Catholic Fire

1.  On Friday, I participated in Eucharistic Adoration at the Midwest Catholic Family Conference in Wichita, KS interceding for the speakers and participants. On Saturday, I received a real treat: I was able to hear the wonderful witness of Jennifer Fulwiller and meet her in person! What a lovely lady! 2. Amid three digit temperatures and high humidity, I am still attending to the garden with my fractured foot. Here is our first tomato. I had it in a salad with bacon and it was delicious! 3. I had a wonderful birthday on Monday, August 8, which I celebrated with my dear husband. 4. This was a beautiful week for celebrating the saints -- St. Dominic, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) , St. Lawrence , and St. Clare.  5. The new Ben Hur is a movie I am looking forward to watching soon. It releases on the Silver Screen on August 19. Here is a preview: BEN-HUR is the epic story of Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston), a prince falsely accused of tr...

Today is the optional memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, the foundress of the Order of the Visitation of Mary. Biography Jane Frances Fremiot was born on January 23, 1572, into a prominent and prosperous family of Dijon, in France. Her father was the president of the parliament and a wealthy landowner; her mother, who died in childbirth when Jane was about eighteen months old, was a descendant of St. Bernard of Clairvaux. By the time she was twenty, Jane was a beautiful, lively, charming young woman, not only rich and clever, but also possessing high ethical standards of service and a capacity for hard work. In 1592, she was wed to Baron Christophe Rabutin-Chantal, a member of the aristocracy and a soldier in the king’s service, who did not hesitate to leave the care of his neglected estate to Jane. As result of her diligent efforts, the family lived comfortably. In spite of the fact that her first two children died in infancy, Jane was supremely happy in her role as ...

St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622), a Swiss theologian and the patron saint of writers has long been my mentor and model, and one of my most powerful intercessors. As a theologian and writer, I look to him for guidance and for assistance in my work. His unique methods of evangelization have also greatly inspired me. At the age of thirteen, Francis studied theology at the University of Paris and immediately afterword earned a doctorate in law. However, he felt called to the priesthood and was ordained and during the time of the Protestant Reformation. The Catholic Church at this time was losing many of its parishioners to the new churches of the Protestant Reformation and Francis set out to restore Catholicism to the area around Lake Geneva known as Chablais. For three years, he trudged through the countryside, his feet frozen and bleeding, as he trampled through the snow. No one would listen to him, so he wrote out his sermons, copying them by hand in the form of leaflets, and p...

Jane Frances Fremiot was born on January 23, 1572, into a prominent and prosperous family of Dijon, in France. Her father was the president of the parliament and a wealthy landowner; her mother, who died in childbirth when Jane was about eighteen months old, was a descendant of St. Bernard of Clairvaux. By the time she was twenty, Jane was a beautiful, lively, charming young woman, not only rich and clever, but also possessing high ethical standards of service and a capacity for hard work. In 1592, she was wed to Baron Christophe Rabutin-Chantal , a member of the aristocracy and a soldier in the king’s service, who did not hesitate to leave the care of his neglected estate to Jane. As result of her diligent efforts, the family lived comfortably. In spite of the fact that her first two children died in infancy, Jane was supremely happy in her role as wife and mother and administrator of a large property which gave her a chance to practice great charity toward the poor. She set up so...