Catholic Fire

I AM THE UNITED STATES I was born on July 4, 1776, and the Declaration of Independence is my birth certificate. The bloodlines of the world run in my veins, because I offered freedom to the oppressed. I am the United States. I am 185,000,000 living souls, and the ghost of millions who have died for me. I am Nathan Hale and Paul Revere. I stood at Lexington and fired the shot heard around the world. I am Washington, Jefferson, and Patrick Henry. I am Paul Jones, the Green Mountain boys, and Davy Crockett. I am Lee, Grant, and Abe Lincoln. I am the Brooklyn Bridge, the wheat lands of Kansas, and the granite hills of Vermont. I am the coal fields of the Virginias and Pennsylvania; the fertile lands of the West; the Golden Gate and the Grand Canyon. I am Independence Hall, the Monitor and the Merrimac. I am big. I sprawl from the Atlantic to the Pacific, three million square miles throbbing with industry. I am more than 5,000,000 farms; I am forest, field, mountain and dessert. I am quiet...

Optional Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal: Independence Day (USA) Today's Mass Readings On This Day in Catholic History: 966 Pope Benedict V died. 993 The first official Roman Catholic saint, Ulrich of Augsburg (890–973), was named. 1958 - Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, was appointed auxilliary bishop of Krakow, Poland, by Pope Pius XII. Birthdays: 1776 - Birthday of the United States of America, Independence Day 1804 - Nathaniel Hawthorne , American writer (d. 1864) 1872 - Calvin Coolidge , 30th President of the United States (d. 1933) 1881 - Ulysses S. Grant III , American soldier (d. 1968) 1883 - Rube Goldberg , American cartoonist (d. 1970) 1910 - Gloria Stuart , American actress 1911 - Mitch Miller , American entertainer 1918 - Ann Landers , American advice columnist (d. 2002) 1918 - Abigail Van Buren , American advice columnist ("Dear Abby") 1924 - Eva Marie Saint , American actress 1927 - Neil Simon , American playwright 1929 - Bill Tuttle...