April 21 – The Noble Saint who tamed William the Conqueror, abolished slavery in England, and founded Scholasticism; his prayer to Saint Mary Magdalene

April 20, 2026

Saint Anselm, Confessor, Archbishop Of Canterbury (A. D. 1109) If the Norman conquerors stripped the English nation of its liberty and many temporal advantages, it must be owned that by their valor they raised the reputation of its arms and deprived their own country of its greatest men, both in church and state, with whom […]

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The Pizza That Was Named For A Queen – Recipe

April 20, 2026

  Margherita Teresa Giovanna, Princess of Savoy, was born in Turin, on November 20, 1851. On April 21, 1868, when just sixteen years old, she married her first cousin, Umberto, Crown Prince of Italy. Pizza Margherita was named after her. This is how it happened… In June 1898, Margherita accompanied her husband, now Umberto I, King […]

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April 22 – Cabral and the Discovery of Brazil

April 20, 2026

Pedralvarez Cabral (Pedro Alvarez.) A celebrated Portugese navigator, generally called the discoverer of Brazil, born probably around 1460; date of death uncertain. Very little is known concerning the life of Cabral. He was the third son of Fernao Cabral, Governor of Beira and Belmonte, and Isabel de Gouvea, and married Isabel de Castro, the daughter […]

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April 22 – Father of Origen

April 20, 2026

St. Leonidas (Or LEONIDES.) The Roman Martyrology records several feast days of martyrs of this name in different countries. Under date of 28 January there is a martyr called Leonides, a native of the Thebaid, whose death with several companions is supposed to have occurred during the Diocletian persecution (Acta SS., January, II, 832). Another […]

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New Buckingham Palace Exhibition Celebrates the Fashion of Elizabeth II: Sparkling Tiaras to Pastel Hats

April 16, 2026

h/t smithsonianmag.com King’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace is showcasing 300 selections drawn from a collection of 4,000 items she owned. The collection also highlights the queen’s talent for melding fashion with diplomacy. Some notable pieces she sported while meeting with leaders abroad include a cherry blossom dress from her 1975 trip to Japan, the green-and-white […]

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Mary Queen of Scots: Catholic Martyr?

April 16, 2026

by Byron Whitcraft h/t tfp.org After almost five centuries, the legendary Queen Mary of Scotland is now again in the spotlight. The last letter she penned just six hours prior to her execution is on display in Perth, Scotland. The exhibit is on display at the Perth Museum until April 26, 2026, and the letter […]

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April 16 – Martyred in the name of Equality

April 16, 2026

Just a few of the many martyrs during the French Revolution († 1792-1799) 16 April 1794 in Avrillé, Maine-et-Loire (France) Pierre Delépine layperson of the diocese of Angers born: 24 May 1732 in Marigné, Maine-et-Loire (France) Jean Ménard layperson of the diocese of Angers; married born: 16 November 1736 in Andigné, Maine-et-Loire (France) Renée Bourgeais […]

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April 17 – Martyred at Tyburn

April 16, 2026

Ven. Henry Heath English Franciscan and martyr, son of John Heath; christened at St. John’s, Peterborough, 16 December, 1599; executed at Tyburn, 17 April, 1643. He went to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 1617, proceeded B.A. in 1621, and was made college librarian. In 1622 he was received into the Church by George Muscott, and, after […]

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April 17 – Mother of Fr. Gallitzin

April 16, 2026

Adele Amalie Gallitzin (Or GOLYZIN). Princess; b. at Berlin, 28 Aug., 1748; d. at Angelmodde, near Münster, Westphalia, 17 April, 1806. She was the daughter of the Prussian General Count von Schmettau, and educated in the Catholic faith, though she soon became estranged from her religion. In 1768, she married the Russian Prince Dimitry Alexejewitsch […]

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April 17 – Controversial Pope

April 16, 2026

Pope Benedict III Date of birth unknown; d. 17 April, 858. The election of the learned and ascetic Roman, Benedict, the son of Peter, was a troubled one. On the death of Leo IV (17 July, 855) Benedict was chosen to succeed him, and envoys were despatched to secure the ratification of the decree of […]

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April 17 – He saved countless souls from apostasy

April 16, 2026

Thomas of Jesus (THOMAS DE ANDRADA). Reformer and preacher, born at Lisbon, 1529; died at Sagena, Morocco, 17 April, 1582. He was educated by the Augustinian Hermits from age of ten, entered the order at Lisbon in 1534, completed his studies at Coimbra, and was appointed novice-master. In his zeal for primitive observance he attempted […]

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April 17 – He rescued his country from crushing debt, yet waged incessant war

April 16, 2026

Maximilian I Duke of Bavaria, 1598-1622, Elector of Bavaria and Lord High Steward of the Holy Roman Empire, 1623-1651; born at Munich, 17 April, 1573; died at Ingolstadt, 27 September, 1651. The lasting services he rendered his country and the Catholic Church justly entitle him to the surname of “Great”. He was the son of […]

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April 19 – The saintly warrior pope

April 16, 2026

Pope St. Leo IX Pope St. Leo IX earnestly spread the Cluny reform Born at Egisheim, near Colmar, on the borders of Alsace, 21 June, 1002, Pope St. Leo IX died on 19 April, 1054. He belonged to a noble family which had given or was to give saints to the Church and rulers to […]

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April 19 – Hostage of the Danes

April 16, 2026

St. Alphege (or Elphege), Saint, born 954; died 1012; also called Godwine, martyred Archbishop of Canterbury, left his widowed mother and patrimony for the monastery of Deerhurst (Gloucestershire). After some years as an anchorite at Bath, he there became abbot, and (19 Oct., 984) was made Bishop of Winchester. In 994 Elphege administered confirmation to […]

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April 18 – St. Willigis

April 16, 2026

St. Willigis Archbishop of Mainz, d. 23 Feb., 1011. Feast, 23 February or 18 April. Though of humble birth he received a good education, and through the influence of Bishop Volkold of Meissen entered the service of Otto I, and after 971 figured as chancellor of Germany. Otto II in 975 made him Archbishop of […]

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April 18 – Blessed Marie de l’Incarnation

April 16, 2026

Bl. Marie de l’Incarnation Known also as Madame Acarie, foundress of the French Carmel, born in Paris, 1 February, 1566; died at Pontoise, April, 1618. By her family Barbara Avrillot belonged to the higher bourgeois society in Paris. Her father, Nicholas Avrillot was accountant general in the Chamber of Paris, and chancellor of Marguerite of […]

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April 13 – Pope St. Martin I

April 13, 2026

Pope St. Martin I Martyr, born at Todi on the Tiber, son of Fabricius; elected Pope at Rome, 21 July, 649, to succeed Theodore I; d at Cherson in the present peninsulas of Krym, 16 Sept., 655, after a reign of 6 years, one month and twenty six days, having ordained eleven priests, five deacons […]

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April 13 – This Prince Defied His Family

April 13, 2026

St. Hermengild Date of birth unknown; died 13 April, 585. Leovigild, the Arian King of the Visigoths (569-86), had two sons, Hermengild and Reccared, by his first marriage with the Catholic Princess Theodosia. Hermengild married, in 576, Ingundis, a Frankish Catholic princess, the daughter of Sigebert and Brunhilde. Led by his own inclination, and influenced […]

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April 13 – Henry James Coleridge

April 13, 2026

Henry James Coleridge A writer and preacher, b. 20 September 1822, in Devonshire, England; d. at Roehampton, 13 April 1893. He was the son of Sir John Taylor Coleridge, a Judge of the King’s Bench, and brother of John Duke, Lord Coleridge, Chief Justice of England. His grandfather, Captain James Coleridge, was brother to Samuel […]

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April 14 – Apostle of the Detroit Hurons

April 13, 2026

Jean Baptiste Marchand Second principal in order of succession of the Sulpician College of Montreal and missionary of the Detroit Hurons at Sandwich, Ont.; b. at Verchères, Que., 25 Feb. 1760, son of Louis Marchand and Marguerite de Niverville; d. at Sandwich, 14 Apr., 1825. Marchand was ordained 11 March, 1786, affiliated to the Sulpician […]

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April 14 – She suffered for the moral corruption and decay of her time

April 13, 2026

Saint Lydwine In 1380, Saint Lydwine was born in the small town of Schiedam in Holland. Her father was a wealthy noble named Peter, and her mother was from a poor family who worked their own farm. Her father’s family lost their fortune, and the whole family was reduced to poverty. At that time, all […]

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April 14 – St. Peter Gonzalez (aka St. Elmo)

April 13, 2026

St. Peter Gonzalez Popularly known as St. Elmo, b. in 1190 at Astorga, Spain; d. 15 April, 1246, at Tuy. He was educated by his uncle, Bishop of Astorga, who gave him when very young a canonry. Later he entered the Dominican Order and became a renowned preacher; crowds gathered to hear him and numberless […]

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April 15 – The Notkers of St. Gall

April 13, 2026

Notker.—Among the various monks of St. Gall who bore this name, the following are the most important: (1) Notker Balbulus (Stammerer), Blessed, monk and author, b. about 840, at Jonswil, canton of St. Gall (Switzerland); d. 912. Of a distinguished family, he received his education with Tuotilo, originator of tropes, at St. Gall’s, from Iso […]

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A Democratic Constitution Should Assume and Protect the Values of the Christian Faith, Without Which It Will Not Be Able to Survive

April 13, 2026

[previous] In view of the peculiar circumstances of our day, it is opportune to quote a judicious analysis of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [Nobility.org: and presently, the Sovereign Pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI], in an interview to the newspaper El Mercurio of Santiago, Chile (June 12, 1988): […]

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A Requiem for Manners

April 9, 2026

by Stephen M. Klugewicz On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee met General Ulysses S. Grant at the McLean House in Appomattox, Virginia, for the purpose of surrendering the Army of Northern Virginia. Lee had asked for the meeting and had prepared by putting on his finest uniform: a new, long dress coat with […]

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April 9 – She persuaded her husband the Count to become a monk

April 9, 2026

St. Waudru She was daughter to the princess St. Bertille, elder sister to St. Aldegondes, and wife to Madelgaire, count of Hainault, and one of the principal lords of King Dagobert’s court. After bearing him two sons and two daughters, she induced him to embrace the monastic state at Haumont, near Maubeuge, taking the name […]

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April 9 – Mary of Cleophas

April 9, 2026

Mary of Cleophas This title occurs only in John, xix, 25. A comparison of the lists of those who stood at the foot of the cross would seem to identify her with Mary, the mother of James the Less and Joseph ( Mark, xv, 40; cf. Matt., xxvii, 56). Some have indeed tried to identify […]

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April 10 – Friend of Cluny

April 9, 2026

St. Fulbert of Chartres Bishop, born between 952 and 962; died 10 April, 1028 or 1029. Mabillon and others think that he was born in Italy, probably at Rome; but Pfister, his latest biographer, designates as his birthplace the Diocese of Laudun in the present department of Gard in France. He was of humble parentage […]

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April 10 – Pope Gregory XIII

April 9, 2026

Pope Gregory XIII (UGO BUONCOMPAGNI). Born at Bologna, 7 Jan., 1502; died at Rome, 10 April, 1585. He studied jurisprudence at the University of Bologna, from which he was graduated at an early age as doctor of canon and of civil law. Later, he taught jurisprudence at the same university, and had among his pupils […]

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April 11 – His donations helped build the first California missions

April 9, 2026

Juan Caballero y Ocio Born at Querétaro, Mexico, 4 May, 1644; died there 11 April, 1707. A priest remarkable for lavish gifts to the Church and for charity. While still a layman he was a mayor of his native city. After taking Holy Orders he held several high offices. He gave large sums of money […]

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April 11 – Antonio Ruiz de Montoya

April 9, 2026

Antonio Ruiz de Montoya One of the most distinguished pioneers of the original Jesuit mission in Paraguay, and a remarkable linguist; b. at Lima Peru, on 13 June, 1585, d. there 11 April, 1652. After a youth full of wild and daring pranks and adventures he entered the Society of Jesus on 1 November, 1606. […]

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April 11 – American Hero of the Seal of Confession

April 9, 2026

Antony Kohlmann Educator and missionary, b. 13 July, 1771, at Kaiserberg, Alsace; d. at Rome, 11 April, 1836. He is to be ranked among the lights of the restored Society of Jesus, and among its most distinguished members in America, where he spent nearly a quarter of a century of his laborious life. At an […]

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April 12 – Crusader in every sense of the word

April 9, 2026

Bl. Angelo Carletti di Chivasso Moral theologian of the order of Friars Minor; born at Chivasso in Piedmont, in 1411; and died at Coni, in Piedmont, in 1495. From his tenderest years the Blessed Angelo was remarkable for the holiness and purity of his life. He attended the University of Bologna, where he received the […]

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April 12 – St. Teresa of the Andes

April 9, 2026

Saint Teresa of the Andes, O.C.D. (July 13, 1900 – April 12, 1920), also known as Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes (Spanish: Teresa de Jesús de los Andes), was a Chilean nun of the Discalced Carmelite order. She was born Juana Enriqueta Josefina de los Sagrados Corazones Fernández y Solar in Santiago, Chile […]

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April 6 – With his head split open, he wrote on the ground with his own blood: “Credo”

April 6, 2026

St. Peter of Verona Born at Verona, 1206; died near Milan, 6 April, 1252. His parents were adherents of the Manichæan heresy, which still survived in northern Italy in the thirteenth century. Sent to a Catholic school, and later to the University of Bologna, he there met St. Dominic, and entered the Order of the […]

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April 6 – Richard the Lionheart

April 6, 2026

Richard I, King Of England Born at Oxford, 6 Sept, 1157; died at Chaluz, France, 6 April, 1199; was known to the minstrels of a later age, rather than to his contemporaries, as “Coeur-de-Lion”. He was only the second son of Henry II, but it was part of his father’s policy, holding, as he did, […]

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April 6 – Thomas Bourchier

April 6, 2026

Thomas Bourchier Born 1406; died 1486, Cardinal, was the third son of William Bourchier, Earl of Eu, and of Lady Anne Plantagenet, a daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, youngest son of Edward III. At an early age he entered the University of Oxford, and in due course, embracing a clerical career, was […]

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April 6 – Pope St. Sixtus I

April 6, 2026

Pope St. Sixtus I (in the oldest documents, Xystus is the spelling used for the first three popes of that name), succeeded St. Alexander and was followed by St. Telesphorus. According to the “Liberian Catalogue” of popes, he ruled the Church during the reign of Adrian “a conulatu Nigri et Aproniani usque Vero III et […]

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April 7 – St. Brenach

April 6, 2026

An Irish missionary in Wales, a contemporary of St. Patrick, and among the earliest of the Irish saints who laboured among the Celts of that country. About the year 418 he travelled to Rome and Brittany, and thence to Milford Haven. He erected various oratories near the rivers Cleddau, Gwain, and Caman, and at the […]

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April 7 – Ven. Henry Walpole

April 6, 2026

English Jesuit martyr, born at Docking, Norfolk, 1558; martyred at York, 7 April, 1595. He was the eldest son of Christopher Walpole, by Margery, heiress of Richard Beckham of Narford, and was educated at Norwich School, Peterhouse, Cambridge, and Gray’s Inn. Converted by the death of Blessed Edward Campion, he went by way of Rouen […]

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A crusade is needed, for external and internal reasons

April 6, 2026

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Pius XII has a document in which he says that if he wanted, he would be entitled to call a crusade against communism; but he thought that for a number of reasons it was not the case to do it. As far as we are concerned, the greater the risk […]

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April 8 – Don Bosco’s Prince; nobility of blood joins nobility of spirit

April 6, 2026

Augusto Czartoryski was born on 2 August 1858 in Paris, France, the firstborn son to Prince Ladislaus of Poland and Princess Maria Amparo, daughter of the Queen of Spain. The noble Czartoryski Family had been living in exile in France for almost 30 years, in the Lambert Palace. Here, with the hope of restoring unity […]

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April 8 – Together with a noble who escaped the Terror, she founded the Sisters of Notre Dame

April 6, 2026

St. Julie Billiart (Also Julia). Foundress, and first superior-general of the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame of Namur, born 12 July, 1751, at Cuvilly, a village of Picardy, in the Diocese of Beauvais and the Department of Oise, France; died 8 April, 1816, at the motherhouse of her institute, Namur, Belgium. She was […]

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April 2 – St. Francis of Paola and the Bartlett Pear

April 2, 2026

The Bartlett pear is called “The Good Christian” in France, after St. Francis of Paola introduced it ‘poire bon chretien’ (good Christian pear) “Said to have originated in Calabria in southern Italy, Bartletts probably were introduced to France by St. Francis of Paola. St. Francis brought a young tree as a gift for King Louis […]

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King Stanislaus and Lent

April 2, 2026

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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On Holy Thursday, King Saint Ferdinand washes the feet of twelve poor men

April 2, 2026

Lent passed, and Holy Week came. That year, the love of Christ inflamed the holy King’s heart more than ever. At times he would spend the whole night in contemplation of the sorrows that Our Lord suffered to redeem us; he slept so little that his nobles, worried, reached the point of telling him that […]

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Queen Mary washes the feet of the poor on Maundy Thursday

April 2, 2026

… 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

April 2, 2026

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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Emperor serves the table of the poor and washes their feet in imitation of Christ

April 2, 2026

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 Welcomes the Sick on Good Friday

April 2, 2026

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 Little Barrel

April 2, 2026

(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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Every year, on Good Friday

April 2, 2026

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

April 2, 2026

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

April 2, 2026

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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Fabergé’s Easter Eggs – extraordinary creations of beauty which continue to fascinate

April 2, 2026

According to Royal Central: Many of the eggs that Fabergé made were lost for years in the wake of the Russian Revolution… In 2014, the Third Imperial Easter Egg came to light by an extraordinary circumstance. Purchased at a flea market, [it] was originally commissioned in 1887 by Tsar Alexander III for his wife Empress […]

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April 4 – Grandmother of the Templars

April 2, 2026

Saint Aleth of Dijon Mother of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, she belonged to the highest nobility of Burgundy. Her husband, Tescelin, was lord of Fontaines. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux was the third of her seven children.  At the age of nine years, Bernard was sent to a much renowned school at Chatillon-sur-Seine, kept by the […]

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April 5 – Soul on Fire

April 2, 2026

St. Vincent Ferrer Famous Dominican missionary, born at Valencia, 23 January, 1350; died at Vannes, Brittany, 5 April, 1419. He was descended from the younger of two brothers who were knighted for their valor in the conquest of Valencia, 1238. In 1340 Vincent’s father, William Ferrer, married Constantia Miguel, whose family had likewise been ennobled […]

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March 30 – St. John Climacus

March 30, 2026

St. John Climacus Also surnamed SCHOLASTICUS, and THE SINAITA, born doubtlessly in Syria, about 525; died on Mount Sinai. 30 March, probably in 606, according the credited opinion — others say 605. Although his education and learning fitted him to live in an intellectual environment, he chose, while still young, to abandon the world for […]

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March 31 – Saint Eulogius of Alexandria

March 30, 2026

Saint Eulogius of Alexandria Patriarch of that see from 580 to 607. He was a successful combatant of the heretical errors then current in Egypt, notably the various phases of Monophysitism. He was a warm friend of St. Gregory the Great, corresponded with him, and received from that pope many flattering expressions of esteem and […]

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March 31 – St. Balbina

March 30, 2026

St. Balbina Memorials of a St. Balbina are to be found at Rome in three different spots which are connected with the early Christian antiquities of that city. In the purely legendary account of the martyrdom of St. Alexander (acta SS., Maii, I, 367 sqq.) mention is made of a tribune Quirinus who died a […]

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