Catholic Fire

Image : Saint Raymond of Penafort , patron saint of lawyers, canon lawyers, schools of law, and medical record librarians. Optional Memorial of St. Raymond of Penafort, priest Today's Mass Readings The Fourteenth Day of Christmas On This Day in Catholic History 1844 Saint Bernadette Soubirous , a French peasant girl who had several visions of the Virgin Mary in a cave near the Gave River close to her birthplace of Lourdes, was born (d. April 16, 1879). 1502 - Pope Gregory XIII was born. (d. 1585) Birthdays 1800 - Millard Fillmore , 13th President of the United States (d. 1874) 1827 - Sir Sandford Fleming , Canadian engineer; introduced Universal Standard Time (d. 1915 ) 1873 - Adolph Zukor , Hungarian producer (d. 1976) 1873 - Charles Peguy , French poet, essayist, and editor, Catholic convert, (d. 1914) 1934 - Charlie Jenkins , American runner 1942 - Jim Lefebvre , American baseball player and manager 1945 - Tony Conigliaro , American baseball player (d. 1990) 1948 - Kenny Logg...

Adoration of the Magi, Perugino Today is the solemnity of the Epiphany, which takes places on the 12th day after Christmas, January 6, and commemorates the manifestation of the majesty and divinity our newborn Savior. Originating in the Eastern Church in the 3rd century, this feast soon spread to the West, where it is now commemorated especially for the apparition to the Magi. One of the customs of Epiphany is the exchange of simple gifts. My gifts to you, my dear readers, are the following: An Epiphany Prayer Lord Jesus, may your light shine our way, as once it guided the steps of the magi: that we too may be led into your presence and worship you, the Child of Mary, the Word of the Father, the King of nations, the Saviour of mankind; to whom be glory for ever. ~Frank Colquhoun An Epiphany Quote "If the Magi had come in search of an earthly King, they would have been disconcerted at finding that they had taken the trouble to come such a long way for nothing. Consequently they wou...

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious The Eleventh Day of Christmas Today's Mass Readings On This Day in Catholic History 1066 - St. Edward the Confessor (b. ca. 1004), English king, died. 1953 - The Catholic Hour aired for the first time over NBC television. This long-running series (aired through August 1970) was produced by NBC in cooperation with the National Council of Catholic Men. 1975 - Elizabeth Ann Seton becomes the first American-born saint. Birthdays 1643 - Sir Isaac Newton , English mathematician and natural philosopher (d. 1727) 1710 - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi , Italian composer (d. 1736) 1809 - Louis Braille , French inventor of braille (d. 1852) 1896 - Everett Dirksen , American politician (d. 1969) 1935 - Floyd Patterson , American boxer (d. 2006) 1957 - Patty Loveless , American singer

Memorials of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, bishops and doctors Today's Mass Readings The Ninth Day of Christmas On This Day in Catholic History 533 - Mercurius becomes Pope John II , the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the papacy. 1873 - St. Thérèse of Lisieux , Virgin and Doctor of the Church, a French Carmelite nun, is born. (d. 1897) Read Showers of Roses: Miracles in My Life Through the Intercession of St. Therese, Virgin, and Doctor of the Church for more information about my personal relationship with St. Thérèse. Birthdays 1936 - Roger Miller , American singer, (King of the Road) (d. 1992) 1963 - Edgar Martinez , American baseball player 1965 - Greg Swindell , American baseball player 1971 - Lisa Harrison , American Basketball player born in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., is a former American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). 1983 - Kate Bosworth , American a...

Optional Memorial of St. Sylvester I, pope The Seventh Day of Christmas Today's Mass Readings On This Day in Catholic History Callistus III, [Alfonso the Borgia], Pope (1455-58), was born. Birthdays 1919 - Tommy Byrne , American baseball player 1931 - Bob Shaw , Irish writer (d. 1996) 1943 - John Denver , American singer, songwriter, one of the most popular artists of the 1970's; released 300 songs. Some of his songs included: " Take Me Home, Country Roads ", " Leaving on a Jet Plane ", " Calypso ", " Annie's Song ", " Thank God I'm a Country Boy ", and " Rocky Mountain High ". (d. 1997) 1943 - Pete Quaife , English bassist ( The Kinks ) 1959 - Phill Kline , American politician from Kansas 1961 - Rick Aguilera , American baseball player Image: Vita Mundi

Baby Jesus in the Manger Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs The Fourth Day of Christmas Today's Mass Readings On This Day in Catholic History 1622 - St. Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva, died. (b. 1567) Birthdays 1763 - John Molson , English-born Canadian brewer (d. 1836) 1842 - Calixa Lavallée , French-Canadian composer ( O Canada ) (d.1891) 1856 - Woodrow Wilson , 28th President of the United States, Nobel laureate (d. 1924) 1922 - Stan Lee , American comic book writer 1932 - Nichelle Nichols, American actress and singer; Her most famous role may be that of communications officer Lieutenant Uhura aboard the USS Enterprise in the popular Star Trek television series. 1954 - Denzel Washington , American actor 1972 - Adam Vinatieri , American football player

Jesus is the Light of the World "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world." ~ John 1: 1 - 9 May His light warm your heart and fill it with the peace of His presence and the joy of His love this Christmas and throughout the New Year!

It has always been a tradition in my family to celebrate Christmas at Midnight Mass. Our parish church is so beautifully decorated I wanted to share the beauty with you. The large Fontanini nativity set is my favorite.

I'm happy to see that at least one of our Presidential candidates is focusing on what really matters this time of year.

As the following examples indicate, the war on Christmas is not over : · After one person complained about a nativity scene in Shawnee State Park in Ohio, the state parks’ chief ordered a ban on crèches from all parks. It took the governor to overturn this decision. · In Wesley Chapel, Florida, Jesus was banned from a holiday display. · The mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island censored all religious displays. · Government officials in Tehama County, California tried to ban Santa in office displays but had to reverse their decision after a protest. · A nativity scene in Olean, New York was removed from the City Hall lawn after Wiccans placed the pentacle alongside it. · A crèche was banned from Triangle Park in Manistique, Michigan. · After a Catholic sued and won demanding a crèche alongside a menorah in Briarcliff Manor, New York, local officials banned both the Christian and Jewish symbols And there's more. What are you and your family doing to fight back? Let's all do something p...

From Marie and Ginny at View from the Pews " God With Us" In a consumer society it is a blessing to read blogs where the writer's main focus is God. Where they express their love for their faith so visibly and joyfully.In a cynical world it is refreshing to see so many blogs which are generous, giving, who care about others and demonstrate what being a Christian is about, loving God and loving our neighbor. Through their faith, lives and spirituality, they bring God to us, they in essence make God visible, 'God with us.' This Award goes to all the faith filled blogs who make evident 'Emmanuel'- God with us, with Joy in their hearts. Please share this Award with Christian blogs that focus on the real meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Savior. I am sharing this award with all the Christian blogs listed on my blogroll. As we approach the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, may your hearts be filled with the peace of His presence and the joy of H...

Photo: Our friends, Linda and Al, at the Christmas Party Over the weekend, we attended a wonderful inter-faith (potluck) Christmas dinner and dance. We sat with friends at the "Catholic" table. After the delectable dinner, there were lots of games and I won a prize for correctly answering the trivia question, "When is the last day of Christmas?" I am really enjoying my Tutti Fruitti "Yummy Bubbles" (Bubbles you can eat). It doesn't take much to make me happy! I love winning prizes! Our table also won "the scavenger hunt." One of our team members was so excited that he fell over a chair in the process of presenting a requested item and I knocked over my chair doing the same thing, but we won! My husband, Bill, also won a prize for being the tallest person at the party (at 6'7"), so now we have some great museum tickets. Following the games and entertaining Christmas skits, there was a DJ and dancing - with oldies from the 60's, 7...

U.S. House Votes 372-9 to Pass Resolution Supporting Christmas and Christianity The U.S. House passed a resolution yesterday acknowledging the importance of Christmas by a vote of 372 to 9. Nine members voted against the resolution, ten voted "present," and 40 other members did not vote. The nine who voted against it were all Democrats: Ackerman (NY), Clarke (NY), DeGette (CO), Hastings (FL), Lee (CA), McDermott (WA), Scott (VA), Stark (CA) and Woolsey (CA). The 10 who answered "present" without entering a vote were also Democrats except one: Conyers (MI), Frank (MA), Holt (NJ), Payne (NJ), Pence (Republican from IN), Schakowsky (PA), Schwartz (PA), Wasserman-Schultz (FL), Welch (VT) and Yarmuth (KY). It's certainly nice to know they approve of Christmas, but the real question here is: Does Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior approve of them? Are they preparing their hearts for his coming, not only at Christmas, but for His Second Coming?