He never missed doing this one thing, and believed it fueled his priesthood. Archbishop Fulton Sheen was well-known during his life for his practical spiritual advice, giving the ordinary lay person tools for spiritual success. One of the main pieces of advice that he stressed in his various writings and autobiography was a daily practice that gave him the energy he needed to have a successful day. When he was ordained a priest he resolved to spend an hour of prayer each day before the Blessed Sacrament. Sheen explains in his autobiography, A Treasure in Clay, that the idea came to him while in seminary, and he kept the resolution for the rest of his lifetime. He then relates how it...
J ames Fulton Engstrom, an apparent stillborn, was delivered without vital signs on September 16, 2010. For 61 minutes, he lay without a heartbeat as his parents, Bonnie and Travis, prayed for the intercession of the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. As doctors prepared to declare James deceased, his heart began beating, and soon rose to a normal rate. James, once presumed dead, is now “a healthy eight-year-old” who “likes chicken nuggets, ‘Star Wars’ and riding his bicycle,” according to Catholic News Service. After the resolution of a years-long dispute over the proper burial location for Sheen’s remains — his remains were recently transferred from New York, where he died in 1979, to his hometown of Peoria, Ill. — the Vatican finally...
As Bonnie Engstrom watched lifesaving measures being taken for her son, who had been born just moments before without a pulse or drawing breath, she asked for help from the person whose prayerful support she had sought throughout her pregnancy: Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. After 61 minutes, just as emergency room personnel were about to pronounce him dead, James Fulton Engstrom began to breathe and his heart rate shot up to a normal level for a newborn. Despite dire prognoses for his future, the child has thrived and is now a healthy 8-year-old who likes chicken nuggets, “Star Wars” and riding his bicycle. Those who have heard the story of the Washington, Illinois, boy call it a miracle, and Pope...
The Peoria Diocese said Bishop Daniel R. Jenky “is overjoyed and elated” that the remains of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen will be coming home to the diocese following a ruling by the state of New York’s highest court. The New York Court of Appeals June 7 rejected a final appeal from the Archdiocese of New York and the trustees of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, who sought to keep the remains of the famed orator and media pioneer interred at St. Patrick’s, where they have rested since after his death Dec. 9, 1979. According to published reports in The New York Times and other media outlets, the archdiocese said it will now work with Joan Sheen Cunningham — Archbishop Sheen’s niece and closest living relative — and the Diocese of Peoria...
Officials of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria say their counterparts in the Archdiocese of New York are trying to halt the transfer of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s remains to Illinois. Earlier this month, New York’s Court of Appeals rejected the New York Archdiocese’s argument that lower courts erred in giving permission to a Sheen relative to transfer his remains to Peoria, where he was ordained 100 years ago. The Journal Star in Peoria reports Monday that the archdiocese has filed another petition arguing that Sheen is the “prime and paramount” determiner of his final resting place. Five days before his death in 1979, Sheen signed a will seeking burial in the archdiocese’s graveyard, Calvary Cemetery. He is interred at St. Patrick’s...
