Catholic Fire

By Jean M. Heimann Blessed Bartholomew was born circa 1200 at Vicenza, Italy Vicenza in Northern Italy, and belonged to the noble family of Breganza. He received the habit of the order from Saint Dominic's own hands on occasion of the holy founder’s visit to Vicenza in 1220. He was a very virtuous man and within a short time, he became prior of the monastery, effectively overseeing several monasteries with great wisdom and fruitfulness. Seven years later, he became Master of the Sacred Palace, an office which had been first held by Saint Dominic himself. It was during this period that Blessed Bartholomew composed his scholarly commentary on the work of Saint Denis, entitled "From the Heavenly Hierarchy.”  In 1246, Pope Innocent IV appointed Blessed Bartholomew as Bishop of Cyprus, were he served for two years. He was then sent as Papal Legate to King Louis IX of France, who was then carrying on the Crusade against the infidels. The two saints became good friends and ...

The saint of the day for June 18 is Blessed Osanna of Mantua (1449 - 1505), an Italian Dominican tertiary, who was a mystic and stigmatist. She is the patron of school girls. The daughter of Italian nobility, Osanna had her first mystical experience at the age of five: a vision of the Trinity, the nine choirs of angels, and Jesus as a child her own age, carrying His Cross. Feeling called to the religious life, Osanna rejected an arranged marriage and became a Dominican tertiary at the age of 17; however, she waited 37 years to complete her vows so she could care for her brothers and sisters after the death of her parents. At the age of eighteen, she experienced mystical espousal to Jesus -- like St. Catherine of Siena, she had a vision in which Our Blessed Mother made her a bride of Christ, placing a ring on her finger. When she was thirty, she received the stigmata on her head, her side, and her feet. She also had a vision in which her heart was transformed and divided in...

Today we commerate the feast of Blessed Thomas Mary Fusco, who was beatified in 2001 as a model of holiness for priests. He was dedicated to his priestly ministry, preaching spiritual retreats and missions, teaching catechism to youth and organizing prayer evenings for young people and adults at the parish. Pope John Paul II referred to him as the "Don Bosco of Southern Italy" due to his heroic charity and concern for the plight of poor orphaned children. He had a deep devotion to the crucified Christ throughout his life and worked to build the devotion to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus among the faithful. He was born December 1, 1831, in Pagani, Italy, the seventh of eight children. Orphaned by the age of 10, his uncle, a priest and a teacher, who took charge of his education. Since 1839, the year of the canonization of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Thomas Mary had dreamed of the priesthood. He entered the seminary in 1847 and was ordained in 1855. In 1862 he opened a sch...

Blessed Maria Adeodata Pisan i 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 of the soul that loves Jesus and Mary”. She was an abbess fro...

Blessed Thomas Mary Fusco was beatified in 2001 as a model of holiness for priests. He was dedicated to his priestly ministry, preaching spiritual retreats and missions, teaching catechism to youth and organizing prayer evenings for young people and adults at the parish. He had a deep devotion to the crucified Christ throughout his life and worked to build the devotion to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus among the faithful. He was born Dec. 1, 1831, in Pagani, Italy, the seventh of eight children. Orphaned by the age of 10, his uncle, a priest, took charge of his education. Since 1839, the year of the canonization of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Thomas Maria had dreamed of the priesthood. He entered the seminary in 1847 and was ordained in 1855. In 1862 he opened a school of moral theology in his home to train priests for the ministry of confession. That same year he founded the priestly Society of the Catholic Apostolate for missions among the faithful. In 1873, deeply moved by th...