April 21 – Adventurous in youth and adulthood

April 19, 2021

St. Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury, Doctor of the Church; born at Aosta a Burgundian town on the confines of Lombardy, died 21 April, 1109. His father, Gundulf, was a Lombard who had become a citizen of Aosta, and his mother, Ermenberga, came of an old Burgundian family. Like many other saints, Anselm learnt the first […]

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April 22 – Father of Origen

April 19, 2021

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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April 22 – Cabral and the Discovery of Brazil

April 19, 2021

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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“I Will Not Abjure the Faith to Marry a Princess—Not Even for the Whole World”

April 15, 2021

During the persecution of which we have just spoken, a youth, who was a Christian, named James Sacoiama, and only fourteen years old, had gone with his mother to live in the kingdom of Saxuma. As he was of fine appearance and possessed much intelligence, the king grew very fond of him, and even thought […]

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CHAPTER XII: The Church and the Counter-Revolution

April 15, 2021

[previous] As we have seen, the Revolution was born from an explosion of disorderly passions that is leading to the total destruction of temporal society, the complete subversion of the moral order, and the denial of God. The great target of the Revolution is, then, the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, the infallible teacher […]

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April 16 – Martyred in the name of Equality

April 15, 2021

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 – Third Religious Rebel

April 15, 2021

St. Stephen Harding Confessor, the third Abbot of Cîteaux, was born at Sherborne in Dorsetshire, England, about the middle of the eleventh century; died 28 March, 1134. He received his early education in the monastery of Sherborne and afterwards studied in Paris and Rome. On returning from the latter city he stopped at the monastery […]

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April 17 – One of the many nobles who spread the Cluny reform

April 15, 2021

St. Robert Founder of the Abbey of Chaise-Dieu in Auvergne, born at Aurilac, Auvergne, about 1000; died in Auvergne, 1067. On his father’s side he belonged to the family of the Counts of Aurilac, who had given birth to St. Géraud. He studied at Brioude near the basilica of St-Julien, in a school open to […]

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

April 15, 2021

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 17 – He saved countless souls from apostasy

April 15, 2021

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 – Mother of Fr. Gallitzin

April 15, 2021

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 15, 2021

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 – Martyred at Tyburn

April 15, 2021

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 18 – Blessed Marie de l’Incarnation

April 15, 2021

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 18 – St. Willigis

April 15, 2021

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 19 – The saintly warrior pope

April 15, 2021

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 – Captured by pirates

April 15, 2021

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 19 – Blessed Conrad of Ascoli

April 15, 2021

Friar Minor and missionary, born at Ascoli in the March of Ancona in 1234; died there, 19 April, 1289. He belonged to the noble family of Milliano and from his earliest years made penance the predominating element of his life… Read more here.

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April 13 – Born blind, lame, deformed, hunchbacked and dwarfed

April 12, 2021

Blessed Margaret of Castello (1287–1320) is the patroness of the poor, crippled, and the unwanted. She was born blind, lame, deformed, hunchbacked and a dwarf, into a family of nobles in the castle of Metola, in southeast of Florence. As a child, her parents Parisio and Emilia imprisoned her for 14 years so no one […]

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April 13 – This Prince Defied His Family

April 12, 2021

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 – Pope St. Martin I

April 12, 2021

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

April 12, 2021

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 12, 2021

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 12, 2021

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

April 8, 2021

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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Be Careful What You Wish For

April 8, 2021

“Over what people wouldst thou like to reign?” Maria Theresa asked Marie Antoinette one day. “Over the French,” the child replied gayly, “because it was over them that Henri IV and Louis XIV reigned, ⸺ the Good and the Great.” The expression was happy; and the empress was so delighted with it that she begged […]

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Pride leads to egalitarianism, and egalitarianism to atheism

April 8, 2021

The proud person, subject to another’s authority, hates first of all the particular yoke that weights upon him. In a second stage, the proud man hates all authority in general and all yokes, and, even more, the very principle of authority considered in the abstract. Because he hates all authority, he also hates superiority of […]

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

April 8, 2021

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 8, 2021

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 8, 2021

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 8, 2021

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 – He excommunicated the king, who murdered him as he celebrated Mass

April 8, 2021

Saint Stanislaus of Cracow In pictures he is given the episcopal insignia and the sword. Larger paintings represent him in a court or kneeling before the altar and receiving the fatal blow. His parents, Belislaus and Bogna, pious and noble Catholics, gave him a religious education. After the death of his parents he distributed his […]

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April 11 – American Hero of the Seal of Confession

April 8, 2021

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 11 – “The sorest and dangerousest papist”

April 8, 2021

Sampson Erdeswicke Antiquarian, date of birth unknown; d. 1603. He was born at Sandon in Staffordshire, his father, Hugh Erdeswicke, being descended from Richard de Vernon, Baron of Shipbrook, in the reign of William the Conqueror. The family resided originally at Erdeswicke Hall, in Cheshire, afterwards at Leighton and finally in the reign of Edward […]

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April 11 – American Catholic Founding Father

April 8, 2021

Stephen Moylan An American patriot and merchant, born in Ireland in 1734; died at Philadelphia, 11 April, 1811. He received his education in Ireland, but resided for some time in England, and seems to have travelled considerably on the Continent before emigrating to the American Colonies where he settled in the city of Philadelphia. He […]

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April 11 – Antonio Ruiz de Montoya

April 8, 2021

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 – Convicted for being a priest

April 8, 2021

George Gervase (Jervise.) Priest and martyr, born at Boscham, Suffolk, England, 1571; died at Tyburn, 11 April, 1608. His mother’s name was Shelly, and both his father’s and mother’s families had been long established in the County of Suffolk. Losing both parents in boyhood, he was kidnapped by pirates and carried off beyond seas, remaining […]

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April 11 – His donations helped build the first California missions

April 8, 2021

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 – James Burns, of Burns and Oates

April 8, 2021

James Burns Publisher and author, b. near Montrose, Forfarshire, Scotland, 1808; d. in London, 11 April, 1871. During the last half of the nineteenth century his work in the cause of Catholic literature and Catholic church music contributed much to the rapid advancement of the Church in Great Britain and to the many conversions that […]

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April 11 – St. Guthlac

April 8, 2021

St. Guthlac Hermit; born about 673; died at Croyland, England, 11 April, 714. Our authority for the life of St. Guthlac is the monk Felix (of what monastery is not known), who in his dedication of the “Life” to King Æthelbald, Guthlac’s friend, assures him that whatever he has written, he had derived immediately from […]

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April 12 – Crusader in every sense of the word

April 8, 2021

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… Read more here.

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April 12 – St. Teresa of the Andes

April 8, 2021

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… Read more here.

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April 12 – Pope St. Julius I

April 8, 2021

(337-352) The immediate successor of Pope Silvester, Arcus, ruled the Roman Church for only a very short period – from 18 January to 7 October, 336 – and after his death the papal chair remained vacant for four months. What occasioned this comparatively long vacancy is unknown. On 6 February, 337, Julius, son of Rustics […]

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Brussels marks 5 years since terror attack: King and queen of Belgium pay tribute to victims

April 5, 2021

According to KMBC News: The king and queen of Belgium paid tribute…to the victims of the suicide bombings that killed 32 people and injured hundreds more in the Brussels subway and airport…five years ago. King Philippe and Queen Mathilde started the commemorations at Brussels airport alongside Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. They met victims and […]

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Princess Charlene says goodbye to Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini

April 5, 2021

According to the Monaco Tribune: On Thursday 18 March, Princess Charlene of Monaco attended a memorial service of the recently deceased eighth King of the Zulus, Goodwill Zuelithini. The ceremony took place in the town of Nongoma in Zwazulu, South Africa. He died at the age of 72 and had ruled the Zulu people for […]

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Prince Albert II of Monaco on Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview

April 5, 2021

According to the Monaco Tribune: Pre-recorded in California, this bombshell interview shed light on the reasons why the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back from the British Royal Family three years ago… Now, speaking to BBC’s Yalda Hakim about what he made of the interview, Monaco’s Sovereign said “it did bother me.” For him, […]

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

April 5, 2021

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 – He wrote the genealogy of the Danish kings to disprove the alleged impediment of consanguinity

April 5, 2021

St. William of Ebelholt (Also called William of Paris, or William of Eskilsöe) Died on Easter Sunday, 1203, and was buried at Ebelholt. He was educated by his uncle Hugh, forty-second Abbot of St-Germain-des-Pres at Paris; and having been ordained subdeacon received a canonry in the Church of Ste-Geneviève-du-Mont. His exemplary life did not commend […]

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April 7 – Father of Modern Pedagogy

April 5, 2021

St. John Baptist de la Salle Founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, educational reformer, and father of modern pedagogy, was born at Reims, 30 April, 1651, and died at Saint-Yon, Rouen, on Good Friday, 7 April, 1719. The family of de la Salle traces its origin to Johan Salla, who, […]

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

April 5, 2021

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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Princes Are Educated to Sacrifice

April 1, 2021

Prince Luiz of Orleans-Braganza, current Head of the Imperial House of Brazil, recounts that when they were boys, his mother, Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria, often took him and his brothers for a stroll along the streets of Rio de Janeiro. In those good times, the “old capital” still deserved the title of “Marvelous City,” […]

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The Neighborhood, First Amplification of The Family

April 1, 2021

I knew Sao Paulo in a time in which it was much smaller. It was spontaneously and organically divided into neighborhoods, and lacked that separation between rich and poor neighborhoods, which seems so anti-natural to me. The homes of those more wealthy [grande senhor], those of the lower bourgeois and of the manual workers existed […]

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

April 1, 2021

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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Every year, on Good Friday

April 1, 2021

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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April 3 – The man they trusted to collect the Crusader tax

April 1, 2021

St. Richard of Wyche Bishop and confessor, born about 1197 at Droitwich, Worcestershire, from which his surname is derived; died 3 April, 1253, at Dover. He was the second son of Richard and Alice de Wyche. His father died while he was still young and the family property fell into a state of great delapidation. […]

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April 3 – Pope Honorius IV

April 1, 2021

Pope Honorius IV (Giacomo Savelli) Born at Rome about 1210; died at Rome, 3 April, 1287. He belonged to the rich and influential family of the Savelli and was a grandnephew of Honorius III. Very little is known of his life before he ascended the papal throne. He studied at the University of Paris, during […]

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April 3 – English Catholic exile

April 1, 2021

John Martiall (or MARSHALL) Born in Worcestershire 1534, died at Lille, 3 April, 1597. He was one of the six companions associated with Dr. Allen in the foundation of the English College at Douai in 1568. He received his education at Winchester (1545-49) and New College, Oxford (1549-56), at which latter place, after a residence […]

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April 3 – How the Holy Cross converted a prostitute

April 1, 2021

St. Mary of Egypt Born probably about 344; died about 421. At the early age of twelve Mary left her home and came to Alexandria, where for upwards of seventeen years she led a life of public prostitution. At the end of that time, on the occasion of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Feast […]

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April 3 – Last survivor of the ancient hierarchy of England

April 1, 2021

Thomas Goldwell Bishop of St. Asaph, the last survivor of the ancient hierarchy of England; b. probably at the family manor of Goldwell, in the parish of Great Chart, near Ashford, Kent, between 1501 and 1515; d. in Rome, 3 April, 1585. He was a member of a Kentish family of ancient lineage, long seated […]

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Easter in Imperial Russia: the Royal Doors

April 1, 2021

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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