Catholic Fire

We are frequently entertained and fascinated by the lifestyles of royalty and their romantic adventures in books and movies. However, St. Elizabeth was a real-life princess, who served as an exemplary model of the heroic virtues of charity and humility. Her life is not a fairy tale, but is a true story of authentic love. Born in Bratislava, Hungary in 1207, Princess Elizabeth was the daughter of King Andrew of Hungary and his wife Gertrude. Her aunt was St. Hedwig and her great niece was St. Elizabeth of Portugal. Elizabeth was betrothed at the age of four to Prince Herman of Thuringia (in central Germany) and grew up in his father's court. In 1216, Hermann, who Elizabeth was to marry, died. After this, she then became engaged to Ludwig, the second son. The couple married when she was fourteen and he was twenty-one.  She loved him and bore him three children. They were very happy together and deeply devoted to one another. Ludwig was protective of his wife and the couple ...

On April 17, we honor Blessed Mary of the Incarnation.  Also known as Barbara Avrillot and Madame Acarie, she is recognized as the "mother and foundress of the (Discalced) Carmel in France". She is the patron of widows and the poor. Barbara Avrillot was born into an upper middle class family in Paris in 1566.  Her father, Nicholas Avrillot was a French government official. She was educated by the Poor Clares of Longchamp, who prepared her for the cloister. At the age of sixteen, however, she married Pierre Acarie, a Catholic aristocrat of good character, with whom she had six children. She was a model wife and mother. Pierre supported the Catholic League against Henry IV. When Henry became king, he seized the Acarie estates, impoverished the family, and exiled Pierre from Paris. Barbara had to remain behind to battle with creditors and business men for her children's fortune.  In addition, she endured considerable physical pain, the result of a fall from her hor...

The saint of the day for March 15 is St. Louise de Marillac, the co-founder, with Saint Vincent de Paul, of the Daughters of Charity. She is the patroness of: disappointing children, those rejected by religious orders, widows, sick people, and social workers. Louise was born in Ferrières-en-Brie (near Meaux), Auvergne, France, on August 12, 1591. Born out of wedlock in Paris in 1581, Louise never knew who her mother was but was acknowledged and raised by her father, a member of the aristocracy. When her father married, Louise had a difficult time adjusting as she was sent as a resident student to a Dominican convent where her aunt was a religious. This experience deepened her intellectual skills, as well as her desire to be a religious. When her father died and resources were limited, she lived in a boarding house where she had the opportunity to learn many domestic skills, as well as the secrets of herbal medicine. When Louise was about sixteen years old, she developed a s...

Today is the feast of St. Matilda, the Queen of Germany and wife of Henry I. She was born in Engern, Westphalia, Germany in 895 to Count Detrich and his wife, Reinhild. Raised by her grandmother, an abbess, she entered into an arranged marriage with King Henry the Fowler of Saxony in 909. Matilda became the mother of: Otto I, Emperor of Germany; Henry, Duke of Bavaria; St. Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne; Gerberga, who married Louis IV of France; Hedwig, the mother of Hugh Capet. As queen, Matilda was humble, holy, charitable, and very generous -- always ready to help the poor and the down-trodden. Following her husband's death, Matilda made an unsuccessful attempt to secure the throne for her favorite son Henry, but his elder brother was elected and crowned in 936. Later, the two brothers joined in persecuting their mother, whom they accused of having impoverished the crown by her lavish almsgiving. To satisfy them, she renounced the possessions the deceased king had left her, a...

The Church remains faithful if she keeps her eyes fixed on Jesus, but she becomes lukewarm and mediocre if she seeks comfort in worldly things. That was Pope Francis’ message on Monday as he reflected on the Gospel reading at Mass in the Casa Santa Marta… Pope Francis noted that the reading from St Luke’s Gospel tells the story of the widow who puts her two coins in the temple treasury box, while other wealthy worshipers make a great show of the money they're putting in. Jesus says that “this poor widow put in more than all the rest” because the others were giving away money from their surplus wealth, while she, in her poverty, “has offered her whole livelihood”. In the Bible, Pope Francis said, the widow is the woman who is alone, who has no husband to look after her, who has to manage on her own, who survives on charity. The widow in this Gospel passage, he said, was “a widow who had placed her trust only in the Lord”. I like to look at the widows in the Gospel, he said, as...

Thomas Craughwell, author of Saints Behaving Badly (Doubleday, 2006), has a fascinating post today on St. Paula the Patron saint of widows and the patroness of biblical studies over at Catholic Exchange.