Catholic Fire

Today is the feast of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905 - 1938), a Polish nun who was chosen by Jesus to remind the world of the mystery of God's merciful love, the devotion to Divine Mercy. Helena Kowalska was born in a small village in west-central Poland, the third of 10 children. She worked as a housekeeper in three cities before joining the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in 1925. During her 13 years in various houses, she worked as a cook, gardener, and porter. In the 1930's, Sister Faustina grew in holiness and developed a mystical interior life.  During her time at the convent, Sister Faustina was blessed with many graces, including visions, revelations, wounds of the stigmata, sharing in the Passion of the Lord, bilocation, the ability to read of human souls, prophecy, mystical engagement, and mystical marriage. Sister Faustina received from the Lord a message of mercy that she was told to spread throughout the world.  She was asked to becom...

During World War II, more than 400,000 Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime in Hungary. Back then, the Vatican's nuncio was Angelo Rotta. He along with his secretary, Gennaro Verolino, helped saved roughly 15,000 Jews during the Holocaust. MATTEO LUIGI Author 'The Righteous of Budapest' "They processed passports and left them blank, so that if someone needed to flee, they could do so. They also rented a series of building in Budapest. I think there were about 25 units. They created  fictitious offices and they displayed the Vatican flag as if it was part of the nunciature. There they allowed Jews to hide.” Back in Rome, the Vatican knew exactly what they were doing, and in fact, those two diplomats weren't the only ones. Back when he was a Vatican diplomat, John XXIII also helped Jews flee from the Nazis when he served as nuncio in Istanbul. MATTEO LUIGI Author 'The Righteous of Budapest' "Verolino's letters clearly state this. He des...

On December 2nd, we celebrate the life of Blessed Liduina Meneguzzi (1901-1941). Elisa Angela Meneguzzi was born on September 12, 1901 to a humble and devout Italian farming family . A pious youth, she spent hours in prayer, attended daily Mass, and taught catechism. At the age of twenty-four, she gave herself totally to God, when she entered the Salesian convent in Padova, taking the name Liduina. She worked as a housekeeper, a nurse, and a sacristan in a girls' boarding school before being sent to Africa as a missionary in 1937. Sr. Liduina worked at a hospital in Dire-Dawa, Ethiopia, a large, cosmopolitan city with people of many backgrounds, races and religions including: Catholics, Copts, Muslims and native pagans.  With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the hospital was taken over by the Italian military and she devotedly cared for the wounded. When the city was bombed, she worked in the streets, carrying the wounded to shelter, baptizing dying children, leading ...

Ray Noury, a World War II Army Air Corps Sergeant Veteran, recalls his amazing survival story. At an altitude of 15,000 ft, he was knocked unconscious when blown out of his B-24 Bomber. Waking up at around 5,000 ft., he beheld his shredded parachute streaming above, and reaching for his crucifix, exclaimed: This is it... ~ Via franciscanfriars .