Catholic Fire

By Jean M. Heimann Today is the feast day of Blessed Miguel Pro, a celebrated Christian hero of the twentieth century. This courageous young Jesuit priest was martyred by the Mexican government in 1927 for performing his priestly responsibilities. Miguel Agustin Pro was born January 13, 1891 in Guadalupe Mexico. He was the eldest son of eleven children born to Miguel Pro, an affluent mining engineer, and Josefa Juarez, a holy and loving mother. Miguel had an extraordinary empathy for the poor and the working classes. He was known for both his playfulness and his piety. He had a wonderful wit and a great sense of humor. At the same time, he had a strong prayer life and was zealous in living out his faith. In 1909, at the age of twenty, Miguel Augustin Pro joined the Jesuits as a novice in Mexico. One year later, a revolution broke out and by 1914 the Jesuits were forced to flee. Miguel received his seminary training en route to Belgium, where he was ordained in 1925. Father...

Today is the feast of St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621), Italian cardinal and theologian. One of the great saints of the Jesuit order, he has also been declared a Doctor of the Church and the patron of catechists. Robert Bellarmine was born on October 4, 1542 in the Tuscan town of Montepulciano. He was the third of ten children born to Vincenzo Bellarmine, a nobleman, and Cinthia Cervini, sister of Pope Marcellus II. As a young man, Robert was educated by the Jesuits and in 1560; he entered the Jesuit order himself. He studied philosophy for three years in Rome, then taught humanities at Florence and Mondovi until 1567, when he began a study of theology at Louvain that lasted until 1569. In 1570, Robert was ordained to the priesthood in Belgium, where his sermons attracted crowds of both Catholics and Protestants. In 1576, he returned to Italy and took up an academic position addressing theological controversies. As a member of the Society of Jesus, he ranks among its grea...

Today, September 9, is the memorial of St. Peter Claver, a Jesuit priest who dedicated his life to the service of African slaves. The son of a Catalonian farmer, Peter was born in Verdu, Spain in 1581. He obtained his first degrees at the University of Barcelona. At the age of twenty, he entered the Jesuit novitiate and was ordained in 1615. While Peter was studying philosophy at Majorca, he met St. Alphonsus Rodriguez, the door-keeper of the college, who learned from God the future mission of his young friend. St. Alphonsus, therefore, encouraged Peter to travel to South America to work with the African slaves. Peter obeyed, and in 1610 landed at Cartagena, where for forty-four years he was the “Apostle of the African slaves.” Cartagena became the chief slave-mart of the New World, where many thousands of African slaves were landed after crossing the ocean amid inhuman conditions, and then penned like animals in yards. A thousand slaves landed there each month.  There were...

One of the few people Pope Francis has expressed sincere and deep admiration for is Peter Faber, the first Jesuit priest in history. In the interview with 'Civiltà Cattolica,' the Pope said he looked up to Faber because of "...his careful interior discernment, the fact that he was a man capable of great and strong decisions but also capable of being so gentle and loving.” Jesuit Father Marc Lindeijer deals with canonization process of Jesuits. He says it's not a coincidence that Pope Francis highlighted those three features in Peter Faber. FR. MARC LINDEIJER Vice Postulator of Jesuit Sainthood Causes "I think when the Pope uses these words to characterize Peter Faber, we can see what he is doing himself. What strikes people, everytime again, is his tenderness with people, his sweetness, embracing the disabled persons, kissing the ill, taking on the children of people...” Peter Faber was born in Villaret, France, in 1506. He shared a room with Ignati...