January 3 – They called him the “Archangel”

January 2, 2023

St. Odilo Fifth Abbot of Cluny, born c. 962; died 31 December, 1048. He was descended from the nobility of Auvergne. He early became a cleric in the seminary of St. Julien in Brioude. In 991 he entered Cluny and before the end of his year of probation was made coadjutor to Abbot Mayeul, and […]

Read the full article →

January 3 – The saint who twice saved Paris

January 2, 2023

St. Genevieve Patroness of Paris, born at Nanterre, circa 419 or 422; died at Paris, 512. Her feast is kept on 3 January. She was the daughter of Severus and Gerontia; popular tradition represents her parents as poor peasants, though it seems more likely that they were wealthy and respectable townspeople. In 429 St. Germain […]

Read the full article →

January 3 – Saint Joseph Mary Tomasi

January 2, 2023

Saint Joseph Mary Tomasi The very eminent servant of God Joseph Mary Tomasi, Cardinal, whom Pope Pius VII decorated with the honors of the Blessed in 1803, and whom today the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II ascribes solemnly in the book of the Saints, was born at Licata, in Sicily, the Diocese of Agrigento, on […]

Read the full article →

January 4 – American Aristrocratic Saint

January 2, 2023

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Foundress and first superior of the Sisters of Charity in the United States, born in New York City, 28 Aug., 1774, of non-Catholic parents of high position; died at Emmitsburg, Maryland, 4 Jan., 1821. Her father, Dr. Richard Bayley (born in Connecticut and educated in England), was the first professor of […]

Read the full article →

January 4 – Patroness of those afflicted by sexual temptation

January 2, 2023

Blessed Angela of Foligno Umbrian penitent and mystical writer. She was born at Foligno in Umbria, in 1248, of a rich family; died 4 January, 1309. Married at an early age, she loved the world and its pleasures and, worse still, forgetful of her dignity and duties as wife and mother, fell into sin and […]

Read the full article →

January 5 – Pope St. Telesphorus

January 2, 2023

(About 125-136.) St. Telesphorus was the seventh Roman bishop in succession from the Apostles, and, according to the testimony of St. Irenæus (Adv. hæreses, III, iii, 3), suffered a glorious martyrdom. Eusebius (Hist. eccl., IV, vii, xiv) places the beginning of his pontificate in the twelfth of Hadrian’s reign (128-129), his death in the first […]

Read the full article →

Christmas Is Here: The Gate Of Pardon And Hope Are Open

December 29, 2022

By Plinio Correa de Oliveira The secret to the proper organization of earthly life is found in the words the angels sang to the enraptured shepherds on Christmas night: “Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to men of good will.” When men recognize the plenitude of all perfections in God and […]

Read the full article →

December 30 – Princess, Orphan, Foundress

December 29, 2022

Blessed Margaret Colona Poor Clare, also known as Margarita Colonna, born in Rome, date uncertain; died there, 20 September, 1284. Her father, Prince Odo Colonna, and her mother died in Rome when she was still a young girl, and she was left to the care of her two brothers, the youngest of whom was raised […]

Read the full article →

December 30 – He Preached Sanctity in Marriage and Chastity in Priesthood

December 29, 2022

St. Egwin Third Bishop of Worcester; date of birth unknown; d. (according to Mabillon) 20 December, 720, though his death may have occurred three years earlier. His fame as founder of the great Abbey of Evesham no doubt tended to the growth of legends which, though mainly founded on facts, render it difficult to reconcile […]

Read the full article →

December 31 – The patrician girl who befriended St. Augustine, St. Jerome, and the Empress

December 29, 2022

St. Melania (the Younger) Born at Rome, about 383; died in Jerusalem, 31 December, 439. She was a member of the famous family of Valerii. Her parents were Publicola and Albina, her paternal grandmother of the same name is known as Melania, Senior. Little is known of the saint’s childhood, but after the time of […]

Read the full article →

December 31 – Ideal Bishop, Skilled Goldsmith

December 29, 2022

St. Marius Aventicus (Or AVENTICENSIS) Bishop of Avenches (Switzerland) and chronicler, born about 530 in the present Diocese of Autun; died at Lausanne, 31 December, 594. Of the events of his life little is known. From an inscription on his tomb in the church of St. Thyrsius in Lausanne (published in the “Monumenta Germ. Scriptores”, […]

Read the full article →

January 1 – The Virgin Mary was “of the house of David”

December 29, 2022

Mary’s 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 (1:32, 69) states that the child born of Mary without the intervention of […]

Read the full article →

January 1 – He brought to the West some of the most famous relics

December 29, 2022

St. Agricius Bishop of Trier (Trèves), in the fourth century (332 or 335). A local ninth-century tradition states that he had been Patriarch of Antioch, and that he was translated to the See of Trier by Pope Silvester, at the request of the Empress Helena. He was present at the Council of Arles in 314, […]

Read the full article →

January 1 – Cluny produces another hero

December 29, 2022

St. William Abbot of Saint-Bénigne at Dijon, celebrated Cluniac reformer, born on the Island of Giuglio on Lake Orta near Novara in Piedmont in 962; died at Fecamp, one of his reformed monasteries in Normandy, 1 January 1031. At the age of seven he was brought as an oblate to the Benedictine monastery of Locedia […]

Read the full article →

January 1 – As bishop, he was harsh to himself, to his clergy, and to any king

December 29, 2022

St. Fulgentius (FABIUS CLAUDIUS GORDIANUS FULGENTIUS). Born 468, died 533. Bishop of Ruspe in the province of Byzacene in Africa, eminent among the Fathers of the Church for saintly life, eloquence and theological learning. His grandfather, Gordianus, a senator of Carthage, was despoiled of his possessions by the invader Genseric, and banished to Italy, his […]

Read the full article →

January 2 – The Infant of Prague

December 29, 2022

Its earliest history can be traced back to Prague in the year 1628 when the small, 19-inch high, wooden and coated wax statue of the Infant Jesus was given by Princess Polyxena von Lobkowicz (1566–1642) to the Discalced Carmelites, to whom she had become greatly attached. The princess had received the statue as a wedding […]

Read the full article →

January 2 – St. Basil the Great

December 29, 2022

St. Basil the Great Bishop of Caesarea, and one of the most distinguished Doctors of the Church. Born probably 329; died 1 January, 379. He ranks after Athanasius as a defender of the Oriental Church against the heresies of the fourth century. With his friend Gregory of Nazianzus and his brother Gregory of Nyssa, he […]

Read the full article →

January 2 – St. Gregory of Nazianzus

December 29, 2022

St. Gregory of Nazianzus Doctor of the Church, born at Arianzus, in Asia Minor, c. 325; died at the same place, 389. He was son — one of three children — of Gregory, Bishop of Nazianzus (329-374), in the south-west of Cappadocia, and of Nonna, a daughter of Christian parents. The saint’s father was originally […]

Read the full article →

December 27 – Son of Thunder

December 26, 2022

St. John the Apostle and Evangelist Styled in the gospel, The beloved disciple of Christ, and called by the Greeks The Divine, he was a Galilean, the son of Zebedee and Salome, and younger brother to St. James the Great, with whom he was brought up to the trade of fishing. From his acquaintance with […]

Read the full article →

December 27 – The divorced saint

December 26, 2022

St. Fabiola of Rome A Roman matron of rank, died 27 December, 399 or 400. She was one of the company of noble Roman women who, under the influence of St. Jerome, gave up all earthly pleasures and devoted themselves to the practice of Christian asceticism and to charitable work. At the time of St. […]

Read the full article →

December 28 – Ordered to swear allegiance to Napoleon, he replied “I cannot. I ought not. I will not!”

December 26, 2022

Bl. Gaspare del Bufalo Founder of the Missionaries of the most Precious Blood (C.P.P.S.); born at Rome on the feast of the Epiphany, 1786; died 28 December, 1837. His parents were Antonio del Bufalo, chief cook of the princely family of Altieri, and his wife Annunziata Quartieroni. Because of his delicate health, his pious mother […]

Read the full article →

December 29 – His Staff Did More Damage Than His Sword

December 26, 2022

St. Thomas à Becket Martyr, Archbishop of Canterbury, also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London, born at London, 21 December, c. 1118; died at Canterbury, 29 December, 1170. St. Thomas was born of parents who, coming from Normandy, had settled in England some years previously. No reliance can be placed upon the […]

Read the full article →

December 29 – David, the ancestor of Jesus

December 26, 2022

King David In the Bible the name David is borne only by the second king of Israel, the great-grandson of Boaz and Ruth (Ruth, iv, 18 sqq.). He was the youngest of the eight sons of Isai, or Jesse (I Kings, xvi, 8; cf. I Par., ii, 13), a small proprietor, of the tribe of […]

Read the full article →

December 29 – Blessed William Howard

December 26, 2022

Blessed William Howard 1st Viscount Stafford, martyr; born 30 November, 1614; beheaded Tower-Hill, 29 December, 1680. He was grandson of the Saint Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel, mentioned above, fifth son of Earl Thomas (the first great art collector of England), and uncle of Thomas Philip, Cardinal Howard. Brought up as a Catholic, he was […]

Read the full article →

The Story of the Christmas Tree and Why Catholics Decorate Them

December 22, 2022

In the seventh century a monk from Crediton, Devonshire, went to Germany to teach the word of God. His name was Saint Boniface. He did many good works there and spent much time in Thuringia, a region later to become the center of the Christmas decoration industry. Tradition has it that Saint Boniface used the […]

Read the full article →

British monarchy keeps UK from coming apart

December 22, 2022

According to an opinion piece in Deutsche Welle: The queen reliably stood out for her measured and balanced approach at home, which stands in stark contrast to the absence of reliable political leadership in the UK; the country has witnessed the feeble cabinets of four prime ministers in the past decade alone. Those 10 years were marked […]

Read the full article →

Historic crown gets modifications for King Charles III

December 22, 2022

According to Deutsche Welle: The St. Edward’s Crown has been moved to an undisclosed location for modification in preparation for the coronation of King Charles III next year… Versions of St. Edward’s Crown are believed to have been used by monarchs since the 11th century. The current version was made for Charles II in 1661 as […]

Read the full article →

Stop And See

December 22, 2022

  By Plinio Correa de Oliveira I cannot resist.  My original intention was to write about some other theme, such as the internal crises of the Church, but I felt that there were no conditions for such a subject either in myself or in those around me. At the same time, as if from the […]

Read the full article →

Spiritual Richness in the Common Life of the People

December 22, 2022

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira The National Museum of Ancient Art in Portugal preserves, among other valuable works, the nativity scene from the church of St. Vincent de Fora sculpted by Joaquim Machado de Castro in the eighteenth century. In our photograph, we present one detail from this nativity scene: the shepherds coming to adore […]

Read the full article →

The Incarnation and Birth of Our Lord: More Audacious Than Any Utopia

December 22, 2022

Nothing proves how grace makes utopias possible than the thought of Christmas. As Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira observed: “Something happens on Christmas night. It is as if through the power of God an immense impossibility becomes possible, and a shower of graces flows from Heaven to earth, turning into marvelous realities all of our […]

Read the full article →

December 23 – The Knights of Aviz and Their Cistercian Founder

December 22, 2022

Saint John of Cirita Memorial: 23 December Benedictine monk, also known as John Ziritu. Hermit in Galacia. Monk at Toronca, Portugal, which he helped turn into a Cistercian house. Wrote the Rule of the Knights of Aviz (Portuguese: Ordem Militar de Avis).  Died, c. 1164… Read more here.

Read the full article →

December 23 – Duke of Guise

December 22, 2022

HENRI I DE LORRAINE Prince de Joinville, and in 1563 third Duke of Guise, born 31 Dec. 1550, the son of François de Guise and Anne d’Este; died at Blois, 23 Dec., 1588. The rumours which attributed to Coligny a share in the murder of François de Guise hailed in the young Henri de Guise, […]

Read the full article →

December 23 – He Always Held His Soul in His Hands

December 22, 2022

Saint Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão Born 1739, in the village of Santo Antonio da Vila de Guaratinguetá, Brazil; died 23 December, 1822, at the Convent of Light, São Paulo, Brazil. His father, also named Anthony, belonged to an illustrious Portuguese family and was well educated, as evidenced by his writings. He excelled in business, the […]

Read the full article →

December 24 – Adam and Eve

December 22, 2022

Adam The first man and the father of the human race. ETYMOLOGY AND USE OF WORD There is not a little divergence of opinion among Semitic scholars when they attempt to explain the etymological signification of the Hebrew word adam (which in all probability was originally used as a common rather than a proper name), […]

Read the full article →

December 24 – Vasco da Gama

December 22, 2022

Vasco da Gama The discover of the sea route to East Indies; born at Sines, Province of Alemtejo, Portugal, about 1469; died at Cochin, India, 24 December, 1524. His father, Estevão da Gama, was Alcaide Mor of Sines, and Commendador of Cercal, and held an important office at court under Alfonso V. After the return […]

Read the full article →

December 24 – Sts. Trasilla and Emiliana

December 22, 2022

Aunts of St. Gregory the Great, virgins in the sixth century, given in the Roman Martyrology, the former on 24 December, the latter on 5 January. St. Gregory (Hom. XXXVIII, 15, on the Gospel of St. Matthew, and Lib. Dial., IV, 16) relates that his father, the Senator Gordian, had three sisters who vowed themselves […]

Read the full article →

December 24 – Sts. Irmina and Adela

December 22, 2022

Princesses Irmina and Adela were daughters of St. Dagobert II, King of the Francs. Their father had acceded to the throne at the age of seven but had been deposed soon after and had fled to Ireland for safety. During his exile he married the Anglo-Saxon princess, Matilda, and had five children, among them Adela […]

Read the full article →

December 25 – On Christmas Day, He Died

December 22, 2022

St. Peter Nolasco Born at Mas-des-Saintes-Puelles, near Castelnaudary, France, in 1189 (or 1182); died at Barcelona, on Christmas Day, 1256 (or 1259). He was of a noble family and from his youth was noted for his piety, almsgiving, and charity. Having given all his possessions to the poor, he took a vow of virginity and, […]

Read the full article →

December 26 – He had the face of an angel

December 22, 2022

St. Stephen One of the first deacons and the first Christian martyr; feast on 26 December. In the Acts of the Apostles the name of St. Stephen occurs for the first time on the occasion of the appointment of the first deacons (Acts, vi, 5). Dissatisfaction concerning the distribution of alms from the community’s fund […]

Read the full article →

King Charles leads first Remembrance Day service as British monarch

December 21, 2022

According to NBC News, King Charles III led Remembrance Day commemorations in London on Sunday for the first time as Britain’s monarch, laying a newly designed wreath after a two-minute silence at The Cenotaph war memorial. The ceremony, also attended by seven former prime ministers, is due to be followed by a march past which will involve […]

Read the full article →

How Belgium’s Catholic king led nation through WWI and its darkest days

December 21, 2022

According the the Catholic Review, For four years, Albert soldiered on with his troops on the front lines, despite being under fire and attempted kidnappings from German forces. His leadership was celebrated among the Belgian army and civilian population; the king and queen were so popular that German occupiers forbade the sale of the royal […]

Read the full article →

King Charles asks parliament to appoint new deputies in place of Andrew and Harry

December 21, 2022

According to Sky News: The King has personally asked parliament to add his siblings, Princess Anne and Prince Edward, to the list of people who can deputise for him for official duties. They are currently, Camilla the Queen Consort, William, the Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew and Princess Beatrice, his daughter. Some will […]

Read the full article →

Prince Andrew will never return to royal duties

December 21, 2022

According to News.com.au, Prince Andrew became tearful when the King told him he would never return to Royal duties… The disgraced Duke of York was “totally blindsided” in the tense face-to-face meeting with his brother, who said he must accept his role in public life is over, it was claimed. The disgraced Duke — whose […]

Read the full article →

Princess Märtha Louise to relinquish her official duties

December 21, 2022

According to the Royal House of Norway, Princess Märtha Louise …will not carry out official duties for the Royal House at the present time. The Princess is patron of various organisations, and today she informed them that she is relinquishing her patronage role, which has provided the framework for her official duties. The Princess is […]

Read the full article →

God Save the Queen’s Royal Warrant Holders

December 21, 2022

According to IPTechBlog, In a modern world of celebrity and influencer endorsements, there is arguably one endorsement that still trumps others: the Royal Warrant. …the 620 royal warrants granted by Queen Elizabeth II became void immediately upon the death of the Her Majesty on 8 September 2022. However, warrant holders have a grace period of […]

Read the full article →

December 20 – Abraham

December 19, 2022

Abraham The original form of the name, Abram, is apparently the Assyrian Abu-ramu. It is doubtful if the usual meaning attached to that word “lofty father”, is correct. The meaning given to Abraham in Genesis 17:5 is popular word play, and the real meaning is unknown. The Assyriologist, Hommel suggests that in the Minnean dialect, […]

Read the full article →

December 20 – Isaac

December 19, 2022

Isaac The son of Abraham and Sara. The incidents of his life are told in Genesis 15-35, in a narrative the principal parts of which are traced back by many scholars to three several documents (J, E, P) utilized in the composition of the Book of Genesis (see ABRAHAM). According to Genesis 17:17; 18:12; 21:6, […]

Read the full article →

December 20 – Jacob

December 19, 2022

Jacob The son of Isaac and Rebecca, third great patriarch of the chosen people, and the immediate ancestor of the twelve tribes of Israel. The incidents of his life are given in parts of Gen., xxv, 21-1, 13, wherein the documents (J, E, P) are distinguished by modern scholars (see ABRAHAM, I, 52). His name— […]

Read the full article →

December 20 – Her church ranks third in Rome

December 19, 2022

St. Anastasia This martyr enjoys the distinction, unique in the Roman liturgy, of having a special commemoration in the second Mass on Christmas day. This Mass was originally celebrated not in honour of the birth of Christ, but in commemoration of this martyr, and towards the end of the fifth century her name was also […]

Read the full article →

December 21 – Doctor of the Church & Second Apostle of Germany

December 19, 2022

St. Peter Canisius Born at Nimwegen in the Netherlands, 8 May, 1521; died in Fribourg, 21 November, 1597. His father was the wealthy burgomaster, Jacob Canisius; his mother, Ægidia van Houweningen, died shortly after Peter’s birth. In 1536 Peter was sent to Cologne, where he studied arts, civil law, and theology at the university; he […]

Read the full article →

December 22 – “I swear by St. Eimhin’s bell…”

December 19, 2022

St. Eimhin Abbot and Bishop of Ros-mic-Truin (Ireland), probably in the sixth century. He came of the royal race of Munster, and was brother of two other saints, Culain and Dairmid. Of the early part of his religious life little is known. When he became abbot of the monastery of Ros-mic-Truin, in succession to its […]

Read the full article →

Skanderbeg’s Dying Counsel to His Fellow Albanians to Continue the Fight Against Islam

December 15, 2022

     As his comrades-in-arms surrounded his deathbed, the Master of Albania waxed philosophical. The two most important things in a man’s life, he offered, are first to “adore God” by faithfully serving him, and second, “to give our lives and to shed our blood for our country’s preservation and safety.” Raymond Ibrahim, The Defenders of […]

Read the full article →

Aseity and Revolution

December 15, 2022

Previous If we analyse history from an impartial and, moreover, Christian perspective, we note that with the Enlightenment and later the political reforms of the French Revolution, social groups lost their vigour and cohesion within society. The old bond between State and individual dissolved. The family lost its strength. The individual lost his identity within […]

Read the full article →

December 16 – Afonzo de Albuquerque

December 15, 2022

Albuquerque, Afonzo de (also Dalboquerque), surnamed “the Great”, b. in Portugal, in 1453; d. at Goa, 16 December, 1515. He was second son of Gonzallo de Albuquerque, lord of Villaverde, and became attached to the person of the king of Portugal. He went to Otranto with Alphonso V in 1480, and made his first voyage […]

Read the full article →

December 16 – St. Adelaide: Most Important Woman of Her Century

December 15, 2022

St. Adelaide (ADELHEID). Born 931; died 16 December, 999, one of the conspicuous characters in the struggle of Otho the Great to obtain the imperial crown from the Roman Pontiffs. She was the daughter of Rudolph II, King of Burgundy, who was at war with Hugh of Provence for the crown of Italy. The rivals […]

Read the full article →

December 16 – Saint Judicael ap Hoel

December 15, 2022

Saint Judicael ap Hoel (c. 590 – 16 or 17 December 658) was the King of Domnonée and a Breton high king in the mid-seventh century. According to Gregory of Tours, the Bretons were divided into various regna (subkingdoms) during the sixth century, of which Domnonée, Cornouaille, and Broweroch are the best known; they had […]

Read the full article →

December 16 – Can Whistleblowers Be Saints? This One Was…

December 15, 2022

St. Ado, Archbishop of Vienne, Confessor Born about 800, in the diocese of Sens; died 16 December, 875. He was brought up at the Benedictine Abbey of Ferrières, and had as one of his masters the Abbot Lupus Servatus, one of the most celebrated humanists of those times. By his brilliant talents and assiduous application […]

Read the full article →

December 17 – St. Olympias

December 15, 2022

Born 360-5; died 25 July, 408, probably at Nicomedia. This pious, charitable, and wealthy disciple of St. John Chrysostom came from an illustrious family in Constantinople. Her father (called by the sources Secundus or Selencus) was a “Count” of the empire; one of her ancestors, Ablabius, filled in 331 the consular office, and was also […]

Read the full article →

December 17 – St. Begga, Widow and Abbess

December 15, 2022

This saint was daughter of Pepin of Landen, eldest sister to St. Gertrude of Nivelle, and married Ansegise, son to St. Arnoul, who was some time mayor of the palace, and afterwards bishop of Metz. Her husband being killed in hunting, she dedicated herself to a penitential state of retirement, and, after performing a pilgrimage […]

Read the full article →

December 17 – St. Sturmius and the diocese of Fulda

December 15, 2022

To systematize the work of evangelizing Germany, St. Boniface organized a hierarchy on the usual ecclesiastical basis; in Bavaria the Dioceses of Salzburg, Freising, Ratisbon, and Passau; in Franconia and Thuringia, Würzburg, Eichstätt, Buraburg near Fritzlar, and Erfurt. To facilitate missionary work farther north, especially among the Saxons, he sought a suitable spot for the […]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →