Vatican Leaders Reject Christ for False Peace at Assisi

The 40th anniversary Assisi conference featured Cardinal Matteo Zuppi (representing the pope) declaring that all religions lead to God.

The Life of Ss Simon & Jude

From The Golden Legend of Blessed Jacobus Voragine, translated by William Caxton in 1483.

HERE FOLLOWETH OF THE HOLY APOSTLES SIMON AND JUDE

Simon Cananean and Judas Thaddeus were brethren of James the Less and sons of Mary Cleophas, which was married to Alpheus. And Jude was sent of Thomas to the king Abgarus of Edessa after the ascension of our Lord.

KING ABGARUS WRITES TO JESUS

And it is read in the History Scholastic that the said Abgarus sent an epistle unto our Lord Jesu Christ in this manner:

Abgarus the son of Euchania to Jesus, blessed Saviour, which appeareth in the places of Jerusalem, sendeth salutation. I have heard of thee, and that the healths and recoverings that thou makest and dost, be without medicines and herbs, and that thou makest the blind to see by thine only word, and the lame to go, the mesels to be cured and made whole, and the dead bodies to live again. Which things heard of thee, I ween in my courage that thou art one of two, that is that thou art God that art descended from heaven for to do this, or that thou art the son of God that dost such things. Wherefore I pray thee by writing that thou wilt travail so much as to come to me and heal me of my malady, of which I have long been vexed. And I have heard say that the Jews murmur against thee and lie in await against thee. Come therefore to me, for I have a little city, but it is honest, and shall shall well suffice to us both.

Our Lord Jesus answered him by writing in these words:

Blessed art thou that hast believed in me when thou hast not seen me. It is written of me, that they that see me not shall believe in me, and they that see me shall not believe. Of that thou hast written to me that I shall come to thee, me behoveth to [i.e., I must] accomplish that which I am sent for, and after to be received of him from whom I am sent. When I am ascended, I shall send to thee one of my disciples to heal thee and quicken thee.

THE PAINTING OF JESUS' FACE

This is written in Historia Ecclesiastica. And when Abgarus saw that he might not see God presently, after that it is said in an ancient history, as John Damascene witnesseth in his fourth book, he sent a painter unto Jesu Christ for to figure the image of our Lord, to the end that at least that he might see him by his image, whom he might not see in his visage.

And when the painter came, because of the great splendour and light that shone in the visage of our Lord Jesu Christ, he could not behold it, ne could not counterfeit it by no figure. And when our Lord saw this thing he took from the painter a linen cloth and set it upon his visage, and emprinted the very phisiognomy of his visage therein, and sent it unto the king Abgarus which so much desired it.

And in the same history is contained how this image was figured. It was well-eyed, well-browed, a long visage or cheer, and inclined, which is a sign of maturity or ripe sadness.

THE POWER OF JESUS' LETTER TO ABGARUS

That epistle of our Lord Jesu Christ is of such virtue, that in the city of Edessa no heretic ne no paynim may live therein, ne none tyrant may grieve it. For if any people come against that city by force of arms, a child shall stand upon the gate, and shall read that epistle, and that same day either the enemies shall flee and be afraid, or they shall make peace with them of the town. And as is said: This hath been done. But this city hath been sith taken of the Saracens and touched in such wise, that for the multiplying of sins this benefit is lost.

THE MISSION OF ST. JUDE THADDEUS TO KING ABGARUS

Also it is read in the History Ecclesiastic that when our Lord was ascended into heaven, Thomas the apostle sent Thaddeus, that was Jude, unto the king Abgarus according to the promise of our Lord. And when he was come to him, and had told to him that he was messenger of our Lord Jesu Christ, which had promised to send him one, then Abgarus saw in the visage of Thaddeus a marvellous and godly brightness. And when he had seen it he was all abashed and afeared, and worshipped our Lord saying: " Verily, thou art the disciple of Jesu Christ, Son of God, which sent to me word that he would send to me some one of his disciples that should heal me and give to me life."

To whom Thaddeus said: "If thou believest in the Son of God thou shalt have all the desires of thine heart."

And Abgarus said: "I believe on him, verily, and those Jews that slew him, I would gladly slay them if it were possible to me, and had power, howbeit that the authority letteth it."

And as it is read in some places and books, that Abgarus was leper, and Thaddeus took the epistle of our Saviour, and rubbed and frotted therewith the visage of Abgarus, and anon he received full health.

SIMON AND JUDE ADVISE DUKE BARDACH IN MESOPOTAMIA

Judas preached first in Mesopotamia and in Pontus, and Simon preached in Egypt, and from thence came they into Persia, and found there two enchanters, Zaroes and Arphaxat, whom S. Matthew had driven out of Ethiopia. And found there also Baradach, a duke of the kings of Babylon, which should go in battle against them of India, and could have none answer of his gods. And then they went to a temple nigh to the city, and there they had answer that because that the apostles that were come they might not answer. Then the duke did enquire for them, and found them, and demanded them wherefore they were come, and what they were.

Which answered: "If thou demand of our lineage, we be Hebrews, and if thou demand of our condition, we be servants of Jesu Christ, and if thou demand wherefore we be come, we be for your health."

To whom the duke answered: "When I shall return joyously from the battle I shall hear you."

To whom the apostles said: "It is more convenable to thee to know him now, by whom thou mayst overcome and appease them that be rebel to thee."

And the duke answered: "I see you more mighty than our gods; I pray you to say to us tofore the end of the battle."

And the apostles said: "Because that thou knowest thy gods to be liars, we command them that they give answer to that [which] thou demandest, because that when they have we shall prove that they have lied."

Then the idols said that the battle should be great, and much people should be overthrown on both sides. And then the apostles began to laugh and the duke said to them: "I am afeard and ye laugh."

And the apostles said: " Doubt ye nothing, for peace shall be made among you, and tomorn at the hour of tierce the messengers of the Medes shall come, and shall submit them to thy puissance with peace."

And then the bishops of the idols made a great laughter, and said to the duke: "These men here would assure thee here, to the end that thou shouldst believe foolishly, and that thou shouldst be betaken of thine adversaries."

And the apostles said: "We say not abide a month, but one day only, and thou shalt be vanquisher all in peace."

Then the duke made to be kept that one and that other, that they that said the truth should be honoured, and the liars punished. Then on the morn, like as the apostles had said, it happed, and then the duke would have burnt the bishops of the idols, but the apostles letted him that he should not slay them, for they were not come for to slay but for to quicken the dead. And then the duke much marvelled that they would not that they should be slain ne receive none of their goods, and brought them to the king and said: "These be gods hid in form of men."

THE ENCHANTERS CONSPIRE AGAINST SAINTS SIMON AND JUDE

And when he had told all to him in the presence of his enchanters, the enchanters, being moved of envy, said that they were malicious and wicked men, and purposed some malice against the realm subtly. Then the duke said to them: "Now if ye dare, assay ye and dispute with them."

And the enchanters said: "If thou wilt, thou shalt see that they shall not now speak. We being present, make men to come hither that be eloquent and can well speak. And if they dare speak tofore us despise ye us, and say we be fools."

And then were brought tofore them many advocates, and anon they were made dumb tofore the enchanters, so that by signs they might not show that they might not speak. Then said the enchanters to the king: "To the end that thou know that we be gods, we shall suffer them to speak, but they shall not mow go, and then we shall give to them their going and shall take away their sight, and yet shall their eyes be open."

And when they had done all these things, the duke brought the advocates all confused unto the apostles, and when the advocates saw the apostles so evil clothed, they had of them great despite in their courage. To whom Simon said: "Ofttimes it happeth that among coffers of gold wrought with precious stones be right evil things enclosed, and within coffers of tree be laid gold rings and precious stones. Promise ye that ye will forsake the idols and will worship one only God invisible, and we shall make the sign of the cross in your foreheads, and ye shall then mow confound these enchanters."

And when these advocates had renounced the idols and were marked in the foreheads with the sign of the cross, they entered again to the king tofore the enchanters. Then might they not be overcome of the enchanters, but confounded them openly before the king and all the people. The enchanters were then angry, and made to come a great multitude of serpents. Then the apostles came anon by the commandment of the king, and filled their mantles with the serpents, and threw them against the enchanters, saying: "Move ye not in the name of our Lord Jesu Christ but be ye to-torn and beaten, so that ye cry and bray in showing what sorrow and pain ye suffer."

And then when the serpents bit and eat the flesh of the enchanters, they cried and howled like wolves, and the king and the others prayed the apostles that they would suffer them to die with the serpents. And the apostles answered that they were sent for to bring men from death to life, and not from life to death. Then made they their prayers and commanded the serpents that they should take from them again the venom that they had shed, and return again to the places that they came from.

And the enchanters felt greater pain when they drew out their venom again, than they did the first time when they bit them. And the apostles said to them: "Ye shall feel this pain three days, and at the third day ye shall be whole, so that ye depart from your malice."

And when they had been tormented three days without meat and drink and without sleep, the apostles came to them and said: "God deigneth not to have service by force, and therefore arise ye all whole and go your way, ye have power to do what ye will.

And they, abiding in their malice, arose up and fled from the apostles and moved almost against them all Babylon.

THE UNWED MOTHER AND THE HOLY DEACON

After, the daughter of a duke conceived a son by fornication, and at her deliverance thereof she defamed an holy deacon, and said that he had defouled her and she had conceived of him. And when the friends of her would have slain the deacon, the apostles came and demanded when the child had been born. And they said: "Yesterday, the first hour of the day."

And the apostles said: "Bring hither the child to us, and also the deacon that ye accuse."

And when that was done, the apostles said to the child: "Say to us in the name of our Lord if this deacon hath done this deed."

And the child answered: "This deacon is chaste and an holy man, ne he never defouled his flesh."

And then the parents and friends required that the apostle should demand who had done that felony. They answered: "It appertaineth to us for to excuse the innocents, and not betray ne hurt them that be culpable."

TWO CRUEL TIGERS

That time it happed that two cruel tigers, which were enclosed in a pit, brake out and devoured all them that they met and encountered, and then the apostles came to them and made them as meek and debonair, in the name of our Lord, as they had been sheep or lambs.

SIMON AND JUDE GAIN CONVERTS IN MESOPOTAMIA AND ARE MARTYRED

And then the apostles would have departed thence, but they were holden by prayers so that they abode there a year and three months, and in that espace of time the king and more than sixty thousand men were baptized, without children.

And the foresaid enchanters went into a city called Suamar, whereas were seventy bishops of idols, whom they moved against the apostles, so that when they came thither, either they should do sacrifice to the idols or they should be slain. And when the apostles had gone round about the province, they came to said city, and anon all the bishops and the people took them and brought them to the temple of the sun. And the devils began to cry in the simulachres: What will these apostles of the living God do to us? Lo! how we be burnt by flames in their entering into this city.

And then the angel of our Lord appeared unto the apostles, and said to them: "Choose ye of two things that one, that is, either that this people be suddenly dead or slain, or that ye be martyred."

To whom they said: "We will that thou convert them here, and lead us to the pain of martyrdom."

And they then commanded silence, and the apostles said: "Because that ye shall know that these idols be full of devils, we command them for to come out, and that each of them break and destroy his false image." And anon two Ethiopians, black and naked, issued out of the idols, all the people seeing which were abashed, and all tobrake their idols, and went their way, crying cruelly.

And when the bishops saw this, they ran upon the apostles and hewed them to death anon. And that same hour, which was right fair weather, came so great thunder and lightning that the temple was smitten in three, and the two enchanters were turned into coals by the stroke of thunder.

And the king bare the bodies of the apostles into his city, and did do make a church of marvellous greatness in the honour of them.

OTHER ACCOUNTS OF SIMON'S ACTS AND DEATH

And it is founden in divers places, of S. Simon, that he was nailed to the cross, which thing Isidore saith in the Book of the Death of the Apostles, and Eusebius in the History Ecclesiastic, and Bede upon the Acts of the Apostles, and Master John Beleth in his Summa witnesseth the same. And as they say, when he had preached in Egypt, he came again and was made bishop in Jerusalem after the death of James the Less, and was chosen of the court of the apostles, and it is said that he raised thirty dead men to life. When he had governed the church of Jerusalem many years, unto the time of Trajan the emperor, in the time that Atticus was consul in Jerusalem, of whom he was taken and tormented and done to much wrong. And at the last he was tormented and fixed to the cross, and the judge and all they that were there marvelled that the man which was six score years old might suffer the torment of the cross. And some say verily that it was not this Simon that suffered the martyrdom of the cross, but it was another, the son of Cleophas, brother of Joseph, and Eusebius, bishop of Cæsarea, witnesseth it in his chronicle. For Isidore and Eusebius corrected their chronicles of that they said tofore, which appeareth by Bede, that when he felt this he revoked it in his retractions. And the same witnesseth Usuard in his Martyrology.

Then let us devoutly pray these apostles to be our special advocates unto our blessed Lord Jesu Christ their master, to have pity and mercy on us. Amen.

Inside a Real Medieval Peasant House — What It Actually Looked Like

From Medieval Way

Medieval Way explores the architectural design of 14th-century peasant dwellings, specifically examining how open hearths, roof construction, and smoke management shaped daily life. Discover the ingenious, often overlooked reasons behind the layout of these homes and how environmental factors influenced everything from interior furniture to livestock placement.

It is 1380, and you have just walked into a peasant's house. The first thing that hits you is not the dark. It is the smoke. A fire is burning in the middle of the floor, on a bare clay pad. Look up for a chimney and there is nothing there. There will not be one in this building for another two hundred years. The smoke climbs, spreads out under the roof, and leaves through the thatch. Your eyes sting, and you assume these people are poor. Nobody in that room could have told you the smoke was holding the house up. It was. It was also damaging their eyes and their lungs, and both of those things stayed true for four centuries.

Traditional Catholic Morning Prayers in English | October

Traditional Catholic morning prayers to lay a strong foundation for the rest of your day! The month of October is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I hope these prayers increase your devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary this month, to help us meditate on the events in the life of Christ and draw us closer to her Divine Son, Jesus Christ. Begin each day with morning prayer! This video is a compilation of many traditional evening prayers Catholics say, and should not be considered a replacement for those who have an obligation to pray the Divine Office morning prayers.

Are You Really Living Your Catholic Faith? 6 Signs to Check

From Totus Catholica

Almost a hundred years before Jesus was born, a community of devout Jews at Qumran asked what every lukewarm Catholic must face: has the outward sign reached the heart? Their community rule called for a change deeper than the body. Is it possible to carry every outward mark of belonging to God and still hold your heart back? If you have ever sat in a pew wondering whether your faith is alive or merely familiar, this question is for you. Together, we follow the Jewish roots of an ancient call, from circumcision of the flesh to the inner conversion the Holy Spirit works in a baptized soul. In this video, I walk through six honest signs of a faith that needs renewal, not six reasons to judge the person beside you. We explore selective belief, neglected sacraments, resistance to Church authority, unrepented grave sin, prayerless identity, and love withheld from our neighbors. Baptism is not erased by our failures, but belonging and living in grace are not the same thing. From Passover's old leaven to Christ our Passover Lamb, the story points toward mercy rather than despair. Let this be a mirror, not a weapon: return to honest prayer, seek reconciliation in confession, and come to Sunday Mass ready to let Christ change your heart. In this video: • What makes someone a true Catholic: the label or the life? • Why mortal sin does not simply erase Catholic belonging • How faith working through love answers the works objection • Why Israel's olive tree matters for Catholic self-examination ⏱ CHAPTERS 0:00 Circumcision of the Heart Explained 2:52 Selective Belief and Catholic Teaching 3:40 Neglecting Mass, Confession and the Eucharist 4:44 Catholic Church Authority and Communion 6:01 Mortal Sin and Returning to Confession 7:46 Lukewarm Catholic Faith and Prayer 9:01 Loving Your Neighbor and Living Faith 📖 SCRIPTURE REFERENCED • Deuteronomy 10:16 & Romans 2:28,29: circumcision of the heart by the Spirit. • Luke 10:16; Matthew 16; John 6: Christ's authority, Church and sacramental life. • 1 Corinthians 5: 11& 28: Christ our Passover and examination before Communion. • Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15; 7:21; Revelation 3:15,16: lip service and lukewarm faith. • Hosea 6:6; 1 John 4:20; John 13:35; 1 Corinthians 13: mercy and love. • James 2:17; Galatians 5:6; Romans 11: living faith and Israel's olive tree. ⛪ FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS & THE CATECHISM • St. Augustine (4th-5th centuries): bodily presence without a heart turned to God. • St. Ignatius of Antioch (1st-2nd centuries): the bishop, communion and the Catholic Church. • St. John Chrysostom (4th-5th centuries): honoring Christ also means caring for the poor. • CCC 837: belonging in body and heart; CCC 1855: mortal sin destroys charity. 📜 SOURCES & FURTHER READING • Qumran Community Rule: the inclination and inward conversion. • Council of Trent: mortal sin, faith, and living membership in Christ. 🔗 EXPLORE MORE 🌍 Website: https://totuscatholica.org/ Rosary Guide: https://totuscatholica.org/rosary ✉️ Contact: https://totuscatholica.org/contact 🔍 Examination of Conscience: https://catholicexaminationofconscien... 📚 Free eBooks: https://buymeacoffee.com/totuscatholi... 👥 Become a Totus Insider: https://buymeacoffee.com/totuscatholi...

Were Ss Simon and Jude Brothers of Jesus Christ?

"Adelphos", the word used in the Gospel of Matthew, can mean "half-brother" (children of St Joseph by an earlier marriage), cousins, or nephews.

From Aleteia

By Philip Kosloski

Many biblical translations explain how Simon and Jude were "brothers" of Jesus Christ, a term that can be translated a variety of ways.

Often when a Christian reads the Bible they will get confused by the following verse in the Gospel of Matthew:

Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Jude? (Matthew 13:55)

Some translations will switch-out "brothers" for "brethren," which is a more general term.

The primary problem behind the word "brothers" is that it would appear to deny the Blessed Mother's perpetual virginity. This would make it seem that Jesus had biological brothers and that Mary was not a virgin.

Adelphos

All English translations of the Bible rely on the Greek original text. In Greek, the word used for "brothers" is "adelphos."

According to Fr. William Saunders, "In the original text of the Gospel, we find the Greek word adelphos meaning brother, used. However, it does not just mean blood brothers born of the same parents. Rather, adelphos was used to describe brothers not born of the same parents, like a half-brother or stepbrother. The word also described other relationships, like cousins, nephews, etc."

This means that the word in the Gospel of Matthew translated as "brother," could mean any number of familial relations.

It doesn't necessarily mean that Jesus had blood brothers, but that he had other family members, such as cousins.

Fr. Paweł Rytel-Andrianik explains in an article for Aleteia that this was the opinion of the early Church:

[A hypothesis comes from] Hegesippus, an author who wrote in the middle of the 2nd century. According to his theory, “Jesus’ brothers” are the relatives of St. Joseph, or more precisely the sons of his brother, Cleophas, and thus Jesus' first cousins. This opinion is described by Eusebius of Caesarea in his Ecclesiastical History (3.11 and 32; 4.22). This was also the opinion of St. Jerome.

Most biblical scholars agree with this assessment of the situation, as it coincides with other parts of the Bible where the "adelphos" term is also used.

The Church affirms that Jesus did not have any biological brothers, and that Mary was a virgin her whole life:

Jesus is Mary’s only son, but her spiritual motherhood extends to all men whom indeed he came to save: “The Son whom she brought forth is he whom God placed as the first-born among many brethren, that is, the faithful in whose generation and formation she co-operates with a mother’s love (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 501).

While some translations can be confusing, when you dig deeper, the original text does not contradict official Church teaching.

How One American Cardinal Rewrote Catholic Tradition

From AdVaticanum

Thirty years after his passing, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin is being honoured with high-profile commemorations across Italy. Lauded by figures like Cardinal Blaise Cupich for his progressive vision, Bernardin is often remembered as a champion of unity. But behind the praise lies a far more complex and controversial legacy that continues to shape the Catholic Church today.

Let’s take a look at the checkered story of the late Archbishop of Chicago…from the origins of the "Seamless Garment" philosophy to the parliamentary manoeuvring that introduced Communion in the hand to the U.S., and how his 1996 "Common Ground Initiative" laid the blueprint for modern synodality.

The Habsburg Family: Defenders of the Faith

Many years ago, the prot terrorist, Ian Paisley, protested the visit of JPII to the European Parliament by unfurling a banner saying "the Pope is the Antichrist". Paisley was a big man. HIRH Otto, a man of slight build, ran across the hall and punched him. I wrote HIRH thanking and congratulating him. He replied that he was only doing what his family had done for centuries: defending the Church.

From One Peter Five

By Charles Coulombe, STM, KCSS

Editor’s note: learn more about Catholic lay nobility at The Habsburg Way from our new contributing editor, Archduke Eduard Habsburg.

God preserve, God protect,
Our Emperor, our Country!
Powerful through the support of the Faith,
He leads us with a wise hand!
Let us defend the Crown of his fathers,
Shielding it from every foe.
Forever with the Habsburg Throne,
Austria’s fate remains united.

As His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Eduard von Habsburg joins our OnePeterFive team, it is worthwhile recalling the accomplishments his family have achieved.  Our new colleague comes from an amazing background, and it is not unfair to say that it acts as an inspiration for him and every living member of his clan, wildly diverse as their various efforts are.  We have just celebrated the feast of his relative, Bl. Karl I, last Monarch of Austria-Hungary.  But while many of us will know of that holy Emperor’s tragic yet uplifting story, as with the Archduke Eduard himself, the epic tale of the dynasty that gave birth to them both needs to be understood in some detail to understand either of them.

To begin with, we should note the most obvious thing about the Habsburgs – the insignia of the Double Eagle.  Wherever they have been throughout Central Europe and the Americas, it can be found, somewhere or other.  But they are not its only users: Russia, the Greek Army, the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Byzantine Empire, Serbia, Albania, and a host of others use it as well.  Since there are none of these creatures living or that have ever lived (save in Archduke Eduard’s delightful children’s book, Dubbie – which like all good children’s books can be read with profit by adults), one could be forgiven for thinking that it is in reality a heraldic symbol with a common origin.  He would be right.

For its origins, we have to look back to the time of the Roman Emperor, St. Constantine the Great (I make no apologies for calling him a Saint; the Eastern Catholics do, and he has a local cultus in parts of Italy).  Famous for making Catholicism legal by the Edict of Milan in 313; for convoking the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea and so indirectly for the Creed we recite at Mass; for founding the Eastern Capital at Constantinople; for endowing St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, Notre Dame de Paris, the Basilica at Trier, Hagia Sophia, the Basilicas of the Holy Sepulchre and the Nativity in the Holy Land, and a great many other famous churches besides; and so much else besides.  It is he who gave the Roman Imperial Eagle two heads – to signify that it looks both East and West and encompasses both Church and State.

This was a vision that really began with Our Lord at the Last Supper, when He fused His Davidic Kingship – to which in His Human Nature, He was rightful heir – with the Communio of the Church.  The symbol of this fusion is His Washing of the Feet.  In future centuries, this would be a staple of the Maundy Thursday ceremonies of every Court in Christendom, as monarchs who aspired to participate in the Kingship of Christ considered it their duty.  None would excel the Habsburgs in their performance of this custom.

But all that was in potentia at the Last Supper, and for the next few centuries in which the Church was a persecuted body whose members prayed for their rulers, fought and died in their armies, paid their taxes, and when called upon to worship them, often enough died instead.  It began to be actualised in 302, when all of Armenia was baptised from king to peasant, rapidly followed by Georgia, Ethiopia, and then St. Constantine’s Edict of Milan.  Evangelisation of the Empire proceeded rapidly, and in 380 Emperor Theodosius the Great made Catholicism the religion of the Empire and baptism entrance into Roman citizenship as well as the Church.

As the various barbarian tribes settled down on Roman territory and built the foundations of the modern European countries, they considered their various kingdoms to remain under the jurisdiction of both the Pope and the Emperor.  This continued after 476 when the Empire in the West was ended by the Herulian King Odacer, who sent the Imperial diadem to Constantinople, saying that there was once again only one Emperor.  Eighteen years later, Pope St. Gelasius I wrote the famous letter “Duo sunt” to Byzantine Emperor Gelasius I.  This served for centuries to follow as the unofficial constitution of the Res Publica Christiana, the collection of Christian countries, East and West.  Whatever quarrels there might be between Church and State or individual kings and the emperor – even those leading to bloodshed – there was a strong and universal understanding that it was all “one house,” so to speak.  Outside lay the pagan enemies – and eventually the Muslims – either to be fought or converted or both.  The Cross and the Double Eagle flew over the Christian Commonwealth, unruly though its denizens might be.  Even mighty Justinian, reconqueror of much of the West, had a visiting Pope re-crown him in Constantinople, although he had already been anointed and crowned by that city’s Patriarch.

On Christmas Day, 800, Pope St. Leo III crowned Bl. Charlemagne as Emperor of a revived Roman Empire in the West (which we call to-day the “Holy Roman Empire”).  Dom Guéranger, in his coverage of St. Leo III’s feast explains well that Pontiff’s motivations in this action:

Monarch as he is, Peter’s successor would be at liberty to choose from amongst the kings of the West (all of whom gloried in being his sons), one prince to whom he might confide the office of protector and defender of Holy Church. Head as he is of the whole spiritual army of the elect, Porter of heaven’s gates, Depository of grace and of infallible truth, he could invite the said prince to the honor of his allegiance. Sublime indeed would such an alliance be, the legitimacy whereof bears the palm over that of all treaties ever concluded between potentates. Such an alliance, inasmuch as it is intended to guarantee the rights of the King of kings, in the person of His representative, would entail solemn obligations, it is true, on the recipient; but at the same time, it would single him out to lofty privileges.

Intrinsically vain and powerless are nobility of race, vastness of territory, glory of arms, and brilliancy of genius, to exalt a prince above his peers; such a greatness merely springs from earth and outstrips not man’s limits. But the ally of Pontiffs would possess a dignity touching upon the heavenly; for such are the sacred interests whereof he would assume the filial guardianship. Without in the least encroaching on the domain of other kings, his compeers in other respects, or derogating from their independence, he must hold it his right, as accredited protector of his mother, the Church, to carry the sword, whithersoever the spiritual authority is aggrieved or requires his concurrence, in the accomplishment of the divine mission of teaching and saving souls. In this sense, his power must be universal, because the mission of Holy Church is universal. So real this power, so distinct from every other, that to express it a new diadem must needs be added to the regal crown already his by inheritance; and a fresh anointing, different from the usual royal unction, must manifest in his person, superiority over all other kings, chieftainship of the Holy Empire, of the Roman Empire renewed, ennobled and limitless, as the earthly dominion assigned to Jesus Christ by the Eternal Father.

Of course, this revival was not welcomed by the Byzantines.  But both used the double eagle, both tried to act as temporal heads of Christendom within their respective spheres, and eventually both collaborated on the Crusades – the first pan-Christian defence of Christendom against an external threat.  Sadly – thanks to the Fall-of-Man driven struggles which always roiled Christendom – only the First Crusade was mostly successful, thanks to both sets of Christians honestly collaborating with each other.  One lasting result was the establishment of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and of the Orders of Knighthood.  But subsequent years saw such disgraces as the slaughter of the Latins and the Fourth Crusade.  In any case, defence of the Holy Land and the war against the Muslims became an important motif of Christendom as a whole, and the imperial office in particular.

Meanwhile, a minor Swiss noble family was growing in local influence in their native Aargau.  The first of any significance lived in the 900s, and bore the suggestive name of Gontram the Rich.  In time, his descendants took their name from a Castle they owned: Schloss Habsburg.  Nearby was Muri Abbey which they richly endowed, and which became their burial site.  From this secure base they quietly prospered, loyal allies of the Hohenstaufen Holy Roman Emperors.  In 1273, Count Rudolf IV of Habsburg was elected Holy Roman Emperor as Rudolf I, and the Habsburg adventure began in earnest; nine years later, he attached the Archduchy of Austria to his family’s hereditary possessions.  “Habsburg” and “Austria” have been inseparable ever since – to the everlasting improvement of the latter.

In the centuries that followed, the House of Habsburg expanded their territories through judicious marriages, hence the old saying, “let other countries make war; you, oh happy Austria, marry!”  In this way Tyrol, Bohemia, Hungary, Croatia, and a great many other thrones came to them; from 1452 until the Holy Roman Empire de facto (de jure is another matter) ended, with only two exceptions, every Holy Roman Emperor was a Habsburg.  More marriages brought the family the Netherlands, Burgundy, Spain, large chunks of Italy, Spanish America and the Philippines.  From an apex under Charles V in the 16th century (upon whose realms “the Sun never set”), they began a long slow decline, which ended in 1918 with the deposition of Bl. Karl at the hands of Woodrow Wilson and Karl Renner.

But in the meantime, they created an enormous legacy for the benefit of the entire world in many fields: political (their “Imperial Idea” was the near perfection of subsidiarity in action); cultural (they virtually created the Baroque, and their artistic, architectural, literary, and musical contributions through patronage are incalculable – hence the Council of Europe Cultural Routes of “On The Trail of The Habsburgs” and “Roads of Charles V”); and above all, religious.

More than anything, they were champions of the Catholic Faith, complete with an expression of devotion peculiar to themselves – the Pietas Austriaca.  The Habsburgs were a huge motive force behind the Evangelisation of the Americas and Pacific through the Patronato Real, which firmly established the Faith in Peru, Mexico, the Philippines, and our own New Mexico, Florida, and Texas.  They were the motive force – financially and politically – behind much of the Counter Reformation.  Even after they were confined to Central Europe, they did the best they could.  The Ruthenian, Romanian, and Ukrainian Byzantine and Coptic Catholic Churches owe either or both their origins and their subsequent development to the House of Habsburg.  From 1800 until 1914, they heavily funded the Church in Scandinavia, Bulgaria, Albania, Egypt, Southern Sudan, and especially in the United States.

As Jonathan Singerton points out:

For over eighty years, the Leopoldine Society (Die Leopoldinenstiftung) promoted Catholicism in North American through raising donations and supporting missionary work. Named for the late Empress Marie Leopoldine of Brazil and the patron saint of Austria, the Society exerted a considerable influence over frontier communities in the American Midwest. Altogether the Leopoldine Society raised 4,250,000 Gulden (roughly €26,000,000 in today’s terms) for Catholic projects in the United States. Funds poured in from across the Austrian-Hungarian lands but the largest sums were raised from the Austrian archdioceses in the Tyrolean Alps and along the Danubian basin. Over three hundred clergymen left Austria-Hungary to missionise for the Leopoldine Society in the United States. The only male American saint [St. John Neumann] numbered among them.

The Leopoldine Society led to the construction of more than four hundred Catholic churches in the United States. In fact, within the first twenty-five years of the Leopoldine Society, churches in twenty-five American cities had been erected using Society funding. Rapid growth, monetary income, and pastoral determination supported the religious devotion of several Native American nations at a time when these nations were marginalized within American society and faced eviction from sovereign lands by the US government.

Although heavily subsidised by the Habsburg emperors of the time, this does not include the aid those emperors also gave the nascent Eastern Catholic churches in our country.  Well indeed did our President Wilson repay them for all of this.

The recipient of this ingratitude was, however, perhaps the greatest single gift the House of Habsburg has given the Church thus far: Blessed Emperor Karl (his wife, Empress Zita, is also a Servant of God).  The Kaiser Karl League of Prayer promotes his canonisation.  But even after the debacle of 1918, Bl. Karl’s son and grandson continued and continue to do their best to contribute the treasures of their family’s heritage to a modern world in ever greater need of it.  This is true of many other living members of the House, not least of whom is our new colleague, the former Ambassador of Hungary to the Holy See.

True to the traditions of his house, His Imperial and Royal Highness the Archduke Eduard von Habsburg has not merely a Pan-European, but a global and integrally Catholic vision to his work.  I have no doubt that shall include his efforts with OnePeterFive.  And so it is that I welcome him to our ranks with glad heart, and know that we all shall do likewise!