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...

Via Pinterest. A female reader from Africa writes: I am on the verge of giving up. I feel very different from every other person in the world and I am wondering what reward I would get for my being chaste from birth. I have never accepted intimate relationships with anyone, part of me wonders if that is what the church preaches, part of me is unhappy, part of me finds my way of life satisfying. The other part wonders if I have a life at all. I don't exactly need a relationship, but I wonder what to do with my life when I need one. I wonder if I would join a convent when I don't get one, and I wonder if that's the life I want for myself. I need advice on how to live despite the way the world projects virginity with such negativity. I need an assurance that I am not insanely weird, and I need to know that God would be there to direct my life for the best. Hang in there! Don’t give up! God is with you and will give you the grace you need to keep you strong in the bat...

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...

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...

By Jean M. Heimann Today we commemorate Blessed Josefa Naval Girbes, a member of the Third Order Secular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Teresa of Jesus – model of charity and chastity. Josefa Naval Girbes was born in Algemesi, Valencia Province, Spain, on December 11, 1820. Maria Josefa was baptized the same day she was born, and was soon known as Josefa. She was confirmed in 1828, and made her First Communion a year later. Josefa’s strong Catholic faith was manifested in her deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. She always wore her scapular and her rosary as a necklace.  Josefa and her students prayed the Angelus when the church bells rang at noon and a Hail Mary every hour. On Saturdays, her morning prayers were dedicated to Mary. As a secular Carmelite, Josefa had a special devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and she repeatedly requested that when she died, she be clothed in the habit of Carmel, a request that was granted. Her mother died when she was only t...

Today is the feast of St. Maria Goretti (1890-1902), 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, leaving his family peniless. Maria, now a child of ten, was doing the work of a grown woman, w...

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...

A new website for women “from the men who love them” encourages women to “demand their dignity” and attacks the “incessant, often conflicting” messages and “lies” about women’s worth. The site Demand Your Dignity says “enough is enough” to messages that depict women as a “collection of body parts.” “Demand that men rise up and BE MEN! Demand to be treated as the whole person YOU ARE!” the site tells women. The site says it was made by men “who want to love women, not use them.” Demand Your Dignity characterizes itself as a “plea” to women not to believe the “lies” the world says about them and not to give up hope. “You aren’t alone anymore. We are fighting with you.” Read the story here. This is a great site, which refutes the false images of women in advertising which presents them as sex objects. I'm adding it to my culture of life blog list.

 Sick of the lies today’s media moguls heap on teens and young adults, the ladies of Growing Up Lane and Visualize Love   have come together to send a message that many young people today are choosing chastity and have the strength to withstand attacks and misinformation. The result is Project Chaste . What a wonderful idea to promote chastity and abstinence. H/T: Lisa Hendey

Written by Richard Wetzel, M.D. Published by Sex Education for Advanced Beginners, Inc. Publication Date: 2009 222 pages “The world needed a sexual revolution, but got the wrong one. We needed the one based on truth and love, the one Pope John Paul II presented in The Theology of the Body. Instead, we got one based on lies, pleasure, and freedom, which has turned into a hideous monster of a revolution marred by rampant diseases, death, divorce, abortions, sexual enslavement, etc., which is sweeping away hopelessly ignorant young people in droves and robbing them of the awesome potential of an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ.” These are the words of Richard Wetzel, M.D. in his new book, Sexual Wisdom for Catholic Adolescents , which was written specifically to address the catastrophic crisis in Catholic sexuality education today. In Sexual Wisdom for Catholic Adolescents , Dr. Wetzel, a devout Catholic physician, who has been a chastity educator for the last 20 years, provides...

Martyr for Purity Patron Saint of Youth, Young Women, Purity and Victims of Rape 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 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. Luigi was a hard worker, but suffering from malaria, typhus, meningitis and pneumonia, he died in 1900, leaving his family penniless. Maria, now a child of ten, was doing the work of a grown woman . Maria impressed everyone with her radiant purity. She was naturally pious, kind, and helpful. She was also outstandingly beautiful . In 1902, at age twelve, Maria was attacked by the 19-year-old farm hand Alessandro Serenelli. He tried to rape her but she resisted and foug...

You'll love this one! H/T: Marcel at Aggie Catholics.

It is sheer lunacy to imagine that one has deserved the gifts of God. You may be proud only of the achievements you had before the time of your birth. But anything after that, indeed the birth itself, is a gift from God. You may claim only those virtues in you that are there independently of your mind, for your mind was bestowed on you by God. And you may claim only those victories you achieved independently of the body, for the body too is not yours but a work of God. A chaste man is someone who has driven out bodily love by means of divine love, who has used heavenly fire to quench the fires of the flesh. A person is at the beginning of a prayer when he succeeds in removing distractions which at the beginning beset him. He is at the middle of the prayer when the mind concentrates only on what he is meditating and contemplating. He reaches the end when, with the Lord, the prayer enraptures him. Humility has it signs: ...poverty, withdrawal from the world, the concealment of one's ...

Every virtue in your soul is a precious ornament which makes you dear to God and to man. But holy purity, the queen of virtues, the angelic virtue, is a jewel so precious that those who possess it become like the angels of God in Heaven, even though clothed in mortal flesh. ~ St. John Bosco

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 the Emperor Constantine, a basilica was built in her hono...

Part I Part II Part III Dawn Eden , author of "The Thrill of The Chaste" and the Dawn Patrol blog, gives a spur of the moment interview with the Franciscans of the Immaculate, at the Marian Friary "Our Lady of Guadalupe" in Griswold Connecticut. Related Posts: American Papist - Dawn Eden thrills the Today Show LifeSite News - Dawn Eden - Driven to Pro-Life and Faith by Rebellion - LifeSiteNews Interview

Reported by the Chicago Sun Times : So what is it like to kiss a girl for the first time ever, after she has become your wife? "It was surreal," said Claudaniel "CD" Fabien... after his marriage to Melody LaLuz Fabien on Saturday.... Claudaniel, 30, and Melody, 28, had pledged to be abstinent before marriage -- but went a little further by agreeing not to kiss each other on the lips before their union was official. Why so strict? They didn't even want to get close to temptation, instead waiting until the minister said the magic words: "NOW, you may kiss the bride."... Both Claudaniel and Melody Fabien are abstinence educators - Claudaniel for the nonprofit Confederation of Spanish American Families. Melody is director of the "What's Good" program for the LYDIA Home Association, a Christian service agency. Both teach abstinence programs within the Chicago Public Schools. Read The entire story here. ~ Via Jill Stanek. [Photo credit: Chica...

Pop Tarts: Jordin Sparks is Proud to be a Virgin But Finds Always Being a Good Girl Difficult Jordin Sparks has made no secret of the fact that she's a virgin and plans to stay that way until her wedding night, a personal pledge that was reinforced backstage at Sunday's American Music Awards after the songstress was presented with an un-televised award as Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist. The 18-year-old was truly flattered when we gave her credit for her chastity pledge and for setting herself apart from so many other trouble-makers in Tinseltown, saying a humble thank you multiple times. "The role model tag has definitely been thrust on me and that's something I don't take lightly," Sparks said. The "American Idol" alum reminisced that it was just two years ago that she was sitting at home as an aspiring singer watching these very awards, but felt that there was no young performer she could really look up to as a figure of inspiration. "That...

St. John Chrysostom (ca. 347-407) was a famous and controversial fourth century bishop. Born in Antioch, he studied law as a young man, but then went off to the mountains and became a hermit for several years. In 381, he became a deacon and was later ordained as a priest and served in his native city of Antioch. It was there that his powerful and eloquent oratory earned him the title "Chrysostom" (golden-mouthed). His homilies ranged from the Gospels to personal conversion to the moral reformation of society. He delivered 88 sermons alone on the Gospel of St. John. MORE Favorite Quotes: "Why sow where the ground makes it its care to destroy the fruit? where there are many efforts at abortion? where there is murder before the birth? for even the harlot thou dost not let continue a mere harlot, but makest her a murderess also. You see how drunkenness leads to whoredom, whoredom to adultery, adultery to murder; or rather to a something even worse than murder. For I have no ...

Spanish girl killed resisting sexual assault could be raised to the altars Via CNA TV.