Catholic Fire

July 23 is the feast of St. Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden (1303 – 1373), a widow and a Third Order Franciscan. For twenty-eight years, she was a devoted wife and mother of eight. Following her husband's death, she pursued a life of contemplation and charity, caring for the sick and the poor.  She is one of the most prominent women of the Christian Middle Ages. St. Bridget is renowned for her astonishing revelations documented carefully by her confessors, filling several volumes. Their accounts of her visions of biblical scenes, especially the nativity and the crucifixion, have greatly inspired imagery in Christian art and her devotions have inspired popular piety. It was, however, for her practical works of charity, that she was canonized, and not for her private revelations. Bridget was born in Finista in Sweden. From childhood, the Lord granted her special graces, visions and an extraordinary understanding of divine mysteries. At age seven, she had a vision of the Crucifie...

The saint of the day for April 14 is St. Lidwina, also known as Lydwina of Shiedam, a Dutch mystic. St. Lidwina is the patron of skaters and against sickness. In modern times, she is believed to be one of the first recorded cases of multiple sclerosis. Saint Lidwina was born in 1380 in Schiedam, Holland to a poor family, the only daughter of nine children. Lidwina was devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary and prayed often before the miraculous image of Our Lady of Schiedam. At the age of 12, she consecrated her virginity to Christ. In 1396, while ice skating, she fell and broke a rib. Although she was treated by physicians, her rib never healed and gangrene set in, followed by many complications. This injury caused her to be an invalid for the rest of her life. For seventeen years, she could not move any part of her body, with the exception of her head and left arm. She ate almost nothing and became blind during the last seven years of her life.  Some of the illnesses whi...

The saint of the day for April 14 is St. Lidwina, also known as Lydwina of Shiedam, a Dutch mystic. Saint Lidwina was born in 1380 in Schiedam, Holland to a poor family, the only daughter of nine children. Lidwina was devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary and prayed often before the miraculous image of Our Lady of Schiedam. At the age of 12, she consecrated her virginity to Christ. In 1396, while ice skating, she fell and broke a rib. Although she was treated by physicians, her rib never healed and gangrene set in, followed by many complications. This injury caused her to be an invalid for the rest of her life. For seventeen years, she could not move any part of her body, with the exception of her head and left arm. She ate almost nothing and became blind during the last seven years of her life.  Some of the illnesses which affected Lidwina were:  headaches, vomiting, fever, thirst, bedsores, toothaches, and muscle spasms. Lidwina heroically accepted her condition and s...

On April 11, the Church celebrates St. Gemma Galgani, virgin, mystic, stigmatist, visionary, and victim soul. Saint Gemma is the patron saint of: pharmacists, loss of parents, those suffering with back illnesses, back injury or pain, those struggling with temptations and those seeking purity of heart. Gemma Galgani was born in Lucca, Italy on March 12, 1878, the fourth of eight children. Her mother, who had been a very caring woman, died at the age of thirty - five when Gemma was only seven. For the next eighteen years the family experienced much grief and misfortune. Gemma looked after her brother who had tuberculosis and who died when he was eighteen. Her father was a prosperous pharmacist but the prolonged illness of others in the family was a drain on his resources and the family was reduced to poverty. To add to this, Gemma's father developed cancer of the throat and Gemma nursed him with great care until his death. Gemma had an immense love for the poor, and helped ...

On July 23, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden, who was a widow and Third Order Franciscan (1303 – 1373). She is one of the most prominent women of the Christian Middle Ages. St. Bridget is known for her astonishing revelations documented carefully by her confessors, filling several volumes. Their accounts of her visions of biblical scenes, especially the nativity and the crucifixion, have greatly inspired imagery in Christian art and her devotions have inspired popular piety. It was, however, for her practical works of charity, that e was canonized, and not for her private revelations – which had some very harsh things to say about popes. Bridget was born in Finista in Sweden. From childhood, the Lord granted her special graces, visions and an extraordinary understanding of divine mysteries. At age seven, she had a vision of the Crucified Jesus in all the suffering and sorrow of his Passion, which enkindled within her a deep devotion for our Sa...

The saint of the day for May 29 is St. Bona of Pisa (1156 - 1207), virgin. Bona was the daughter of a single mother who grew up believing that her father had vanished during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, when, in fact, her parents had never married. She discovered this through a vision, which led her to Jerusalem, where her she found her father alive. She was a mystic and visionary. Bona experienced visions from early childhood of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Saint James the Greater. By the age of ten,  she dedicated herself as an Augustinian tertiary. She regularly fasted from an early age, taking only bread and water three days a week. At the age of 14, she made the first of many journeys, travelling to see her father who was fighting in the Crusades near Jerusalem. On her way home, she was captured and imprisoned by Islamic pirates in the Mediterranean, but was rescued by her countrymen. She made pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela and to Spain nine times, ...

St. Margaret Mary Biography The Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart My Favorite Quotes from St. Margaret Mary: "What a weakness it is to love Jesus Christ only when He caresses us, and to be cold immediately once He afflicts us. This is not true love. Those who love thus, love themselves too much to love God with all their heart." "The Divine Heart is an ocean full of all good things, wherein poor souls can cast all their needs; it is an ocean full of joy to drown all our sadness, an ocean of humility to drown our folly, an ocean of mercy to those in distress, an ocean of love in which to submerge our poverty." Patronage : against polio; devotees of the Sacred Heart; loss of parents; polio patients.