By CatholicVote | Created at 2025-01-20 23:06:22 | Updated at 2025-01-21 03:30:04
4 hours ago
CV NEWS FEED // Auxiliary Bishop William J. Waltersheid of Pittsburgh recently praised the faith and witness of a Catholic family in California who renewed their consecration to Mary while standing on the ashes of their home, which burned down in the Los Angeles fires this month.
“The faith that the Halpin family exhibited is not the kind of faith that the world popularizes today — a faith in good will or a sort of optimism,” Bishop Waltersheid said in a Jan. 15 reflection. “No, theirs is a supernatural faith — the kind we receive in the Sacrament of Baptism.”
As CatholicVote previously reported, the Halpin family of Altadena found their home of three decades reduced to ashes. However, they also found that their family statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary remained intact.
Though faced with tremendous loss, the Halpin family gathered before the statue and sang the “Regina Coeli,” a 12th Century Latin hymn, Bishop Waltersheid explained.
“Even in the ashes of their home and the sorrow of their lives, they sang out the Easter hymn to Our Lady,” Bishop Waltersheid wrote.
The devastating Los Angeles fires that broke out on Jan. 7 have burned over 38,000 acres in the region.
In his reflection, Bishop Waltersheid urged all Americans to embrace the “Regina Coeli” as a source of comfort amid ongoing personal suffering.
“May we all sing the Regina Coeli in the suffering of our own lives, knowing that the Mother who stood at her Son’s Cross also rejoiced at His Resurrection!” Bishop Waltersheid said.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has announced various ways for individuals to assist those who have lost their homes and livelihoods to the ongoing California fires. As reported by CatholicVote, more information is available here.
