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Melanie Rigney

Melanie Rigney is the author of Brotherhood of Saints and Radical Saints (Franciscan Media). Melanie is also a regular contributor to Living Faith, the Catholic devotional, and writes weekly for Your Daily Tripod, a Catholic blog. She is a member of the Catholic Writers' Guild, Capital Christian Writers, and several other writing groups. She lives in Arlington, Virginia, where she is a member of St. Agnes Catholic Church and is active in the Cursillo movement.

Radical Saints: Josephine Bakhita

Melanie Rigney July 9, 2020

Born about 1869 in Sudan | Died February 8, 1947, in Italy
Canonized October 1, 2000 | Feast Day: February 8

Josephine Bakhita’s Radical Gift

Slave traders took away her name and her family. She was kidnapped, beaten, and scarred. And yet, when asked what she would say to her persecutors if she met them again, Josephine said she would thank them, because without them she would not have discovered her faith and her vocation.

Josephine’s World

Radical Saints: Maria Faustina Kowalska

Melanie Rigney July 9, 2020

It’s human nature to desire to be well liked and understood. Many of those around Maria Faustina Kowalska, including some of the women in her own community, saw her single-minded drive to bring the Lord’s Divine Mercy message to the world as egotistical and delusional. Faustina didn’t care what anyone other than Jesus thought of her, and she radically embraced being his messenger.

Praying with the Saints: All Are Welcome

Melanie Rigney June 10, 2020

We love, Scripture says, because God first loved us (see 1 John 4:19). That’s also why praying is so vital—because God’s love melts our chill, sparks our desire, ignites our love.

Providing Care with Courage

Melanie Rigney May 27, 2020

Marianne Cope listened only to God, accepting and caring for people others feared or found distasteful and putting her own health at risk. Hansen’s disease, in those days called leprosy, struck fear in the hearts of most people. It was believed—later disproved—that the infection that strikes the skin, nervous system, and more was highly contagious. As a result, in Hawaii and elsewhere, those suffering from Hansen’s disease and sometimes their family members were cast out from society.

Turning Pain into Praise

Melanie Rigney May 27, 2020

St. Anna Schäffer wanted to be a missionary. Falling into a boiling laundry vat took away any possibility of that happening; she was bedridden for the rest of her life. It didn’t seem right. Hadn’t God put on Anna’s heart that she had a calling as a missionary? For two years, she struggled to see the purpose in this tragedy. With time, she adjusted her thinking, and she began to see her disability as a cross to be picked up and carried daily. Anna said she had three tools with which to bring souls to the Lord: her suffering, her needle, and her penholder.