Catholic Fire

On October 6, we celebrate the feast of St. Bruno, the founder of the Carthusian order. He was born at Cologne, Germany around 1030. He studied at the school of the Cathedral of Rheims (France) at an early age. He became Canon of the Cathedral and was made the Rector of the University in 1056. Bruno was one of the most remarkable scholars and teacher of his time: "...a prudent man whose word was rich in meaning." Following an attempt at a solitary life of short duration, he entered the region of Grenoble, where the Bishop, the future Saint Hugues, offered him a solitary site in the mountains of his diocese. In June 1084, the Bishop himself led Bruno and six of his companions to the primitive valley of Chartreuse on a wild mountain range on the edge of the French Alps. There they built a hermitage, consisting of a few log cabins opening towards a gallery which allowed them access to the communal areas of the community -- church, refectory, and chapter room -- without h...

The saint of the day for June 24th is St. William of Vercelli, hermit, abbot, and founder of a religious congregation known as the Hermits of Monte-Vergine. William was born to noble and wealthy parents in Vercelli, Italy in 1085. He lost his father and mother in his infancy and was raised by a relative. At age fifteen, he made a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. When he returned, he became a hermit in Naples and lived there on an uninhabited mountain in solitude. However, he became famous after he worked a miracle, curing a blind man. His desire to live a contemplative life and to focus on God was interrupted; consequently, he moved to another mountain. On this mountain, he built a beautiful church in honor of Our Lady. His holiness attracted  many followers and, in 1119, he established the Congregation of Monte Vergine, or Mount of the Virgin. These sons of Our Lady lived in great poverty. Some of the monks began to complain that the rule was too strict and the...

The saint of the day for May 19 is Saint Celestine V, Pope, a holy hermit and the founder of the Celestine Order. He is also known as Peter Celestine, Peter Morrone, and Pietro del Morrone. Born in Isernia, Italy, in 1215, Peter was the eleventh of twelve children of humble, pious parents. His father died when he was very young. When his mother would ask, "Which one of you is going to become a saint?" little Peter would answer "Me, Mama! I'll become a saint!". He became a Benedictine at the age of 17 and at the age of 20, he became a hermit and spent his days praying and reading the Holy Bible. He left his hermitage to study for the priesthood and was ordained in Rome. He then became a Benedictine monk and founded the Celestine order in 1274. After the death of Nicholas IV, a conclave which lasted more than two years elected him pope on July 5, 1294. He became known as Celestine V. On December 13, 1294, feeling overwhelmed by the position and his limit...

March 16 is the feast day of St. Clement Mary Hofbauer (1751-1820), a hermit and a priest of the Redemptorist congregation, who is considered a co-founder of the congregation and called the “Apostle of Vienna.” John, the name he was given at Baptism, was born in 1751, to a poor family in Moravia [now known as the Czech Republic], the ninth of twelve children. Although he desired to be a priest, the family did not have the money for him to attend the seminary, so he became an apprentice in a bakery at the age of 16.  At 19, he went to work in the bakery of a monastery. At that time, the effects of war and famine were sending many homeless and hungry people to the monastery for help. John worked diligently to feed the poor who came to his door. While this was still not the priesthood that he desired so badly, it was an opportunity to serve God's people who were in great need. John lived the life of a hermit, but when Emperor Joseph II eliminated hermitages, he went to Vienna...

Today is the feast of St. Conrad of Piacenza, a Third Order Franciscan hermit celebrated for his piety and miraculous cures at Noto in Sicily. St. Conrad was a noble, born at Piacenza, Italy. As a young man, he married the beautiful Euphrosyne, daughter of a nobleman. One day while hunting, Conrad made a fire that quickly spread throughout the area. The wind carried the flames to nearby fields, forests, towns and villages. An innocent peasant was arrested as an arsonist and condemned to death, but Conrad stepped forward to admit his guilt in the matter, saving the man's life. Consequently, he had to sell his possessions to pay for the damages. He and his wife gave everything they owned to the poor in recompense. Conrad and his wife then decided to enter the religious life. She became a Poor Clare, and he entered the Franciscan Third Order as a hermit. Conrad went to Noto, in Sicily, where he lived the next three decades at St. Martin's Hospital and in a hermitage ...

The saint of the day for January 17 is St. Anthony of the Desert (c. 251–356), a religious hermit and monk, who is known as the founder of monasticism. His rule of order was one of the first to create guidelines for monastic living. He became a monk at age 20 and withdrew into total solitude on a desert mountain near the Nile River. His only food was bread and water, which he never tasted before sunset, and sometimes only once in two, three, or four days. He wore sackcloth and sheepskin, and often knelt in prayer from sunset to sunrise. Here, in the desert, he overcame extreme temptations of the devil, and emerged about 20 years later from total seclusion to instruct nearby hermits in the ways of monasticism. He demonstrated the power of Christ to touch lives by healing the sick, providing spiritual guidance, casting out demons, and preaching. Many were attracted to monasticism by his example. Athanasius's Life of St. Antony [Anthony] perpetuated his story. Anthony inspired m...

Today, July 24, is the feast day of Saint Sharbel (Charbel) Makhlouf, a Maronite Catholic monk from Lebanon. Sharbel is known for his great devotion to contemplative prayer and has been called "the hermit of Lebanon" and "the Wonder Worker of the East." Saint Sharbel was born in 1828 in the small mountain village of Beqa-Kafra, Lebanon. His family was poor, but pious and had a great devotion to the Blessed Mother. As a child, Sharbel tended the sheep in the fields, where he built an outdoor shrine to Our Lady, spending hours in prayer. As he matured, he also spent time reading Scriptures and  Thomas a Kempis's “The Imitation of Christ,”which was was his favorite book. At the age of twenty-three, he left his family to enter the Lebanese-Maronite Monastery, Notre-Dame de Mayfouk, later transferring to the Monastery of St. Maron monastery in Annaya. He received his religious habit and  took the name Sharbel in honor of a second-century martyr. Sharbel was o...

Today, the universal church celebrates the feast of St. Nicholas of Flue . During his lifetime, the Swiss saint had 10 children, became a hermit and later prevented a civil war. Nicholas was born in 1417 near the Lake of Lucerne in Switzerland. He married at the age of 30 and had 10 children. In addition to his duties as a husband and a father, Nicholas donated his talents and time selflessly to the community and always strove to give an excellent moral example to all. The saint was also able to devote much of his private life to developing a strong relationship with the Lord. He had a strict regime of fasting and he spent a great deal of time in contemplative prayer. Around the year 1467, when he was 50 years old, Nicholas felt called to retire from the world and become a hermit. His wife and children gave their approval, and he left home to live in a hermitage a few miles away. While living as a hermit, Nicholas soon gained a wide reputation on account of his personal sancti...

The Saint of the day for January 17 is St. Anthony of the Desert. St. Anthony of the Desert (c. 251–356), a religious hermit and monk, is known as the founder of monasticism. His rule of order was one of the first to create guidelines for monastic living. He became a monk at age 20 and withdrew into total solitude on a desert mountain near the Nile River. Saint Anthony’s only food was bread and water, which he never tasted before sunset, and sometimes only once in two, three, or four days. He wore sackcloth and sheepskin, and he often knelt in prayer from sunset to sunrise. Here, in the desert, he overcame extreme temptations of the devil, and emerged about 20 years later from total seclusion to instruct nearby hermits in the ways of monasticism. He demonstrated the power of Christ to touch lives by healing the sick, providing spiritual guidance, casting out demons, and preaching. Many were attracted to monasticism by his example. Athanasius's Life of St. Anthony perpetuate...

The saint of the day for September 4th is St. Rosalia, hermitess and patron saint of Palmero, Sicily. Her feast is celebrated twice a year by that city. St. Rosalia, also affectionately nicknamed her La Santuzza, the little saint, was the daughter of a noble family descended from Charlemagne. She was born at Palermo, Sicily in 1130. In her youth, her heart turned from earthly vanities to God. She left her home and took up her abode in a cave, on the walls of which she wrote these words: "I, Rosalia, daughter of Sinibald, Lord of Roses and Quisquina, have taken the resolution to live in this cave for the love of my Lord, Jesus Christ." She remained there entirely hidden from the world. She practiced great penances and lived in constant communion with God. Afterward she transferred her abode to Mount Pellegrino, about three miles from Palermo, in order to triumph entirely over the instincts of flesh and blood, in sight of her paternal home. She is said to have appeared a...

Born in Rome, Walter was a thirteenth century Benedictine hermit (d. 1250). He practiced self-denial and made great progress in the interior life. He later became abbot, being the founder of the monastery of Serviliano in the Marches of Ancona, Italy. This monastery is famous for the resurgence of the Faith pioneered by religious orders in that era. Walter is best remembered for his extraordinary devotion to the Cross and the Passion of Christ.  His body is enshrined on the right side of the high altar in the parish church of St. Mark at Serviliano. Several churches in the area celebrate his festival on his feast day, June 4th.

The saint of the day for February 19 is St. Conrad of Piacenza (1290-1350), a friar and hermit celebrated for his piety and miraculous cures at Noto in Sicily. Conrad was born into a noble family in northern Italy. He married the daughter of a nobleman, Euphrosyne. One day, while he was hunting, Conrad ordered his attendants to make a fire. The wind carried the flames, which set fire to nearby fields, forests, towns and villages. Upon seeing this, Conrad ran away in fear. Because he ran, an innocent man was convicted for spreading the fire and was condemned to death as punishment. Upon hearing of this, Conrad stepped forth to accept the blame, saving the innocent man's life. He paid for the damaged property and he and his wife gave everything they owned to the poor in recompense. Conrad then left to join a group of Franciscan hermits, and his wife joined the Poor Clares. Word eventually spread of Conrad's holiness, piety and gift of healing. When many visitors ...

St. Rosalia, also affectionately nicknamed her La Santuzza , the little saint, was the daughter of a noble family descended from Charlemagne. She was born at Palermo, Sicily in 1130. In her youth, her heart turned from earthly vanities to God. She left her home and took up her abode in a cave, on the walls of which she wrote these words: "I, Rosalia, daughter of Sinibald, Lord of Roses and Quisquina, have taken the resolution to live in this cave for the love of my Lord, Jesus Christ." She remained there entirely hidden from the world. She practiced great penances and lived in constant communion with God. Afterward she transferred her abode to Mount Pellegrino, about three miles from Palermo, in order to triumph entirely over the instincts of flesh and blood, in sight of her paternal home. She is said to have appeared after death and to have revealed that she spent several years in a little excavation near the grotto. She died alone, in 1160, ending her strange and wonderfu...

Francis was born in Paola in Calabria, Italy on March 27, 1416. His parents were remarkable for the holiness of their lives: they were childless for many years, but following prayers for the intercession of Saint Francis of Assisi, they had three children; Francis was the oldest. Francis suffered from a swelling which endangered the sight of one of his eyes. His parents again prayed for the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi, and made a vow that their son should pass an entire year in the "little habit" of St Francis in one of the convents of his order, a not uncommon practice in the Middle Ages. Francis was immediately cured. From his early years Francis showed signs of extraordinary sanctity. At the age of thirteen, he entered a convent of the Franciscan Order in order to fulfil the vow made by his parents. Here he glorified God by his love of prayer and mortification, his profound humility, and his prompt obedience. At the completion of the year he went with his parents...

Leonard of Noblac or of Limoges ( who died in 559), was a French nobleman in the court of Clovis, the first king of France. He was converted to Christianity along with the king by Saint Remigius, Bishop of Reims. Leonard secured the release of a number of prisoners. He entered a monastery at Micy near Orléans, under the direction of Saint Mesmin and Saint Lie. Then, he became a hermit in the forest of Limousin, where he attracted a number of followers. Saint Leonard was noted for his sanctity even more than his nobility. Through his prayers the French queen safely delivered a son, and , she rewarded him with royal lands at Noblac, near Limoges, where he founded the abbey of Noblac, around which a village grew, named in his honor (Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat). In the eleventh century his cult spread rapidly. Bohemond, a charismatic leader of the First Crusade, visited the Abbey of Noblac, where he made an offering in gratitude for his release from prison. Bohemund's example inspired ma...

Confessor and hermit on the Nile. Arsenius, who was born in Rome in 354, was the tutor of the children of Emperors Theodosius I the Great, Arcadius, and Honorius. At that time, Arsenius was a Roman deacon recommended for the office by Pope St. Damasus. He served at Theodosius' court in Constantinople for about ten years and then became a monk in Alexandria, Egypt. Inheriting a fortune from a relative, Arsenius studied with St. John the Dwarf and became a hermit in the desert of Egypt. In 434, he left Skete and went to the rock of Troe, near Memphis, Egypt, and to the island of Canopus near Alexandria. He died at Troe. Arsenius is sometimes called "the Roman" or "the Deacon."

Saint William of Monte Vergine was born in Vercelli, Italy in 1085. He lost his father and mother in his infancy and was raised by a relative. At age fifteen, he made a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. When he returned, he became a hermit in Naples and lived there in an uninhabited mountain. After a miracle was obtained by his prayers, he was discovered and his contemplation interrupted, so he decided to move to another mountain, where he built a beautiful church in honor of Our Lady. His holiness attracted many followers and, in 1119, he established the Congregation of Monte Vergine, or Mount of the Virgin. These sons of Our Lady lived in great poverty. Saint William founded several more monasteries, both for men and women, in various places in the kingdom of Naples. He assisted the king of Naples in practicing all the Christian virtues of a worthy sovereign, and in gratitude, the king had a house of the Order built at Salerno directly across from his palace, to have him n...