BEHEADING OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

AUGUST 29 is the traditional memorial of THE BEHEADING OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. However, the beheading was actually just before Passover. The date of August 29 was chosen because that was the date that Emperor Constantine and Empress Helena had a church they built...

KING SAINT LOUIS IX OF FRANCE

AUGUST 25 is the traditional feast day of ST. LOUIS, king of France (+1270). Here is the only King of France to ever be canonized. Born 25 April, 1214, Louis was the son of Prince Louis “the Lion”, son of King Philip of France, and Blanche of Castile, daughter of King...

ST. BERNARD, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

AUGUST 20 is the traditional feast day of ST. BERNARD, Abbot and Doctor of the Church (+1153). This saint was a major leader of Benedictine monasticism, through the newly found Cistercian order. Born about 1090, in Burgundy, France, near Dijon, he was the son of the...

POPES BONIFACE VI AND STEPHEN VI

We last left Pope Formosus in a desperate situation. He had been pressed into crowning young Lambert, son of Duke Guy of Spoleto, emperor. But within a short period, Formosus turned to King Arnulf, of East Francia and disputed King of Italy, and crowned him emperor....

ST. MAXIMUS, CONFESSOR

AUGUST 13 is the traditional memorial of ST. MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR (+662). Maximus was probably born near Constantinople, being as that area was one of only a handful of places where he could have gotten such an intensive education as he apparently did. It is also...