Catholic Fire

Saint Nicholas was born in the village of Patara in Asia Minor (now the southern coast of Turkey) about the middle of the third century. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Later he was ordained a priest, and when the bishop of his district died, he was made Bishop of Myra. Saint Nicholas is distinguished for his great faith. His faith was so great, that with his prayer he calmed a stormy sea while on a trip to the Holy Lands. For this reason sailors pay homage to him as their protector. He is particularly well known for his charity and his love for children. He used his great wealth to assist all who were in need: poor families, widows, and especially orphans and poor children. As Bishop, he established a poorhouse and a hospital. Perhaps the best-known story about Nicholas concerns his charity toward a poor man who was unable to provide dowries for his three daughters, who were all hoping to...

Today is the solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist . How will you celebrate this great saint's birthday? St. John the Baptist was a prophet filled with a fiery zeal for declaring Christ’s coming and the need for repentance. We know that he was "filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb" (Luke 1, 15).  Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he leapt with joy in his mother’s womb when he met Jesus for the first time, proclaiming the Gospel message in utero. When he was thirty, he preached on the banks of the River Jordan against sin and urged men to repent and be baptized "for the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand."  He attracted large crowds (“people of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem”) and led them to conversion. Like a lantern, he lit the way for many who were lost in the darkness. He led them to the Light (Christ) and out of the darkness of sin. We also know that the birth of St. John t...

Today we celebrate the eve of All Saints. Pope Sixtus IV in 1484 established November 1, the feast of All Saints, as a holy day of obligation and gave it both a vigil (known today as "All Hallows' Eve" or "Hallowe'en") and an eight-day period or octave to celebrate the feast. By 1955, the octave of All Saints was removed. All Hallows' Eve Halloween or All Hallows' Eve is not a liturgical feast on the Catholic calendar, but the celebration has deep ties to the Liturgical Year. These three consecutive days — Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day — illustrate the Communion of Saints. The Church Militant (those on earth, striving to get to heaven) pray for the Church Suffering (those souls in Purgatory) especially on All Souls Day and the month of November. We also rejoice and honor the Church Triumphant (the saints, canonized and uncanonized) in heaven. We also ask the Saints to intercede for us, and for the souls in Purgatory. Since Vat...

The month of July is devoted to the Precious Blood. The Feast of the Precious Blood, established by Pope Pius IX in 1849, is celebrated each year on the first Sunday of July. Fr. James Kubicki, S.J. explains this Catholic tradition:

"I would like a great lake of beer for the King of Kings: I would like the people of heaven to be drinking it through time eternal." ~ St. Brigid of Ireland In the Middle Ages, beer (which is made from cereal grains) was one of the safest, most nutritious everyday drinks for northern Europeans -- since grapes didn't grow in that colder climate, and water was often polluted. Occasionally a batch would go bad, and people would blame the devil for the problem. To keep demons away, brewers would place religious statues in their brew house and also ask the local priest to bless a new batch. *** Bock beer is a darker, stronger beer which began in northern Germany. It is brewed in the fall aged through the winter, and served in the early spring. Beer festivals traditionally began on St. Joseph's Day (March 19) and often included the blessing of new beer. *** Many monasteries brewed their own beer. It was a staple of the monks' diet because of its nutritional qualities (...

The History of All Hallow's Eve In 834, the evening of October 31 became All Hallow's Eve when Pope Gregory IV established November 1 as the feast of All Saints, followed by a day in honor of her soon-to-be saints, the feast of All Souls. This time of year was chosen because it was the time of barrenness on the earth. The harvest was in, the summer done, and the world was brown, drab, and mindful of death. Snow had not yet descended to comfort and hide the bony trees or blackened fields; so with little effort man could look about and see a meditation on death and life hereafter. Apparently how you spent the vigil of All Saints depended on where you lived in Christendom. In Brittany the night was solemn and without a trace of merriment. On their "night of the dead" and for forty-eight hours thereafter, the Bretons believed the poor souls were liberated from Purgatory and were free to visit their old homes. The vigil for the souls, as well as the saints, had to be kept...

Today is the day that Christians began to prepare food such as bread of the dead and soul cakes for the feast of All Souls. In some areas people would beg for ingredients to make these cakes on this day. A soul cake was a sort of oat cake, which, in Catholic times was baked specially as a gift for poor and needy people, and these people on receiving it would pray for the dead belonging to those who gave it. Fire has always been a symbol of immortality, and the immortality of the soul was symbolized by lighting fires during the night of All Souls; perhaps the simpler people thought that their little furze fires dotted over the hillsides would show the way to souls who were that day making their journey from purgatory to heaven! Long after the Catholic faith had been cast out of this country, relics remained at Soulmass of the once universal praying for the dead, though, as was inevitable, these became empty and corrupt. Even in the 19th century girls still went "souling" fr...

Mother's Day, which is celebrated the second Sunday in May, is remembered by most Catholic parishes. In some parishes, women receive flowers. At my former parish, following the weekend Masses, our pro-life group sold beautiful long-stemmed roses for a few dollars and donated the money to an organization which provided counseling and assistance to pregnant mothers. We rarely had any left. When we did, they were placed in front of the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother. Sometimes the Sunday homily will include a discussion of Our Blessed Virgin Mary, the model for mothers to emulate. The parish may also recite special prayers for mothers and mothers will receive a blessing from the priest. At home, family members may pray a blessing for mothers and grandmothers around the family table. Here is one you can use: God of love, listen to this prayer. God of holy people of Sarah, Ruth, and Rebeekah, God of holy Elizabeth, mother of John, of holy Mary, Mothe...