Located on the island of Martinique, a small French overseas department of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, the city of Saint-Pierre was known for its luxury and comfort. Its landscape was dominated by a mountain, known as Mount Pelée, with an altitude of 1350 metres. Although seemingly immersed in an eternal sleep, it…
Throughout history, God has raised up souls with a special love of the Eucharist, who enrich the Mystical Body of Christ by their example. For the Church is not like a museum that only preserves the excellence in which it was established by its Divine Founder; rather, it is a living society that constantly produces…
After the First Crusade, proclaimed by Pope Urban II, the Holy Sepulchre of Our Lord Jesus Christ was recaptured from the hands of the Mohammedans, and the Christians founded a kingdom in Jerusalem. By its august link with the Saviour, it thus became the centre of attention of all Christendom. What glory for the Holy…
The 16th century undoubtedly ranks among the most momentous in universal history. Over its course we find the emergence of a great number of Saints who marked their epoch, the dawn of unprecedented maritime prodigies – such as the circumnavigation of the globe, or the conquest of America – and an endless series of doctrinal…
Born into one of Europe’s most illustrious families, the little Archduchess Marie Antoinette of Habsburg harmonized a majesty and a sweetness that were truly touching to those around her. Her mother, Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria, did her utmost to educate her daughter for her future. A splendid future seemed to smile upon her from…
An article on Churchill in a Catholic magazine? – the reader may wonder upon opening these pages. Indeed, what is it that prompts us to write about the “old lion”? A virtue little practised in our days and which opens veritable treasures to us: admiration. And as the good is eminently diffusive, these lines enable…
In a broad sense, all men are providential, because they serve the designs of God. However, there is a special sense: there are those whom the Creator does not ask to lead merely a common life and, therefore, to serve themselves, but marks them to accomplish a mission for the benefit of society, whether temporal…
Iam going to speak about the fullness of the priesthood. And this consideration takes me back to the darkest night of time, to an historical digression that comes upon man in perhaps the hardest and most crucial and period of his existence on earth. We imagine today that we are on the verge of an…
To avoid sinking into despair, the human spirit needs to find repose in dignified and well-ordered things. Let us ask St. Raphael the Archangel for the desire to make earth similar to Heaven and thus prepare ourselves for the Reign of Mary and eternal beatitude. S t. Raphael, as one of the most eminent…
To perceive the excellence of every creature and appreciate the aspect by which it reflects God is a gift that prepares us, by way of affinity, for Heaven. H uman society is made up of what the Church calls the spiritual order and the temporal order. The first directly concerns the supernatural and the…
