Catholic Fire

I have previously participated in the March for Life in Washington D.C. and found it to be an amazing and unforgettable experience. However, like many other pro-lifers I am unable to attend this year. Here are some suggestions for those who are unable to attend, but still want to be pro-active. 1. Pray for those who are participating in the March for Life.  Here is one prayer you might say: Father and maker of all, you adorn all creation with splendor and beauty, and fashion human lives in your image and likeness. Awaken in every heart reverence for the work of your hands, and renew among your people a readiness to nurture and sustain your precious gift of life. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen. 2. Attend Mass, pray the Rosary or the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, or go to Eucharistic Adoration and pray for an end to abortion. 3. Fast -- from food, electronic dev...

Happy New Year, and a blessed Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God! What a beautiful feast day this is! On this first day of the New Year, just eight days after the feast of the birth of Christ, we remember the Blessed Virgin Mary by celebrating her divine motherhood. As the Mother of God, her greatest title, Mary is known as Theotokus, which means the "God-Bearer". It is appropriate to honor Mary as Mother of Jesus, following the birth of Christ. When Catholics celebrate the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God Incarnate, we are not only honoring Mary, who was chosen among all women throughout history to bear God, but we are also honoring Jesus, who is fully God and fully human. Everything begins with Mary. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta told us, "No Mary, no Jesus." St. Alphonsus Liguori stated:  "Such is the will of God that we should have everything through Mary." St. Louis de Montfort revealed: “We never give more honor to Jesus than when we ho...

By Jean M. Heimann The season of Advent is a time of preparation. It is a time to prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus. It is a time to make more room for him in our lives. During Advent, we wait patiently and prayerfully, with the Blessed Virgin Mary, in joyful hope and in anticipation of the miracle of the Incarnation. This year is remarkable in that Pope Francis has proclaimed it to be an Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. During this Advent, then, we are called to come to Jesus and to seek out his merciful love which can heal all that is injured within us. He calls us out of the darkness into the light of His radiant and merciful love. For, his mercy has the power to free us of our fears, worries, and all the burdens that weigh us down.  It can heal us of the hurts that lie deep within and of the despair that accompanies our darkest sins. First and foremost, God invites to embrace his mercy, to repent and to be cleansed, to be made spotless and holy. This Adv...

Today is the feast of St. Paula Montal Fornés (1799 - 1889), foundress of the Daughters of Mary, Sisters of Pious Schools. Paula was born in a small seaside village near Barcelona, Spain in 1799 to Ramon and Vicenta Fornes Montal. She was the oldest of five daughters and was only ten when her father died. To help support the family, Paula went to work as a seamstress and lace-maker and helped her mother raise her younger sisters. She also taught catechism in her parish and, in doing so, discovered her gift for teaching. Denied an education herself, Paula promised God that she would devote her life to the Christian education of girls and young women. Paula believed that women needed an education to prepare them for life. Women in society at that time were treated as subordinate to men, which Paula and her followers perceived as a factor in the breakdown of the family unit and other social maladies. They were determined to advance women and their status in society through educati...