How a Catholic Queen gave Spain its Golden Age

November 23, 2023

Queen Isabella I (“The Catholic”) Queen of Castile; born in the town of Madrigal de las Altas Torres, 22 April, 1451; died a little before noon, 26 November, 1504, in the castle of La Mota, which still stands at Medina del Campo (Valladolid). She was the daughter of John II, King of Castile, by his […]

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RIP – HIRH Otto of Hapsburg-Lorraine (1912-2011)

November 20, 2023

His Imperial and Royal Highness Otto of Hapsburg-Lorraine passed away in the early hours of July 4. Born on November 20, 1912, Archduke Otto of Austria was the firstborn of the last monarchs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Blessed Karl and Empress Zita. As head of the Hapsburg imperial family, Archduke Otto presided over what Prof. […]

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November 20 – Memorial of Queen Elizabeth II Wedding

November 20, 2023
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November 20 – St. Ambrose of Camaldoli

November 20, 2023

St. Ambrose of Camaldoli An Italian theologian and writer, born at Portico, near Florence, 16 September, 1386; died 21 October, 1439. His name was Ambrose Traversari. He entered the Order of the Camaldoli when fourteen and became its General in 1431. He was a great theologian and writer, and knew Greek as well as he […]

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Pope St. Gelasius I

November 20, 2023

Died at Rome, 19 Nov., 496. Gelasius, as he himself states in his letter to the Emperor Anastasius (Ep. xii, n. 1), was Romanus natus. The assertion of the “Liber Pontificalis” that he was natione Afer is consequently taken by many to mean that he was of African origin, though Roman born. Others, however, interpreting […]

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November 22 – The Eternal Glory of the Caecilia Family

November 20, 2023

St. Cecilia Virgin and martyr, patroness of Church music, died at Rome. This saint, so often glorified in the fine arts and in poetry, is one of the most venerated martyrs of Christian antiquity. The oldest historical account of St. Cecilia is found in the “Martyrologium Hieronymianum”; from this it is evident that her feast […]

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Christ the King? Or Christ the President?

November 20, 2023

Christ the King? Or Christ the President? A heavenly King above all, but a King whose government is already exercised in this world. A King who by right possesses the supreme and full authority. The King makes laws, commands and judges. His sovereignty becomes effective when his subjects recognize his rights, and obey his laws. […]

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One must fight to the last…

November 16, 2023

The Duke of Guise: One must fight to the last even amidst seemingly impossible odds During the battle for La Rochelle, the ship of the Duke of Guise caught fire.  La Rochefoucault approached to inform him:  “Sir, everything is lost!” The Duke immediately turned to the pilot and commanded:  “Turn the ship around. There’s no […]

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Without tradition, there is neither a destination nor a course to follow

November 16, 2023

The past prepares the present, the present protects the past, and both of them elaborate the future. A course followed is analogous to order in moving from one point to the next. Stability is not immobility, but rather mobility in a single direction. To continue is analogous to living, and changing is something analogous to […]

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Commissioned to preach the Sixth Crusade

November 16, 2023

November 16 – St. Edmund Rich Archbishop of Canterbury, England, born 20 November, c. 1180, at Abingdon, six miles from Oxford; died 16 November, 1240, at Soissy, France. His early chronology is somewhat uncertain. His parents, Reinald (Reginald) and Mabel Rich, were remarkable for piety. It is said that his mother constantly wore hair-cloth, and […]

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In the Middle Ages, the Marvelous Was Something Achievable

November 16, 2023

November 16 – St. Margaret of Scotland Commentaries made by Prof. Plinio Correa de Oliveira   … Sovereign and patroness of Scotland, 11th century. Although it is a very good intention to comment on the life of St. Margaret, at times one does not have the slightest biographical data on a saint. For lack of […]

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November 17 – This Queen Cared for the Sick and Suffering

November 16, 2023

St. Elizabeth of Hungary Also called St. Elizabeth of Thuringia, born in Hungary, probably at Pressburg, 1207; died at Marburg, Hesse, 17 November (not 19 November), 1231. She was a daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary (1205-35) and his wife Gertrude, a member of the family of the Counts of Andechs-Meran; Elizabeth’s brother succeeded […]

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Mary Tudor

November 16, 2023

November 17 – Mary Tudor Queen of England from 1553 to 1558; born 18 February, 1516; died 17 November, 1558. Mary was the daughter and only surviving child of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. Cardinal Wolsey was her godfather, and amongst her most intimate friends in early life were Cardinal Pole and his mother, […]

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Sincere, intense, generous, austere, yet affectionate

November 16, 2023

November 18 – St. Philippine-Rose Duchesne Founder in America of the first houses of the society of the Sacred Heart, born at Grenoble, France, 29 August, 1769; died at St. Charles, Missouri, 18 November, 1852. She was the daughter of Pierr-Francois Duchesne, an eminent lawyer. Her mother was a Périer, ancestor of Casimir Périer, President […]

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Luke Wadding

November 16, 2023

Historian and theologian, born at Waterford, Ireland, 16 October, 1588; died at St. Isidore’s College, Rome, 18 November, 1657. I. BIRTH AND EDUCATION He was the son of Walter Wadding, a citizen of eminence, and Anastasia Lombard, a near relation of Peter Lombard, Archbishop of Armagh. He was the eleventh of fourteen children and was […]

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St. Nerses I, Bishop of Armenia, Martyr

November 16, 2023

November 19 – St. Nerses I Armenian patriarch, surnamed “the Great”. Died 373. Born of the royal stock, he spent his youth in Caesarea where he married Sanducht, a Mamikonian princess. After the death of his wife, he was appointed chamberlain to King Arshak of Armenia. A few years later, having entered the ecclesiastical state, […]

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The Crusades – Part I

November 16, 2023

The Crusades – Part I The Crusades were expeditions undertaken, in fulfilment of a solemn vow, to deliver the Holy Places from Mohammedan tyranny. The origin of the word may be traced to the cross made of cloth and worn as a badge on the outer garment of those who took part in these enterprises. […]

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November 13 – Patroness of missionaries

November 13, 2023

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, M.S.C. Also called Mother Cabrini, she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, a religious institute which was a major support to the Italian immigrants to the United States. She was the first citizen of the United States to be canonized by the Catholic Church. She was born in Sant’Angelo […]

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St. Stanislas Kostka

November 13, 2023

November 13 – Pure and noble, he received Holy Communion from the hands of angels Born at Rostkovo near Prasnysz, Poland, about 28 October, 1550; died at Rome during the night of 14-15 August, 1568. He entered the Society of Jesus at Rome, 28 October, 1567, and is said to have foretold his death a […]

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He calmed the fear of the end of the world

November 13, 2023

November 13 – St. Abbon (or Abbo), born near Orléans c. 945; died at Fleury, 13 November, 1004, a monk of the Benedictine monastery of Fleury sur Loire (Fleuret), conspicuous both for learning and sanctity, and one of the great lights of the Church in the stormy times of Hugh Capet of France and of […]

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November 14 – Charles Antoniewicz

November 13, 2023

(Botoz.) A Polish Jesuit and missionary, born in Lwów (Lemberg), 6 November 1807; died 14 November, 1852. He was the son of Joseph Antoniewicz, a nobleman and lawyer. His pious mother Josephine (Nikorowicz) attended to his early training on their estate at Skwarzawa, whither they moved in 1818. After the death of his father (1823), […]

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Saint Erconwald

November 13, 2023

November 14 – Saint Erconwald Bishop of London, died. about 690. He belonged to the princely family of the East Anglian Offa, and devoted a considerable portion of his patrimony to founding two monasteries, one for monks at Chertsey, and the other for nuns at Barking in Essex. Over the latter he placed his sister, […]

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St. Desiderius of Cahors

November 13, 2023

November 15 – St. Desiderius of Cahors Bishop, born at Obrege (perhaps Antobroges, name of a Gaulish tribe), on the frontier of the Provincia Narbonnensis, of a noble Frankish family from Aquitaine, which possessed large estates in the territory of Albi; died 15 Nov., 655—though Krusch has called this date in question. In his childhood […]

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Bl. Richard Whiting

November 13, 2023

November 15 – Martyred for God (and Money…) Bl. Richard Whiting Last Abbot of Glastonbury and martyr, parentage and date of birth unknown, executed 15 Nov., 1539; was probably educated in the claustral school at Glastonbury, whence he proceeded to Cambridge, graduating as M.A. in 1483 and D.D. in 1505. If, as is probable, he […]

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What happened at the State Opening of Parliament 2023?

November 9, 2023

The King…has opened Parliament for the first time since his Accession in a ceremony steeped in tradition and symbolism. The Imperial State Crown is processed to Westminster. The King and Queen process to Westminster in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach, escorted by the Household Cavalry. His Majesty retires to the Robing Room, emerging shortly afterwards […]

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Charlemagnes give rise to Rolands

November 9, 2023

During the Middle Ages, it was usual for French soldiers as they marched to sing the Chanson de Roland (Song of Roland) which exalts the valor of Charlemagne. One day, hearing his troops singing, John II, a weakly king, stated: “It’s been a long time since a Roland appeared among French soldiery.” “There would be […]

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The masses arise

November 9, 2023

The world will be terribly vulgar and life unendurable when authentic gentlemen nor genuine ladies are no longer to be found on the earth. Propaganda as if standardizes all souls, removing their peculiarities, and almost life itself. Even the psychological and attitudinal differences between sexes tend to diminish as much as possible. Because of this, […]

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St. Theodore of Amasea

November 9, 2023

November 9 – He burned the pagan temple while out on bail St. Theodore of Amasea Surnamed Tyro (Tiro), not because he was a young recruit, but because for a time he belonged to the Cohors Tyronum (Nilles, Kal. man., I, 105), called of Amasea from the place where he suffered martyrdom, and Euchaita from […]

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Pope Paul III

November 9, 2023

November 10 – Pope Paul III (ALESSANDRO FARNESE). Born at Rome or Canino, 29 Feb., 1468; elected, 12 Oct., 1534; died at Rome, 10 Nov., 1549. The Farnese were an ancient Roman family whose possessions clustered about the Lake at Bolsena. Although counted among the Roman aristocrats, they first appear in history associated with Viterbo […]

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Giuliano Cesarini

November 9, 2023

November 10 – Giuliano Cesarini (Also known as CARDINAL JULIAN) Born at Rome, 1398; died at Varna, in Bulgaria 10 November, 1444. He was one of the group of brilliant cardinals created by Martin V on the conclusion of the Western Schism, and is described by Bossuet as the strongest bulwark that the Catholics could […]

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St. Andrew Avellino

November 9, 2023

November 10 – St. Andrew Avellino Born 1521 at Castronuovo, a small town in Sicily; died 10 November, 1608. His baptismal name was Lancelotto, which out of love for the cross he changed into Andrew when he entered the Order of Theatines. From his early youth he was a great lover of chastity. After receiving […]

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Patron of Veterans and Soldiers

November 9, 2023

November 11 – Patron of Veterans and Soldiers St. Martin of Tours Bishop; born at Sabaria (today Steinamanger in German, or Szombathely in Hungarian), Pannonia (Hungary), about 316; died at Candes, Touraine, most probably in 397. In his early years, when his father, a military tribune, was transferred to Pavia in Italy, Martin accompanied him […]

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Constable of France: Anne de Montmorency

November 9, 2023

November 12 – Constable of France: he fought his entire life and died in battle at age 74 Anne de Montmorency had proven many times before that his race does not degenerate and the brave blood of an illustrious line of ancestors flowed in his veins. Imperious, severe, of a stern mood, he had undeniable […]

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Purgatory in Painting

November 2, 2023

I have read in the Dictionary of Education a very amusing anecdote, which may, nevertheless, be cited of what I have said of All Souls’ Day. Certain canons over 1,000 years ago, having had to repair their Church, added to it a chapel dedicated to the Souls in Purgatory. The Sculptor who was charged with […]

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Preferential Option…What Is It?

November 2, 2023

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Preferential option for the nobility. At first glance this expression may startle readers familiar with the more common phrase often used Pope John Paul II: “preferential option for the poor.” Nevertheless, what inspires this book is precisely a preferential option for the nobility. The objection may be raised that, ex […]

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The Institution Of All Souls’ Day

November 2, 2023

It was St. Odilo of Cluny who first appointed one day every year to be set aside in a special manner for prayer for the faithful departed. It happened that a certain religious belonging to France was returning home from Palestine, where he had gone to visit the places consecrated by the foot steps of […]

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November 2 – His mother celebrated his death as if it were a wedding

November 2, 2023

Blessed John Bodey, Martyr, born at Wells, Somerset: 1549; died at Andover, Wilts., 2 November, 1583. He studied at Winchester and New College, Oxford, of which he became a Fellow in 1568. In June, 1576, he was deprived, with seven other Fellows, by the Visitor, Horne, Protestant Bishop of Winchester. Next year he went to […]

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November 3 – Patron of Buckingham

November 2, 2023

St. Rumwold of Buckingham His father was king of Northumberland, his mother a daughter of Penda, king of the Mercians. He was born at Sutthun, and baptized by Widerin, a bishop, the holy priest Eadwold being his godfather. He died very young on the 3rd of November and was buried in Sutthun by Eadwold. The […]

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November 3 – Patron of hunting

November 2, 2023

St. Hubert, Confessor, thirty-first Bishop of Maastricht, first Bishop of Liège, and Apostle of the Ardennes, born about 656; died at Fura (the modern Tervueren), Brabant, 30 May, 727 or 728. He was honored in the Middle Ages as the patron of huntsmen, and the healer of hydrophobia (rabies). He was the eldest son of […]

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November 3 – The Battle of Mentana

November 2, 2023

It was a dark and gloomy morning, pouring rain, when this little army of some five thousand men filed out of the Porta Pia in a colorful parade, Pius IX’s Swiss General Rafael de Courten’s papal troops leading and the French contingent bringing up the rear…. Famous since classical times as a suburban retreat some […]

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November 4 – Her gentleness changed his heart

November 2, 2023

Bl. Frances d’Amboise, Duchess of Brittany, afterwards Carmelite nun, born 1427; died at Nantes, 4 Nov., 1485. The daughter of Louis d’Amboise, Viscount de Thouars, she was betrothed when only four years old, to Peter, second son of John V, Duke of Brittany, the marriage being solemnized when she had reached the age of fifteen. […]

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November 5 – Her name means “God is an oath”

November 2, 2023

St. Elizabeth, (God is an oath—Ex., vi, 23). Zachary’s wife and John the Baptist’s mother, was “of the daughters of Aaron” (Luke, i, 5), and, at the same time, Mary’s kinswoman (Luke, i, 36), although what their actual relationship was, is unknown. St. Hippolytus (in Niceph. Call., Hist. Eccles., II, iii) explains that Sobe and […]

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October 30 – St. Marcellus the Centurion, Martyr

October 30, 2023

The birthday of the emperor Maximian Herculeus was celebrated in the year 298, with extraordinary feasting and solemnity. Pompous sacrifices to the Roman gods made a considerable part of this solemnity. Marcellus, a Christian centurion or captain of the legion of Trajan, then posted in Spain, not to defile himself with taking part in those […]

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Conviviality Among Men Always and Necessarily Produces a Scale of Degrees and Differences

October 30, 2023

Pius XII says in his allocution to Fiat workers on October 31, 1948: “Human society always produces, of necessity, a whole scale of degrees and differences in physical and intellectual qualities…” “The Church does not promise the absolute equality that others claim, for she knows that human society always produces, of necessity, a whole scale […]

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October 31 – He forced the devil to build a church

October 30, 2023

St. Wolfgang, Bishop of Ratisbon (972-994), born about 934; died at the village of Pupping in upper Austria, 31 October, 994. The name Wolfgang is of early German origin. St. Wolfgang was one of the three brilliant stars of the tenth century, St. Ulrich, St. Conrad, and St. Wolfgang, which illuminated the early medieval period […]

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All Saints’ Day: How many saints were noble?

October 30, 2023

All Saints’ Day: Is Being Noble and Leading a Noble’s Life Incompatible with Sanctity? by Plinio Correa de Oliveira The current misunderstanding of nobility and the analogous traditional elites results largely from the adroit but biased propaganda spread against them by the French Revolution. Such propaganda, continuously disseminated throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by […]

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November 1 – Warrior bishop

October 30, 2023

St. Genesius (of Lyons) (Or GENESTUS.) Thirty-seventh Archbishop of Lyons, d. 679. Feast, 1 November. He was a native of France, not of Arabia or Armenia as is sometimes stated and became a religious and abbot (not of Fontenelle, but) attached to the court and camp of Clovis II where he acted as chief almoner […]

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November 1 – For saving her people, she was made their judge

October 30, 2023

Deborah the Prophetess (also known as Debbora the Judge, Deborah the Matriarch) Prophetess and judge: she was the wife of Lapidoth and was endowed by God with prophetic gifts which secured for her the veneration of the divided Israelitic tribes and gave her great authority over them. Her wisdom was first displayed in settling litigious […]

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The Marquess of Pontelena checks the absolutism of Joseph I, King of Portugal

October 26, 2023

Being in conversation with some nobles, Joseph I, King of Portugal, commented on a monarch’s authority over his subjects. The Marquis of Pontelena dared to suggest that there are limits to that power. The king, not willing to admit any such checks, retorted: “If I were to order you to throw yourself into the sea, […]

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The Important Mission of Nobility Today – Interview with Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

October 26, 2023

Catolicismo magazine, no. 511, July 1993 (www.catolicismo.com.br) CATOLICISMO: Why have you chosen the nobility as the theme for your most recent book? Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: It seems to me that at present, the attitude of public opinion toward the nobility is much less marked by the errors of the French Revolution than it […]

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Royal Forums: The Duchess of Braganza Presents the Order of St. Isabel to European Royals

October 26, 2023

According to the Royal Forums: On October 27, the Duchess of Braganza conferred the Order of Saint Isabel upon several European royal ladies in recognition of their philanthropic work. The ceremony was held at the Portuguese Catholic Cathedral of Rome, Italy. It was followed by a luncheon hosted in the Portuguese Embassy. Also present for […]

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October 27 – Apostle of Africa

October 26, 2023

Sts. Edesius and Frumentius Tyrian Greeks of the fourth century, probably brothers, who introduced Christianity into Abyssinia; the latter a saint and first Bishop of Axum, styled the Apostle of Abyssinia, d. about 383. When still mere boys they accompanied their uncle Metropius on a voyage to Abyssinia. When their ship stopped at one of […]

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October 28 – Saint, Soldier, Statesman

October 26, 2023

Saint Alfred the Great In this incomparable prince were united the saint, the soldier, and the statesman in a most eminent degree. Sir Henry Spelman (Conc. Brit.) gives us his character in a rapture. “O, Alfred,” says he, “the wonder and astonishment of all ages! If we reflect on his piety and religion, it would […]

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October 28 – Col. John W. Ripley: Uncommon Valor

October 26, 2023

Col. John W. Ripley: Uncommon Valor By Jeremias Wells An American Knight When a society no longer respects and honors the fighting men willing to shed their blood for its principles, the fault lies not with the fighting men but with society itself. Ingratitude is a subtle vice, but a vice nevertheless. Saint Thomas Aquinas […]

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October 29 – One of the Martyrs of Douai

October 26, 2023

Blessed Edward Waterson Born at London; martyred at Newcastle-on-Tyne, 7 January 1594 (1593 old style). A romantic episode marks this martyr’s early career, for as a young man he travelled to Turkey with some English merchants, and attracted the attention of a wealthy Turk, who offered him his daughter in marriage if he would embrace […]

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October 23 – Knight, Lawyer, Governor, Ambassador, Friar, Prisoner, Reformer, Crusader General, Renaissance Saint

October 23, 2023

St. John of Capistrano Born at Capistrano, in the Diocese of Sulmona, Italy, 1385; died 23 October, 1456. His father had come to Naples in the train of Louis of Anjou, hence is supposed to have been of French blood, though some say he was of German origin. His father dying early, John owed his […]

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October 23 – Made eunuch because he was prince

October 23, 2023

St. Ignatius of Constantinople Born about 799; died 23 October, 877; son of Emperor Michael I and Procopia. His name, originally Nicetas, was changed at the age of fourteen to Ignatius. Leo the Armenian having deposed the Emperor Michael (813), made Ignatius a eunuch and incarcerated him in a monastery, that he might not become […]

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October 24 – Confessor to the Queen

October 23, 2023

St. Antonio María Claret y Clará Spanish prelate and missionary, born at Sallent, near Barcelona, 23 Dec., 1807; died at Fontfroide, Narbonne, France, on 24 Oct., 1870. Son of a small woollen manufacturer, he received an elementary education in his native village, and at the age of twelve became a weaver. A little later he […]

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October 25 – The original hood

October 23, 2023

Hugh Capet King of France, founder of the Capetian dynasty, born about the middle of the tenth century; died about 996, probably 24 October. He was the second son of Hugh the Great, Count of Paris, and Hedwig, sister of Otto I, German Emperor, and was about ten years old when he inherited from his […]

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October 25 – Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by, but we in it shall be remember’d

October 23, 2023

Martyrs of the Early Church who were beheaded during the reign of Diocletian; the date of their execution is given as 25 October, 285 or 286. It is stated that they were brothers, but the fact has not been positively proved. The legend relates that they were Romans of distinguished descent who went as missionaries […]

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