Just before he died in 1825, Alexander I, Emperor of Russia, was converted to the Catholic Faith. A Catholic aide-de-camp of the Tsar, General Michaud, had heard a vague rumor of Alexander’s death while he was in Rome at the … Continue reading
Author Archives: Catholicism.org
We Must All Hang Together . . .
During the Second World War, a Catholic Philippine hero, General Manuel Roxas, was captured by the Japanese, sentenced to death, and led out to a secret place to be executed. General Roxas was one of the leaders of the Filipino … Continue reading
Worldly Jewish Pianist Turns Carmelite Friar
Hermann Cohen (1820-1871) was a child prodigy who, at the age of 13, was dazzling Parisian audiences with his stunning virtuosity. A star pupil of virtuoso and composer Franz Liszt (1811-1886), he lamentably learned more from him than piano playing. … Continue reading
The Word Assassin comes from an Islamic Religious-Political Group
The term assassin, one who murders by treacherous violence, comes to us from the Latin assassinus, which was transliterated from the Arabic hashshashin. From the tenth through the thirteenth centuries, “the Assassins” were the Islamic sect in power from Iran … Continue reading
French Cab named after Irish Monk
The French word for cab, fiacre , has its origins in the name of an Irish Saint, St. Fiacre or Fiaker. Born in Erin during its Golden Age, St. Fiacre embodied the great learning and sanctity which marked “the Land … Continue reading
The Protestant Patriarch of Constantinople
The Eastern Schism certainly has no sympathizers among the editors of this publication. That said, we take a moment to appreciate something its adherents did right. The Greek Orthodox never held the heresies on grace, revelation, the sacraments, the Mass, … Continue reading
Saint Stephen’s Relics Discovered
The edifying story of St. Stephen the Protomartyr is told in Chapters Six and Seven of the Acts of the Apostles. One of the first seven deacons, St. Stephen is a model of evangelical zeal, who sealed this virtue in … Continue reading
Saint Laurence – the Courteous Spaniard
The relics of St. Stephen have been relocated (“translated”) twice since the miraculous finding: from Jerusalem to Constantinople in the fifth century and from Constantinople to Rome in the sixth. May seventh is the day on which the Roman Church … Continue reading
Saintly friends and family . . . of Herod?
Hard as it may be to believe, Herod Antipas, the adulterous murderer of St. John the Baptist, had saints among his friends and family. In the Roman Martyrology — the Roman Church’s official catalogue of principal martyrs and saints for … Continue reading
The Catholic University in Tokyo was the Result of an Anglican Leaflet
The Society of the Atonement (Graymoor) was an Anglican Order, Franciscan in spirit, founded by Father Paul Francis, S.A. and Mother Lurana Mary Francis, S.A., who believed in the Supremacy of the Pope, all the dogmas of the Church, devotion … Continue reading
The Symbol of Physicians comes from the Book of Numbers
Known as the caduceus, the wand of Hermes, the Greek god of chance, is the most widely used symbol of the medical profession. The caduceus, two snakes entwined around a wooden rod, replaced the staff of Asclepius on the crest … Continue reading
Not Made for This World — New Fr. Feeney Book
The Sisters of St. Ann’s House in Still River, Massachusetts, have done the Church the wonderful service of publishing a new collection of Father Feeney’s talks dating from the 1950s: Not Made for This World. The only editing the good … Continue reading
Zenit Interviews Theologian on Non-Believers’ Salvation
Zenit News Agency has just published a two-part interview on the salvation of non-believers. Professor Ilaria Morali, a lay woman who teaches dogmatic theology at the Gregorian, answered questions based on Pope Benedict XVI’s Wednesday audience of November 30 .
The Anti-Catholicism of Benedict Arnold
One of motives behind Benedict Arnold’s betrayal of the American army in our War of Independence was his hatred for the Catholic religion espoused by our French allies. He stated that the American Congress had betrayed the “cause” of the … Continue reading
Saint Anthony Mary Claret and Vatican I
The first Vatican Council (1869-1870) had a saint attending it, Antonio Maria Claret, the founder of the Claretian Order. Sad to say, the liberal views expressed openly by the Bishops in opposition to the doctrine of papal infallibility were so … Continue reading
