Nobility and Analogous Traditional Elites

The Knight Rejoices in the Fight

October 26, 2026

By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

You can imagine: in the deserts of the ancient times, the deserts of Arabia, Egypt, etc., before the fall of the Roman Empire of the West, two or three hundred years after Jesus Christ, the anchorites would go to the desert to flee the temptations of Roman and Greek cities, which were very corrupt.

The Torment of Saint Anthony by Michelangelo

The anchorite would come to a cave and settle there. And they had horrific temptations. They would fight and defeat them in a brilliant manner, they would maintain their chastity, etc. They are saints, and sometimes great saints.

Now, how is this different from a knight? How is this different from the spirit of chivalry? These great saints of the past would fight for purity, for example, but they could fight for some other good thing, such as for example, a dogma. They would fight thinking how beautiful and noble purity is, how true such and such dogma is, etc. So, out of love for the dogma they would bear the burden of combat. This is very beautiful and very well.

Philippe de Villiers de l’Isle Adam takes possession of the island of Malta, 26 October 1530 by René Théodore Berthon.

The knight has a slightly different thing. He does not “bear” the burden of combat. The knight finds combat beautiful as such! And he rejoices to be fighting because when the fight is for the Church, when the fight is in defense of the good, it is intrinsically holy and good. So one should rejoice in fighting, and have courage.

(Excerpt from a Palavrinha of Monday, September 18, 1989.)

(Nobility.org translation.)

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October 26 – Laid to rest next to St. Peter

October 26, 2026

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 the end of the first and the beginning of the second century (from about 98 or 99 to about 106 or 107). The earliest historical sources offer no authentic data about him. In his “Ecclesiastical History” Eusebius says merely that he succeeded Clement in the episcopate of the Roman Church, which fact was already known from St. Irenaeus. This order of succession is undoubtedly correct. The “Liber Pontificalis” says that Evaristus came of a Hellenic family, and was the son of a Bethlehem Jew. It also attributes to him the allotment of definite churches as tituli to the Roman presbyters, and the division of the city into seven diaconias or deaconries; in this statement, however, the “Liber Pontificalis” arbitrarily refers to the time of Evaristus a later institution of the Roman Church. More trustworthy is the assertion of the “Liber Pontificalis” that he was laid to rest in Vaticano, near the tomb of St. Peter. The martyrdom of Evaristus, though traditional, is not historically proven. His feast occurs October 26 The two decretals ascribed to him by Pseudo-Isidore are forged.

J. P. KIRSCH (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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

October 26, 2026

Sts. Lucian and Marcian

Icon of St. 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 opened they burned their magical books in the middle of the city of Nicomedia and, when they had effaced their crimes by baptism, they distributed their possessions among the poor, and retired together into a close solitude, that by exercising themselves in mortification and prayer, they might subdue their passions, and strengthen in their souls that grace which they had just received, and which could not safely be exposed to dangers, and occasions of temptations in the world till it was fenced by rooted habits of all virtues, and religious exercises. After a considerable time spent in silence they made frequent excursions abroad to preach Christ to the Gentiles, and gain souls to the kingdom of his love. The edicts of Decius against the Christians being published in Bithynia, in 250, they were apprehended and brought before the proconsul Sabinus, who asked Lucian by what authority he presumed to preach Jesus Christ? “Every man,” said the martyr, “does well to endeavour to draw his brother out of a dangerous error.” Marcian likewise highly extolled the power of Christ. The judge commanded them to be hung on the rack and cruelly tortured. The martyrs reproached him, that whilst they worshipped idols they had committed many crimes, and had made open profession of practising art magic without incurring any chastisement; but, when they were become Christians and good citizens they were barbarously punished. The proconsul threatened them with more grievous torments. “We are ready to suffer,” said Marcian, “but we will never renounce the true God, lest we be cast into a fire which will never be quenched.” At this word Sabinus condemned them to be burned alive. They went joyfully to the place of execution, and, singing hymns of praise and thanksgiving to God, expired amidst the flames. They suffered at Nicomedia in 250, and are honoured in the Martyrologies on the 26th of October. See their genuine acts in Surius, Ruinart, p. 151; Tillemont, t. 3, p. 383, and in the original Chaldaic, probably of Eusebius, in Stephen Assemani’s Acta Martyrum Occid. t. 2, p. 49.

(The Lives of the Saints, by Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume X: October, p. 292)

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The Hummingbird

October 26, 2026

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira. Catolicismo, No. 707, November 2009(*)

Photo of a Tufted Coquette Hummingbird by Steve Garvie.

ONCE as I was sitting in the small porch of a farmhouse, a hummingbird suddenly stopped in the air and began sucking nectar from the flowers of climbing ivy. He ‘kissed’ each flower in turn.

The hummingbird’s flight was similar to an arrow’s trajectory — so inflexible and straight — but as it sucked with its small pointed beak it would shake. It would begin with a series of small movements, then flying around the flower suck all its honey.

Photo of a male Broad-tailed Hummingbird by ArmadniGeneral.

As it flapped its wings, every vibration seemed to be new. One would say it was like a musical instrument playing different music characteristic of the hummingbird’s style. I pondered that it has rules of its own — unknown to me — and wondered when it would interrupt that movement.

Photo of a Ruby-topaz hummingbird by Ysmad.

Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, the hummingbird would leave that flower with such complete abandonment that it would seem as if it had never existed, and without the slightest hesitation move on to another. The hummingbird is the very image of decisiveness: when it is time to choose, it does not hesitate; when it is time for sucking, it does it in earnest; when it is time to leave, it stops and rejects.

A Costa’s hummingbird.

The bird abandons the flower without any nostalgia, but also without bitterness. One has the impression that, having extracted the last drop of nectar, the bird is released and flies somewhere else like a rocket. All this is done with such lightness, delicacy, and distinction that it could be called a dance. In fact it is much more than a dance: it is flight.

Possibly the next time each one sees a hummingbird fly, this description will serve as a sort of slow motion film.

Photo of a female Ruby-Throated Hummingbird in flight by John Kees.

It is enchanting to observe two very beautiful examples of movement in the animal world: a walking lion and a flying hummingbird. How different they are! How many beings God created to entertain us!

The blue and green hummingbird is a precious jewel that God created for man to look at, though never to hold, and to feel the charm of a fleeting thing that passes quickly by. In this valley of tears, the hummingbird aptly represents our hope and desire for Heaven. Divine Providence created in this land of exile several fleeting beings. They are excellent beings which would cease to be excellent if they were not fleeting; for that is how they show us some beautiful aspects of Heaven.

Photo of a Violet-capped Woodnymph Hummingbird by Dario Sanches.

Being a place of exile, this Earth cannot offer us heavenly impressions in a stable manner. However God had mercy on us and sent some fireflies from celestial paradise who, with their flickering light, give us glimpses of heavenly bliss.

Photo of a Booted Racket-tail hummingbird by Joseph C Boone.

True Repose

Nothing is more difficult for modern-day man than to rest — especially to rest well.

Painting by Friedrich Prölß

Some think films, theater, and other similar entertainments are excellent ways of resting. Nonetheless, repose means, above all, to relax one’s spirit. All modern entertainment tends to constantly stimulate excitement. Modern day man no longer knows how to entertain himself without excitement. Now, it is impossible to reconcile repose with excitement and this is why people become worn out before their time, as they are in constant electrifying contact with our restless civilization.

One cannot consider as repose forms of entertainment that wear us out, instead of restoring our energy; that excite, instead of relaxing; that agitate, instead of calming.

Madame de Lamballe reading to Marie Antoinette and her daughter, Marie Thérèse Charlotte. Painting by Joseph Caraud

In an environment where even homes have been invaded by exhausting and agitated music, the reading of a nice, relaxing book gives us an agreeable sensation like leaving a stuffy room to breathe the fresh country air.

(*) Excerpts from the lecture given on October 26, 1980.

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October 27 – Apostle of Africa

October 26, 2026

Sts. Edesius and Frumentius

Icon of St. 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 the harbors of the Red Sea, people of the neighborhood massacred the whole crew, with the exception of Edesius and Frumentius, who were taken as slaves to the King of Axum. This occurred about 316. The two boys soon gained the favor of the king, who raised them to positions of trust and shortly before his death gave them their liberty. The widowed queen, however, prevailed upon them to remain at the court and assist her in the education of the young prince Erazanes and in the administration of the kingdom during the prince’s minority. They remained and (especially Frumentius) used their influence to spread Christianity. First they encouraged the Christian merchants, who were temporarily in the country, to practice their faith openly by meeting at places of public worship; later they also converted some of the natives. When the prince came of age Edesius returned to his friends and relatives at Tyre and was ordained priest, but did not return to Abyssinia. Frumentius, on the other hand, who was eager for the conversion of Abyssinia, accompanied Edesius as far as Alexandria, where he requested St. Athanasius to send a bishop and some priests to Abyssinia. St. Athanasius considered Frumentius himself the most suitable person for bishop and consecrated him in 328, according to others between 340-46. Frumentius returned to Abyssinia, erected his episcopal see at Axum, baptized King Aeizanas, who had meanwhile succeeded to the throne, built many churches, and spread the Christian Faith throughout Abyssinia. The people called him Abuna (Our Father) or Abba Salama (Father of Peace), titles still given to the head of the Abyssinian Church. In 365 Emperor Constantius addressed a letter to King Aeizanas and his brother Saizanas in which he vainly requested them to substitute the Arian bishop Theophilus for Frumentius (Athanasius, “Apol. ad Constantium” in P.G., XXV, 631). The Latins celebrate the feast of Frumentius on October 27, the Greeks on November 30, and the Copts on December 18. Abyssinian tradition credits him with the first Ethiopian translation of the New Testament.

MICHAEL OTT (Catholic Encylopedia)

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October 27 – This Christian King Invaded Arabia

October 26, 2026

St. Elesbaan, King of Ethiopia, Confessor

St. Elesbaan, from an Ethiopian Psalter

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 other desire than to procure in all things the happiness of his people, and the divine glory. The mildness and prudence of his government was a sensible proof how great a blessing a people enjoy in a king who is free from inordinate passions and selfish views, to gratify which princes so often become tyrants. This good king, however, was obliged to engage in a war. But his motives were justice and religion; and the exaltation of both was the fruit of his victory.

The Homerite Arabians dwelt upon the eastern coast at the bottom of the Red Sea, in Arabia Felix, and were either a part of the Sabæans, or their neighbours. This nation was full of Jews; and Dunaan or Danaan, a Jew who had usurped the sovereignty, persecuted the Christians. St. Gregentius, who was an Arabian by birth, and archbishop of Taphar, the metropolis of this country, was banished by him in 520. St. Aretas, the governor of the city Neogran, was beheaded, with four companions, for his constancy in the faith. His wife Duma, and daughters, also suffered death for the same glorious cause, and are honoured as martyrs on the 24th of October, in the Roman, and in other Western, as well as in the Eastern and Muscovite calendars. (1)

St. Elesbaan, King of Ethiopia, at the command of the Emperor Justin, lead an army against Dunaan.

The Emperor Justin the Elder, whose protection the persecuted Christians had implored, engaged St. Elesbaan to transport his forces into Arabia, and drive away the usurper. The zealous prince complied with this just desire, and having by the divine blessing defeated the tyrant, made use of his victory with great clemency and moderation, re-established religion, recalled St. Gregentius, and repaired the vineyard, which a furious wild beast had laid waste. He rebuilt the church at Taphar; and, by laying the first stone, would be himself the first architect. He placed on the throne Abraamius, a pious Christian, who governed by the counsels of St. Gregentius. That holy prelate had a famous conference with the Jews,(2) and wrote a book against vices,(3) extant in Greek in the Imperial library at Vienna. St. Gregentius died on the 19th of December, in 552.

Baillet tells us, that St. Elesbaan resigned his crown soon after his return into his own dominions: but Nonnus, in his Legation(4) testifies in 527, several years after this war, that Elesbaan then resided at Axuma, a very great city, capital of Ethiopia.

Map of the empire of St. Elesbaan. Photo by Yom

At length, this good king, leaving his dominions to a son who was heir of his zeal and piety no less than of his kingdom, sent his royal diadem to Jerusalem, put on sackcloth, and retired secretly in the night out of the palace and city to a holy monastery situated on a solitary mountain, where he took the monastic habit, and shut himself up in a cell for the remaining part of his life. He carried nothing with him out of the palace but a mat to lie on, and a cup to drink out of. His food was only bread, with which he sometimes took a few dry herbs; he never drank any thing but water. He would not allow himself the least distinction above the last among his brethren, and was the first in every duty of his new state. No seculars ever had access to him, and his whole employment consisted in the exercises of penance, the contemplation of heavenly things, and conversing with God, by whom he was at length called, by a happy death, to reign eternally with Christ. His name occurs in the Roman Martyrology.

Note 1. Their Acts are published in Greek by Lambecius, (Biblioth. Vindob. t. 5, p. 130, 132, et t. 8. p. 254, 260, 262,) and in Latin by Baronius Lipoman and Surius. Baillet suspects them because taken from Metaphrastes. But Falconius rightly judges that Metaphrastes gave them genuine, p. 23, which is shown by Jos. Assemani, Bibl. Orient. t. 1. p. 358, 364 et seq.) who gives us the original Syriac history of the Homerite martyrs, written by Simeon, bishop of Arsamopolis, in Persia, in a letter to Simeon, abbot of Gabula.
The Syriac historians, produced by Jos. Assemani, as Simeon, bishop of Beth-Arsamen, etc. agree in this history perfectly with the Greeks, viz. Sim. Metaphrastes, in Surius, (t. 5, p. 943.) Theophanes, Cedrenus, Procopius, Evagrius, etc. Likewise the modern historians of Abyssinia, who were Portuguese missionaries in that country, viz. Francisco Alvares, chaplain to the Portuguese ambassador in 1540, who printed that year the first and most faithful history of Abyssinia, and of his embassy; F. Bermudes, patriarch, wrote the second in 1565, but mixing many fables deserves credit only in things to which he was eye-witness; F. Peter Nais gave a third in 1627; F. Alphonso Mendez, patriarch of Ethiopia, wrote also a Latin history of that country. F. Lopo wrote another more at length, which Le Grand translated into French, adding several curious dissertations and notes, Paris, 1738. F. Balthasar Tellez compiled from these a new and more complete history of Ethiopia, in which he sets off the zeal of the Jesuits. From these and other helps Ludolph has compiled his history of Ethiopia, with a dictionary and grammar of that language.
Note 2. The Acts which we have of this conference have been interpolated.
Note 3. Lambec. in Bibl. Vindob. Cod. Theolog. 306. n. 33. p. 171.
Note 4. Ap. Phot. Cod. 3

(from The Lives of the Saints, by Rev. Alban Butler, 1866, Volume X: October.)

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October 28 – Uncommon Valor

October 26, 2026

Col. John W. Ripley: Uncommon Valor

By Jeremias Wells

colonel-john-ripley

An American Knight

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 debt of gratitude is a moral debt required by virtue. In recent decades, the American view of moral justice has been sadly lacking.

Civil society has not always been so callous. Ever since the rise of Christian culture, Christendom has held its warrior-knights in high esteem. Not only that, they were a basic, creative force that molded Western civilization, as a study of the Crusades will attest. A knight of the Middle Ages went to war in a spirit of self-immolation for the glorification of the Church or the common good of temporal society.

Read more here.

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October 28 – Saint, Soldier, Statesman

October 26, 2026

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 seem that he had always lived in a cloister; if on his warlike exploits, that he had never been out of camps; if on his learning and writings, that he had spent his whole life in a college; if on his wholesome laws and wise administration, that these had been his whole study and employment.”

October 22 – St. Wendelin of Trier

October 22, 2026

St. Wendelin of Trier

Statue of St. Wendelin

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. On his way back he settled as a hermit in Westricht in the Diocese of Trier. When a great landowner blamed him for his idle life he entered this lord’s service as a herdsman. Later a miracle obliged this lord to allow him to return to his solitude. Wendelin then established a company of hermits from which sprang the Benedictine Abbey of Tholey. He was consecrated abbot about 597, according to the later legends. Tholey was apparently founded as a collegiate body about 630.

It is difficult to say how far the later biographers are trustworthy. Wendelin was buried in his cell, and a chapel was built over the grave. The small town of St. Wendel grew up nearby. The saint’s intercession was powerful in times of pestilence and contagious diseases among cattle. When in 1320 a pestilence was checked through the intercession of the saint, Archbishop Baldwin of Trier had the chapel rebuilt. Baldwin’s successor, Boemund II, built the present beautiful Gothic church, dedicated in 1360 and to which the saint’s relics were transferred; since 1506 they have rested in a stone sarcophagus. Wendelin is the patron saint of country people and herdsmen and is still venerated in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. He is represented in art as a youth, or as a bearded man, with a shepherd’s bag and a book in one hand and a shepherd’s crook in the other; about him feed lambs, cattle, and swine, while a crown and a shield are placed at his feet. St. Wendelin is not mentioned in the Roman Martyrology, but his feast is observed in the Diocese of Trier on 22 October.

The exposed relics of St. Wendelin, Wendelin celebrating the 650th Anniversary of the consecration of the Basilica of St. Wendel Wendelinus.

The exposed relics of St. Wendelin at Wendalinusbasilika St. Wendel during the 650th Anniversary of the consecration of the Basilica.

Acta SS., October, IX, 342-51; MOHR, Die Heiligen der Diozese Trier (Trier, 1892); LESKER, St. Wendelinus (Donauworth, 1898); ZURCHER, St. Wendelinus-Buch (Menzingen, 1903).

Klemens Löffler (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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

October 22, 2026

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 education to his mother. She had him at first instructed at home and then sent him to study law at Perugia, where he achieved great success under the eminent legist, Pietro de Ubaldis.

In 1412 he was appointed governor of Perugia by Ladislaus, King of Naples, who then held that city of the Holy See. As governor he set himself against civic corruption and bribery. War broke out in 1416 between Perugia and the Malatesta. John was sent as ambassador to propose peace to the Malatesta, who however cast him into prison. It was during this imprisonment that…

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October 23 – Made eunuch because he was prince

October 22, 2026

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 a claimant to his father’s throne. While thus immured he voluntarily embraced the religious life, and in time was made an abbot. He was ordained by Basil, Bishop of Paros, on the Hellespont. On the death of Theophilus (841) Theodora became regent, as well as co-sovereign with her son, Michael III, of the Byzantine Empire. In 847, aided by the good will of the empress, Ignatius succeeded to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, vacant by the death of Methodius. The Emperor Michael III was a youthful profligate who found a worthy companion for his debauchery in Bardas, his maternal uncle. At the suggestion of the latter, Michael sought the assistance of Ignatius in an effort to force Theodora to enter a convent, in the hope of securing for himself an undivided authority and a free rein for his profligacy. The patriarch indignantly refused to be a party to such an outrage. Theodora, however, realizing the determination of her son to possess at any cost an undivided rule, voluntarily abdicated. This refusal to participate in his iniquitous schemes, added to a courageous rebuke, which Ignatius had administered to Bardas for having repudiated his wife and maintained incestuous intercourse with his daughter-in-law, determined the Cæsar to bring about the disgrace of the patriarch.

The appointment of the Patriarch St. Ignatius of Constantinople.

An insignificant revolt, led by a half-witted adventurer, having broken out, Bardas laid the blame at the door of Ignatius, and having convinced the emperor of the truth of his accusation, brought about the banishment of the patriarch to the island of Terebinthus. In his exile he was visited by the emissaries of Bardas, who sought to induce him to resign his patriarchal office. Their mission failing, they loaded him with every kind of indignity. Meanwhile a pseudo-synod, held under the direction of Gregory of Syracuse, an excommunicated bishop, deposed Ignatius from his see. Bardas had selected his successor in the person of Photius, a layman of brilliant parts, and a patron of learning, but thoroughly unscrupulous. He stood high in the favour of the emperor, for whom he acted as first secretary of state. This choice having been approved by the pseudo-synod, in six days Photius ran the gamut of ecclesiastical orders from the lectorate to the episcopate. To intensify the feeling against Ignatius, and thereby strengthen his own position, Photius charged the exiled bishop with further acts of sedition. In 859 another synod was called to further the interests of Photius, by again proclaiming the deposition of Ignatius. But not all the bishops participated in these disgraceful proceedings. Some few, with the courage of their episcopal office, denounced Photius as a usurper of the patriarchal dignity. Convinced that he could enjoy no sense of security in his office without the sanction of the pope, Photius sent an embassy to Rome for the purpose of pleading his cause. These ambassadors represented that Ignatius, worn out with age and disease, had voluntarily retired to a monastery; and that Photius had been chosen by the unanimous election of the bishops. With an affectation of religious zeal, they requested that legates be sent to Constantinople to suppress a recrudescence of Iconoclasm, and to strengthen religious discipline.

Pope Saint Nicholas I

Nicholas I sent the required legates, but with instructions to investigate the retirement of Ignatius and to treat with Photius as with a layman. These instructions were supplemented by a letter to the emperor, condemning the deposition of Ignatius. But the legates proved faithless. Intimidated by threats and quasi-imprisonment, they agreed to decide in favour of Photius. In 861 a synod was convened, and the deposed patriarch cited to appear before it as a simple monk. He was denied the permission to speak with the delegates. Citing the pontifical canons to prove the irregularity of his deposition, he refused to acknowledge the authority of the synod and appealed to the pope. But his pleading was in vain. The prearranged programme was carried through and the venerable patriarch was condemned and degraded. Even after this, the relentless hatred of Bardas pursued him, in the hope of wringing from him the resignation of his office. Finally an order for his death was issued, but he had fled to safety. The legates returning to Rome, merely announced that Ignatius had been canonically deposed and Photius confirmed. The patriarch, however, succeeded in acquainting the pope, through the archimandrite Theognostus, with the unlawful proceedings taken against him. To the imperial secretary, therefore, whom Photius had sent to him to obtain the approval of his acts, the pope declared that he would not confirm the synod that had deposed Ignatius. In a letter addressed to Photius, Nicholas I recognized Ignatius as the legitimate Patriarch of Constantinople. At the same time a letter was dispatched to the eastern patriarchs, forbidding them to recognize the usurper. After another unsuccessful effort to obtain papal confirmation, Photius gave vent to his fury in a ludicrous declaration of excommunication against the Roman Pontiff.

Painting showing the death of St. Ignatius from the Menologion of Basil II

In 867 the Emperor Michael was assassinated by Basil the Macedonian, who succeeded him as emperor. Almost his first official act was to depose Photius and recall Ignatius, after nine years of exile and persecution, to the patriarchate of Constantinople, 23 November, 867. Adrian II, who had succeeded Nicholas I, confirmed both the deposition of Photius and the restoration of Ignatius. At the recommendation of Ignatius, Adrian II, on 5 October, 869, convoked the Eighth cumenical Council. All the participants of this council were obliged to sign a document approving the papal action in regard to Ignatius and Photius. Ignatius lived ten years after his restoration, in the peaceful exercises of the duties of his office. He was buried at St. Sophia, but afterwards his remains were interred in the church of St. Michael, near the Bosphorus. The Roman Martyrology (23 Oct.) says: “At Constantinople St. Ignatius, Bishop, who, when he had reproved Bardas the Cæsar for having repudiated his wife, was attacked by many injuries and sent into exile; but having been restored by the Roman Pontiff Nicholas, at last he went to his rest in peace.”

NICETAS, Vita Ignatii in MANSI, Amplissima Collectio Conciliorum, XVI, 209 sqq.; GEDEON, Patriarchal Archives (Greek) (Constantinople, 1890); Letters of Pope Nicholas I in MANSI, ibid., XV, 159 Sqq.; HARDUIN, Vita Ignatii, V, 119 sqq.; PHOTIUS, Epistle to Nicholas I in Baronius, ad an. 859; ANASTASIUS, Preface to Eighth Council; STYLIANUS, Epistle to Stephen VI; METROPHANES or SMYRNA, Epistle to Manuel in MANSI, XVI, 295, 414, 426; NATALIS ALEXANDER, diss. iv, In S c. IX et X; LEQUIEN, Oriens Christianus, Ign. et Phot. I, 246; FORTESCUE, The Orthodox Eastern Church (London, 1907), gives (160-61) good appreciation of the character of Ignatius apropos of the anti-Roman attitude adopted by the latter after his restoration, when he persuaded the Bulgarian prince to expel the Latin hierarchy from that land, and thus caused the loss of Bulgaria to the Roman patriarchate; J. HERGENRÖTHER, Photius, Patriarch von Constantinopel (3 vols., Ratisbon, 1867), the classical work on the subject; HEFELE, Hist. des Conciles, new French version by LECLERCQ (Paris, 1907), with recent bibliography and excursus.

John B. O’Connor (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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October 23 – Gentle Birth, But Not Gentle Death

October 22, 2026

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.

A panoramic view of York in the 15th century. Watercolour by E. Ridsdale Tate. York Castle is on the right hand side of river, opposite the abandoned motte of Baile Hill.

Educated at Douai, he was sent to the mission in 1664 and laboured in his native country. Until April, 1668, he was chaplain at Carlton Hall, the seat of his cousins the Stapletons. He next opened a school at Quosque, the dower-house of the Stapletons. When in 1677 the “Institute of Mary” began their foundation in the house given by Sir Thomas Gasciogne at Dolebank, Thwing became their chaplain, three of his sisters being of the community. It was there that he was arrested in the early part of 1679. At the time of the Titus Oates scare, two servants who had been discharged from Sir Thomas Gasciogne’s employ for dishonesty, sought vengeance and reward by disclosing a pretend murder plot on the part of Gasciogne and others to murder the king. In their first allegation no mention was made of Thwing. Gasciogne, Thwing, and others were removed to London for trial at Newgate. All were acquitted except Thwing, who was brought back to York for trial in March, 1680. Owing to his challenging the jurors, his trial was postponed to the summer assizes, and he was brought to the bar on 29 July.

Stone marking the site of the Tyburn tree on the traffic island at the junction of Edgware Road, Marble Arch and Oxford Street

He was refused an impartial jury, and was found guilty on the very same evidence upon which his relatives had been acquitted. Upon receiving sentence, which in consideration of his gentle birth was passed on him apart from the felons and murderers found guilty at the same assizes, humbly bowing his head he replied “Innocens ego sum.” The king at first reprieved him, but owing to a remonstrance of the Commons the death-warrant was issued on the day after the meeting of Parliament. He was drawn from York Castle, past the convent where the sisters were dwelling, to Tyburn, where the sentence was carried out. He declared his innocence, protested his loyalty to the king and his charity to his neighbour; prayed for the king and royal family, and begged the prayers of all true Catholics. His dying words were “Sweet Jesus, receive my soul”. His mangled body was given to his friends, and buried in the churchyard of St. Mary, Castlegate.

Relics of the martyr are now preserved at the Bar Convent, York, and at Oscott College.

Knaresborough, MSS.; Coleridge, St. Mary’s Convent, York; Cobbett, State Trials, VII; Foley, Records S. J.; Waugh, Quosque Hall in Downside Review (July, 1909); Gillow in Cath. Rec. Soc., IV, IX; Dodd, Church History, III; Challoner, Memoirs of Missionary Priests (Edinburgh, 1877).

J. L. Whitfield (Catholic Encyclopedia)

[Nobility.org note: He was beatified by Pope Pius XI on 15 December 1929.]

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October 24 – Confessor to the Queen

October 22, 2026

St. Antonio María Claret y Clará

St. Anthony Mary Claret, C.M.F.

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 went to Barcelona to specialize in his trade, and remained there till he was twenty. Meanwhile he devoted his spare time to study and became proficient in Latin, French, and engraving; in addition he enlisted in the army as a volunteer. Recognizing a call to a higher life, he left Barcelona, entered the seminary at Vich in 1829, and was ordained on 13 June, 1835.

He received a benefice in his native parish, where he continued to study theology till 1839. He now wished to become a Carthusian; missionary work, however, appealing strongly to him he proceeded to Rome. There he entered the Jesuit novitiate but finding himself unsuited for that manner of life, he returned shortly to Spain and exercised his ministry at Valadrau and Gerona, attracting notice by his efforts on behalf of the poor. Recalled by his superiors to Vich, he was engaged in missionary work throughout Catalonia. In 1848 he was sent to the Canary Islands where he gave retreats for fifteen months. Returning to Vich he established the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (16 July, 1849), and founded the great religious library at Barcelona which bears his name, and which has issued several million cheap copies of the best ancient and modern Catholic works.

Such had been the fruit of his zealous labours and so great the wonders he had worked, that Pius IX at the request of the Spanish sovereign appointed him Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba in 1851. He was consecrated at Vich and embarked at Barcelona on 28 Dec. Having arrived at his destination he began at once a work of thorough reform. The seminary was reorganized, clerical discipline strengthened, and over nine thousand marriages validated within the first two years. He erected a hospital and numerous schools. Three times he made a visitation of the entire diocese, giving local missions incessantly. Naturally his zeal stirred up the enmity and calumnies of the irreligious, as had happened previously in Spain. No less than fifteen attempts were made on his life, and at Holguin his cheek was laid open from ear to chin by a would-be assassin’s knife. In February, 1857, he was recalled to Spain by Isabella II, who made him her confessor.

Queen Doña Iabel II of Spain with her three youngest daughters: Pilar, Paz and Eulalia

He obtained permission to resign his see and was appointed to the titular see of Trajanopolis. His influence was now directed solely to help the poor and to propagate learning; he lived frugally and took up his residence in an Italian hospice. For nine years he was rector of the Escorial monastery where he established an excellent scientific laboratory, a museum of natural history, a library, college, and schools of music and languages.

St. Anthony Mary Claret pointing to Our Lady of Charity, Patroness of Cuba.

His further plans were frustrated by the revolution of 1868. He continued his popular missions and distribution of good books wherever he went in accompanying the Spanish Court. When Isabella recognized the new Government of United Italy he left the Court and hastened to take his place by the side of the pope; at the latter’s command, however, he returned to Madrid with faculties for absolving the queen from the censures she had incurred. In 1869 he went to Rome to prepare for the Vatican Council. Owing to failing health he withdrew to Prades in France, where he was still harassed by his calumnious Spanish enemies; shortly afterwards he retired to the Cistercian abbey at Fontfroide where he expired.

His zealous life and the wonders he wrought both before and after his death testified to his sanctity. Informations were begun in 1887 and he was declared Venerable by Leo XIII in 1899. His relics were transferred to the mission house at Vich in 1897, at which time his heart was found incorrupt, and his grave is constantly visited by many pilgrims. In addition to the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Heart of Mary (approved definitively by Pius IX, 11 Feb., 1870) which has now over 110 houses and 2000 members, with missions in W. Africa, and in Chocó (Columbia), Archbishop Claret founded or drew up the rules of several communities of nuns. By his sermons and writings he contributed greatly to bring about the revival of the Catalan language. His printed works number over 130, of which we may mention: “La escala de Jacob”; “Maximas de moral la más pura”; “Avisos”; “Catecismo explicado con láminas”; “La llave de oro”; “Selectos panegíricos” (11 vols.); “Sermones de misión” (3 vols.); “Misión de la mujer”; “Vida de Sta. Mónica”; “La Virgen del Pilar y los Francmasones”; and his “Autobiografia”, written by order of his spiritual director, but still unpublished.

Catedral Sant Antoni Maria Claret de Vic

AGUILAR, Vida admirable del Venerable Antonio María Claret (Madrid, 1894); BLANCH, Vida del Venerable Antonio María Claret (Barcelona, 1906); CLOTET, Compendio de la vida del Siervo de Dios Antonio María Claret (Barcelona, 1880); Memorias ineditas del Padre Clotet in the archives of the missionaries of Aranda de Duero; VILLABA HERVAS, Recuerdos de cinco lustros 1843-1868 (Madrid, 1896); Estudi bibliografich de los obres del Venerable Sallenti (Barcelona, 1907).

A. A. MacErlean (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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October 25 – The original hood

October 22, 2026

Hugh Capet

King of France, founder of the Capetian dynasty, born about the middle of the tenth century; died about 996, probably 24 October.

King Hugh of France. Painting by Charles de Steuben

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 father the Countship of Paris and the Duchy of France. About 970 he married Adelaide of Aquitaine, and as early as 985 the famous Gerbert wrote “The Carlovingian Lothair governs France only in name. The king of France is Hugh.” When Louis V died, 21 May, 987, the assistance of Adalberon, Archbishop of Reims, and of Gerbert, brought about the election of Hugh. The electoral assembly of Senlis listened to a discourse of Adalberon: “Crown the Duke”, he said. “He is most illustrious by his exploits, his nobility, his forces. The throne is not acquired by hereditary right; no one should be raised to it unless distinguished not only for nobility of birth, but for the goodness of his soul”. A unanimous vote ratified this discourse, and Hugh Capet was crowned at Noyon, 3 July, 987. Thus his accession, as M. Luchaire says, was above all “an ecclesiastical achievement”. Hugh possessed towns and estates in the vicinity of Paris, Orléans, and in the district of Senlis and Chartres, Touraine and Anjou, but on the whole these were restricted domains, as his vassals on the borders of the Seine and the Loire contested his authority. His military power was mediocre, and he had frequently to seek military aid in alliance with Normandy. But he possessed moral power and a political influence which reached the most remote parts of the kingdom and was felt even by foreigners. His chief concern was to maintain over the Archdiocese of Reims, whose jurisdiction comprised nearly the whole of northern and northeastern France, a continuous, immediate, and uncontested authority. The Archdiocese of Reims possessed a double importance, first because the archbishop had the right to elect and crown the kings of France, and next because of its geographical situation between France and Germany. The death of Adalberon, proved by M. Lot to have taken place 23 January, 989, disturbed the new king, and Arnoul, the new archbishop whom he accepted at the end of March, 989, as successor to Adalberon, attempted a restoration of the Carlovingians (Sept., 989), and Charles of Lorraine, their heir, was for a short time master of Reims and Laon. Arnoul refused to appear at the Council of Senlis (beginning of 990), but the imprisonment of Charles of Lorraine and of Arnoul (29 March, 991), and the deposition of Arnoul pronounced at the Council of St. Basle, fixed by M. Lot at 17 and 18 June, 991 (and not 993), assured the maintenance of the Capetian dynasty. Gerbert became Archbishop of Reims (21 June, 991).

Hugh Capet and his wife Adelaide of Aquitaine

This revolution accomplished by a council was received by the papacy with reserve. When Hugh Capet requested the Holy See to legitimize the action of the council, John XVI was silent; later, under the influence of Germany, the pope refused formally to recognize the election of Gerbert. Then began the difficulties which led the bishops devoted to Hugh to profess certain “Gallican principles”. Nevertheless, Hugh must not be represented as wishing to found a State Church; what he wished was to maintain the Archdiocese of Reims under the domination of France, and to remove it from the influence of the German emperors. If his attitude towards the papacy was often suspicious, it was not due to a Gallican theology, but because he feared that the popes of the time were too subservient to the policy of the emperors; hence his relations with the Holy See were merely an episode in his general policy, destined to bring about the cessation of the powerful influence which the Saxon dynasty had exercised over France during the tenth century.

His domestic policy was very favourable to the development of monastic life and the autonomy of the monasteries. He defended their property against lay tyranny; he sought to remove them from episcopal jurisdiction while upholding the royal right to confirm abbatial elections; he supported all the liberties of the monks in the exercise of their electoral rights; he renounced the custom of distributing abbeys as benefices to laymen. Because of its political importance he wished to retain effective direction over the Abbey of St. Martin of Tours, and even under the reign of the Plantagenet Henry II the Capetians preserved considerable influence at Tours and along the Middle Loire. Apropos of Hugh Capet it is worthy of note that because the Dukes of France had in their possession the famous cope (cappa) of St. Martin, certain authors give to Hugh the Great and to his son Hugh the surname of Capet, which in history is reserved exclusively for the subject of this article. Hugh Capet in his religious policy applied and favoured the ideas of reform upheld by the monks of Cluny.

Medallion of Hugues Capet

FERNAND LOT, Les derniers Carolingiens, Lothaire, Louis V, Charles de Lorraine (Paris, 1891); IDEM, Etudes sur le règne de Hugues Capet et la fin du dixième siècle (Paris, 1903); LUCHAIRE, Histoire des institutions monarchiques de la France sous les premiers Capétiens (2nd ed., 2 vols., Paris, 1891); JULIEN HAVET, Préface à l’édition des Lettres de Gerbert (Paris, 1889); MONOD, Etudes sur l’histoire de Hugues Capet in Revue Historique, XXVIII; KALCKSTEIN, Der Kampf der Robertiner und Karolinger (Leipzig, 1877).

GEORGES GOYAU (Catholic Encyclopedia)

October 25 – Memorial of Forty Martyrs of England and Wales

October 22, 2026

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, but only at first

August 30 – She smuggled a priest out of prison

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October 25 – Crispin and Crispian and the baron of Renty

October 22, 2026

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 of the Christian Faith to Gaul and chose Soissons as their field of labour. In imitation of St. Paul they worked with their hands, making shoes, and earned enough by their trade to support themselves and also to aid the poor. During the Diocletian persecution they were brought before Maximianus Herculius whom…

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October 19 – Founding Fathers

October 19, 2026

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 Rouen, was sent as a missionary to Canada in 1636. He came out with Montmagny, the immediate successor of Champlain. From Quebec he went to the regions around the great lakes where the illustrious Father de Brébeuf and others were labouring…

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October 19 – This Earl was found guilty of praying, and starved to death in the Tower

October 19, 2026

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 Spain, then King of England, was one of his godfathers. His father, who had conformed to the State religion, educated him partly under John Foxe, the Protestant martyrologist and he was afterwards sent to Cambridge.

Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, father of St. Philip Howard. Painting by Hans Eworth

His father having married as his third wife Elizabeth, widow of Lord Dacre of Gillesland, matched her three daughters who were heiresses, to his three sons. Anne, Philip’s wife, Countess of Arundel and Surrey, who survived to 1630, was a woman of remarkable generosity and courage, and became after her conversion the patroness of Father Southwell and of many priests, and eventually founded the novitiate of the Jesuits at Ghent.

Anne Dacre, Countess of Arundel, wife of St. Philip Howard

Philip succeeded, 24 February, 1580, jure matris, to the Earldom of Arundel, and this may be considered the highest point of his worldly fortunes. He frequented the Court, entertained the queen, and was restored in blood, 1581, though not to his father’s dukedom.

Towards the close of the year he was present at the disputations of Saint Edmund Campion in the Tower and this proved the first step in his conversion, though, like most of Elizabeth’s courtiers, his life was then the reverse of virtuous, and for a time he deserted his wife. But the Howards had many enemies and Elizabeth was of their number. As the Catholic revival gained strength, the earl found himself suspected and out of favor, and his difficulties were increased by his wife’s conversion. He was now reconciled, indeed devoted, to her, and 30 September, 1584, was received into the Church by Father William Weston, S.J., and became a fervent Catholic.

St. Philip in the Tower Painting by William Barraud

The change of life was soon noticed at Court, on which Philip, seeing Elizabeth more and more averse and dangers thickening, resolved to fly, which he did (14 April, 1585), after composing a long and excellent letter of explanation to Elizabeth. But he was captured at sea, probably through treachery, and confined in the Tower of London (25 April) where he remained till death. He was at first sentenced to a fine of 10,000 pounds, and imprisonment at Elizabeth’s pleasure. Later on (14 March-14 April 1589), during the bloodthirsty mood which caused the death of so many English martyrs after the Armada, he was tried for having favored the excommunication of the Elizabeth I, and for having prayed for the invaders.

As usual at that time, the trial was a tirade against the prisoner, who was of course condemned. One example of the hypocrisy of the prosecution may be mentioned. While they professed to quote the very words of the Bull of excommunication, “published 1 April”, no such Bull was published at all. If the Armada had been successful a Bull would of course have been issued, and Elizabeth’s spies had in fact got hold of an explanation written by Allen in preparation for that event (printed in Dodd-Tierney, iii Ap. 44). From a letter of Attorney-General Popham (R. O. State Papers, Dom. Eliz., ccxxiii, 77) we see that he was aware of the fraudulent character of the evidence.

Shrine of St Philip Howard, Arundel Cathedral, Sussex, England

Philip was left to die in prison. His last prayer to see his wife and only son, who had been born after his imprisonment, was refused except on condition of his coming to the Protestant Church, on which terms he might also go free. With this eloquent testimony to the goodness of his cause he expired, at the early age of thirty-eight, and was buried in the same grave in the Tower Church that had received his father and grandfather.

In 1624 his bones were translated by his widow to Long Horsley, and thence to Arundel, where they still rest. A portrait by Zucchero is in the possession of the Duke of Norfolk. His “Epistle of Christ to the Faithful Soul” translated from Lanspergius (Johann Justus of Lansberg), was printed at Antwerp, 1595; St-Omer, 1610; London, 1867; his “Fourfold Meditations of Four Last Things” (once attributed to Southwell), London, 1895; his “Verses on the Passion”, by the Cath. Record Soc., VI, 29. J.H. POLLEN (1913 Catholic Encyclopedia)

Arundel Cathedral in Sussex, England, where St. Philip Howard is buried.

Saint Philip Howard was beatified 15 December, 1929, by Pope Pius XI, and canonized 25 October, 1970, by Pope Paul VI.

October 20 – Emperor Marcian

October 19, 2026

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 and his son Aspar; he distinguished himself in the wars against the Persians and Huns. Aspar was a kind of king-maker, and general- in-chief for the East (magister militum per orientem), also for a time the most powerful man at Constantinople. But since he was a foreigner and an Arian he could not be emperor himself. Instead he placed a succession of his favourites on the throne. One of these was Marcian. At Constantinople Marcian became a senator and was a well-known and popular person. He was a widower; his daughter by the first marriage, Euphemia, afterwards married Anthemius, Emperor in the West (467-472). He was about sixty years old when Theodosius II died (450).

Theodosius II (408-450) had succeeded his father, Arcadius (395-408), as a young child. During the greater part of his reign his elder sister Pulcheria managed the Government. Already during the reign of Theodosius Pulcheria was “Augusta”. With her two sisters, Arcadia and Marina, she made a public vow of celibacy. When her brother died all difficulty about the succession was ended by the unanimous choice of her (who had long really guided the State) as empress. Thus began the reign of Pulcheria. Wishing to strengthen her position (it was the first case of a woman succeeding to the Roman throne) she at once made a nominal marriage with Marcian. He seems to have been the best person she could have chosen; the friendship of Aspar as well as his own reputation had long pointed him out for some high place. It is said that Theodosius on his death-bed had told him: “It has been revealed to me that you will succeed me.” Marcian was crowned by the patriarch, 25 August, 450. It is the first instance of the religious ceremony of coronation, imitated later in the West, and was to have far-reaching consequences. The first act of the new reign was the trial and execution of Chrysaphius, a eunuch and court favourite long unpopular, who had brought Theodosius to a humiliating apology and the payment of a large fine by an unsuccessful conspiracy to murder Attila. Marcian belonged to the party of reform, of which the founder, under Theodosius, had been Anthemius. As soon as he became emperor he began a policy of moderation, especially in taxation, that made his reign prosperous and himself popular, though he did little by force of arms to repress the ever-encroaching Huns and other enemies of Rome.

He reduced the expenses of the treasury and Court, and did away with the gleba, or follis, an opressive tax on property that was specially obnoxious to the upper classes. There was a harsh system by which any senator might be forced to accept the unwelcome honour of the prætura. As a prætor he was obliged to live at Constantinople during his time of office, and spend large sums on providing games and shows. This was specially hard on senators who lived in the provinces, who had therefore to come to the capital and live for months there at ruinous expense. Marcian modified this law so as to excuse people living away from the city, and he ordered the consuls to take their share of the expenses. He reformed the navy on a more economical basis. There were at that time frequent earthquakes, by which whole cities were destroyed. In these cases Marcian and Pulcheria came to the help of the sufferers generously with supplies from the imperial treasury.

Marcian had a conscientious idea of the responsibilities of his office. In the second novella of his code he defines his view of an emperor’s duty: “It is our business to provide for the care of the human race.” And he was conscious of the distress caused by the excessive taxation and general maladministration of his predecessors. The first novella announces that complainants have flocked to the Government from all sides, there are “endless crowds of petitioners”; this is because of the want of “integrity and severity” in the judges. Marcian’s laws are well-meant and successful attempts to cope with these difficulties. A very popular measure was his refusal to pay to Attila the tribute that had been paid regularly by Theodosius II. This refusal both saved a great expense and restored the dignity of the empire that had been degraded by so great a humiliation. As the Huns were just beginning their quarrel with the Franks, they could not afford to go to war with the empire. No doubt Marcian knew this when he defied them.

But the chief event of this reign was the beginning of the great Monophysite quarrel and the Council of Chalcedon. Marcian was conspicuously pious and orthodox. As soon as he was crowned he wrote a very friendly and respectful letter to Pope Leo I (440-461), whom he calls the guardian of the Faith, asking for his prayers, and declaring himself anxious to support the council proposed by the pope (soû a’uthentoûntos) in order to settle the question raised by Eutyches, Dioscurus, and their friends (ep. lxxiii among St. Leo’s letters; Mansi, VI, 99). Pulcheria also wrote; she too says that the council shall be summoned by the pope’s authority. Leo had already asked Theodosius II to summon the council (ep. xliv, 3; P. L., LIV, 826); Marcian clearly only meant to carry out this commission as Theodosius’s successor. Meanwhile Dioscurus and his party knew quite well that Marcian would not be their friend. They had tried and failed to prevent his recognition in Egypt; the attempt only made their case worse with the Government.

Council of Chalcedon

The Eastern Church had been disturbed by the teaching of Eutyches since immediately after the Council of Ephesus (431) and the Nestorian troubles. In 448 Eusebius of Dorylæum had accused Eutyches and his formula “one nature after the union” (metà tèn ‘énosin mía phúsis) at Constantinople. Dioscurus of Alexandria had taken up the cause of Eutyches, and had condemned Dyophysism at the Robber Council of Ephesus in 449 (for all this see ). Pope Leo hoped for a time to restore peace without another general council (his letters to Marcian, lxxviii, to Pulcheria, lxxix, and to the Patriarch Anatolius of Constantinople, lxxx). But meanwhile Marcian, acting on Leo’s former proposal, summoned a council on 17 May, 451, by letters addressed to all the metropolitans of the empire. It is clear that he acted on a misunderstanding, and had not yet received the pope’s later letter (Hefele-Leclercq, II, 639). Leo then accepted what had happened, and appointed as his legates Paschasius, Bishop of Lilybæum in Sicily, and a priest Boniface (ep. lxxxix; Mansi, VI, 125). The council was to have met at Nicæa; many bishops had already arrived there in the summer of 451, when the emperor wrote to tell them to wait till he could join them (his letter in Mansi, VI, 553). He was busy at the frontier of the empire arranging its defence against the Huns. The bishops wrote to complain of the delay, and Marcian answered their letter telling them to go to Chalcedon, opposite the capital on the other side of the Bosphorus (Mansi, V, 557); in this way he could attend to the council without leaving Constantinople.

St. Pulcheria

The council opened in the church of St. Euphemia at Chalcedon on 8 October, 451, and lasted till 1 November. About 600 bishops attended. The imperial commissioners were present and regulated the exterior business at each session. The papal legate, Paschasius, opened the council. Marcian and Pulcheria assisted at the sixth session (25 October). The emperor opened the proceedings that day with a speech in Latin (Mansi, VII, 129). One notices that what was still the official language of the empire was used on specially solemn occasions. His speech was then repeated in Greek. At this session the decree of the council was read (see .) On 27 February, 452, Marcian, together with his Western colleague, Valentinian III (423-455), made a law enforcing the decree and canons of the council as the law of the empire, and threatening heavy penalties against all who disputed them. Marcian alone repeated the same law on 13 March (Mansi, VII, 475- 480). The famous twenty-eighth canon (giving Constantinople rank immediately after Rome) and the pope’s protest against it caused further correspondence between him and the emperor and empress (Ep. Leonis I., cv, cvi; Mansi, VI, 187, 195), but did not disturb their good relations. Marcian’s laws produced uniformity at Constantinople and in the neighbourhood of the Government, but he could not enforce them so successfully in Syria and Egypt. The rest of his reign was troubled by the revolution in these provinces, which remained one of the chief difficulties of the Government under his successors for two centuries. Marcian made no concessions towards the Syrian and Egyptian Monophysites. His Government carried out the deposition of Dioscurus, and an edict of 28 July, 452, insisted under heavy penalties on the recognition of Proterius, the Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria. A large force (2000 soldiers) was sent to Egypt. It was not until after Marcian’s death that a party at Constantinople under Aspar and Anatolius began to compromise with the heretics.

In the year 453 Attila died. It is said that Marcian dreamed, at the moment of Attila’s death, that he saw the bow of his great enemy broken. The Empress Pulcheria died in the same year. She is canonized by both Catholics and Orthodox; her feast is on 10 September in both calendars. Marcian survived his wife four years. The end of his reign was occupied by the increasing troubles in Egypt. He was succeeded by Leo I (457-474). Marcian was, by marriage, the last emperor of the House of Theodosius I. The Orthodox have canonized him also, and keep his feast (with Pulcheria) on 17 February.

Evagrius, Hist. Eccl., II; Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs, VI; Bury, History of the Later Roman Empire, I (London, 1889), 135-136; Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, with Bury’s notes, III (London, 1907), 444-474; Hefele, tr. Leclercq, Histoire des Conciles, II (Paris, 1908).

Adrian Fortescue (Catholic Encyclopedia)

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The Catholic Knight Who Stopped Slavery in West Africa

October 19, 2026

By Joanna Bogle

The Catholic cemetery at Mortlake in South West London has an agreeably rural feel, and is worth a visit: it’s about 20 minutes from Waterloo on the line going down to Richmond, and a short walk from the station. It is chiefly famous for the large stone, tent-shaped tomb of the 19th-century explorer Sir Richard Burton. This brings numbers of tourists and historians each year. Other notable people buried here include the architect John Francis Bentley, who designed Westminster Cathedral.

There is one grave, however, with a story that is of particular relevance for today. Sir James Marshall (1829-1889), through volunteer effort and great generosity, helped to ensure Catholic missionary efforts in Africa. But perhaps his equally great achievement was as an official in a secular role.

Appointed Chief Justice of the Gold Coast and neighboring territories – today’s Ghana and Nigeria – he was responsible for ending a particularly vicious form of slavery and liberating large numbers of men, women, and children.

Gravely disabled as a young man – his right arm had to be amputated after a boating accident – Marshall had to abandon plans to join the Army, and instead followed his father and took holy orders in the Anglican church. After some years of ministry and much study, he joined the Catholic Church, and went to teach classics at the Oratory School founded by John Henry Newman.

It was Newman who suggested that he read law, and in due course he became a barrister. In 1873 he was appointed Chief Magistrate to the Gold Coast and later in 1887 to Nigeria. In Asaba, he encountered the grisly local custom in which a tribal chief would acquire large numbers of slaves who would in due course be publicly slaughtered at a great public gathering amid noisy ceremonial. This was rooted in the tribal chiefs’ belief that the slaves would thus be available to serve them in the next life.

In Ghana, Marshall had become a respected and popular figure who could engage with the local communities and their leaders, and the appointment to Asaba had come specifically because the slavery issue needed to be resolved.

In a letter home, Marshall described how he had told the tribal chiefs that the savage practice of ritual slaughter was to end, “that the strongest measures would be taken to put it down; that I should let it be known, among the slaves, that they might look to us for protection, and that whenever it was known that murder was going to be held, the soldiers would be at once sent and that chiefs…would be liable to be hanged.”

Sir James Marshall from W.R. Brownlow’s Memoir of Sir James Marshall, 1890 [Source: Wikimedia]

He spoke with the full authority of the law. Not only had slavery been outlawed across the British Empire back in 1833, but murder in itself was a crime and would be treated as such with the most severe penalty. The slaves awaiting slaughter, kept in grim conditions, included women and small children, and were captured during inter-tribal battles.

Describing how he addressed the chiefs, Marshall wrote that he told them, “‘You think that the great God, who made the white man and the black, and all the world, and who wished us all to live happily together here, will keep those slaves you murder to be your slaves in the other world, bah!’ I then held up my finger to them and said, ‘You must all die, and when you die, you will see who is right.’”

Backed with military force, Marshall could impose the law, and the odious practices were finally crushed. Meanwhile, in addition to his official role, he had become active in the small missionary church that was being established. And in due course it was his efforts, including a personal appeal to the pope, that brought substantial numbers of missionaries to the Gold Coast.

Victorian Britain honored the men who served in the colonial empire that was emerging. The justices and administrators who worked to ensure that slavery was banned were rightly regarded as upholding the noblest and best of the law and Christian civilization. Meetings and rallies in London raised money for projects that would help to free slaves while establishing – mostly through churches and voluntary effort – schools and hospitals in territories where new and civilized ways of living were on offer.

Today, the truth of all this needs to be told. Boys and girls in Britain’s schools are told a series of myths concerning the 19^th century, the relationship between Britain and Africa, the role of Christianity, and more. (I imagine things are similar in America and other Western nations.)

The Church of England is currently contributing to the myths with its attempts to rewrite history and give money as “reparations for slavery” via officialdom in various countries while neglecting its parishes at home. Perhaps the story of Sir James Marshall can serve as a starting point for talking about what really happened in the Victorian era. It should also perhaps be noted that the Catholic revival was a major factor in the unfolding story of much of what was achieved.

Meanwhile, in Ghana and Nigeria – and in various London Catholic parishes with substantial Ghanaian and Nigerian congregations – the Knights and Ladies of Marshall flourish. This impressive Catholic lay organization, established in the 1920s, plays a notable part in Catholic life and, among much else, has been working for the possible canonization of Sir James Marshall.

Every year on the anniversary of Marshall’s death, the Knights and Ladies gather in large numbers at Mortlake, where prayers are led at Marshall’s tomb and flowers and wreaths are laid. And meanwhile, daily across London and the rest of Britain, priests from Ghana and Nigeria lead parishes, teach the Faith, and evangelize the country – missionaries now to the country which once gave missionaries to them.

Sir James Marshall’s grave at Mortlake

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The Blessed Sacrament and the Apostolate in the Modern World – Conclusion

October 5, 2026

Continued from Part II Contradiction between everyday life and the statistics – What a terrible phenomenon that undermines the Catholic population itself, and which leads the Brazilian spirit, unfortunately so accommodating, to a monstrous situation. We are a nation with an overwhelming Catholic majority. Statistics in fact show a near unanimity of Catholics in Brazil. […]

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