Saint Richard of Sussex

Saint Richard of Chichester (+1253) was a mediaeval bishop in Sussex – now the patron saint of that bucolic region in the south of England, whence hailed Hilaire Belloc. I’m not sure if he ever wrote of Saint Richard, but perhaps he did, and any reader who knows of such is free to send along the reference. Faced with the choice of running the family lands and marriage, or apostolic work for the Church, Richard chose the latter and objectively higher path, and never looked back. He was a staunch defender of the sanctity of the priesthood and the rights of the Church. Many clerics at the time were living in concubinage, and Richard spared no efforts to stamp out the disorder, that priests were called to conform their lives more perfectly to Christ’s own, in poverty and chastity. He himself was a lifelong vegetarian – as we mentioned of Saint Francis of Paola yesterday, for spiritual and ascetic reasons, not because ‘meat was bad’. Rather, as Belloc would have agree, because it was very good. Same thing with marriage: A very good thing, and it was only because it was so good, was it a sacrifice offered to God to give up the companionship of a wife and children, for the sake of the kingdom.

Like Thomas a Becket before him, and John Fisher after him, Saint Richard, bishop and sometime chancellor, also resisted the encroachments of the king in the rights and affairs of the Church. All three kings were named Henry, the second, eighth and third, respectively. Richard’s nemesis – Henry III – at one point forbade his subjects to ‘feed or house’ the bishop, to little avail, for, as Thomas More was to declare, we must be God and the Church’s servants first, before the king’s.

After his death, Saint Richard’s tomb became a place of pilgrimage, second only to Becket’s own shrine at Canterbury. Henry VIII, who seized far more power than his predecessors, had both shrines destroyed, the relics of the bishops scattered. But there is a legend that the faithful preserved some of these, hiding them from Cromwell’s agents. If one knows where, one may still venerate the bones of the good bishop Richard. May he give strength and courage to our current episcopate, facing in our own day and time the powers and principalities waging war against the Church, against the Lord, and against His anointed.

Here is a prayer composed by Saint Richard:

Gratias tibi ago, Domine Jesu Christe, de omnibus beneficiis quae mihi praestitisti;
pro poenis et opprobriis, quae pro me pertulisti;
propter quae planctus ille lamentabilis vere tibi competebat.
Non est dolor similis sicut dolor meus

Rendered into rather free English as:

Thanks be to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ

For all the benefits Thou hast given me,
For all the pains and insults Thou hast borne for me.
O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother,
May I know Thee more clearly,
Love Thee more dearly,
Follow Thee more nearly.

Amen.

Carney’s Amoral Majority

After five defections – euphemistically described as ‘crossing the floor’ – and three by-elections, Mark Carney and his Liberals how have their coveted majority. One wonders what bowls of pottage were offered in back-room deals. In the archaic monarchical system that is the Dominion of Canada, this majority allows the newly-minted Prime Minister to rule[…]Continue reading→

A Closed, Unsustainable, Descending Loop

As a follow-up to my thoughts on Payette’s payout, here be a stark image of where are here in Canada. As the graph shows in, well, graphic terms, since 2025, the public sector has contributed to 95.5% of economic growth. The private sector – which funds the public sector, or is supposed to – has[…]Continue reading→

Remembering Father Alphonse de Valk

(Today marks the sixth anniversary of the death of Father Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B., a faithful, courageous and indefatigable Basilian priest, pro-life-and-family apostle, and the founder of Catholic Insight magazine. Here is what we wrote those on his entering into eternity five years ago, as we continue to remember him in our prayers and thoughts)[…]Continue reading→

A Tale of Two Benedicts

A grace-filled Holy Week to all our readers! As we await and prepare for the Resurrection about to dawn upon us, we might keep in mind two Benedicts: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, requiescat in pace, elected on this day in 2005; and today’s commemoration of the mystic pilgrim, Benedict Joseph Labre, who died on this[…]Continue reading→

Presidential Pardon of Weronika Krawczyk

As a good news, follow-up to our story from Poland, of the persecution of Weronika Krawczyk for her pro-life views, we heard that she has been granted a presidential pardon. One might still wonder why one needs a presidential pardon for simply holding the long-held belief that the child within the womb is a child,[…]Continue reading→

Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully

Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380 – 1433) was one of the countless and glorious ‘victim souls’ in the history of the Church, those whose lives are filled with suffering, often of an unimaginable intensity, but who suffer joyfully. She was a fifteen-year old Dutch girl, out skating one day, when she fell and broke one[…]Continue reading→

The Glorious Martyrdoms of Martin and Maximus

As we enter into Eastertide, we recall on this 13th of April Pope Saint Martin I (+655), one of the noblest, if most tragic, of the successors of Saint Peter. Born in Umbria, Italy, he was of noble lineage, with great intelligence combined with charity and love of the poor and the Church. While still[…]Continue reading→

Pope Leo and a Rosary for Peace

Pope Leo XIV has asked Catholics across the world to join him in a Rosary for peace today, at 18:00 Rome time (6 pm), which would be noon from where I write (EST). If you are able, whether at that time or another, and in whatever way you pray, to join in intercession with the[…]Continue reading→

Payette’s Payout

I was glancing through some headlines, and noticed a mention of Julie Payette – engineer and astronaut and sometime the Queen’s representative in Canada – which brought back vague memories. She was appointed Governor-General by Justin Trudeau in 2017. Ms. Payette resigned in 2021, amidst claims that she created a ‘toxic work environment’, with allegations[…]Continue reading→

Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów

We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→