Catholic Fire

Today's saint of the day is St. Engelbert of Cologne. He was born in Berg around the year 1185 to Engelbert, Count of Berg and Margaret, daughter of the Count of Gelderland. He studied at the cathedral school of Cologne and, while still a boy, was made provost of the churches of St. George and St. Severin at Cologne and of St. Mary's at Aachen, as it was a common abuse in the Church at the time to appoint the children of nobles to such positions. In 1199 he was elected provost of the cathedral at Cologne. He led a worldly life, and in the conflict between  two Archbishops, Adolf and Bruno, he sided with his cousin Adolf, and waged war for him. Consequently, he was excommunicated by the pope along with his cousin. After his submission he was reinstated in 1208 and, to atone for his sin, joined the crusade against the Albigenses in 1212. On Feb. 29, 1216, the chapter of the cathedral elected him archbishop by a unanimous vote. The mendicant orders of the Franciscans and t...

October 28 is the feast of Sts. Simon and Jude, apostles and martyrs. The name of St. Simon usually appears eleventh in the list of the apostles. The first cousin of Jesus, he was born at Cana and is surnamed "The Zealot." He preached in Egypt, Spain, and Libya, leaving behind him the fertile hills of Galilee, where he had been engaged in the healthful cultivation of the vineyards and olive gardens. He later rejoined his brother, Saint Jude, in Persia, where they preached and died as martyrs together. He is the patron of tanners and woodcutters. St. Jude, also called Thaddeus or "Courageous", is the author of the short epistle in the New Testament. He was the apostle who asked the Lord at the Last Supper why he had manifested himself only to the disciples and not to the whole world (John 14:22). He was the son of Cleophas and the woman named Mary who stood with the Blessed Virgin Mary at the foot of the Cross as Our Lord was redeeming the world. He is ...

On October 14, we commemorate St. Callistus I, who was a slave, a convict, pope, and martyr. The saint caused a major controversy, including a schism that lasted almost two decades, by choosing to emphasize God's mercy toward sinners. However, it was this enduring aspect of his leadership, as well as his martyrdom, that has confirmed his holiness. St. Callistus (martyred c.222) was once a young slave in Rome, who got into serious trouble. He was put in charge of his master’s bank, but mishandled his money, and lost a large sum. Out of fear, he ran away, but was caught, put in chains, and was sentenced to do hard labor in the city. Later on, he became involved in a riot in a local synagogue and was sent to the mines of Sardinia. When, at Pope Victor’s request, the emperor freed all the Christians who had been condemned to those mines, Callistus was freed, too. From that time on, things began to improve for him. Pope St. Zephrinus (119-217) came to know and trust the freed ...

The saint of the day for September 28 is Saint Lorenzo (Lawrence) Ruiz (1600-1637), a husband and father, the first saint of the Philippines and the first Filipino martyred for the Christian Faith.  He and 15 others were martyred at Nagasaki, Japan in 1637. The group included two consecrated women, two other laymen, two brothers and nine priests. Lorenzo Ruiz was born at Binondo, Manila, Philippines to a Chinese Father and a Filipino mother who were both Catholic.  Educated by the Dominicans, he was a devoted and active Catholic, a member of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary, and a third order Dominican.  He was a husband and father of two sons and a daughter. In 1636, while working as a clerk for the Church, Lorenzo was falsely accused of murder and forced to leave his country. The Dominican fathers who knew Lorenzo arranged to have him take a ship to Japan. Soon after arriving in Japan, Lorenzo was captured for being Catholic and brought to Nagasaki, where he...

Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian Dressing a Chest Wound by Antoine de Favray Photo Credit: Welcome Library September 26 is the optional memorial of Sts. Cosmas and Damian. Cosmas and Damian were twin bothers born in Syria in the third century. They were also doctors, and they became known as “the holy money-less ones" because they cared for the sick free of charge. The strange practice of accepting no money for medical care was their way of embodying God’s providential love and care for his people. And folks took notice.           The twin brothers were arrested on September 27, during the persecution of Christians by Diocletian in 303. Soon after, the faithful brothers defied death by water, fire and crucifixion before they were finally beheaded in Cilicia, along with their three brothers. They were buried in Cyrrhus, Syria.         Veneration to Cosmas and Damian began immediately. The faithful asked for their intercession, espec...

On September 7, we celebrate the feast day of Saint Regina (also known as Saint Reine, died in 386), virgin and martyr. Saint Regina is the patron saint against poverty and patroness of torture victims. Tradition tells us that Regina was born in the third century in eastern France. Her mother died in childbirth, and she was left to be raised by her father, Clement Alise, a wealthy pagan. He placed her in the care of a Christian nurse, who secretly baptized her. When her father learned of her Christianity, he threw her out of the house and forced her to live with the nurse who raised her. Due to the family’s poverty, Regina helped out by working as a shepherdess. When she was fifteen, the local prefect, Olybrius, became captivated with her and insisted that she marry him. When she refused, she was arrested as a Christian, tortured, and beheaded. In art, Regina is portrayed as a maiden bound to a cross with torches applied to her sides, imprisoned with a dove appearing on a shi...

Today is the feast of Blessed Thomas Tsuji (circa 1570 - 1627), a Jesuit priest and martyr. Thomas received his early education from the Jesuits in Arima and entered the Society in January 1589. He was ordained a Jesuit in Nagasaki sometime before 1613. He was an excellent preacher and became well known throughout southern Japan. He was transferred to Hakata after he became too outspoken in his condemnation of the scandalous conduct of some Christian Japanese in the city. While exercising his priestly ministry in Hakata, the edict of 1641 which ordered the banishment of all Catholic priests from Japan was enacted. In obedience to the order, Fr Tsuji and the other eighty priests left for Macau and remained there for four years. In August 1618, Fr. Tsuji disguised as a merchant, returned to Japan and secretly resumed his apostolic work. Unlike the European Jesuits who could only minister at night, Fr Tsuji worked day and night, achieving great results disguised sometime as a pros...

By Jean M. Heimann August 10 is the feast of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr. Lawrence was one of the seven deacons of the Church of Rome. In 258, he was martyred along with Pope Sixtus II and other deacons. St. Lawrence was in charge of caring for the poor and had a great love for the destitute and the needy. He was the distributor of alms and “keeper of the treasures of the Church” during a time when Christianity was proclaimed illegal. The Prefect of Rome, a greedy pagan, thought the Church had a great fortune hidden away. So he ordered Lawrence to bring the Church's treasure to him. Lawrence distributed the material wealth of the Church before the Roman authorities could steal it. He gave it to the poor. When he returned in three days, he was accompanied by all the poor and sick people who were being maintained by the Church. He showed them to the Prefect, announcing: "This is the Church's treasure!" In great fury, the Prefect condemned Lawrence to a sl...

The saint of the day for July 12 is St. Ignatius Delgado, a Dominican Bishop who was a Spanish missionary and martyr.  Bishop Delgado OP was part of a group of 117 martyrs, who suffered and shed their blood out of love for Christ in the region known today as Vietnam. Of this group, 59 were from the Dominican Order.  Bishop Delgado died together with bishop Dominic Henares OP and a catechist. Both bishops were from Spain and bishop Delgado was born in 1762. Bishop Delgado had worked for nearly fifty years in Tonkin before he died at the age of seventy-six. In 1838, the two bishops and the catechist were captured, in a persecution recently stirred up. A copy of his trial showed that he answered truthfully and fearlessly where he himself was concerned, but that no amount of questioning or torture could make him reveal the whereabouts of his companions. Bishop Delgado endured torture rather than give any clue as to where they might be found. The death sentence was pas...

June 29 is the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, who are the co-founders of the Church - the solid rock on which it was founded. Both were martyrs for the faith. St. Peter Peter's original name was Simon. He was a fisherman and the brother of Saint Andrew, the apostle who led him to Christ. As an apostle of Christ, Simon was renamed "Peter" (in Hebrew Kephas) or "rock" by Jesus to indicate that Peter would be the rock-like foundation on which the Church would be built. Peter's house often became the scene of miracles, since Jesus would stay there whenever He was teaching in that locality. Together with his brothers John and Andrew, Peter belonged to the first of Jesus' disciples. After the Ascension, Peter took the leading role that Christ had assigned to him and became the first Pope. He served as the first Bishop of Rome and died there as a martyr in 64 a.d. crucified with his head downward, as he was not worthy to die in the same manner a...

June 22 is the feast of Sts.Thomas More, martyr, and John Fisher, bishop and martyr. St. Thomas More was born in London, England and was Chancellor of King Henry VIII. He was a devoted, loving husband and father and a dedicated public servant. St. John Fisher studied Theology in Cambridge and became Bishop of Rochester. He and his friend St. Thomas More gave up their lives in testimony to defend Church unity and the indissolubility of the sacrament of Matrimony. Both men had well-formed consciences and were willing to die for the Truth. St. Thomas More Thomas More was born in 1478, son of the lawyer and judge John More and his wife Agnes. He received a classical education from the age of six, and at age 13 became the protege of Archbishop John Morton, who also served an important civic role as the Lord Chancellor. Although Thomas never joined the clergy, he would eventually come to assume the position of Lord Chancellor himself. More received a well-rounded college ...

June 1st marks the feast day of St. Justin Martyr, an early Father of the Church. He was one of the first apologists for the Christian faith and has been regarded as the leading interpreter of the theory of the Logos (the Word of God) in the second century. Justin was born into a pagan family in Neapolis around the year 100 A.D.  After spending years studying pagan philosophies, his quest for religious truth led him to investigate the Christian religion, which he found answered the great questions of life and existence better than pagan philosophy.  Already impressed by the zeal of Christian Martyrs, he became a convert to the Christian faith at the age of thirty. Following his conversion, Justin moved to Rome where he opened a school in which he taught the best elements of Greek philosophy in the context of Christian belief. Known as “the Philosopher,” he was the first layman to serve as an apologist -- one who defended in writing the Christian faith against the atta...

Today, May 18, we commemorate the feast of Pope St. John I. He was a martyr for the faith, imprisoned and starved to death by a heretical Germanic king during the sixth century. Pope St. John was born a Tuscan, the son of Constantius. He was an archdeacon for several years before being elected Pope on the death of Pope St. Hormisdas in 523. He was a colleague and confidant of the philosopher Boethius. In 525, Pope John was sent to Constantinople by King Theodoric of the Ostrogoths to reverse the edict of the Emperor Justin against the Arians two years earlier, which required Arians to give back churches which they had taken from orthodox Catholics. Theodoric was himself an Arian and a strong defender of Arianism (a heresy which arose in the 4th century that denied the divinity of Christ). Although Theodoric desired a reversal of Justin’s policy, Pope John did not comply with his wishes, refusing to support heresy, and only counseled the Emperor Justin to be calmer in his fana...

May 12 marks the feast of Saints Nereus, Achilleus, and Pancras, martyrs. Each was martyred for his faith in Christ, in the same year during the persecution of Christians under the order of Emperor Diocletian. Nereus and Achilleus were soldiers in the Praetorian Guard, who became Christians--baptized by Saint Peter, it is said--and decided that they must give up fighting. They escaped from the guard, but were discovered and sent into exile first to the island of Pontia with Saint Flavia Domitilla and then to Terracina. There during the reign of Emperor Trajan in 100 A.D. both saints were beheaded. Their sepulcher is preserved in the cemetery on the Ardeatine Way, where a basilica has been built in their honor. Toward the end of the 4th century, Pope Saint Damasus inscribed a tombstone in honor of the saints. It read:"Nereus and Achilleus the martyrs joined the army and carried out the cruel orders of the tyrant, obeying his will continually out of fear. Then came a miracle...

(left: St. James and right: St. Philip)  Today is the feast of two Apostles, Saints Philip and James. Philip, a fisherman, came from the same town as Peter and Andrew, Bethsaida in Galilee and was one of the twelve apostles Jesus called. On the way from Judea to Galilee Our Lord found Philip, and said, "Follow Me".  Philip obeyed Jesus and immediately began to convert others, finding his friend Nathaniel and telling him that Jesus was the one whom Moses and the other prophets had foretold. Philip was among those who attended the wedding at Cana. He was martyred in the first century. He is the patron saint of hatters and pastry chefs. St. James was also one of the twelve. He is called the “Less” because he was younger than the other apostle by the same name, who was known as James the Great. St. James the Less, a brother of the Apostle Jude, was from Cana of Galilee. He is the author of one of the Epistles in the New Testament. St. Paul tells us that James was fav...

Today, the Church celebrates the life of Saint John Ogilvie, a former Calvinist who was martyred in Scotland during the Protestant Reformation. St. John Ogilvie was born of a noble Scottish family in 1579 and was raised as a Calvinist. He converted to Catholicism at the age of 17 when he studied abroad at the Scots College in Louvain, Belgium. He attended several Catholic schools and soon discovered a call to join the Jesuits. In 1599, he entered the Jesuit novitiate in Vienna and was ordained in Paris in 1610, the year before the last two Jesuits working in Scotland were obliged to leave as persecution intensified. He returned to Scotland in November 1614 disguised as a soldier, and began to preach in secret, celebrating mass clandestinely in private homes. However, his ministry was to last less than a year. In 1614, he was betrayed and arrested and taken to jail. There, he suffered terrible tortures, including being kept awake for eight days and nine nights, in an attempt t...

On March 7, the Church honors Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, early Christian martyrs and mothers. Perpetua was a convert to Christianity who was born to a noble pagan family. She was martyred along with her maid and friend, Felicity, in Carthage in 203 A.D. The two women were arrested and imprisoned, along with three other Christians. Perpetua was 22-years-old, with a son a few months old; Felicity was pregnant at the time of the arrest. Their only crime was converting to Christianity. The account of their martyrdom and courage, The Suffering of Perpetua and Felicity , is one of the earliest historical accounts of Christianity. It is one of the great treasures of martyr literature, an authentic document preserved for us in the actual words of the martyrs and their friends. Perpetua wrote a vivid account of what happened. "While I was still with my companions, and my father in his affection for me was trying to turn me from my purpose by arguments and so weaken my faith, ...

October 28 is the feast of Sts. Simon and Jude, apostles and martyrs. The name of St. Simon usually appears eleventh in the list of the apostles. The first cousin of Jesus, he was born at Cana and is surnamed "The Zealot." He preached in Egypt, Spain, and Libya, leaving behind him the fertile hills of Galilee, where he had been engaged in the healthful cultivation of the vineyards and olive gardens. He later rejoined his brother, Saint Jude, in Persia, where they preached and died as martyrs together. He is the patron of tanners and woodcutters. St. Jude, also called Thaddeus or "Courageous", is the author of the short epistle in the New Testament. He was the apostle who asked the Lord at the Last Supper why he had manifested himself only to the disciples and not to the whole world (John 14:22). He was the son of Cleophas and the woman named Mary who stood with the Blessed Virgin Mary at the foot of the Cross as Our Lord was redeeming the world. He...

Last Communion and Martyrdom of Saint Denis, by Henri Bellechose, 1416, which shows the martyrdom of both Denis and his companions Today is the optional memorial of St. Denis (bishop) and companions, martyrs. He is the patron against frenzy, strife, headaches, and diabolical possession. He is also the patron of Paris, France. St. Denis was born in Italy. In 250 he was sent to France with six other missionary bishops by Pope Fabian. Denis became the first bishop of Paris. He was beheaded in 258 with the priest Rusticus and the deacon Eleutherius at Catulliacum, now Saint-Denis. One of the many legends about his torture and death was that his body carried his severed head some distance from his execution site. St. Denis is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers who were invoked particularly in the Middle Ages against the Black Plague. His symbols include: a beheaded bishop carrying his head — sometimes a vine growing over his neck; mitered head in his hand or on book; white chasuble; ...

The saint of the day for September 28 is Saint Lorenzo Ruiz (1600-1637), a husband and father, the first saint of the Philippines and the first Filipino martyred for the Christian Faith.  He and 15 others were martyred at Nagasaki, Japan in 1637. The group included two consecrated women, two other laymen, two brothers and nine priests. Lorenzo Ruiz was born at Binondo, Manila, Philippines to a Chinese Father and a Filipino mother who were both Catholic.  Educated by the Dominicans, he was a devoted and active Catholic, a member of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary, and a third order Dominican.  He was a husband and father of two sons and a daughter. In 1636, while working as a clerk for the Church, Lorenzo was falsely accused of murder and forced to leave his country. The Dominican fathers who knew Lorenzo arranged to have him take a ship to Japan. Soon after arriving in Japan, Lorenzo was captured for being Catholic and brought to Nagasaki, where he was tortu...