Catholic Fire

July 6 marks the feast day of St. Maria Goretti, a young virgin and martyr, who is a model of purity and mercy for all. Maria Goretti was a peasant girl who was stabbed fourteen times, while fighting off a rapist. She died forgiving her killer. Maria Goretti was born on October 16, 1890, in Coranaldo in the province of Ancona in Italy, the third of seven children of Assunta and Luigi Goretti. When Maria was six, her father, realizing he could not support his growing family on the barren countryside, took them south, toward Rome, to a village near Anzio, believing that in the rich, warm farmlands of the Mediterranean he would find a more prosperous living and a make a better life for his family. In order to make ends meet, Maria’s father entered into partnership with a man called Serenelli, and shared a house with him and his two sons, one of whom was called Alessandro. Luigi was a hard worker, but suffering from malaria, typhus, meningitis and pneumonia, he died in 1900, leavi...

On June 8, we celebrate the feast of Saint Calliope (also known as Kalliopi), virgin and martyr of the Church.  She was executed in 250, under the reign of Emperor Decius, for refusing to marry a pagan suitor.  Calliope was a beautiful young woman, who from an early age had consecrated her virginity to Christ.  She dedicated her life to God, spending time performing charitable and religious works. Many suitors sought her hand in marriage, given her beauty and grace, but she remained chaste, saving herself for her Lord and Savior. However, one pagan suitor refused to take “no” for an answer. Despite Calliope’s decisive statements that she would never marry him, he continued to pursue her. Growing tired of her refusals, he threatened to have her arrested, if she did not submit to his proposal.  Remaining true to her faith and her vow to Christ, Calliope refused, and was arrested.  She was brought to trial before the magistrate, where she was accused...

April 29th is the feast of my Confirmation saint, St. Catherine of Siena, Caterina di Giacomo di Benicasa (1347 - 1380). As a mystic, activist, reformer, contemplative, and Doctor of the Church, she is one of the most prominent figures in Christian history. Catherine, the youngest of twenty-six children, was born in Siena on March 25, 1347. During her youth she had to contend with great difficulties on the part of her parents. They were planning marriage for their favorite daughter; but Catherine, who at the age of seven had already taken a vow of virginity, refused. To break her resistance, her beautiful golden brown tresses were shorn to the very skin and she was forced to do the most menial tasks. Undone by her patience, her mother and father finally relented and their child entered the Third Order of St. Dominic -- a lay order. Catherine managed a large household of followers, all of whom called her "Mama". She served as spiritual director to royalty and religiou...

The saint of the day for February 5 is St. Agatha, the patroness of those who suffer from breast cancer. Agatha was born in Sicily, the daughter of rich and pious parents. At a young age, she consecrated herself to God. She grew to be a virtuous Christian woman, known for her remarkable beauty, but resisted the advances of men. The Roman Senator Quintianus, who governed Sicily, had heard of her great beauty and wealth, and planned on seducing her. Consequently, he made laws against the Christians in order to trick her into coming to him. When she was apprehended, Agatha prayed: "Jesus Christ, Lord of all things, you see my heart, you know my desire-possess alone all that I am. I am your sheep, make me worthy to overcome the devil." She wept, and prayed for courage and strength. Quintianus made advances toward her, and when she refused them, he ordered her to be put into the hands of Aphrodisia, a woman who ran a brothel. Agatha refused to be influenced by the seductiv...

January 21 is the feast of St. Agnes, a virgin, who was martyred at the age of thirteen in 304.  She is invoked as the patron of young girls and serves as a excellent model of chastity. Born to a Christian family of Roman nobility during the third century, St. Agnes matured into a beautiful, graceful young woman.  By the age of twelve, she was already receiving several suitors to ask for her hand in marriage; however, she had developed a deep spirituality which guided her to consecrate her virginity to God. Thus, she turned each suitor away, explaining that Christ was her only spouse. She was even willing to accept death rather than give up her consecrated virginity to marry. Living as a Christian during the politically charged time of the Diocletian persecution of Christians in Rome, she was under the constant threat of torture and death. A Roman prefect desired that Agnes marry his son. Embittered by her second rejection to marry his son, the prefect turned her in t...

St. Bibiana (on the right) The saint of the day for December 2 is St. Bibiana (Vivian), who was born in the 4th century in Rome. St. Bibiana was known for her beauty, her modesty, and her chastity. In the year 363, Julian the Apostate made Apronianus Governor of Rome. St. Bibiana suffered in the persecution started by him. She was the daughter of Christians, Flavian, a Roman knight, and Dafrosa, his wife. Flavian was tortured and sent into exile, where he died of his wounds. Dafrosa was beheaded, and their two daughters, Bibiana and Demetria, were stripped of their possessions and left to suffer poverty. However, they remained in their house, spending their time in fasting and prayer. Apronianus, seeing that hunger and want had no effect upon them, summoned them. Demetria, after confessing her Faith, fell dead at the feet of the tyrant. St. Bibiana was reserved for greater sufferings. She was placed in the hands of a wicked woman called Rufina, who in vain endeavored to sed...

Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Catherine of Alexandria (292 - 310), virgin and martyr. Catherine was beautiful, brilliant, and extremely wealthy at the age of eighteen when she debated the Emperor Maximin (311-313) and harshly criticized him for his persecution of Christians who refused to worship pagan gods. Astounded by her wisdom, Maximin ordered her to be kept confined, and summoned fifty of his most learned philosophers, promising them great rewards if they could get Catherine to abandon her Christian faith. However, her arguments were so convincing that all fifty of the philosophers were converted to Christianity. Outraged by this, Maximin ordered all of them to be burned alive. Then the Emperor attempted to win Catherine by flattery and by promises, but his efforts proved equally fruitless. Next, he had her thrown into a dungeon, without food and water. He ordered her whipped with rods, scourged with leaden nodules, and then left to languish eleven days without f...

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, June 17, we honor St. Emily de Vialar, Virgin, Foundress of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition. She is the patron of single women. Anne Marguerite Adelaide Emily de Vialar was born on September 12, 1797 at Gaillac in southern France to a noble family. She was the oldest of three children and the only daughter of Baron James Augustine de Vialar and his wife Antoinette. At thirteen, she was sent to the boarding convent of Abbaye-au-Bois in Paris, but returned home two years later. Her mother had died and she was needed to perform the housekeeping duties for the family.  Differences arose between Emily and her father when she refused a marriage proposal. She had made a private vow to consecrate her life to God as a virgin. Emily had a vision of our Lord pointing to the wounds of His passion, which moved her deeply and strongly influenced her vocation. In an attempt to repair the harm done by the French Revolution, Emily catechized the children of Gaillac, a minis...

The saint of the day for April 14 is St. Lidwina, also known as Lydwina of Shiedam, a Dutch mystic. Saint Lidwina was born in 1380 in Schiedam, Holland to a poor family, the only daughter of nine children. Lidwina was devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary and prayed often before the miraculous image of Our Lady of Schiedam. At the age of 12, she consecrated her virginity to Christ. In 1396, while ice skating, she fell and broke a rib. Although she was treated by physicians, her rib never healed and gangrene set in, followed by many complications. This injury caused her to be an invalid for the rest of her life. For seventeen years, she could not move any part of her body, with the exception of her head and left arm. She ate almost nothing and became blind during the last seven years of her life.  Some of the illnesses which affected Lidwina were:  headaches, vomiting, fever, thirst, bedsores, toothaches, and muscle spasms. Lidwina heroically accepted her condition and s...

January 21 is the feast of St. Agnes, a virgin, who was martyred at the age of thirteen in 304.  She is invoked as the patron of young girls and serves as a excellent model of chastity. Born to a Christian family of Roman nobility during the third century, St. Agnes matured into a beautiful, graceful young woman.  By the age of twelve, she was already receiving several suitors to ask for her hand in marriage; however, she had developed a deep spirituality which guided her to consecrate her virginity to God. Thus, she turned each suitor away, explaining that Christ was her only spouse. She was even willing to accept death rather than give up her consecrated virginity to marry. Living as a Christian during the politically charged time of the Diocletian persecution of Christians in Rome, she was under the constant threat of torture and death. A Roman prefect desired that Agnes marry his son. Embittered by her second rejection to marry his son, the prefect turned h...

St. Bibiana (on the right) The saint of the day for December 2 is St. Bibiana (Vivian), who was born in the 4th century in Rome. St. Bibiana was known for her beauty, her modesty, and her chastity. In the year 363, Julian the Apostate made Apronianus Governor of Rome. St. Bibiana suffered in the persecution started by him. She was the daughter of Christians, Flavian, a Roman knight, and Dafrosa, his wife. Flavian was tortured and sent into exile, where he died of his wounds. Dafrosa was beheaded, and their two daughters, Bibiana and Demetria, were stripped of their possessions and left to suffer poverty. However, they remained in their house, spending their time in fasting and prayer. Apronianus, seeing that hunger and want had no effect upon them, summoned them. Demetria, after confessing her Faith, fell dead at the feet of the tyrant. St. Bibiana was reserved for greater sufferings. She was placed in the hands of a wicked woman called Rufina, who in vain endeavored to s...

On November 25, we celebrate the memorial of St. Catherine of Alexandria (292 - 310), virgin and martyr. Catherine was beautiful, brilliant, and extremely wealthy at the age of eighteen when she debated the Emperor Maximin (311-313) and harshly criticized him for his persecution of Christians who refused to worship pagan gods. Astounded by her wisdom, Maximin ordered her to be kept confined, and summoned fifty of his most learned philosophers, promising them great rewards if they could get Catherine to abandon her Christian faith. However, her arguments were so convincing that all fifty of the philosophers were converted to Christianity. Outraged by this, Maximin ordered all of them to be burned alive. Then the Emperor attempted to win Catherine by flattery and by promises, but his efforts proved equally fruitless. Next, he had her thrown into a dungeon, without food and water. He ordered her whipped with rods, scourged with leaden nodules, and then left to languish eleven days...

The saint of the day for February 5 is St. Agatha, patron saint against breast cancer. Agatha was born in Sicily, the daughter of rich and pious parents. At a young age, she consecrated herself to God. She grew to be a virtuous Christian woman, known for her remarkable beauty, but resisted the advances of men. The Roman Senator Quintianus, who governed Sicily, had heard of her great beauty and wealth, and planned on seducing her. Consequently, he made laws against the Christians in order to trick her into coming to him. When she was apprehended, Agatha prayed: "Jesus Christ, Lord of all things, you see my heart, you know my desire-possess alone all that I am. I am your sheep, make me worthy to overcome the devil." She wept, and prayed for courage and strength. Quintianus made advances toward her, and when she refused them, he ordered her to be put into the hands of Aphrodisia, a woman who ran a house of ill repute. Agatha refused to be influenced by the seductivenes...

The saint of the day for January 21 is St. Agnes. St. Agnes was born in Rome during the beginning of the third century. She was brought up as a Christian and grew to be a very beautiful young woman. By the age of twelve, Agnes was already receiving suitors for her hand in marriage. And already by the age of twelve, Agnes had developed a deep spirituality that directed her to devote her life to God as a consecrated virgin. Several of the suitors who Agnes turned away became bitter at her and turned her in to the authorities as a Christian. The political atmosphere at the time was very charged, and the Diocletian persecution was well under way. Agnes was arrested and thrown into a house of prostitution to await her death. All who came to look lustfully upon Agnes lost their sight, but many had their sight restored by her intercessory prayers. At last Agnes was sentenced to death. Her body was taken away and buried in a catacomb that later came to bear her name. Under the reign of...

Today is the memorial of St. Cecilia, patron of singers, musicians, and poets, because she sang for God alone. She is praised as the perfect model of the Christian woman because of her virginity and the martyrdom which she suffered for love of Christ. It is believed that St. Cecilia was born in the 2nd or 3rd century A.D., although the dates of her birth and martyrdom are unknown. Tradition tells us that Cecilia was a Roman girl of a patrician family who had been brought up as a Christian. She fasted often and wore a coarse garment beneath her rich clothing. Although she had consecrated her virginity to God, her father betrothed her to a young pagan named Valerian. When the wedding day arrived, Cecilia sat apart from her guests, repeating psalms and praying. After the ceremony, when the guests had departed and she was alone with her husband, Cecilia made known her great desire to remain a virgin, saying that she already had a lover, an angel of God who was very jealous. Valeria...

The saint of the day for May 29 is St. Bona of Pisa (1156 - 1207), virgin. Bona was the daughter of a single mother who grew up believing that her father had vanished during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, when, in fact, her parents had never married. She discovered this through a vision, which led her to Jerusalem, where her she found her father alive. She was a mystic and visionary. Bona experienced visions from early childhood of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Saint James the Greater. By the age of ten,  she dedicated herself as an Augustinian tertiary. She regularly fasted from an early age, taking only bread and water three days a week. At the age of 14, she made the first of many journeys, travelling to see her father who was fighting in the Crusades near Jerusalem. On her way home, she was captured and imprisoned by Islamic pirates in the Mediterranean, but was rescued by her countrymen. She made pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela and to Spain nine times, ...

The saint of the day for February 5 is St. Agatha. Agatha was born in Sicily, the daughter of rich and pious parents. At a young age, she consecrated herself to God. She grew to be a virtuous Christian woman, known for her remarkable beauty, but resisted the advances of men. The Roman Senator Quintianus, who governed Sicily, had heard of her great beauty and wealth, and planned on seducing her. Consequently, he made laws against the Christians in order to trick her into coming to him. When she was apprehended, Agatha prayed: "Jesus Christ, Lord of all things, you see my heart, you know my desire-possess alone all that I am. I am your sheep, make me worthy to overcome the devil." She wept, and prayed for courage and strength. Quintianus made advances toward her, and when she refused them, he ordered her to be put into the hands of Aphrodisia, a woman who ran a house of ill repute. Agatha refused to be influenced by the seductiveness of this wicked woman and her environ...

The saint of the day for January 21 is St. Agnes . St. Agnes was born in Rome during the beginning of the third century. She was brought up as a Christian and grew to be a very beautiful young woman. By the age of twelve, Agnes was already receiving suitors for her hand in marriage. And already by the age of twelve, Agnes had developed a deep spirituality that directed her to devote her life to God as a consecrated virgin. Several of the suitors who Agnes turned away became bitter at her and turned her in to the authorities as a Christian. The political atmosphere at the time was very charged, and the Diocletian persecution was well under way. Agnes was arrested and thrown into a house of prostitution to await her death. All who came to look lustfully upon Agnes lost their sight, but many had their sight restored by her intercessory prayers. At last Agnes was sentenced to death. Her body was taken away and buried in a catacomb that later came to bear her name. Under the reign of...

Today is the feast of St. Scholastica (480 - 543), the twin sister of St. Benedict and head of the monastery at Plombaria, under her brother's direction. The siblings were very close. They met once a year at a house near the Monte Cassino monastery to discuss spiritual matters. Saint Gregory tells the charming story of their last meeting. The saints had spent their time together in the mutual comfort of "heavenly talk" and with nightfall approaching, Benedict prepared to leave. Scholastica believed that it would be their last opportunity to see each other alive, so she asked Benedict to spend the evening in conversation. Benedict sternly refused because he did not wish to break his own rule by spending a night away from his monastery in Monte Cassino. Scholastica cried, laid her head upon the table, and prayed that God would intervene. As she did so, a sudden storm arose. There were brilliant flashes of lightning, a loud peal of thunder, and the rain and hail came in su...