Catholic Fire

I can't tell you how excited I am to have my little story published in the July/August issue of Canticle. Canticle is a wonderful magazine which contains the work of some very gifted women writers. You probably already know most of them. Here are some of the great stories you'll find there. Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle has a cover story on the International Women's Congress in Rome. Johnnette Benkovic contributed "Our Lady of Mount Carmel: Her Scapular, Her School." Elena Maria Vidal presents "Modest, Not Frumpy: Beauty and the Blessed" Gretchen Garrity , with "Faith Lessons from a Garden." Theresa Caviccio has a piece on St. Pauline Visintainer, Patroness of Diabetics. Sarah Reinhard reflects on "Laundry on the Line." Jean Heimann (that's me) offers "A Working Miracle." Ann Abbott writes "Bitterness in a World of Sugar" about the slave trade in the Dominican Republic. Columnist Suzanne Baars writes a...

Ann Ball, a prolific author who wrote lives of the saints alongside Catholic cookbooks, died of a heart attack shortly before midnight on Sunday, her family announced in an email. Though a schoolteacher for many years, she later took over the operation of a security company. Following a regular workday, she would dedicate time to writing, penning several books on the saints and Catholic heritage and traditions. Commenting on her industriousness, the president of Our Sunday Visitor, Greg Erlandson, told CNA that, "I was always surprised how she was able to run a private investigation office and still find time to write so many books that spiritually edified so many people." In a short autobiography at Catholic Authors, the grandmother of eight wrote that curiosity about the saints led her into the Church and her career as a Catholic writer. She was especially interested in the life of Blessed Miguel Pro, the Jesuit priest and Mexican martyr. “I find it horrifying that so few ...