June 14 – The entire population was slaughtered, except those who embraced Islam

June 11, 2020

Croia A titular see of Albania. Croia (pronounced Kruya, Albanian, “Spring”) stands on the site of Eriboea, a town mentioned by Ptolemy (III, xiii, 13, 41). Georgius Acropolites (lxix) mentions it as a fortress in 1251. A decree of the Venetian senate gave it in 1343 to Marco Barbarigo and his wife. In 1395 it […]

Read the full article →

June 15 – Magna Carta

June 11, 2020

Magna Carta The charter of liberties granted by King John of England in 1215 and confirmed with modifications by Henry III in 1216, 1217, and 1225. The Magna Carta has long been considered by the English-speaking peoples as the earliest of the great constitutional documents which give the history of England so unique a character; […]

Read the full article →

June 15 – The Northern Crusades

June 11, 2020

The Battle of Lyndanisse was a battle which helped King Valdemar II of Denmark establish the territory of Danish Estonia during the Northern Crusades. Valdemar II defeated the Estonians at Lyndanisse (Estonian: Lindanise), during the Northern Crusades, by orders from the Pope… Read more here.

Read the full article →

June 15 – St. Bernard dogs carry his name

June 11, 2020

St. Bernard of Menthon Born in 923, probably in the castle Menthon near Annecy, in Savoy; died at Novara, 1008. He was descended from a rich, noble family and received a thorough education. He refused to enter an honorable marriage proposed by his father and decided to devote himself to the service of the Church. […]

Read the full article →

June 9 – St. Columba

June 8, 2020

St. Columba Abbot of Iona, born at Garten, County Donegal, Ireland, 7 December, 521; died 9 June, 597. He belonged to the Clan O’Donnell, and was of royal descent. His father’s name was Fedhlimdh and that of his mother Eithne. On his father’s side he was great-great-grandson of Niall of the Nine Hostages, an Irish […]

Read the full article →

June 9 – A simple palace servant, God confided to her the destiny of nations

June 8, 2020

Blessed Anna Maria Gesualda Antonia Taigi (Maiden name Giannetti.) Venerable Servant of God, born at Siena, Italy, 29 May, 1769; died at Rome, 9 June, 1837. Her parents, Luigi Giannetti and Maria Masi, kept an apothecary shop at Siena, but lost all their fortune and were obliged to go to Rome in search of a […]

Read the full article →

June 9 – Apostle of Brazil

June 8, 2020

St. Joseph Anchieta A famous Jesuit missionary, commonly known as the Apostle of Brazil, born on the Island of Tenerife, in 1553, of noble family; died in Brazil, 1596. After studying in Coimbra, he entered the Society of Jesus, at the age of seventeen, and when a novice nearly ruined his health by his excessive […]

Read the full article →

June 10 – Anti-pagan Renaissance Saint

June 8, 2020

Bl. Giovanni Dominici (BANCHINI or BACCHINI was his family name). Cardinal, statesman and writer, born at Florence, 1356; died at Buda, 10 July, 1420. He entered the Dominican Order at Santa Maria Novella in 1372 after having been cured, through the intercession of St. Catherine of Siena, of an impediment of speech for which he […]

Read the full article →

June 10 – Most Sublime Figure of Portuguese Literature

June 8, 2020

Luis Vaz de Camões (OR CAMOENS) Born in 1524 or 1525; died 10 June, 1580. The most sublime figure in the history of Portuguese literature, Camões owes his lasting fame to his epic poem “Os Lusiadas,” (The Lusiads); he is remarkable also for the degree of art attained in his lyrics, less noteworthy for his […]

Read the full article →

June 11 – Blessed Ignatius Maloyan

June 8, 2020

Ignatius Maloyan (Shoukrallah), son of Melkon and Faridé, was born in 1869, in Mardin, Turkey. His parish priest, noticed in him signs of a priestly vocation, so he sent him to the convent of Bzommar-Lebanon; he was fourteen years old… Read more here.

Read the full article →

June 11 – St. Godeberta

June 8, 2020

St. Godeberta Born about the year 640, at Boves, a few leagues from Amiens, in France; died about the beginning of the eighth century, at Noyon (Oise), the ancient Noviomagus. She was very carefully educated, her parents being of noble rank and attached to the court of King Clovis II. When the question of her […]

Read the full article →

Saint Louis IX, the Crusader-King, Was a Peacemaker Among Christians

June 4, 2020

Differences arose between the Greek clergy and the Latin clergy of the isle of Cyprus. Louis succeeded in putting an end to them. The Templars and Hospitallers appealed to him as judge in their constantly reviving quarrels; he made them swear to be reconciled, and to have no other enemies than those of Christ. The […]

Read the full article →

Poverty and Splendor: Harmonious Extremes in the Firmament of the Church

June 4, 2020

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira   An aspect of Holy Church: In a semi-dark cell, before a crucifix reminiscent of the most painful death there ever was, a Carthusian Monk leafs through a devotional book. Clad in a simple and poor habit, with a long beard, this man religious seems the personification of all the […]

Read the full article →

June 5 – Friendship is tested in adversity

June 4, 2020

Blessed Ferdinand of Portugal Prince of Portugal, born in Portugal, 29 September, 1402; died at Fez, in Morocco, 5 June, 1443. He was one of five sons, his mother being Philippa, daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and his father King John I, known in history for his victories over the Moors and […]

Read the full article →

June 5 – My God Is Greater Than Your Tree

June 4, 2020

St. Boniface (WINFRID, WYNFRITH). Apostle of Germany, date of birth unknown; martyred 5 June, 755 (754); emblems: the oak, axe, book, fox, scourge, fountain, raven, sword. He was a native of England, though some authorities have claimed him for Ireland or Scotland. The place of his birth is not known, though it was probably the […]

Read the full article →

June 5 – Genesius, Count of Clermont

June 4, 2020

Genesius, Count of Clermont Died 725. Feast, 5 June. According to the lessons of the Breviary of the Chapter of Camaleria (Acta SS. June, I, 497), he was of noble birth; his father’s name is given as Audastrius, and his mother’s is Tranquilla. Even in his youth he is said to have wrought miracles—to have […]

Read the full article →

June 5 – Franciscan preacher of crusade

June 4, 2020

Bl. Pacificus of Ceredano (Also known as Pacificus of Novara, or Novariensis). Born 1420 at Cerano, in the Diocese of Novara in Lombardy, supposedly of the much respected family of Ramati; died 14 June, 1482. He entered the Franciscan Order of Observants at Novara in 1445. After his ordination, he was employed in preaching, in […]

Read the full article →

June 5 – Classmate of the Emperor

June 4, 2020

James of Edessa A celebrated Syrian writer, b. most likely in A.D. 633; d. 5 June, 708. He was a native of the village of `En-debha, in the district of Gumyah, in the province of Antioch. During several years he studied Greek and Holy Writ at the famous convent of Kennesrhe, on the left bank […]

Read the full article →

June 6 – St. Claudius

June 4, 2020

The Life of St. Claudius, Abbot of Condat, has been the subject of much controversy. Dom Benott says that he lived in the seventh century; that he had been Bishop of Besançon before being abbot, that he was fifty-five years an abbot, and died in 694. He left Condat in a very flourishing state to […]

Read the full article →

June 6 – Patron and Protector of Bohemia

June 4, 2020

St. Norbert Born at Xanten on the left bank of the Rhine, near Wesel, c. 1080; died at Magdeburg, 6 June, 1134. His father, Heribert, Count of Gennep, was related to the imperial house of Germany, and his house of Lorraine. A stately bearing, a penetrating intellect, a tender, earnest heart, marked the future apostle. […]

Read the full article →

June 7 – Martyr Prince of the Wends

June 4, 2020

St. Gottschalk (GODESCALCUS). Martyr, Prince of the Wends; died at Lenzen on the Elbe, 7 June 1066. His feast is noted for 7 June in the additions of the Carthusians at Brussels to the martyrology of Usuardus. He was the son of Udo, Prince of the Abrodites who remained a Christian, though a poor one […]

Read the full article →

June 7 – The Crusaders reach the walls of Jerusalem

June 4, 2020

In June of 1099 [the First Crusade] arrived before the walls of Jerusalem, which was then held by the Fatimid Arabs of Egypt. With their usual religious zeal and grim determination, the Christians prepared to attack the walls. Their fighting force had been reduced to 1,200 knights and 10,000 foot soldiers, with a similar number […]

Read the full article →

June 8 – She did what St. Ignatius could not

June 4, 2020

Ven. Anne de Xainctonge Foundress of the Society of the Sisters of St. Ursula of the Blessed Virgin, born at Dijon, 21 November, 1567; died at Dôle, 8 June, 1621. She was the daughter of Jean de Xainctonge, councillor in the Dijon Parliament, and of Lady Marguerite Collard, both of noble birth and virtuous life… […]

Read the full article →

June 8 – Accused of theft and other misconduct

June 4, 2020

St. William of York (WILLIAM FITZHERBERT, also called WILLIAM OF THWAYT). Archbishop of York. Tradition represents him as nephew of King Stephen, whose sister Emma was believed to have married Herbert of Winchester, treasurer to Henry I. William became a priest, and about 1130 he was canon and treasurer of York. In 1142 he was […]

Read the full article →

June 8 – The Noble Countess Who Dedicated Her Life to Bringing Dissolute Women to Repentance

June 4, 2020

Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart (died in Porto, Portugal, June 8, 1899), born Maria Droste zu Vischering, was a noble of Germany and Roman Catholic nun best known for influencing Pope Leo XIII’s consecration of the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Pope Leo XIII called this consecration “the greatest act of my […]

Read the full article →

June 2 – Saved from the Byzantine Emperor’s roaster, ironically, by the Moslems

June 1, 2020

Pope Saint Eugene I Elected August 10, 654, and died at Rome, June 2, 657. Because he would not submit to Byzantine dictation in the matter of Monothelism, St. Martin I was forcibly carried off from Rome (June 18, 653) and kept in exile till his death (September, 655). What happened in Rome after his […]

Read the full article →

June 3 – She had to witness her children kill each other

June 1, 2020

St. Clotilda, Queen of the Franks (French: CLOTILDE; German: CHLOTHILDE). Queen of the Franks, born probably at Lyons, c. 474; died at Tours, 3 June, 545. Her feast is celebrated 3 June. Clotilda was the wife of Clovis I, and the daughter of Chilperic, King of Burgundians of Lyons, and Caretena. After the death of […]

Read the full article →

June 3 – Genesius (Bishop of Clermont)

June 1, 2020

Twenty-first Bishop of Clermont, d. 662. Feast, 3 June. The legend, which is of a rather late date (Acta SS., June, I, 315), says that he was descended from a senatorial family of Auvergne. Having received a liberal education he renounced his worldly prospects for the service of the Church, became archdeacon of Clermont under […]

Read the full article →

June 4 – St. Francis Caracciolo

June 1, 2020

St. Francis Caracciolo Co-founder with John Augustine Adorno of the Congregation of the Minor Clerks Regular; born in Villa Santa Maria in the Abrusso (Italy), 13 October, 1563; died at Agnone, 4 June, 1608… Read more here.

Read the full article →

Prince Carl Philip re-joins the army to help fight the coronavirus

May 28, 2020

According to the Royal Central: The only son of the Swedish king, Prince Carl Philip has joined the army and will serve as a Major during the ongoing pandemic that has hit Sweden hard. …the royal court stated the following: “Since mid-May, Prince Carl Philip has served a reserve officer with the rank of Major […]

Read the full article →

Former chef to the Queen shows how to make the same Tea Scones she has every day

May 28, 2020

Ingredients 3 ½ cups all purpose flour 4 tsp baking powder 1 stick soft butter ½ cup plus 1 Tbs granulated sugar 1 Egg 1 Cup Buttermilk ¾ – 1 cup raisins, currants or sultanas (if making fruit scones) Soak in hot water for 15 minutes to plump them up. Drain water and then add […]

Read the full article →

With Saint Joan of Arc at His Side, Charles VII Is Crowned King of France

May 28, 2020

The preparations for the coronation had to be undertaken in some haste—in such haster, in fact, that those concerned had but one night to make ready. Up till the very afternoon before the actual ceremony the citizens of Reims had not decided whether to deliver their keys to the Dauphin or not. . . . […]

Read the full article →

Charlemagne: God’s Providential Man for the Eighth Century

May 28, 2020

Some shallow spirits today delight in upbraiding the lofty and generous souls among us who still believe in providential men. However, when one believes in God’s action over men and peoples, there is nothing more natural than to recognize the mission of certain personages whose names have been enshrined in history. God who can govern […]

Read the full article →

May 29 – Intimate friend of St. Athanasius

May 28, 2020

St. Maximinus Bishop of Trier, born at Silly near Poitiers, died there, 29 May, 352 or 12 Sept., 349. He was educated and ordained priest by St. Agritius, whom he succeeded as Bishop of Trier in 332 or 335. At that time Trier was the government seat of the Western Emperor and, by force of […]

Read the full article →

May 29 – Saint Laura of Constantinople

May 28, 2020

Saint Laura of Constantinople (died 1453) was a Christian who lived in Constantinople during the 15th century. She was born in Greece into a noble family: her father was a Latin knight named Michael and her mother was Albanian. Her name was Theodolinde Trasci. After she became a nun in Constantinople, she changed it into […]

Read the full article →

May 29 – Bartolomeu Dias

May 28, 2020

Bartolomeu Dias A famous Portuguese navigator of the fifteenth century, discoverer of the Cape of Good Hope; died at sea, 29 May, 1500. Several Portuguese historians state that he was a relative or descendant of João Dias who sailed around Cape Bojador in 1434, and of Diniz Dias who is said to have discovered the […]

Read the full article →

May 30 – Most Valiant King

May 28, 2020

Saint Ferdinand III of Castile King of Leon and Castile, member of the Third Order of St. Francis, born in 1198 near Salamanca; died at Seville, 30 May, 1252. He was the son of Alfonso IX, King of Leon, and of Berengeria, the daughter of Alfonso III, King of Castile, and sister of Blanche, the […]

Read the full article →

May 30 – When God chose sides in war between two Christian nations, He sent her to win it

May 28, 2020

St. Joan of Arc In French Jeanne d’Arc; by her contemporaries commonly known as la Pucelle (the Maid). Born at Domremy in Champagne, probably on 6 January, 1412; died at Rouen, 30 May, 1431. The village of Domremy lay upon the confines of territory which recognized the suzerainty of the Duke of Burgundy, but in […]

Read the full article →

May 31 – St. Mechtildis of Edelstetten

May 28, 2020

St. Mechtildis was a Benedictine abbess and renowned miracle worker. Mechtildis was the daughter of Count Berthold of Andechs, whose wife, Sophie, founded a monastery on their estate at Diessen, Bavaria, and placed their daughter there at the age of five. In 1153, the Bishop of Augsburg placed her as Abbess of Edelstetten Abbey. Mechtildis […]

Read the full article →

May 31 – St. Camilla Battista da Varano

May 28, 2020

St. Baptista Varano (also spelled Varani). An ascetical writer, born at Camerino, in the March of Ancona, 9 Apr., 1458; died there, 31 May, 1527. Her father, Julius Caesar Varano or de Varanis, Duke of Camerino, belonged to an illustrious family; her mother, Joanna Malatesta, was a daughter of Sigismund, Prince of Rimini… Read more […]

Read the full article →

June 1 – The Aristocrat Who Gave His Life for the Poor

May 28, 2020

Saint Hannibal Mary Di Francia (1851-1927)  (sometimes written as Annibale Maria Di Francia) Hannibal Mary Di Francia was born in Messina, Italy, on July 5, 1851. His father Francis was a knight, the Marquis of St. Catherine of Jonio, Papal Vice-Consul and Honorary Captain of the Navy. His mother, Anna Toscano, also belonged to an […]

Read the full article →

June 1 – Kidnapped for Christ

May 28, 2020

Bl. John Story (Or Storey.) Martyr; born 1504; died at Tyburn, 1 June, 1571. He was educated at Oxford, and was president of Broadgates Hall, now Pembroke College, from 1537 to 1539. He entered Parliament as member for Hindon, Wilts, in 1547, and was imprisoned for opposing the Bill of Uniformity, 24 Jan.-2 March, 1548-9. […]

Read the full article →

May 26 – Saint Bruno of Würzburg

May 25, 2020

Saint Bruno of Würzburg (c. 1005 – 26 May 1045) Also known as Bruno of Carinthia, he was imperial chancellor of Italy from 1027 to 1034 for Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor, to whom he was related, and from 1034 until his death prince-bishop of Würzburg. Bruno was the son of Conrad I, Duke of […]

Read the full article →

May 26 – He converted a young nobleman by showing him a vision of hell, and called the City of Rome his “Desert”

May 25, 2020

THE APOSTLE OF ROME St. Philip Romolo Neri Born at Florence, Italy, 22 July, 1515; died 27 May, 1595. Philip’s family originally came from Castelfranco but had lived for many generations in Florence, where not a few of its members had practised the learned professions, and therefore took rank with the Tuscan nobility. Among these […]

Read the full article →

May 27 – St. Augustine of Canterbury

May 25, 2020

St. Augustine of Canterbury First Archbishop of Canterbury, Apostle of the English; date of birth unknown; died 26 May, 604. Symbols: cope, pallium, and mitre as Bishop of Canterbury, and pastoral staff and gospels as missionary… Read more here.

Read the full article →

May 28 – After Defeating the Saracens, He Joined the Benedictines

May 25, 2020

St. William of Gellone Born 755; died 28 May, c. 812; was the second count of Toulouse, having attained that dignity in 790. He is by some writers also given the title of Duke of Aquitaine. This saint is the hero of the ninth-century “Roman de Guillame au court nez”, but the story of his […]

Read the full article →

May 28 – Whether She Was Upstairs Or Downstairs, She Was Ever Steady

May 25, 2020

Blessed Margaret Pole Countess of Salisbury, martyr; born at Castle Farley, near Bath, 14 August, 1473; martyred at East Smithfield Green, 28 May, 1541. She was the daughter of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, and Isabel, elder daughter of the Earl of Warwick (the king-maker), and the sister of Edmund of Warwick who, under Henry […]

Read the full article →

May 28 – Lily of Quito

May 25, 2020

St. Mariana de Jesús de Paredes Born at Quito, Ecuador, 31 Oct. 1618; died at Quito, 26 May, 1645. On both sides of her family she was sprung from an illustrious line of ancestors, her father being Don Girolamo Flores Zenel de Paredes, a nobleman of Toledo and her mother Doña Mariana Cranobles de Xaramilo, […]

Read the full article →

May 28 – St. Germain of Paris

May 25, 2020

St. Germain Bishop of Paris; born near Autun, Saône-et-Loire, c. 496; died at Paris, 28 May, 576. He studied at Avalon and also at Luzy under the guidance of his cousin Scapilion, a priest. At the age of thirty-four he was ordained by St. Agrippinus of Autun and became Abbot of Saint-Symphorien near that town. […]

Read the full article →

The Thunder of Battle During the Crusades

May 21, 2020

Then the trumpets and horns sound the charge. More than once during the battle the rally is blown. God grant that the retreat be not sounded tonight! The shock of the battle is terrible. The enemy turns and charges in his turn! The honor of “first blow” is eagerly sought, and to our baron falls […]

Read the full article →

The nuclear family and its insufficiencies

May 21, 2020

I consider the expression nuclear family to be well put, for it is not a cell-family, but rather a cell reduced to its nucleus, with everything irregular that arises when the nucleus exists without its surrounding protoplasm. For the nucleus to be deprived of its protoplasm, it is an exile, if not directly death. Presently, […]

Read the full article →

May 22 – St. Rita of Cascia

May 21, 2020

St. Rita of Cascia Born at Rocca Porena in the Diocese of Spoleto, 1386; died at the Augustinian convent of Cascia, 1456. Feast, 22 May. Represented as holding roses, or roses and figs, and sometimes with a wound in her forehead… Read more here.

Read the full article →

May 22 – Hanged for Printing a Book

May 21, 2020

Blessed James Duckett Martyr, born at Gilfortrigs in the parish of Skelsmergh in Westmoreland, England, date uncertain, of an ancient family of that county; died 9 April, 1601. He was a bookseller and publisher in London. His godfather was the well-known martyr James Leybourbe of Skelsmergh. He seems, however, to have been brought up a […]

Read the full article →

May 22 – Queen’s Confessor

May 21, 2020

Blessed John Forest Born in 1471, presumably at Oxford, where his surname was then not unknown; suffered 22 May, 1538. At the age of twenty he received the habit of St. Francis at Greenwich, in the church of the Friars Minor of the Regular Observance, called for brevity’s sake “Observants”. Nine years later we find […]

Read the full article →

May 23 – Chevalier of the Order of Leopold

May 21, 2020

Fr. Pierre-Jean De Smet Missionary among the North American Indians, born at Termonde (Dendermonde), Belgium, 30 Jan., 1801; died at St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., 23 May, 1873. He emigrated to the United States in 1821 through a desire for missionary labours, and entered the Jesuit novitiate at Whitemarsh, Maryland. In 1823, however, at the suggestion […]

Read the full article →

May 23 – Appointed bishop to replace a corrupt one, then imprisoned for defending the King’s legitimate wife

May 21, 2020

St. Ivo of Chartres (YVO, YVES). One of the most notable bishops of France at the time of the Investiture struggles and the most important canonist before Gratian in the Occident, born of a noble family about 1040; died in 1116… Read more here.

Read the full article →

May 23 – St. John Baptist de Rossi

May 21, 2020

St. John Baptist de Rossi (De Rubeis). Born at Voltaggio in the Diocese of Genoa, 22 February, 1698; died at Rome, 23 May, 1764; feast on 23 May. His parents, Charles de Rossi and Frances Anfossi, were not rich in earthly goods, but had solid piety and the esteem of their fellow-citizens. Of their four […]

Read the full article →

May 25 – First Pope to transform a pagan temple of Rome into a Christian church

May 21, 2020

Pope St. Boniface IV Son of John, a physician, a Marsian from the province and town of Valeria; he succeeded Boniface III after a vacancy of over nine months; consecrated 25 August, 608; d. 8 May, 615 (Duchesne); or, 15 September, 608-25 May, 615 (Jaffé). In the time of Pope St. Gregory the Great he […]

Read the full article →

May 25 – He Forced the Emperor To Wait Three Days in the Snow

May 21, 2020

Pope St. Gregory VII (HILDEBRAND). One of the greatest of the Roman pontiffs and one of the most remarkable men of all times; born between the years 1020 and 1025, at Soana, or Ravacum, in Tuscany; died 25 May, 1085, at Salerno… Read more here.

Read the full article →

May 25 – She withstood the devil

May 21, 2020

St. Mary Magdalen de’ Pazzi Carmelite Virgin, born 2 April, 1566; died 25 May, 1607. Of outward events there were very few in the saint’s life. She came of two noble families, her father being Camillo Geri de’ Pazzi and her mother a Buondelmonti. She was baptized, and named Caterina, in the great baptistery. Her […]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →