life to this great work. The scion of a rich and distinguished family, son of the […]

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March 23 – Edmund Sykes

March 21, 2024

Edmund Sykes, born at Leeds; martyred at York Tyburn 23 March, 1586-7; was a student at the College at Reims where he was ordained 21 Feb., 1581, and sent to the English Mission on 5 June following. He laboured in his native Yorkshire with such zeal and sacrifice, that his strength failed. Arthur Webster, an […]

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Saint Edward the Martyr

March 18, 2024

Saint Edward the Martyr King of England, son to Edgar the Peaceful, and uncle to St. Edward the Confessor; born about 962; died March 18, 979. His accession to the throne on his father’s death, in 975, was opposed by a party headed by his stepmother, Queen Elfrida, who was bent on securing the crown […]

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Saint Joseph, Martyr of Grandeur – March 19

March 18, 2024

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira To have an idea of what Saint Joseph—the Patron of the Church—was like, we must consider two prodigious facts: he was the foster father of the Child Jesus and he was the spouse of Our Lady. The husband must be proportional to the wife. Now who is Our Lady? She […]

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March 19 – Jesus, Mary and Joseph Were Born of Royal Stock

March 18, 2024

From a sermon of Saint Bernardine of Siena (1380-1444) about Saint Joseph: Firstly, let us consider the nobility of the bride, that is, the Most Holy Virgin. The Blessed Virgin was more noble than any other creature that had been born in human form, that could be or could have been begotten. For Saint Matthew […]

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Recipe for St. Joseph’s Day

March 18, 2024

  Reprinted with permission from, Cooking With The Saints  by Ernst Schuegraf.  

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St. Joseph

March 18, 2024

Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster-father of Our Lord Jesus Christ. LIFE Sources. The chief sources of information on the life of St. Joseph are the first chapters of our first and third Gospels; they are practically also the only reliable sources, for, whilst, on the holy patriarch’s life, as on many other […]

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March 20 – “Welcome, Father, but you come late”

March 18, 2024

Blessed John of Parma Minister General of the Friars Minor (1247-1257), b. at Parma about 1209; d. at Camerino 19 Mar., 1289. His family name was probably Buralli. Educated by an uncle, chaplain of the church of St. Lazarus at Parma, his progress in learning was such that he quickly became a teacher of philosophy […]

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Saint Eithene

March 18, 2024

Saint Eithene Styled “daughter of Baite”, with her sister Sodelbia, are commemorated in the Irish calendars under March 20. They were daughters of Aidh, son of Caibre, King of Leinster, who flourished about the middle of the sixth century. The designation “daughters of Baite” usually coupled with their names would seem not to refer to […]

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March 20 – Full of virtue and learning

March 18, 2024

St. Martin of Braga (Bracara; or, of Dumio). Bishop and ecclesiastical writer; b. about 520 in Pannonia; d. in 580 at Braga in Portugal. He made a pilgrimage to Palestine, where he became a monk and met some Spanish pilgrims whose narrations induced him to come to Galicia (Northwestern Spain) with the purpose of converting […]

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March 20 – St. Cuthbert

March 18, 2024

St. Cuthbert Bishop of Lindisfarne, patron of Durham, born about 635; died 20 March, 687. His emblem is the head of St. Oswald, king and martyr, which he is represented as bearing in his hands. His feast is kept in Great Britain and Ireland on the 20th of March, and he is patron of the […]

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March 20 – Vendor of Learning

March 18, 2024

St. Clement of Ireland Also known as Clemens Scotus (not to be confounded with Claudius Clemens). Born in Ireland, towards the middle of the eighth century, died perhaps in France, probably after 818. About the year 771 he set out for France. His biographer, an Irish monk of St. Gall, who wrote his Acts, dedicated […]

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Pope St. Zachary

March 14, 2024

(ZACHARIAS.) Reigned 741-52. Year of birth unknown; died in March, 752. Zachary sprang from a Greek family living in Calabria; his father, according to the “Liber Pontificalis”, was called Polichronius. Most probably he was a deacon of the Roman Church and as such signed the decrees of the Roman council of 732. After the burial […]

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March 15 – The Pope made him Abbot, but not priest

March 14, 2024

Baron Ferdinand de Géramb In religion, Brother Mary Joseph; Abbot and procurator-general of La Trappe, came of a noble and ancient family in Hungary; b. in Lyons, 14 Jan., 1772; d. at Rome, 15 March, 1848. Some historians wrongfully call in question both the place and date of his birth, as also his noble descent. […]

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March 15 – Explorer missionary

March 14, 2024

Eusebius Kino A famous Jesuit missionary of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; b. 10 August, 1644, in Welschtirol (Anauniensis); d. 15 March, 1711. Kühn (his German name; Kino representing the Italian and Spanish form) entered the Upper German Province of the Society of Jesus on 20 November, 1665. He was professor of mathematics for some […]

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March 16 – Sylvester Norris

March 14, 2024

Sylvester Norris (Alias SMITH, NEWTON). Controversial writer and English missionary priest; b. 1570 or 1572 in Somersetshire; d. 16 March, 1630. After receiving minor orders at Reims in 1590, he went to the English College, Rome, where he completed his studies and was ordained priest. In May, 1596, he was sent on the English mission, […]

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March 16 – François de Crépieul

March 14, 2024

François de Crépieul Jesuit missionary in Canada and vicar Apostolic for the Montagnais Indians; b. at Arras, France, 16 March, 1638; d. at Quebec in 1702. As a youth he studied in the Jesuit college of his native town and in that of Douai, becoming a member of the order at Tournay in 1659. He […]

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March 17 – Joseph of Arimathea

March 14, 2024

Joseph of Arimathea All that is known for certain concerning him is derived from the canonical Gospels. He was born at Arimathea — hence his surname — “a city of Judea” (Luke, xxiii, 51), which is very likely identical with Ramatha, the birthplace of the Prophet Samuel, although several scholars prefer to identify it with […]

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March 17 – Peacemaker pioneer

March 14, 2024

Armand de La Richardie Born at Perigueux, 7 June, 1686; died at Quebec, 17 March, 1758. He entered the Society of Jesus at Bordeaux, 4 Oct., 1703, and in 1725 was sent to the Canada mission. He spent the two following years helping Father Pierre Daniel Richer at Lorette, and studying the Huron language. In […]

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March 17 – Martyr of the seal of confession

March 14, 2024

Bl. John Sarkander Martyr of the seal of confession, born at Skotschau in Austrian Silesia, 20 Dec., 1576; died at Olmütz, 17 March, 1620. In 1603 he merited the title of master of philosophy at Prague, and after four years’ study of theology was ordained priest at Graz. He exercised his sacred functions in several […]

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March 17 – Enemy of Bismarck

March 14, 2024

Burghard Freiherr von Schorlemer-Alst Social reformer, b. at Heringhausen, Westphalia, 21 Oct., 1825; d. at Alst, 17 March, 1895. He received his early education at home from the domestic chaplain and then studied as a cadet at the Royal Saxon Military College at Dresden. After this he was a Prussian officer in an Uhlan regiment, […]

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March 17 – The Great and Noble Patrick

March 14, 2024

St. Patrick Apostle of Ireland, born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387; died at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland, 17 March, 493. He had for his parents Calphurnius and Conchessa. The former belonged to a Roman family of high rank and held the office of decurio in Gaul or Britain. Conchessa was a […]

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March 11 – Constantine the Great

March 11, 2024

His coins give his name as M., or more frequently as C., Flavius Valerius Constantinus. He was born at Naissus, now Nisch in Servia [Nis, Serbia —Ed.], the son of a Roman officer, Constantius, who later became Roman Emperor, and St. Helena, a woman of humble extraction but remarkable character and unusual ability. The date […]

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March 12 – St. Gorgonius

March 11, 2024

Martyr, suffered in 304 at Nicomedia during the persecution of Diocletian. Gorgonius held a high position in the household of the emperor, and had often been entrusted with matters of the greatest importance. At the breaking out of the persecution he was consequently among the first to be charged, and, remaining constant in the profession […]

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St. Leander of Seville

March 11, 2024

St. Leander of Seville Bishop of that city, born at Carthage about 534, of a Roman family established in that city; died at Seville, 13 March, 600 or 601. Some historians claim that his father Severian was duke or governor of Carthage, but St. Isidore simply states that he was a citizen of that city. […]

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March 13 – St. Nicephorus

March 11, 2024

St. Nicephorus Patriarch of Constantinople, 806-815, b. about 758; d. 2 June, 829. This champion of the orthodox view in the second contest over the veneration of images belonged to a noted family of Constantinople. He was the son of the imperial secretary Theodore and his pious wife Eudoxia. Eudoxia was a strict adherent of […]

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March 14 – Charlemagne’s deputy

March 11, 2024

Einhard (less correctly Eginhard), historian, born c. 770 in the district watered by the River Main in the eastern part of the Frankish Empire; d. March 14, 840, at Seligenstadt. His earliest training he received at the monastery of Fulda, where he showed such unusual mental powers that Abbot Baugulf sent him to the court […]

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Martyr of the Albigenses

March 11, 2024

Blessed Pierre de Castelnau Born in the Diocese of Montpellier, Languedoc, now Department of Hérault, France; died 15 Jan., 1208. He embraced the ecclesiastical state, and was appointed Archdeacon of Maguelonne (now Montpellier). Pope Innocent III sent him (1199) with two Cistercians as his legate into the middle of France, for the conversion of the […]

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March 7 – Last cruelties of Henry VIII

March 7, 2024

Bl. German Gardiner Last martyr under Henry VIII; date of birth unknown; died at Tyburn, 7 March, 1544; secretary to, and probably a kinsmen of, Stephen Gardiner, and an able defender of the old Faith, as his tract against John Frith (dated 1 August, 1534) shows. During the years of fiery trial, which followed, we […]

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March 7 – Stoic Emperor

March 7, 2024

Antoninus Pius (TITUS ÆLIUS HADRIANUS ANTONINUS PIUS). Roman Emperor (138-161), born 18 September, A.D. 86 at Lanuvium, a short distance from Rome; died at Lorium, 7 March, 161. Most of his youth was spent at Lorium, which was only twelve miles from Rome. Later on he built a villa there, to which he would frequently […]

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March 7 – Martyred for entertainment on the birthday of the Emperor

March 7, 2024

Sts. Perpetua and Felicitas Martyrs, suffered at Carthage, 7 March 203, together with three companions, Revocatus, Saturus, and Saturninus. The details of the martyrdom of these five confessors in the North African Church have reached us through a genuine, contemporary description, one of the most affecting accounts of the glorious warfare of Christian martyrdom in […]

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March 8 – They buried him with all the honors of a prince

March 7, 2024

St. John of God Born at Montemor o Novo, Portugal, 8 March, 1495, of devout Christian parents; died at Granada, 8 March, 1550. The wonders attending the saints birth heralded a life many-sided in its interests, but dominated throughout by implicit fidelity to the grace of God. A Spanish priest whom he followed to Oropeza, […]

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March 9 – She Could Detect Diabolical Plots

March 7, 2024

St. Frances of Rome One of the greatest mystics of the fifteenth century; born at Rome, of a noble family, in 1384; died there, 9 March, 1440. Her youthful desire was to enter religion, but at her father’s wish she married, at the age of twelve, Lorenzo de’ Ponziani. Among her children we know of […]

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Euthanasia Brings End to Belgian Monarchy

March 7, 2024

by Marie Meaney There has been no coup, no abdication, no revolution. It is an event that has gone largely unnoticed. The media have hardly spoken about it. Yet it is a reality. The monarchy in Belgium is done with, over, kaput. The king of Belgium has turned himself out of his royal throne by […]

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March 10 – St. Attala

March 7, 2024

St. Attala Born in the sixth century in Burgundy; died 627. He first became a monk at Lerins, but, displeased with the loose discipline prevailing there, he entered the monastery of Luxeuil which had just been founded by St. Columban. When Columban was expelled from Luxeuil by King Theodoric II, Attala was to succeed him […]

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March 10 – George Ashby

March 7, 2024

George Ashby Monk of the Cistercian Monastery of Jervaulx in Yorkshire, executed after the Pilgrimage of Grace, in the year 1537. His name is found in several English martyrologies, but there is the utmost uncertainty as to the right form of his name, and as to the place and mode of his death. After the […]

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Saint John Ogilvie: Hero For Our Times – Part I

March 7, 2024

by Neil McKay “In times of great crisis there are two types of men: those who are overwhelmed by the crisis and those who resist the trend of events and so change the course of history.”—Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira   “REFORM THE CHURCH!” “MARRIED PRIESTS NEEDED!” “70% OF CATHOLICS DENY REAL PRESENCE!” “SECRET LIVES […]

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Saint John Ogilvie: Hero For Our Times – Part II

March 7, 2024

Part I Betrayal Every hero needs an antagonist, and Fr. Ogilvie had Allan Boyd, a traitorous informer. This other “Judas” told the Protestant Archbishop Spottiswoode about the “papist priest” working under his nose. Pretending that he wanted to be reconciled to the Church, Boyd arranged to meet Fr. Ogilvie in Glasgow. The trap set, Boyd […]

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This Prince had a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin

March 4, 2024

St. Casimir Prince of Poland, born in the royal palace at Cracow, 3 October, 1458; died at the court of Grodno, 4 March, 1484. He was the grandson of Wladislaus II Jagiello, King of Poland, who introduced Christianity into Lithuania, and the second son of King Casimir IV and Queen Elizabeth, an Austrian princess, the […]

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“Your Honor, was St. Augustine also a traitor?” – March 4 feastday

March 4, 2024

Blessed Christopher Bales (Or Bayles, alias Evers) Priest and martyr, b. at Coniscliffe near Darlington, County Durham, England, about 1564; executed 4 March, 1590. He entered the English College at Rome, 1 October, 1583, but owing to ill-health was sent to the College at Reims, where he was ordained 28 March, 1587. Sent to England […]

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March 5 – St. John Joseph of the Cross

March 4, 2024

St. John Joseph of the Cross Born on the Island of Ischia, Southern Italy, 1654; died 5 March, 1739. From his earliest years he was given to prayer and virtue. So great was his love of poverty that he would always wear the dress of the poor, though he was of noble birth. At the […]

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March 6 – Prime Minister Bishop

March 4, 2024

St. Chrodegang Bishop of Metz, born at the beginning of the eighth century at Hasbania, in what is now Belgian Limburg, of a noble Frankish family; died at Metz, 6 March, 766. He was educated at the court of Charles Martel, became his private secretary, then chancellor, and in 737 prime minister. On 1 March, […]

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