Catholic Fire

FEAST OF ST. JOSEPH IN HONOR OF SAINT JOSEPH, SPOUSE OF MARY by Saint Louis de Montfort Let’s sing a hymn in honor Of Saint Joseph, the protector And spouse of Mary. Humble Joseph is little known. No one on earth truly understands him But he ravishes the blessed. May earth unite with heaven May everything glorify him! Great saint, God found only you Worthy to be the spouse Of His admirable Mother. Spouse of the Queen of heaven, This privilege is marvelous; Witness of her holiness Guardian of her purity, O incomparable glory! The Eternal Father chose you To nourish His Son on earth, To be His vicar. You have carried in your arms He who holds everything in His hands, By a most special choice You have been the nurturer Of your own Father. Oh! to have seen Him caress you Smile at you and embrace you With extraordinary love. His smiles pierced your heart And filled it with tenderness. Embraced by His love. You told Him, in your turn, My dear

ST. PATRICK'S BREASTPLATE I bind unto myself today The strong Name of the Trinity, By invocation of the same The Three in One and One in Three. I bind this today to me forever By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation; His baptism in Jordan river, His death on Cross for my salvation; His bursting from the spicèd tomb, His riding up the heavenly way, His coming at the day of doom I bind unto myself today. I bind unto myself the power Of the great love of cherubim; The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour, The service of the seraphim, Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word, The Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls, All good deeds done unto the Lord And purity of virgin souls. I bind unto myself today The virtues of the star lit heaven, The glorious sun’s life giving ray, The whiteness of the moon at even, The flashing of the lightning free, The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks, The stable earth, the deep salt sea Around the old eternal rocks. I

CHARITY If we worry too much about ourselves, we won't have time for others...We should learn how to give, but we should not regard giving as an obligation, but as a desire. Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

SAINT JOHN OF GOD St. John of God was born on March 8, 1495 in a small village in the south of Portugal called Montemor-o-Novo. At the age of eight, he left home and was raised by a Spanish family in Oropesa. John spent most of his life as a wanderer, working as a shepherd, soldier, bookseller and laborer, travelling in Europe and North Africa. When St. John of God finally settled in Granada around the age of forty he was so deeply moved by the preaching of Blessed John of Avila, that he gave away all his worldly possessions to the poor and went about the city beating his breast, begging for God’s mercy. His conversion experience was so dramatic in its intensity that he was placed in a psychiatric hospital. His brief experience of this kind of treatment resulted in a deep compassion for the afflicted and gave him a personal and profound understanding of the real needs of the sick. He devoted the rest of his life to caring for those in need. John's work was motivated b

St. Katherine Drexel “The patient and humble endurance of the cross – whatever nature it may be – is the highest work we have to do.”