(Here’s an RoL article from Brian.)

In this segment of “Faith in Action,” I would like to introduce you to a great Jesuit saint, Joseph Pignatelli, who carried, like a great badge over his heart, the virtue of “fidelity.”
Joseph was born in 1737 in Saragossa, Spain. At the age of 16, he entered the Society of Jesus and was ordained a priest in 1762. Five years later, Joseph found himself on board a ship with other Jesuits leaving Spain and heading for the Island of Corsica. The enemies of the Jesuits convinced the Portuguese, Spanish and French governments to send the religious order into exile, and they did exactly that. After spending time in Corsica, Joseph along with his Jesuit companions were taken to and dropped off, in Ferrara, Italy. In 1773, Pope Clement XIV, under great pressure, suppressed and disbanded the Jesuit Order. From 1767 to his death in 1811, Joseph Pignatelli’s life was full of hardships, misunderstanding and sufferings.
Joseph underwent a slow, dry martyrdom for over forty years, experiencing exile and the suppression of his Order. While watching fellow Jesuits abandoning the Order, either leaving religious life altogether or becoming secular priests, the virtue of fidelity shined like the brightest of stars within his soul. He remained a faithful Jesuit, living his religious vows and the Jesuit ideal, from the time he left Spain to his arrival in Parma in 1797 where he became Jesuit Provincial. Joseph’s entire religious life was a sign of heroic fidelity.
In a country where we daily read and hear about contracts being nullified, vows being broken and promises being dismissed, it is rather safe to say that fidelity or faithfulness is lacking in our society. Unfortunately, this lack of fidelity does not only exist in the secular world, but can even be found amongst the lay faithful, which is why I believe the example of St. Joseph Pignatelli is so relevant.
Fidelity is extremely important to one’s spiritual life because it is a prerequisite for discipleship. By putting fidelity into practice, we become more faithful to Jesus Christ, more faithful to His Church and her teachings and we become more faithful to the sacramental life and a life of prayer. Fidelity guides and helps us be faithful to our baptismal vows and Catholic calling.
St. Joseph Pignatelli was a man of fidelity. Even in those dark days when the Jesuit Order was suppressed, he remained faithful to his religious vows and Jesuit ideals. Fidelity is important to the life of every Catholic if he or she wants to remain faithful to Christ and His Church.
St. Joseph Pignatelli, pray for us and help us practice fidelity so we can always remain faithful to Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. Amen.
God bless.

Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St. Therese, will be beatified on October 19.

Here’s an RoL article from Brian.

When a twenty-something year old woman moved to Brescia Italy, she slowly began to recognize how the children of the town were uneducated in the simple truths of the Catholic religion. She knew something had to done to correct this! Through spiritual inspirations from God, she formed an association of women who started apostolates to care for and educate children, within their homes, in the faith. This association eventually grew into a religious congregation, the Ursulines.
The young woman I am referring to is St. Angela Merici, whose feast day is celebrated on January 27. Like St. Alphonsus Ligouri, who brought the Gospel to the poor of Naples, and Bl. Jeanne Jugan, who assisted the elderly, and St. Albert Chmielowski who cared for the homeless, St. Angela helped God’s little children by instructing them in the Catholic faith.
Born in 1474, Angela lived with her family in Venice, Italy until the age of ten when God called her parents to their eternal reward. She was sent off to live with a wealthy uncle who loved her very much and provided her with a solid education. At the age of fifteen, she was admitted into the religious family of St. Francis by becoming a Franciscan Tertiary.
Her spiritual life was filled with intense prayer, austere practices and devotions. With a heart zeroed in on God, St. Angela was blessed with the gift of contemplative prayer. She even received a heavenly vision in which she saw herself founding a religious order dedicated to charitable works.
Through a series of events that included pilgrimages to the Holy Land and Rome, Angela discovered her true vocation while living in Brescia, Italy. It did not take Angela long to recognize how grossly ignorant the town children were in the basic tenants of the Catholic faith. To combat the ignorance she gathered around her like-minded women who supported one another in Christian living – they were dedicated to performing the spiritual works of mercy, most especially, “instructing the ignorant.” Although not an official religious order at the time, the Ursulines would become the first teaching order of women as well as the first group of women religious to minister outside the cloister.
Angela was not only blessed with the gift of mystical prayer, but also the gift of wisdom. Through the movements of the Holy Spirit, Angela could see how the family was the basic cell/unit of society. She knew that if children were ignorant of their faith and did not know how to live the Christian life, both the family and society would suffer. By recognizing this fundamental truth, Angela was not only strengthening the family, but also helping society.
What can St. Angela Merici teach us? I believe her life can help us see the importance of putting our faith and talents into practice. In other words, by virtue of our Baptism, God invites us to serve Him, by serving others, especially those who are most in need.
God bless.

Here are two interesting articles about the mystic Fr. Magin Catala who arrived here in Monterey 210 years ago. He is now up for beatification and his story may interest those in CA (particularly San Jose) and pregnant women, as he was known to intercede for them. You can read more about him and his prophesies for California here – California “Holy Man” up for Sainthood after Largely Unknown Astonishments.