Catholic Fire

Today the Church honors 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 school of m...

By Jean M. Heimann On October 27 we commemorate the feast of Blessed Bartholomew of Vicenza (1201-1270). He was a Dominican priest who used his skills as a preacher to combat the heresies of his day. Blessed Bartholomew was born at Vicenza, Italy Vicenza in Northern Italy, and belonged to the noble family of Breganza. He became a Dominican priest at the age of twenty and received the habit from St. Dominic's own hands. 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, where he served for two years. He was ...

The saint of the day for May 6th is Blessed Anna Rosa Gattorno. Rosa (1831-1900) was one of six children born to the wealthy, pious family of Francesco Benedetta and Adelaide Campanella Benedetta in Genoa, Italy. She had a very serene and lovable character, and practiced the virtues of piety and charity. Rosa was married at the age of 21 to Gerolamo Custo and moved with him to Marseilles, France. Financial difficulties brought them back to Genoa. Then following a serious illness, their oldest child became deaf and mute.  Her husband attempted to find fortune abroad, and received a fatal illness, leaving her a widow with three children, less than six years into marriage. A few months later, the youngest child also died. These tragedies opened up Rosa's heart to God and she felt called by God to give herself totally to Him.  She received daily, Holy Communion, which was uncommon in those days.  She grew daily in her intimacy with the Lord, and it is in Him...

Today we honor Blessed Maria Gabriella (1914-1939), an Italian Trappist nun, who died at the age young age of 25, and was renowned  for her gift to heal divisions and unify the Church through her redemptive sufferings. She is the patron saint of sick people. Sr. Maria Gabriella was beatified on January 25th, 1983 in the Basilica of St. Paul's outside the Walls. It was the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle of the Gentiles, and also the last day of the Church Unity Octave. In his homily, Pope John Paul II stated: "I am happy to note, and to point out particularly to the young who are so fond of athletics and sport, that the young Trappist whom we are honoring today for the first time with the title "Blessed", was able to make her own the Apostles exhortation to the faithful of Corinth (1 Cor. 9:25), to "run as to win". She succeeded in the span of a few years to set a number of records in the stadium of sanctity that would make the most qual...

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, commonly known as "Mother Cabrini", was the first American citizen to be canonized a saint. Born in Lombardy, Italy in 1850, (one of thirteen children), she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart in 1880 and established many hospitals, schools, and orphanages. In 1889, she set out for the United States and arrived in New York, where she and six other Sisters worked with the poor, especially with Italian immigrants. Over the next 28 years, she founded numerous schools, hospitals, and orphanages. Mother Cabrini was not a strong person physically, but she had a great inner strength. She had an unbending belief and trust in God. Throughout her life and in all her many undertakings, she always knew that God would provide for her and the many schools, hospitals, orphanages, and missions which she founded. In 1909 Mother Cabrini became an American citizen. She died in Chicago on December 22, 1917.  Her remains are laid to rest in Mot...

Today the Church celebrates the memorial of St. Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor. St. Leo the Great was born in Rome of Italian nobility. As a deacon of the Church, he opposed the heresy of Pelagianism, which taught that grace was not necessary for salvation, but was rather a bonus that God granted to those who earned it by their good works. He was elevated to the office of Pope in 440 and reigned as pope for twenty-one years. As pope, St. Leo labored strenuously to safeguard the integrity of the faith and vigorously defended the unity of the Church. He affirmed the full divinity and humanity of Christ. His most famous writing, commonly known as the Tome of St. Leo (449), was the basis of the Council of Chalcedon's dogmatic definition of Christ as one Divine Person possessing two complete natures, human and divine. When Attila the Hun marched on Rome, Leo went out to meet him and pleaded for leave. As Leo spoke, Attila saw the vision of a man in Priestly robes, carrying a bar...

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 ...

Today we honor Blessed Maria Gabriella, an Italian Trappist nun, who died at the age young age of 25, and was renowned  for her gift to heal divisions and unify the Church through her redemptive sufferings. She is the patron saint of bodily ills Sr. Maria Gabriella was beatified on January 25th, 1983 in the Basilica of St. Paul's outside the Walls. It was the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle of the Gentiles, and also the last day of the Church Unity Octave. In his homily, Pope John Paul II stated: "I am happy to note, and to point out particularly to the young who are so fond of athletics and sport, that the young Trappist whom we are honoring today for the first time with the title "Blessed", was able to make her own the Apostles exhortation to the faithful of Corinth (1 Cor. 9:25), to "run as to win". She succeeded in the span of a few years to set a number of records in the stadium of sanctity that would make the most qualified champio...