Nobility and Analogous Traditional Elites — In the Allocutions of Pius XII — Page 4

Duke of Alva

January 11, 2024

(FERNANDO ALVAREZ DE TOLEDO) Born 1508, of one of the most distinguished Castilian families, which boasted descent from the Byzantine emperors; died at Thomar, 12 January, 1582. From his earliest childhood the boy was trained by a severe discipline for his future career as warrior and statesman. In his sixteenth year he took part in […]

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January 13 – The Opponent of Bishop Lucifer

January 11, 2024

St. Hilary of Poitiers Bishop, born in that city at the beginning of the fourth century; died there 1 November, according to the most accredited opinion, or according to the Roman Breviary, on 13 January, 368. Belonging to a noble and very probably pagan family, he was instructed in all the branches of profane learning, […]

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Ven. Anne de Guigné

January 11, 2024

January 14 – The Ten Year Old Saint and Some Of Her Miracles When St. Thomas Aquinas’s sister asked him how to become a Saint, he told her to just “will it.” Venerable Anne de Guigné¹ was a child with an iron will and from the moment of her conversion, she willed only one thing…to […]

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Allocution of January 8, 1940

January 8, 2024

At the start of the New year, a twofold gift has been given us by the Roman Patriciate and Nobility by their gathering around Us: the most appreciated gift of their presence and the gift of their filial best wishes, adornments, as a flower, of the testimonial of their traditional loyalty to the Holy See, […]

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St. Severinus

January 8, 2024

January 8 Abbot, and Apostle of Noricum, or Austria A.D. 482. We know nothing of the birth or country of this saint. From the purity of his Latin, he was generally supposed to be a Roman; and his care to conceal what he was according to the world, was taken for a proof of his […]

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Pius XII: Allocution of January 8, 1947

January 8, 2024

The homage of your loyalty and devotion, and the wishes of good tidings which you, beloved Sons and Daughters, come to offer Us each year by ancient custom, and which have been so beautifully expressed by your most excellent representative, always fill Our heart with sincere gratitude. Naturally, they usually reflect the thoughts and worries […]

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Blessed Tommaso Reggio

January 8, 2024

January 9 Bl. Tommaso Reggio was born in Genoa, Italy, on 9 January 1818 to the Marquis of Reggio and Angela Pareto. He had a comfortable upbringing which gave him a solid Christian and cultural background and assured him of a brilliant career. However, at the age of 20 he decided to become a priest […]

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Pius XII: Allocution of January 9, 1958

January 8, 2024

With great satisfaction We welcome you, beloved Sons and Daughters, into Our house, which is still pervaded by the holy fragrances of the Christmas holiday. You have come to reconfirm your devout fidelity to this Apostolic See, and with the heart of a father anxious to surround himself with his children’s affections, We comply most […]

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Japan Emperor’s New Year event canceled to help quake rescue operations

January 4, 2024

“The Japanese Imperial Household Agency has canceled a public New Year greeting event planned for Tuesday to be attended by Emperor Naruhito and his family members in the wake of a major earthquake that hit Ishikawa Prefecture and the vicinity. “The agency said Monday it has decided, based on the thoughts of the emperor and […]

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The Charm of the Curtsey

January 4, 2024

A young Englishwoman of title visited this country recently she expressed astonishment at the ignorance of the art of formal social behavior which American girls displayed. They did not know how to bow correctly, the curtsey seemed to have become an obsolete social form here; they had not learned the graceful way to proceed down […]

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The universe of the angels, of which the universe of man is a reflection

January 4, 2024

The angelic order is more perfect than that of men and, compared with that of men, seems almost like the order that exists between numbers and sounds, with which it is possible to construct every harmony. The greater angel, the archetype of the lesser, is a symbol of what he says to the lesser (…) […]

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Nobility in the United States

January 4, 2024

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

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Pius XII: Allocution of January 5, 1941

January 4, 2024

A cause for deep, paternal joy in Our heart is granted Us, dear Sons and Daughters, by your welcome gathering around Us at the start of the New Year, a year no less fraught with fearful horizons than the one just passed. Here you have come to present to us your filial good wishes through […]

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Pius XII: Allocution of January 5, 1942

January 4, 2024

Beloved Sons and Daughters, the loftily worded message of greeting that your illustrious representative has communicated to Us, wishes, it seems to us, to manifest above all that filial attachment to the Apostolic See which spurs your faith and is the finest glory of the Roman Patriciate and Nobility. With great joy and exaltation, We […]

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The Priesthood of the Nobility

January 4, 2024

Allocution of Benedict XV to the Roman Patriciate and Nobility on January 5, 1920 In the recent annual commemoration of the Birth of Jesus Christ, there resounded in our faith the heavenly chant of the angels raising their hymns to God and to peace. Since that happy day there has not ceased to echo around […]

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January 6 – The Epiphany of Our Lord

January 4, 2024

The Kingship of Christ Is Manifest to the Pagan World Saints Balthasar, Caspar and Melchior Epiphany, which in the original Greek signifies appearance or manifestation, as St. Augustin observes, (1) is a festival principally solemnized in honor of the discovery Jesus Christ made of himself to the Magi, or wise men; who, soon after his […]

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St. Joan of Arc was born on this day 600 years ago

January 4, 2024

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 […]

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First recorded Mass in the Americas: January 6, 1494 at La Isabela, Dominican Republic

January 4, 2024

Columbus’s second fleet of seventeen assorted ships carried between twelve hundred and fifteen hundred men and was organized to establish a permanent colony that would serve as a base for trade with the people of this new land. The fleet left Cádiz on 25 September 1493 and arrived in the Caribbean in November. Columbus was […]

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January 7 – Ordered bandits of royal blood to hang from the highest mast

January 4, 2024

St. Canut, second son of Eric the Good, king of Denmark, was made duke of Sleswig, his elder brother Nicholas being king of Denmark. Their father, who lived with his people as a father with his children, and no one ever left him without comfort, says the ancient chronicle Knytling-Saga, p. 71. died in Cyprus, […]

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Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II announces abdication

January 1, 2024

Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II, Europe’s longest-serving monarch, will abdicate on Jan. 14 after 52 years on the throne and will be succeeded by her eldest son Crown Prince Frederik, she announced on Sunday. The 83-year-old queen, who ascended the throne in 1972, made the surprise announcement on live TV during her traditional New Year’s Eve […]

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The Virgin Mary was “of the house of David”

January 1, 2024

January 1 – Mary’s Davidic ancestry St. Luke (2:4) says that St. Joseph went from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be enrolled, “because he was of the house and family of David”. As if to exclude all doubt concerning the Davidic descent of Mary, the Evangelist (1:32, 69) states that the child born of Mary without […]

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Cluny produces another hero

January 1, 2024

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

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The Infant of Prague

January 1, 2024

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

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January 3 – Discoverer of Oregon and of the entire California coast

January 1, 2024

Estévan (Juan) Cabrillo A Portugese in the naval service of Spain, date and place of birth unknown; died on the island of San Bernardo, 3 Jan., 1543. In 1541 Pedro de Alvarado gathered a fleet of twelve vessels on the coast of Western Mexico (Navidad) for an expedition to the Moluccas. Alvarado was soon after […]

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The saint who twice saved Paris

January 1, 2024

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

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January 3 – Saint Joseph Mary Tomasi

January 1, 2024

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

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The Great Coronation Banquet

December 28, 2023

A century has passed since Emperor Karl was crowned King of Hungary on December 30, 1916. The coronation ceremony took place at St. Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest, attended by illustrious guests from throughout Europe. Usually a coronation is an occasion of mirth and celebration. However, Hungary was reeling from the ongoing First World War, just […]

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It is necessary to render the temporal order sacral

December 28, 2023

To ask if the temporal order has some role in salvation is the same as asking if the work which God did in seven days has anything to do with salvation. The temporal order is a creature of God and has necessarily to give God more glory than the moon and the stars.Certainly, the proper […]

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This Prince Preached Sanctity in Marriage and Chastity in Priesthood

December 28, 2023

December 30 – St. Egwin Third Bishop of Worcester; date of birth unknown; d. (according to Mabillon) 20 December, 720, though his death may have occurred three years earlier. His fame as founder of the great Abbey of Evesham no doubt tended to the growth of legends which, though mainly founded on facts, render it […]

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December 29 – King, Sinner, Penitent, Prophet

December 28, 2023

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

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Viscount Stafford

December 28, 2023

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

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December 29 – St. Thomas à Becket

December 28, 2023

His Staff Did More Damage Than His Sword Martyr, Archbishop of Canterbury, also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London, born at London, 21 December, c. 1118; died at Canterbury, 29 December, 1170. St. Thomas was born of parents who, coming from Normandy, had settled in England some years previously. No reliance can […]

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

December 28, 2023

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

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Christmas Story Collection

December 25, 2023

Our Lord as the Point of Reference Some Reflections on the Story of the Little Drummer Boy Christmas Preparation The Count and The Chimneysweep How did St. Nicholas evolve into Santa Claus and why? For Christmas Gifts, St. Louis IX of France Gives His Nobles Crusader Crosses Seeking the True Joy of Christmas Empress Sisi’s […]

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Christmas Preparation

December 25, 2023

Alphonsus of Aragon, [King Alfonso V of Aragón], whose piety was equal to his greatness, went to visit one of the nobles of his kingdom a little before the festival of Christmas. This nobleman, although possessed of much wealth, neglected his religious duties, and was leading a very sinful life. When he heard that his […]

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

December 25, 2023

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

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The Christmas Rose

December 25, 2023

The Christmas rose blooms at Christmastime. Really!  The flower pushes up out of the snow. The blooms last for weeks and the plant lasts for years. It is said that it bloomed outside the stable at Bethlehem, although the plant is not a native of the Holy Land.  The rose reminds us of the stable […]

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Christmas snow in Germany. Carols

December 25, 2023

 

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Christmas in French salons – Video

December 25, 2023

Since no door in the town of Bethlehem was opened to the Holy Family, the Infant Jesus was born in a poor stable manger heated only with an ox and ass. In reparation for such lack of hospitality, every year at Christmas, French noble houses open their doors to the Christ Child, his holy Mother, […]

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The Story of the Christmas Tree and Why Catholics Decorate Them

December 25, 2023

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

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Marie Antoinette helps the poor

December 21, 2023

Distressed at the plight of the poor resulting from the Winter’s severity, Queen Marie Antoinette saved three hundred thousand francs from her personal budget and turned this sum over to her ladies-in-waiting, the parish priests of Paris, and charitable organizations for distribution among the needy. She also encouraged her daughter to do the same, and […]

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Doctor of the Church & Second Apostle of Germany

December 21, 2023

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

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

December 21, 2023

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

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The Knights of Aviz and Their Cistercian Founder – December 23

December 21, 2023

Saint John of Cirita Benedictine monk, also known as John Ziritu. Hermit in Galacia. Monk at Toronca, Portugal, which he helped turn into a Cistercian house. Wrote the Rule of the Knights of Aviz (Portuguese: Ordem Militar de Avis).  Died, c. 1164. The Military Order of St. Benedict of Aviz A military body of Portuguese […]

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He Always Held His Soul in His Hands – December 23

December 21, 2023

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

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Princess Louise de France, Daughter of Louis XV, Carmelite

December 21, 2023

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira She fought the Revolution when she lived in the Court and later in the Carmel. She died poisoned by the revolutionaries, but her example continues to bear fruit to this day Ed.: The author makes comments throughout the reading of the text on Princess Louise Marie of France. The English […]

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Henri I De Lorraine – Duke of Guise

December 21, 2023

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

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December 24 – Vasco da Gama

December 21, 2023

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

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Our First Parents – Adam and Eve – December 24

December 21, 2023

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

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December 18 – St. Flannan

December 18, 2023

St. Flannan mac Toirrdelbaig, was the son of Turlough, the King of Thomond in Ireland. He became a monk at the monastery of Killaloe, and at a certain point made a pilgrimage to Rome where Pope John IV consecrated him bishop. He was the first bishop of Killaloe, the diocese becoming one of twenty-four established […]

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December 19 – Pope St. Anastasius I

December 18, 2023

Pope St. Anastasius I A pontiff who is remembered chiefly for his condemnation of Origenism. A Roman by birth, he became pope in 399, and died within a little less than four years. Among his friends were Augustine, and Jerome, and Paulinus, Jerome speaks of him as a man or great holiness who was rich […]

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December 20 – John Dubois

December 18, 2023

John Dubois Third Bishop of New York, educator and missionary, b. in Paris, 24 August, 1764; d. in New York, 20 December, 1842. His early education was received at home until he was prepared to enter the Collége Louis­le­Grand, where he had for fellow-students Robespierre and Desmoulins. Ordained priest at the Oratorian Seminary of St-Magloire, […]

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December 20 – Her church ranks third in Rome

December 18, 2023

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

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December 20 – Jacob

December 18, 2023

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

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December 20 – Isaac

December 18, 2023

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

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December 20 – Abraham

December 18, 2023

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

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Christmas Gifts From St. Louis IX of France

December 14, 2023

Louis IX occupied himself constantly in carrying his design into execution, and neglected no mean of winning to his purpose all the nobility of his kingdom; his piety did not disdain to employ, for what he considered a sacred cause, all the empire that kings generally possess over their courtiers. . . . After an […]

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A society of ideals versus miserabilism and a society of consumerism

December 14, 2023

There exist in Europe museums of popular traditional art. They display interesting, picturesque, and magnificent works of craftsmanship which the people have thought up and afterwards retained as a tradition and used for centuries, because in what they have produced the people have found the very expression of their soul. In German, this tendency is […]

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Inside the Kitchens at Buckingham Palace:

December 14, 2023

 Christmas Ginger Bread Biscuits According to the British Royal Household: ‘Its always best to let the dough rest, so it’s great if you can make the dough the night before,’ reveals one Royal Pastry Chefs. ‘You can also roll out the dough, cut the shapes and put them in a freezer for an hour. This […]

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Son of a disinherited noble – December 14

December 14, 2023

St. John of the Cross Founder (with St. Teresa) of the Discalced Carmelites, doctor of mystic theology, born at Hontoveros, Old Castile, 24 June, 1542; died at Ubeda, Andalusia, 14 Dec., 1591. John de Yepes, youngest child of Gonzalo de Yepes and Catherine Alvarez, poor silk weavers of Toledo, knew from his earliest years the […]

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