Piero della Francesca (c. 1415 – October 12, 1492) was an Italian artist of the Early Renaissance. To contemporaries, he was known as a mathematician and geometer as well as an artist, though now he is chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting was characterized by its serene humanism and its use of geometric forms, particularly in relation to perspective and foreshortening.(From Wikipedia) Read more

Roger Brooke Taney was the eleventh United States Attorney General. He also was the fifth Chief Justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 1864, and was the first Roman Catholic to hold that office. He is most remembered for delivering the majority opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford, that ruled, among others, that African Americans, being considered “of an inferior order and altogether unfit to associate with the white race” at the time... Read more

LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT By John Henry Newman Lead, kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom, lead Thou me on! The night is dark, and I am far from home; lead Thou me on! Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to seeThe distant scene; one step enough for me. I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou shouldst lead me on; I loved to choose and see my path; but now lead Thou me on! I loved the garish day,... Read more

God does not ask the impossible, but instructs you to do what you are able, and to pray for aid in doing what you are not able to do youself, that He may help you. Decree of the Council of Trent, Sixth Session, Chapter 11 (January 13, 1547) Read more

On this day in 1869, the New York Foundling Hospital opened under the Sisters of Charity. Their website has this to say: When gas lights were in vogue and Ulysses S. Grant was President, Sr. Mary Irene Fitzgibbon and a small group of devoted Sisters opened The Foundling Asylum of the Sisters of Charity to care for babies abandoned in the devastating wake of the Civil War. On October 11, 1869, on the first night in their small Greenwich Village... Read more

On this day in 1962, the Second Vatican Council opened. Above is a prayer card for the success of the council. Read more

To be ignorant of the Scriptures is not to know Christ.St. Jerome Read more

The Gonzaga University Football Team, 1896. Read more

Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) wasn’t Catholic, but he created some beautiful paintings with Catholic themes, including portraits of several Catholic bishops and priests. This 1880 painting The Crucifixion is noteworthy for its stark realism. Read more

Born to the nobility, the great-grandson of Pope Alexander VI; grandson of King Ferdinand of Aragon; son of Duke Juan Borgia. Raised in the court of King Charles V and educated at Saragossa, Spain. Married Eleanor de Castro in 1529, and the father of eight children. Accompanied Charles on his expedition to Africa, 1535, and to Provence, 1536. Viceroy of Catalonia, 1539–1543. Duke of Gandia, 1543–1550. Widower in 1546.Friend and advisor of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Joined the Jesuits in... Read more