Catholic Fire

Today's saint of the day is St. Engelbert of Cologne. He was born in Berg around the year 1185 to Engelbert, Count of Berg and Margaret, daughter of the Count of Gelderland. He studied at the cathedral school of Cologne and, while still a boy, was made provost of the churches of St. George and St. Severin at Cologne and of St. Mary's at Aachen, as it was a common abuse in the Church at the time to appoint the children of nobles to such positions. In 1199 he was elected provost of the cathedral at Cologne. He led a worldly life, and in the conflict between  two Archbishops, Adolf and Bruno, he sided with his cousin Adolf, and waged war for him. Consequently, he was excommunicated by the pope along with his cousin. After his submission he was reinstated in 1208 and, to atone for his sin, joined the crusade against the Albigenses in 1212. On Feb. 29, 1216, the chapter of the cathedral elected him archbishop by a unanimous vote. The mendicant orders of the Franciscans and t...

October 28 is the feast of Sts. Simon and Jude, apostles and martyrs. The name of St. Simon usually appears eleventh in the list of the apostles. The first cousin of Jesus, he was born at Cana and is surnamed "The Zealot." He preached in Egypt, Spain, and Libya, leaving behind him the fertile hills of Galilee, where he had been engaged in the healthful cultivation of the vineyards and olive gardens. He later rejoined his brother, Saint Jude, in Persia, where they preached and died as martyrs together. He is the patron of tanners and woodcutters. St. Jude, also called Thaddeus or "Courageous", is the author of the short epistle in the New Testament. He was the apostle who asked the Lord at the Last Supper why he had manifested himself only to the disciples and not to the whole world (John 14:22). He was the son of Cleophas and the woman named Mary who stood with the Blessed Virgin Mary at the foot of the Cross as Our Lord was redeeming the world. He is ...

Here are some amazing facts about Saint Wenceslas: 1. Wenceslas’ grandfather, Borivoj I of Bohemia, was converted by Saints Cyril and Methodius, who began the Christianization of Bohemia during Borivoj's reign. 2. His grandmother Ludmila of Bohemia is also a Czech saint and martyr. She was canonized shortly after her death. Her feast is September 16. 3. Wenceslas' father died when Wenceslas was a child. It was his own mother who had his grandmother martyred. When Wenceslas was 18 he assumed leadership of the government and brought in German priests to help strengthen the faith in his duchy. 4. Wenceslas himself was martyred by his younger brother known as Boleslav the Cruel at a feast in honor of Sts. Cosmas and Damien. 5. Wenceslas was considered a martyr and a saint immediately after his death. The biographies that were written in the first fifty years after his death had a powerful influence on the Middle Ages conceptualization of the "righteous king"...

The saint of the day for September 19th, is St. Januarius, bishop and martyr. He is the patron saint of Naples, where Catholics assemble three times a year in Naples Cathedral to witness the liquefaction of a small sample of his his blood which is kept in a sealed vial. St. Januarius was born in Naples and served as bishop of Beneventum (just east of Naples). He and his companions suffered martyrdom during the Diocletian persecution at Naples in 303. They were first thrown to the lions in the arena, but none of the beasts would attack them, so they were beheaded. The Christian women collected the blood of St. Januarius in a vial and placed it in his tomb. St. Januarius has been invoked against volcanic blasts since 1631, when a violent eruption of Mount Vesuvius threatened Naples. The people of the city prayed to him to help them, and the flow of lava stopped. But the enduring fervor for this saint of the volcanoes is rooted in an inexplicable event known as “the miracle of the ...

Today is the feast of Blessed Thomas Tsuji (circa 1570 - 1627), a Jesuit priest and martyr. Thomas received his early education from the Jesuits in Arima and entered the Society in January 1589. He was ordained a Jesuit in Nagasaki sometime before 1613. He was an excellent preacher and became well known throughout southern Japan. He was transferred to Hakata after he became too outspoken in his condemnation of the scandalous conduct of some Christian Japanese in the city. While exercising his priestly ministry in Hakata, the edict of 1641 which ordered the banishment of all Catholic priests from Japan was enacted. In obedience to the order, Fr Tsuji and the other eighty priests left for Macau and remained there for four years. In August 1618, Fr. Tsuji disguised as a merchant, returned to Japan and secretly resumed his apostolic work. Unlike the European Jesuits who could only minister at night, Fr Tsuji worked day and night, achieving great results disguised sometime as a pros...

The saint of the day for July 19 is St. Macrina the Younger. St. Macrina (330-380) was the eldest child in a family of saints. Her grandparents were martyrs. Her grandmother was Macrina the Elder . Her parents, Basil the Elder and Emmelia , are also recognized as saints. She was well educated by her mother and was able to read at an early age. Macrina, in turn, became the teacher of her younger brothers Basil , later bishop of Neocaesarea, and Gregory , later bishop of Nyssa, who themselves became two of the greatest teachers in the Universal Church. At age 12, Macrina was engaged to be married, but when her fiancé died quite suddenly, she decided she would not marry despite subsequent offers. Instead, she dedicated her life to raising her brothers and assisting her mother with housework, cooking, and directing the servants. She also devoted a good part of her time to prayer. After her siblings had grown up, they called her Macrina the Great, as they had in their childhood, a s...

The saint of the day for July 18 is St. Camillus of Lellis, founder of an order dedicated to the care of the sick. He is the patron of the sick, hospitals, and nurses. St. Camilus was born in Bacchianico, Italy in 1550 and died in Rome, Italy in 1614. His mother died while he was still a child and his father was an officer in both the Neapolitan and French royal armies, leaving him neglected. While still a youth, he became a soldier in the service of Venice and later of Naples, remaining there until 1574. While Camillus referred to himself as a great sinner, his only vice seemed to be gambling. He gambled away everything he had and, to atone for actions, he went to work as a laborer on the new Capuchin buildings in Manfredonia. Here, after a moving appeal from the Friar, he completed his conversion and begged God for mercy, at the age of twenty-five. Camillus entered the Capuchin novitiate three times, but a nagging leg injury, received while fighting the Turks, each time for...

On July 7, we commemorate Blessed Maria Romero Meneses (1902 - 1977), a Salesian Sister who was known as the Social Apostle of Costa Rica, due her active initiation of several projects which served the needs of the poor. Some of these included: teaching catechism and vocational skills, setting up a medical center, opening food distribution centers,  starting a school for teaching the social doctrine of the Church, and organizing the construction of homes for the poor in Costa Rica. One of eight children, Maria Romero Meneses was born in Granada, Nicaragua, in 1902 to a wealthy, upper class family; her father was a government minister. She was well-educated by her parents, her aunts, and the Salesian Sisters at the local Catholic school. Because she was artistically and musically gifted, she had private instructors for drawing, painting, piano and violin. At the age of twelve, Maria became very ill with a serious form of rheumatic fever that paralyzed her for six months. She...

Today is the feast of St. Florence, also known as St. Florentina, a cloistered nun and abbess. She was the founder of a religious community. St. Florentina was born in the middle of the sixth century in Cartagena, Spain. Her family was very devout and actively involved in living out their faith and in promoting Christianity. Florentina was the sister of three bishops: Leander , Isidore of Seville , and Fulgentius . All three brothers are saints. Florentina’s parents died when she was young; therefore, her older brother Leander became her guardian. Leander had been a monk, prior to becoming a bishop, and it was through his encouragement that Florentina embraced the cloistered life. She consecrated her virginity to God, associated with other consecrated virgins, and formed a religious community. They took up residence at the monastery of St. Maria de Valle near Ecija (Astigis), where her brother Fulgentius was bishop. Leander wrote the rule of life for her order. Florentina ent...

May 12 marks the feast of Saints Nereus, Achilleus, and Pancras, martyrs. Each was martyred for his faith in Christ, in the same year during the persecution of Christians under the order of Emperor Diocletian. Nereus and Achilleus were soldiers in the Praetorian Guard, who became Christians--baptized by Saint Peter, it is said--and decided that they must give up fighting. They escaped from the guard, but were discovered and sent into exile first to the island of Pontia with Saint Flavia Domitilla and then to Terracina. There during the reign of Emperor Trajan in 100 A.D. both saints were beheaded. Their sepulcher is preserved in the cemetery on the Ardeatine Way, where a basilica has been built in their honor. Toward the end of the 4th century, Pope Saint Damasus inscribed a tombstone in honor of the saints. It read:"Nereus and Achilleus the martyrs joined the army and carried out the cruel orders of the tyrant, obeying his will continually out of fear. Then came a miracle...

The saint of the day for January 20 is St. Fabian, pope (236-250) and martyr. Eusebius, a historian, recounted that Fabian was a layperson, most likely a farmer, who came to Rome, when the people were electing a successor to Pope Anterus. As a layperson, he may have come for the same reason many still come to Rome today during a papal election: concern for the future of the faith, curiosity about the new pope, a desire to grieve for the pope who had passed. Seeing all the important people gathered to make this momentous decision must have been overwhelming. Which one would be the new pope? Someone known for power? Someone known for eloquence? Someone known for courage? Suddenly during the discussion, a dove descended from the ceiling. But it didn't settle on "someone known" for anything at all. The dove, according to Eusebius, "settled on [Fabian's] head as clear imitation of the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove upon the Savior." Ther...

By Jean M. Heimann The saint of the day is St. Canute, the patron saint of Denmark. He was the illegitimate son of King Sweyn Estrithson of Denmark and the nephew of King Knud of England. He succeeded his older brother Harold to the throne of Denmark in the year 1080. As the King of Denmark, he was known as Knud IV. He married Adela, sister of Count Roberts of Flanders. King Canute was gifted with wisdom, charity, and kindness; he was also an excellent athlete, an expert equestrian, and a great general. At the onset of his reign, he led a war against the barbarians and his army defeated them. In the splendor of his success, kneeling at the foot of the altar, he surrendered himself and his kingdom to Jesus Christ, the King of kings. Through his kingdom, he spread the gospel message, constructed churches, and maintained missionaries. He became known as "Canute the Holy." Turmoil arose in his kingdom due to the laws he had made championing the Church and he fled to t...

The saint of the day for January 14th is St. Macrina the Elder, a learned woman gifted with wisdom and counsel. Our knowledge of her life is limited and comes mainly from the testimony of the great Cappadocian fathers of the Church as well as from her  grandchildren and the panegyric of St. Gregory of Nazianzus and St. Basil. We do know that Macrina was widowed and is the patron of widows and an intercessor for poor people. This lady was the grandmother of saints, the most notable being the brothers Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa. It was Macrina and her husband who founded the faith of the family and passed it on as a splendid treasure to her children and grandchildren. That faith was born of suffering and persecution. St. Macrina the elder was a native of Cappadocia, in what is now eastern Turkey. It was here that the great apostle of Cappadocia, St. Gregory the Wonderworker, established the faith around the year 250. When he arrived in the territory, it was said, th...

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...

Not only is it Veteran's day today, but it is the memorial of St. Martin of Tours, a soldier in the "Army of God" who is the patron saint of soldiers. Saint Martin was born to pagan parents in Hungary. When he was fifteen years old, he was enrolled in the Roman armies and went to serve in Gaul, the land he was predestined to evangelize one day. The most famous episode of this period in his life is his meeting with a poor man almost naked in the dead of winter, and trembling with cold. Martin did not have a penny to give him, but he remembered the text of the Gospel: “I was naked, and you clothed Me.” “My friend,” he said, “I have nothing but my weapons and my garments.” And taking up his sword, he divided his cloak into two parts and gave one to the beggar. The following night he saw Jesus Christ in a dream, clothed with this half-cloak and saying to His Angels: “It is Martin, still a catechumen, who covered Me.” Soon afterwards he was baptized. Charity...

The saint of the day for September 10 is St. Nicholas of Tolentino, a simple priest and Augustinian friar whose life influenced many. His powerful preaching and practice of the virtue of charity brought many to Christ. His life of prayer, penance, and austerity shaped his holiness. He is known for his strong devotion to the poor souls in purgatory. Nicholas was born in 1245 in Sant’Angelo in the diocese of Fermo in Italy. His middle-aged parents named him in thanksgiving to St. Nicholas of Myra, to whose shrine they had made a pilgrimage after being childless for several years. Nicholas showed early signs of piety. At age seven, he hid away in a nearby cave and prayed there like the hermits whom he had observed in the mountains. He became an Augustinian friar at age eighteen and was ordained at twenty-five. Nicholas had visions of angels reciting "to Tolentino" and took this as a sign to move to that city in 1274, where he lived the rest of his life. Tolentino ...

The saint of the day for September 2 is St. Ingrid of Sweden, one of the patron saints of Sweden. Born in Skänninge, Sweden, in the 13th century of a noble family, St. Ingrid lived under the spiritual direction of Peter of Dacia, a Dominican priest. She married young and when her husband died, she dedicated all her possessions to God. After a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, she became the first Dominican nun in Sweden and in 1281 she founded the first Dominican cloister there, St. Martin's in Skänninge. She died in 1282 surrounded by an aura of sanctity. Miracles obtained through her intercession followed and led to a popular cult. In 1405, a canonization process was begun and the Swedish Bishops introduced her cause at the Council of Constance. An inquest was held in Sweden in 1416-1417 and the results were inconclusive. In 1497, the cause was reactivated and in 1507 her relics were solemnly translated, and a Mass and Office were composed - but formal canonization seems never t...

The saint of the day for September 1 is St. Giles (650-710), abbot, hermit, and patron of the poor and disabled. One of the Fourteen Holy Helpers , Saint Giles is invoked for protection in times of plague and epidemic. Giles was born to a wealthy Greek family during the 6th century. When his parents died, he gave away all of his wealth to the poor and the sick and attracted many followers who wished to emulate his piety. Giles moved to France, where he lived alone in a cave near Nimes, and spent his days in prayer, meditation, and conversation with the Lord. The cave he made his home in was guarded by a thick thorn bush. In this solitude, he lived on wild herbs and roots, and water. A hind (deer) came daily to be milked by him, thus providing him with additional sustenance. The fame of his miracles became so great that his reputation spread throughout France. He was highly esteemed by the French king, but he could not be prevailed upon to forsake his solitude. He admitted seve...

Clare (1268-1308) was an Augustinian nun noted for her devotion to the Passion of Christ. For that reason, she is sometimes called Clare of the Cross. In her community of sisters, she was a model of religious life according to the ideals of Augustine. As superior of her convent, she constantly urged her sisters to practice self-denial and to seek holiness. She was given the gift of knowledge, which she used to defend the Christian faith. Clare was born in Montefalco, Italy, around 1268. While still young, she went to live with her sister Joan, who had established a community of cloistered nuns. Together they would spend long hours in prayer. As a young woman she became a member of that community, professing religious vows under the Rule of Saint Augustine. Soon after, she experienced a great trial. Her heart was filled daily with spiritual turmoil. She lost any sense of pleasure in prayer. Temptations assaulted her. She wondered if God had abandoned her. All this continued fo...

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...