November 9 – He burned the pagan temple while out on bail

November 5, 2020

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 the place, Euchais, to which his body had been carried, and where […]

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November 9 – Patrick’s psalm-singer

November 5, 2020

St. Benignus Date of birth unknown; died 467, son of Sesenen, an Irish chieftain in that part of Ireland which is now County Meath. He was baptized by St. Patrick, and became his favorite disciple and his coadjutor in the See of Armagh (450). His gentle and lovable disposition suggested the name Benen, which has […]

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November 9 – Executed in Oxford, buried with the Templars

November 5, 2020

Ven. George Napper (Or Napier). English martyr, born at Holywell manor, Oxford, 1550; executed at Oxford 9 November, 1610. He was a son of Edward Napper (d. in 1558), sometime Fellow of All Souls College, by Anne, his second wife, daughter of John Peto, of Chesterton, Warwickshire, and niece of William, Cardinal Peto. He entered […]

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November 3 – Patron of hunting

November 2, 2020

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, 2020

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 3 – Patron of Buckingham

November 2, 2020

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 4 – Fearless and Faithful, He Reformed the Church

November 2, 2020

St. Charles Borromeo Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal-Priest of the Title of St. Prassede, Papal Secretary of State under Pius IV, and one of the chief factors in the Catholic Counter-Reformation , was born in the Castle of Arona, a town on the southern shore of the Lago Maggiore in northern Italy, 2 October, 1538; died […]

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November 4 – Her gentleness changed his heart

November 2, 2020

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, 2020

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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St. Louis Proves Them Wrong

October 29, 2020

St. Louis, King of France, used to hear two Masses every Day, sometimes even three or four. Some of his courtiers murmured at this, but the King gave them a sharp reprimand, saying: “If I were to ask you to play, or to go hunting with me three or four times a day, you would […]

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Beautiful and Sublime, Sacred and Sacral

October 29, 2020

Sublimity is a beauty that is outside of human proportions; it is the beauty of sacrality. Sublimity is the aspect of people and things by which they are most similar to God. The sublime is the terminal point of everything that is quality. Sublimity is the oxygen of the soul! Contemplation is observation imbibed with […]

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October 30 – Patroness of the Teutonic Knights

October 29, 2020

St. Dorothea of Montau, recluse, born at Montau, 6 February, 1347, died at Marienwerder, 25 June, 1394. At the age of seventeen she married the sword-cutler Albrecht of Danzig, a hot-tempered man, whose nature underwent a change through her humility and gentleness. Both made frequent pilgrimages to Cologne, Aachen, and Einsiedeln, and they intended (1390) […]

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October 30 – St. Marcellus the Centurion, Martyr

October 29, 2020

St. Marcellus the Centurion, Martyr 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… Read more here.

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October 31 – He forced the devil to build a church

October 29, 2020

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

October 29, 2020

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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November 1 – Warrior bishop

October 29, 2020

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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All Saints’ Day: How many saints were noble?

October 29, 2020

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

October 29, 2020

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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The Institution Of All Souls’ Day

October 29, 2020

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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In the name of equality, Princess Amalia, and 100,000 other Dutch girls, get drafted

October 26, 2020

According to Dutch News: Some 100,000 17-year old girls in the Netherlands will be receiving their call up papers this week, informing them they are now eligible for military service should it be required. They can be called up at any time if the Netherlands goes to war with another country before they turn 45. […]

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October 27 – Apostle of Africa

October 26, 2020

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 27 – The Christian King Who Invaded Arabia

October 26, 2020

St. Elesbaan, King of Ethiopia, Confessor The Axumite Ethiopians, whose dominions were extended from the western coast of the Red Sea, very far on the continent, were in the sixth century a powerful and flourishing nation. St. Elesbaan their king, during the reign of Justin the Elder, in all his actions and designs had no […]

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October 28 – Saint, Soldier, Statesman

October 26, 2020

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 – Uncommon Valor

October 26, 2020

Col. John W. Ripley: Uncommon Valor By Jeremias Wells 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 says that a […]

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October 29 – One of the Martyrs of Douai

October 26, 2020

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 29 – King turned monk, his people begged him to lead them in battle against Penda

October 26, 2020

Saint Sigebert King and martyr, date of birth unknown; died about 637, was the stepbrother of Earpwald, king of the East Angles. During the reign of Redwald he lived an exile in Gaul where he received baptism and became an ardent Christian. Earpwald died about 627, and East Anglia seems to have relapsed into anarchy […]

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Nobleman Paul Xiquibu Receives the Palm of Martyrdom

October 22, 2020

On the same day there was also executed a highly distinguished young lord named Paul Xiquibu, a great friend of Yemondono. The governor having notified him the previous evening to prepare himself, he sent his thanks to him. After midnight an emissary arrived, with orders to behead him when the sun should rise. Paul began […]

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My Old Acquaintance, The Unimaginable

October 22, 2020

Whenever I see the façade of the Cathedral of Cologne, in the depths of my soul I perceive the encounter of two seemingly contradictory impressions. On one hand, it is a reality so beautiful that, if I didn’t know it [personally], I wouldn’t be capable of dreaming of it. But, on the other hand, something […]

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October 23 – The amazing story of San Juan Capistrano and the Siege of Belgrade

October 22, 2020

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 – Gentle Birth, But Not Gentle Death

October 22, 2020

Blessed Thomas Thwing Martyr. Born at Heworth Hall, near York, in 1635; suffered at York, 23 Oct., 1680. His father was George Thwing, Esq., of Kilton Castle and Heworth, nephew of Venerable Edward Thwing; his mother was Anne, sister of the venerable confessor Sir Thomas Gasciogne, of Barnbrow Hall… Read more here.

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October 23 – Made eunuch because he was prince

October 22, 2020

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 22, 2020

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 22, 2020

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 and Crispian and the baron of Renty

October 22, 2020

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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October 25 – Memorial of Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, Many of Them Nobles

October 22, 2020

February 1 – Immediately after his martyrdom, they lined up to venerate his relics February 27 – Are You Hiding a Priest? May 4 – They believed in the religious exemption, but only at first May 22 – Queen’s Confessor                June 19 – Execution of second group of those who believed in the religious exemption, […]

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October 25 – St. Cuthbert Mayne

October 22, 2020

St. Cuthbert Mayne Martyr, born at Yorkston, near Barnstaple, Devonshire (baptized 20 March, 1543-4); died at Launceston, Cornwall, 29 Nov., 1577. He was the son of William Mayne; his uncle was a schismatical priest, who had him educated at Barnstaple Grammar School, and he was ordained a Protestant minister at the age of eighteen or […]

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October 26 – Their black magic could not withstand the sign of the cross

October 22, 2020

Sts. Lucian and Marcian Lucian and Marcian living in the darkness of idolatry applied themselves to the vain study of the black art; but were converted to the faith by finding their charms lose their power upon a Christian virgin, and the evil spirits defeated by the sign of the cross. Their eyes being thus […]

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October 26 – Laid to rest next to St. Peter

October 22, 2020

Pope Saint Evaristus Date of birth unknown; died about 107. In the Liberian Catalogue his name is given as Aristus. In papal catalogues of the second century used by Irenaeus and Hippolytus, he appears as the fourth successor of St. Peter, immediately after St. Clement. The same lists allow him eight years of reign, covering […]

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October 26 – Bl. Celina Chludzińska v. Borzęcka

October 22, 2020

 (1833-1913) Foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Resurrection Celine Chludzinska Borzecka was born on 29 October 1833 in Antowil, Orsza (formerly Polish territory, today Belarus), to Ignatius and Petronella Chludzinski, whose families were wealthy landowners. One of three children, she grew up in an environment of sound Catholic and patriotic traditions, and […]

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Princess Benedikte attended events held for the 75th anniversary of Denmark’s liberation

October 19, 2020

According to New My Royals, On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Denmark’s liberation, Princess Benedikte of Denmark attended a…wreath-laying ceremony at Hvidsten Inn. In 1943, Hvidsten Inn became the center for the Hvidsten group, which was part of the Danish resistance movement. Hvidsten group was arrested by the Gestapo, the secret German police, […]

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Japan to hold proclamation ceremonies for Crown Prince in November

October 19, 2020

According to Royal Central, There had been much debate on when the ceremonies would take place due to the pandemic, but the government decided they could take place in November after being postponed from April. The “Rikkoshi no rei” ceremonies will officially proclaim Fumihito as the first in line to the throne. Fumihito is the […]

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October 20 – Emperor Marcian

October 19, 2020

Marcian (Marcianus, Μαρκιᾶνος), Roman Emperor at Constantinople, born in Thrace about 390; died January, 457. He became a soldier; during his early life he was poor, and it is said that he arrived at Constantinople with only two hundred pieces of gold, which he had borrowed. He served in the army under Ardaburius the Alan […]

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October 21 – Hammer of Muslim invaders

October 19, 2020

Charles Martel Born about 688; died at Quierzy on the Oise, 21 October, 741. He was the natural son of Pepin of Herstal and a woman named Alpaïde or Chalpaïde. Pepin, who died in 714, had outlived his two legitimate sons, Drogon and Grimoald, and to Theodoald, a son of the latter and then only […]

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October 21 – Blessed Karl, Emperor of Austria

October 19, 2020

(Also known as Carlo d’Austria, Charles of Austria) Born August 17, 1887, in the Castle of Persenbeug in the region of Lower Austria, his parents were the Archduke Otto and Princess Maria Josephine of Saxony, daughter of the last King of Saxony. Emperor Francis Joseph I was Charles’ Great Uncle… Read more here.

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October 21 – The Tale of Saint Ursula

October 19, 2020

Once upon a time, there was once a just and most Christian King of Britain, called Maurus. To him and to his wife Daria was born a little girl, the fairest creature that this earth ever saw. She came into the world wrapped in a hairy mantle, and all men wondered greatly what this might […]

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October 22 – St. Wendelin of Trier

October 19, 2020

St. Wendelin of Trier Born about 554; died probably in 617. His earliest biographies, two in Latin and two in German, did not appear until after 1417. Their narrative is the following: Wendelin was the son of a Scottish king; after a piously spent youth he secretly left his home on a pilgrimage to Rome. […]

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Almsgiving of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette

October 15, 2020

During Lent we recall the duties of every Christian to apply themselves more fervently to almsgiving. In pre-revolutionary France it was for the King and the Queen to give an example to everyone else in this regard. Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette took this duty seriously and throughout their reign did what they could to help […]

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Medieval Chansons de Geste Were Not Just Epics, but Popular Catechisms

October 15, 2020

The epic poems—our chansons de geste—German in their origin are Christian in their object. They are more—they are the most ancient popular poems, which we can consult upon the doctrines of the Christian religion! No doubt, they are not theological works, and their authors were not clerics, but they are spontaneous in the best sense […]

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October 16 – Duchess and saint

October 15, 2020

St. Hedwig Duchess of Silesia, born about 1174, at the castle of Andechs; died at Trebnitz, 12 or 15 October, 1243. She was one of eight children born to Berthold IV, Count of Andechs and Duke of Croatia and Dalmatia. Of her four brothers, two became bishops, Ekbert of Bamberg, and Berthold of Aquileia; Otto […]

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October 16 – Marie Antoinette

October 15, 2020

Queen of France. Born at Vienna, 2 November, 1755; executed in Paris, 16 October, 1793. She was the youngest daughter of Francis I, German Emperor, and of Maria Theresa. The marriage of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette was one of the last acts of Choiseul’s policy; but the Dauphiness from the first shared the unpopularity […]

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October 16 – Apostle of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

October 15, 2020

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Religious of the Visitation Order. Apostle of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, born at Lhautecour, France, 22 July, 1647; died at Paray-le-Monial, 17 October, 1690. Her parents, Claude Alacoque and Philiberte Lamyn, were distinguished less for temporal possessions than for their virtue, which gave them an honourable position. […]

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October 16 – Marie Antoinette, Archduchess of Austria, Queen of France and Capetian Widow

October 15, 2020

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Most Reverend Monsignor Director of this Academy, Gentlemen Academicians: A simple listing of the titles with which she was known during her short life as Marie Antoinette of Habsburg, and later Marie Antoinette of Bourbon, brings to memory the series of extraordinary and unforeseen events that together make up the […]

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October 16 – St. Bercharius

October 15, 2020

St. Bercharius (BERERUS). Abbot of Hautvillers in Champagne, b. 636; d. 28 March, 696. Descended from a distinguished Aquitanian family, he received his instruction from St. Nivard (Nivo), Archbishop of Reims, under whose charge he advaneed rapidly in virtue and learning. Believing himself called to the sacred ministry, he entered the monastery of Luxeuil under […]

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October 17 – Leadership means self-sacrifice

October 15, 2020

St. Ignatius of Antioch Also called Theophorus (ho Theophoros); born in Syria, around the year 50; died at Rome between 98 and 117. More than one of the earliest ecclesiastical writers have given credence, though apparently without good reason, to the legend that Ignatius was the child whom the Savior took up in His arms, […]

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October 17 – The Battle of Cholet

October 15, 2020

The Battle of Cholet was fought on 17 October 1793 during the French Revolutionary Wars, between French Republican forces under General Léchelle and French Royalist Forces under Louis d’Elbée. The battle was fought in the town of Cholet in the Maine-et-Loire department of France, and resulted in a Republican victory. D’Elbée was wounded and captured; […]

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October 18 – The day that sparked the Crusades

October 15, 2020

Destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre On October 18, 1009, under Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, orders for the complete destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection, were carried out. The measures against the church were part of a more general campaign against Christian places […]

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October 18 – Adopted nobility

October 15, 2020

Pope Pius III (Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini). B. at Siena, 29 May, 1439; elected 22 Sept., 1503; d. in Rome, 18 Oct., 1503, after a pontificate of four weeks. Piccolomini was the son of a sister of Pius II. He had passed his boyhood in destitute circumstances when his uncle took him into his household, bestowed […]

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October 19 – Founding Fathers

October 15, 2020

St. Isaac Jogues French missionary, born at Orléans, France, 10 January, 1607; martyred at Ossernenon, in the present State of New York, 18 October, 1646. He was the first Catholic priest who ever came to Manhattan Island (New York). He entered the Society of Jesus in 1624 and, after having been professor of literature at […]

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October 19 – Prayer was his crime

October 15, 2020

Saint Philip Howard Martyr, Earl of Arundel; born at Arundel House, London, 28 June 1557, died in the Tower of London, 19 October, 1595. He was the grandson of Henry, Earl of Surrey, the poet, executed by Henry VIII in 1547, and son of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk executed by Elizabeth 1572. Philip II of […]

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October 19 – Barefoot from Spain to Rome

October 15, 2020

St. Peter of Alcántara Born at Alcántara, Spain, 1499; died 18 Oct., 1562. His father, Peter Garavita, was the governor of the place, and his mother was of the noble family of Sanabia. After a course of grammar and philosophy in his native town, he was sent, at the age of fourteen, to the University […]

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