Catholic Fire

On July 17, 1794, sixteen Carmelites caught up in the French Revolution were guillotined at the Place du Trône Renversé (now called Place de la Nation), in Paris. When the revolution started in 1789, a group of twenty-one discalced Carmelites lived in a monastery in Compiegne France, founded in 1641. The monastery was ordered closed in 1790 by the Revolutionary gov­ernment, and the nuns were disbanded. Sixteen of the nuns were accused of living in a religious community in 1794. They were arrested on June 22 and imprisoned in a Visitation convent in Compiegne There they openly resumed their religious life. For a full twenty months before their execution, the sisters came together in an act of consecration “whereby each member of the community would join with the others in offering herself daily to God, soul and body in holocaust to restore peace to France and to her Church.” The nuns were not just mere victims of the Revolution overcome by circumstances. Each contemplated he...

Beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1926, these eight Franciscan friars and three Maronite laymen were offered the choice of converting to Islam or suffering death in Damascus on July 9, 1860. Thousands of Maronite Christians had already been killed by the Druz in Southern Lebanon in that year and the Druz, an offshoot sect of Shiite Islam, had turned their attention to Damascus where they killed nearly two thousand more. When they had reached the Franciscan convent there, the superior, a spaniard named Fr. Emmanuel Ruiz, who had sheltered the Christians that lived around the convent inside the chapel, was threatened with death if he did not convert immediately. He refused and they cut him to pieces and killed the rest of his community and the three Maronites who, refusing to flee with the other Christians, chose to die rather than deny their faith.

The saint of the day is Blessed Phillip Rinaldi, a Salesian priest. Phillip was born on May 28, 1856 at Lu Monferrato (Alessandria). Philip met Don Bosco at age 5, and at the age of 22, joined him in the Salesian order. When he was ordained,  his first responsibility was the formation of aspirants and novices. He became the Salesian provincial superior in Spain where he opened many new houses and then served as vicar-general of the Salesians before becoming the Rector Major in 1922, Don Bosco’s third successor. As Vicar General of the Congregation, he displayed even more of his fatherly gifts and his willingness to assume many pastoral responsibilities. He was elected Rector Major in 1922 and focused his energy on adapting the spirit of Don Bosco to the current situation. Don Francesia wrote “Don Rinaldi was only missing the voice of Don Bosco: he had everything else!” He was a master of Salesian ways and spirituality and brought about a renewal in the interior life of Sales...

Today we commemorate Blessed Josefa Naval Girbes, a member of the Third Order Secular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Teresa of Jesus. Josefa Naval Girbes was born in Algemesi, Valencia Province, Spain, on December 11, 1820. From her parents, Maria Josefa inherited her faithful spirit, her deep-rooted piety, her love for work and the ardent desire to always live in the state of grace. Maria Josefa was baptized the same day she was born, and soon she was called only Josefa. Josefa’s faith manifested itself in her deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin. She always wore her scapular and her rosary as a necklace.  All of her disciples said the Angelus when the church bells rang at noon and a Hail Mary was said every hour. On Saturdays, morning prayers were said in Mary’s name. As a secular Carmelite, Josefa had a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel. As such she repeatedly requested that her death she be clothed with the habit of Carmel, a wish that was f...

Today we celebrate Helen Kafka, better known as Blessed Maria Restituta, martyr. Helen Kafka was born in 1894 to a shoemaker and grew up in Vienna, Austria. She initially worked as a salesgirl and then as an assistant caregiver at the Lainz public hospital, which brought her into contact with the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity. At the age of 20, she decided to join the Order and took the name Restituta, after a 4th century Christian martyr. In 1919, she began working as a surgical nurse at the Moulding hospital in Austria. When the Germans took over the country, she became a local opponent of the Nazi regime. Her conflict with them escalated after they ordered her to remove all the crucifixes she had hung up in each room of a new hospital wing. Sister Maria Restitua refused and she was arrested by the Gestapo in 1942. She was sentenced to death for "aiding and abetting the enemy in the betrayal of the fatherland and for plotting high treason.” Martin Bormann d...

Today in England is the feast of the Forty Holy Martyrs of England and Wales (in Wales this is a memorial), a group of forty men, women, religious, priests, and lay people who were canonized by Pope Paul VI on October 25, 1970. These people were executed for their Faith during a period of anti-Catholicism from 1535 to 1679. The Martyrs who were canonized were among more than two hundred martyrs who had been beatified by various earlier popes. Some of the common "crimes" of these people were being priests, harboring priests, or refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy. This group of saints includes some well-known saints, such as St. Alban Roe, and St. Edmund Campion. Many of these saints are recognized on the days of their martyrdom, but as a group, they are recognized on the day they were canonized. These forty were canonized by Pope Paul VI on October 25th, 1970. They are representative of the English and Welsh martyrs of the Reformation who died at various dates be...

The saint of the day for October 21st is Blessed Charles of Austria. Charles was born in 1887 in Lower Austria to Archduke Otto and Princess Maria Josephine of Saxony. He grew up in a Catholic family, received a solid Catholic education, and developed a strong devotion to the Eucharist and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He took on the motto: “I strive always in all things to understand as clearly as possible and follow the will of God, and this in the most perfect way.” In 1911, he married Princess Zita of Bourbon and Parma, and they had eight children. The assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 triggered World War I. At this point, Charles became the presumptive heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Two years later, upon the death of his great-uncle, Emperor Francis Joseph, Charles became emperor and king of Hungary. He saw his office as a mandate from God and as a way to implement Christian charity and social reform. He worked to end the war an...

The saint of the day for September 7th is Blessed Fredric Ozanam. Frederic Ozanam was born in 1813 in Milan. In 1853 he died at the early age of 40. During those 40 years, Frederic lived a life of Christian love that provided an example for his contemporaries. As a student at the Sorbonne in Paris, this brilliant, sensitive young man of modest middle class background was confronted daily by the misery of the poor of Paris. It was at this time in his life Frederic was challenged to bring his faith to service. He not only devoted himself to service to the poor but, as a charismatic leader, he organized others to do the same. Frederic invited his friends to join his cause saying to them, "If we are too young to intervene in the social struggle, are we then to remain passive in the middle of a world which is suffering and groaning? No, a preparatory path is open to us. Before doing public good, we can try to do good to a few. Before regenerating France, we can give relief to a ...

On May 28, we commemorate Blessed Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury. Margaret was born on August 14, 1473 at Farleigh Castle, Bath, Wiltshire, England, to George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence and Isabella Neville. Her father was a brother of both Kings Edward IV and Richard III of England. When she was about 20 years old, she married Sir Richard Pole and bore him five children. Margaret was widowed, named Countess of Salisbury, and appointed governess to Princess Mary, daughter of Hemy VIII and Queen Catherine of Aragon, Spain. She opposed Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn, and the king exiled her from court, although he called her “the holiest woman in England.” When her son, Cardinal Pole, denied Henry’s Act of Supremacy, the king imprisoned Margaret in the Tower of London for two years and then beheaded her on May 28. In 1538, her other two sons were executed. She was never given a legal trial. She was seventy when she was martyred. Margaret was beatified in 1886 by Po...

Today, May 9th, we commemorate Blessed Mary Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger. Blessed Mary Theresa was born Caroline Gerhardinger in Bavaria in 1797. Encouraged by her parish priest to become a teacher, she believed strongly that a child's need for love, safety and food were as important as formal education. "Let us never forget the love of Jesus for children, whom he took upon his lap and blessed," she said. Caroline gradually recognized God's call to found a religious community which would remedy the social situation through education. Her life work, helping women and children grow to their greatest potential, was a founding principle of the School Sisters of Notre Dame.  She brought the order and the mission of educating girls to America, following the wave of German immigration. Within a year, they established a presence in seven cities. Mother Theresa died in 1879.  At that time, her congregation numbered more than 2500.  They met the needs of their time by...

Today we commemorate Blessed Teresa Maria of the Cross, Carmelite nun and founder. Teresa Maria Manetti (Bettina was her nickname.) was born at Campi Bisenzio, Florence, Italy. Daughter of Salvatore Manetti and Rosa Bigagli, Teresa had one brother, Adamo Raffaello. She lived her entire life in her small village. Bettina had a cheerful, energetic disposition and a talent for organization and all the qualities which make for a good leader. At the age of 21, she rented a home with two other women who dedicated themselves to a life of prayer, penance, and charity. They cared for the sick and the poor and taught catechism to children. They were inspired by the writings of Saint Teresa of Avila, and had a special devotion to her. Many other women joined the small group. The women were admitted to the Teresian Third Order and Bettina took the new name of Teresa Maria of the Cross. Two years later, she joined the Discalced Carmelites as a nun. Over the next few years she sta...

Today we commemorate Blessed Maria Gabriella Sagheddu, a Trappist nun. Maria was born into a family of shepherds in 1914 in Sardinia, the fifth in a family of eight children.  At the age of 18, she taught catechism to the local youth, helped the aged, and developed a deep prayer life. When she was 21, she entered a Trappist monastery in Rome. Her superior was an advocate of ecumenism, and Maria also became devoted to this cause. She offered herself as a victim soul for the unity of the Catholic Church during the week of prayer for Christian unity in 1938. Almost immediately, she developed tuberculosis. After 15 months of intense suffering, she died on April  23, 1939. The Gospel that day included these words which had become Maria’s lifetime motto: “There will be one flock and one shepherd.”  (John 10:16) Pope John Paul II beatified her on January 25, 1983. Blessed Maria Gabriella is buried at the Trappistine Abbey of Our Lady of Saint Joseph at Vitorchiano (ne...

The saint of the day for April 19 is Blessed James Oldo , who experienced a radical conversion that led him to become a Franciscan tertiary, and later a priest. He was born in 1364 into a rich family in Lodi, Italy. He married at a young age, and he and his wife both led a very self-indulgent lifestyle. One day, a traveling reproduction of the Holy Sepulchre came to their town. As a joke, James lay down on it to compare his height to Christ's. As soon as he laid down on it, he was instantly converted, and became a tertiary soon after. At first, his mother and wife were opposed to the change they saw in him, but soon they grew attracted to his new ways and became tertiaries as well. The family turned their mansion into a chapel and worked with the sick and with prisoners. When James’ wife died, he became a priest. His acts of penance were so severe that his bishop had to order him to eat at least three times a week. He was a celebrated preacher, who inspired ...

Today, February 25, the Church commemorates Blessed Maria Adeodata Pisani. Blessed Maria Adeodata Pisani was born into a noble family in Naples, Italy in 1806. Her father was an alcoholic and was exiled after being involved in a revolt. Maria's grandmother raised her. When her grandmother died, the 10 year-old was sent to a boarding school until she was 17. During these years, Maria declined several marriage proposals because she preferred to lead a quiet life of prayer. When she turned 21, she entered the Benedictine Community in St. Peter's Monastery and took the name Maria Adeodata. She made her solemn profession two years later. In the cloister, Maria was a seamstress, sacristan, porter, teacher and novice mistress. Her fellow nuns and many people outside the cloister benefited from her charity. Maria Adeodata wrote various works, the most well-known of these is a collection of her personal reflections between the years 1835 and 1843 titled “The mystical garden...