(Feast Day ~ October 19) The patron saint of the city of Oxford, England, is St. Frideswide, whose day is commemorated on October 19. Born around the year 680, Frideswide was the daughter of a Christian King of Wessex. She chose the monastic life for herself, but royal marriages were a means of creating political […]

Feast Day ~ October 18 Everyone admires a “Renaissance” man or woman: one who is broadly educated, widely read, skilled in several fields, who has traveled extensively and is able to carry on intelligent conversations on many subjects. In the historical period we designate as the Renaissance, these characteristics would also have included being able […]

(Feast Day ~ October 15) On the Western Rite calendar, we observe the Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham on October 15, celebrating a vision of our Lady to a widow, Lady Richeldis de Faverches in the year 1061. (While this date is past the year 1054, which technically serves as the date for the […]

(Feast Day ~ October 14) Prayers of Christians in every age have been offered for peace and tranquility, for life free from strife and danger. But when Christians have been faced with danger or oppression, the faithful have remembered Christ’s promise: “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” and […]

(Feast Day ~ October 14) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [Galatians 3:28] Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly I say […]

(Feast Day ~ October 13) In the last years that English Christians were part of the undivided Church, before the schism which separated West from East, the country was ruled by a devout and holy king, Edward, “the Confessor.” Edward was born in 1003, the son of King Ethelred (the “Unready”). He spent many years […]

Feast Day ~ October 13 Since the birth of Christ our God as a human child, there have been those who wanted to eliminate Him, His message of love and forgiveness, and the salvation which He brought to those who follow Him: Herod’s soldiers slaughtered many innocent children but Christ was spared by a flight […]

(Feast Day ~ October 12) In its long history of monarchy, England has often suffered through the reigns of weak, immoral, and even wicked rulers. But it has also been blessed with some rulers whose exemplary lives gave their subjects much more than the expected prosperous economy and prestige among the nations of the world. […]

Feast Day ~ October 12 Not every saint of the Church has been universally loved. Many have had enemies – even other Christians – who opposed them for some reason, who did not share their ideas for missionary work or monastic practices, or any number of other things. We have to remember that what is […]

Feast Day ~ October 11 The small nation of Ireland has produced numerous saints who enrich the Church with the examples of their holy lives and with their intercessions in Heaven. One of these saints, Kenneth, is known to us through the writings of Adomnan, a seventh century abbot of Iona, as well as through […]