Catholic Fire

On July 2, we comemorate St. Bernardino Realino, "the Apostle of Leece",  who was known for his great charity and kindness to the people of that city. Bernardino was born in 1530 in Capri, Italy, a city located in the northern part of Italy, to noble parents. He studied law and medicine in Bologna and initially became an attorney, followed by a political career, in which he served as judge, tax collector, Superintendent of the fiefs of the marquis of Naples, and mayor of three different cities in Italy. While in Naples, Bernardino, now 34 years old, he met some priests of the Society of Jesus and made an eight-day retreat with them. During this retreat, he felt a strong call to the religious life and asked the Jesuits for admittance into their Society. He was accepted and ordained a priest in 1567. For ten years he served in Naples, preaching, teaching catechism, visiting the sick, the poor, and those in prison. He also served as the novice master there. Then he was t...

The saint of the day for May 7th is St. Rose Venerini (1656-1713). Rose was born in Viterbo, Italy in 1656, of a very pious family. She received a good Christian education from her family. At age 20, with her father’s encouragement, Rosa entered the Dominican Monastery of Saint Catherine but remained only a few months. Upon the death of her father, Rosa returned home to care for her mother. As a child, she made a vow to become a nun, but she was deeply moved by the poverty and ignorance of the young girls of her town, and she began to think that perhaps it would be better to do something for them than to be in a convent. Rose invited into her house the young girls and women of her neighborhood to pray the rosary together, and she realized that none of them knew how to pray. She began to question them about catechism, and all of them remained silent. Rose understood that the woman of her time was a slave of ignorance and poverty, destined to the heaviest work, and that no on...

The tradition of setting up nativity scenes was actually born in Italy, thanks to St. Francis of Assisi. So, it doesn't get more Italian than this: A nativity scene, shepherds and all, made out of pasta. It's just one of hundreds of original designs, on display at a yearly Christmas exhibit titled "100 Nativity Sets.” MARIA MENAGLIA 100 Presepi (Rome) "This year we have 212 of them on display. They are all new and they came from 42 different countries. From Italy alone, we have some from 14 regions. They represent all the culture of the world.” Even though the exhibit is based in Europe, Latin American has a strong presence. Countries like Mexico, Colombia and Peru put forth their best work for the show. Displays like these prove that a tradition that started centuries ago, is still very much alive today on a global scale. MARIA MENAGLIA 100 Presepi (Rome) "In the 60's this tradition was dying in Italy. The Christmas tree was more fashionable...

December 13th is the feast of St. Lucy (283-304), a noblewoman who was born in Syracuse, Italy, during the Diocletian persecution. She made a vow of virginity and distributed her wealth to the poor. This generosity angered the pagan youth to whom she had been unwillingly betrothed and who denounced her to Paschasius, the governor of Sicily. When it was decided to violate her virginity in a place of shame, Lucy, with the help of the Holy Spirit, stood immovable. A fire was then built around her, but again God protected her. She was finally executed by a sword. As the name, Lucy, derives from 'lux' or 'light', she has become associated with festivals of light and with invocations against afflictions of the sight. Legend has it that she was blinded by her persecutors. The church of San Giovanni Maggiore at Naples even claims to possess her eyes. In the old Julian calendar, Lucy's feast fell on the shortest day of the year. She continues to be associated with th...

Franciscans, founded in Palermo, Italy 1972. A renewal of the Capuchin charism, of contemplative prayer, radical joyful poverty, penance and evangelical preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Living in poverty on the outskirts of Corleone and Naples, Italy and on the outskirts of Palermo, Sicily. Their main Friary is in Corleone, Sicily. (They also have missions in Columbia and Africa). MotherHouse (Write in Italian, French, Spanish or simple English) to: Frati Minori Rinnovati Eremo san Bernardo 90034 Corleone, Italy (Sicily ) ~ Via Catholiques .