Fulton Sheen Beatification: September 24, 2026

  Below is an excerpt from the introduction to Praying in the Presence of the Lord with Fulton Sheen , edited by Michael Dubruiel, originally published in 2002. 

Excerpts from the book will be published in this space over the next few weeks, in honor of Archbishop Sheen's beatification on September 24, 2026. 

How to use this book (part 1) 

This book is arranged into three main sections, each of them dealing with three immense blessings that Bishop Sheen believed we would receive if we practice regularly praying in the presence of Our Lord. These blessings include:

* Sharing in Our Lord’s work of redemption.

 * Fulfilling Our Lord’s desire for our companionship.

 * Growing into the likeness of Our Lord.

Each of these sections contains ten meditations drawn from Bishop Sheen’s works. Along with the bishop’s words, the following are included: Scripture, a reflection, points to ponder, and a closing prayer.

There are two appendixes in the book.

The first is dedicated to Bishop Sheen’s thoughts on war and the power of God that presents material in a similar style as the rest of the book. This section was added after September 11, 2001, when foreign terrorists hijacked four American commercial air- liners, ramming two of them into the World Trade Center towers in New York, another into the Pentagon, and crashing a fourth in Pennsylvania when some of the passengers evidently fought with the hijackers. Bishop Sheen penned the material in this appendix over sixty years ago; but like the other material in the book written by him, it is as relevant today as it was then and to whatever the future might hold.

The second appendix contains two prayers. One is a prayer to be used in order to obtain a favor through the archbishop’s intercession, while the other is for his canonization. This appendix also includes contact information to report any favors received or any material the reader might have to offer in the investigation into Bishop Sheen’s life.

Gregory the Great - September 3

      

Gregory the Great's feast is today, September 3.

And he’s in The Loyola Kids’ Book of Saints by Amy Welborn.

More on The Loyola Kids’ Book of Saints

Over 40 saints’ lives,written at a middle-school reading level.

I. Saints are People Who Love Children
St. Nicholas,St. John Bosco, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Blessed Gianna Beretta Molla

Saints Are People Who Love Their Families
St. Monica,St. Cyril and St. Methodius, St. Therese of Lisieux,Blessed Frederic Ozanam,

Saints Are People Who Surprise OthersSt. Simeon Stylites,St. Celestine V,St. Joan of Arc,St. Catherine of Siena

Saints Are People Who Create
St. Hildegard of Bingen,Blessed Fra Angelico,St. John of the Cross,Blessed Miguel Pro

Saints Are People Who Teach Us New Ways to Pray
St. Benedict,St. Dominic de Guzman,St. Teresa of Avila,St. Louis de Monfort

Saints Are People Who See Beyond the Everyday
St. Juan Diego, St. Frances of Rome, St. Bernadette Soubirous, Blessed Padre Pio

Saints Are People Who Travel From Home
St. Boniface, St. Peter Claver, St. Francis Xavier, St. Francis Solano, St. Francis Xavier Cabrini

Saints Are People Who Are Strong Leaders
St. Helena, St. Leo the Great, St. Wenceslaus, St. John Neumann

Saints Are People Who Tell The Truth
St. Polycarp, St. Thomas Becket, St. Thomas More, Blessed Titus Brandsma

Saints Are People Who Help Us Understand God
St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Jerome, St. Patrick, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Edith Stein

Saints Are People Who Change Their Lives for God
St. Ambrose, St. Gregory the Great, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Camillus de Lellis, St. Katharine Drexel

Saints Are People Who Are Brave
St. Perpetua and St. Felicity, St. George, St. Margaret Clitherow, St. Isaac Jogues, The Carmelite Nuns of Compiegne, St. Maximilian Kolbe

Saints Are People Who Help the Poor and Sick
St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Vincent de Paul, St. Martin de Porres, Blessed Joseph de Veuster

Saints Are People Who Help In Ordinary Ways
St. Christopher, St. Blaise, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Bernard of Montjoux

Saints Are People Who Come From All Over the World
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, St. Paul Miki, Blessed Peter To Rot, Blessed Maria Clementine Anuarite Nengapeta

Michael Dubruiel's Books:

Fulton Sheen Beatification: September 24, 2026

  Below is an excerpt from the introduction to Praying in the Presence of the Lord with Fulton Sheen , edited by Michael Dubruiel, originally published in 2002. 

Excerpts from the book will be published in this space over the next few weeks, in honor of Archbishop Sheen's beatification on September 24, 2026. 

I, of course, wan not alone in my appreciation of Archbishop Sheen. Millions were touched by him from the time of his birth in 1895 until his death in December 1979, and many more are discovering him anew now some twenty years after his death. His “Life Is Worth Living” series (both the original black-and- white show of the 1950s and a later version that the archbishop made in color) is once again broadcast nationally, this time on the Eternal Word Network (EWTN). His books are being reprinted at an astonishing pace. Books like the one you hold in your hand compile his writings on certain subjects.

And there is talk of sainthood. In December of 1999, on the twentieth anniversary of his death, Cardinal John O'Connor authorized the private investigation into the life of Archbishop Sheen by the Archbishop Fulton John Sheen Foundation.

A bishop recently told me that he was privileged to meet Bishop Sheen when he was a young priest. He said that Bishop Sheen had taken him aside and given him a very personal message about the future. What Bishop Sheen had told the young priest had come to pass in his life, He now says that he has no doubt that Sheen was a mystic.

When you read the passages he wrote years ago included in this book, you too will reach that conclusion. I have been amazed as I chose various texts from his writings, some written over sixty-five years ago, to discover how relevant they are to the present.

More.  

Fulton Sheen Beatification: September 24, 2026

 Below is an excerpt from the introduction to Praying in the Presence of the Lord with Fulton Sheen , edited by Michael Dubruiel, originally published in 2002. 

Excerpts from the book will be published in this space over the next few weeks, in honor of Archbishop Sheen's beatification on September 24, 2026. 

I still remember walking into the living room of our family’s home in Winchester, New Hampshire, and seeing my father transfixed in front of the television set watching a bishop preach. My father, not easily impressed, clearly was, by this man’s preaching. The year was 1975. A local station out of Massachusetts was broadcasting reruns of the famous “Life Is Worth Living” series of Bishop Sheen’s that had originally aired from 1951 to1957, first on the DuMont Network, and later on ABC to a national audience. At the time I do not remember personally being that taken by the bishop; but the fact that my father was, left its impression on me.

My introduction to Archbishop Sheen came about in the last year of his life. At that time I was serving in the United States Army and had just been sent to serve a one-year tour of duty in Turkey at a small military outpost there. Upon my arrival I went to the Chaplain’s Office and inquired if he might have any Catholic reading material. He replied that he did not but that the previous chaplain who happened to have been a Catholic priest had left behind a set of tapes. I was free to have them if I wanted them.

The tapes were recordings of a retreat that Archbishop Sheen had given to priests. 

Bored at the time, I figured that I would give them a hearing, | could never have imagined the effect they would have on me, From the very first talk 1 found myself won over. Here was a Catholic who knew the Scriptures and preached with authority. Here was a man of God!

1 listened to the tapes over and over, amazed that no matter how many times | played them how new the material seemed to me, From that day forward I sought out every book and tape by Bishop Sheen that | could get my hands on, devouring them in my spare moments in that faraway land, I made a vow that upon my return to the United States in December of 197,9 1 would search out Bishop Sheen.

 Ironically, upon my assignment to a military base in Virginia, the first night there | was shocked to hear on the news that Fulton Sheen had died. I would never get the chance to meet him in person, on this earth anyway. But I felt that he was now more present to me than he ever could have been while still alive. 

Even though no one had declared him a saint, I often sought his intercession and found that this often met with favorable results. | had no doubt that Fulton Sheen was someone who had used his God- given gifts to the greater honor and glory of God, ‘Truly he was a modern-day golden-tongued preacher like St. John Chrysostom,

More.  

Michael Dubruiel: 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God - 42b

  This is a continuation of the 73 Steps to Spiritual Communion with God by Michael Dubruiel. The previous posts are below and in the archives to the right. This is the 42nd step part 2:

(42) To refer what good one sees in himself, not to self, but to God.






When the rich young man called Jesus, "Good teacher," Jesus corrected him, "Why call me good? Only God is good." Here we have an application of this counsel by Jesus Himself.



Yes, only God is good, but He has shared that goodness in His creation. We are part of God's creation. Therefore when we worship Him, we come to know ourselves as we truly are and we come to see the goodness that is at the heart of who He has created us to be.