The Fulton Sheen Tribute Page of Catholic Arrows.

Catholicarrows.com has been kindly granted permission to use Venerable Fulton Sheen’s sermons, homilies and talks by the copyright owners at FultonSheen.com.

Prayer for the Canonization of Venerable Fulton Sheen

Heavenly Father, source of all holiness, You raise up within the Church in every age, men and women who serve with heroic virtue and love.

You have blessed Your Church through the life and ministry of Your servant, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. He has written and spoken well of Your Divine Son, Jesus Christ, and was truly an instrument of the Holy Spirit in touching the hearts of countless people. 

If it be according to Your Will, for the honor and glory of the Most Holy Trinity and for the salvation of souls, we ask You to move the Church to proclaim him a saint. We ask this through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

The Venerable General

SHEEN’S SPIRITUAL WARFARE

TOPICS INCLUDE: SPIRITUAL WARFARE, LOVE, MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN, TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS, THE HOLY HOUR, THE MASS, PRIEST TRAINING, SPIRITUALITY OF ST. THERESE, THE CATECHISM, THEOLOGY, MARIOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY, MENTAL ILLNESS, PSYCHIATRY, PSYCHOLOGY, PSYCHOANALYSIS, HISTORY, SIN, COMMUNISM, WAR AND THE CULTURE OF DEATH, THE PASSION, REDEMPTION, AND SALVATION, THE CHURCH, THE SACRAMENTS, HEAVEN AND HELL.

LISTEN – WATCH – READ

FULTON SHEEN AUDIO BOOKS

PASSION WEEK BY GENERAL SHEEN

UNDERSTANDING THE HOLY HOUR BY GENERAL SHEEN

SPIRITUAL WARFARE BY GENERAL SHEEN

UNDERSTANDING THE SPIRITUALITY OF ST. THERESE BY GENERAL SHEEN

UNDERSTANDING THE TRIALS OF THIS WORLD BY GENERAL SHEEN

UNDERSTANDING CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE BY GENERAL SHEEN

UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF BY GENERAL SHEEN

CATECHISM LESSONS FROM GENERAL SHEEN

FULTON J SHEEN

To fire this Arrow you must follow the Battle Orders of General Sheen.

To fire this arrow, you must learn about the life and mission of General Sheen (Venerable Fulton J Sheen)

PETER JOHN SHEEN

1895

He was born by the name Peter John Sheen on the 8th May 1895 in El Paso in the state of Illinois, USA. Peter’s father’s name was Newt Sheen, a farmer, and his mother’s name was Delia.

PROPHESY AND PRIESTHOOD

When Peter was an 8-year-old altar boy, he had the privilege to serve Mass for the Bishop. During the Mass he dropped a wine cruet on the floor, and it smashed to into pieces. Peter was very frightened, after Mass the Bishop spoke to him and told him two predictions about his future:

Bishop Spalding told him:

“One day, you will study at

The Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.

and…

“Someday, you will be just as I am”.

1919

FATHER SHEEN

Peter was later ordained into the priesthood on September 20, 1919 at the age of 24, he was now known as Father Sheen.

1920

SCHOLAR

In 1920, just one year later, Father Sheen was sent to The Catholic University of America to continue his studies. In 1921, just one year into his studies, he was sent to pursue advanced study in philosophy at:

The Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium.

1926

TEACHER

Five years later, in 1926, Father Sheen returned to The Catholic University of America to teach them for the next 23 years.

The period before reurning to teach and during the 23 years of teaching, he wrote 34 books.

Father Sheen became a great scholar, educator, orator and evangelist and a great number of students and an untold number of visitors crowded into his lectures.

RADIO BROADCASTER

In 1926, the same year he returned to teach at The Catholic University of America, Father Sheen was invited onto a New York radio station and did his first radio broadcast. This was a series of Sunday evening Lenten sermons.

Four years later, he became a weekly speaker on The Catholic Hour radio program.

He spent the next 20 years, from 1930 to 1950, presenting Catholic teaching in a new way, drawing from his deep well of faith, vast wealth of knowledge, deep understanding of Thomistic theology, the human sciences and the human condition.

He taught us the Gospel and showed us how we can apply it to our own personal moral decisions and the great social issues of our time.

Professor Sheen taught us many topics, ranging from devotion to our Blessed Mother Mary to the dangers of atheistic Communism.

1934

MONSIGNOR SHEEN

At the age of 39 years, Father Sheen was made a Monsignor by Pope Pius XI in 1934. (A Monsignor is a …

He continued his radio broadcasts and by 1937 he was receiving up to 100 letter a day with many requests to give speeches.

Monsignor Sheen accept many of those offers, traveling all over America giving speeches at various missions, retreats, as well as providing academic lectures.

WARTIME WARRIOR FOR SOULS

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FOR USE DURING WARTIME

AUTHOR OF 66 BOOKS

He authored a total of 66 books, 34 books in the period before and during his 23-year teaching career at The Catholic University of America and another 32 books after his departure

Many of the radio transcripts of his weekly radio talks were published as booklets or pamphlets, as were many of his other talks and sermons.

NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST

He was a syndicated columnist in the secular press.

1940

THE FIRST EVER TELEVISION BROADCAST OF A CATHOLIC RELIGIOUS SERVICE

1940 EASTER SUNDAY TELEVISION BROADCAST

Monsignor Sheen appeared on the world’s first ever television broadcast of a Catholic religious service on Easter Sunday, March 24, 1940. Monsignor Sheen gave a talk about “The Spiritual Symbolism of Television.”

1950

In 1950 Monsignor Sheen left The Catholic University of America to become the national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.( –describe what that is!!!

1951

WARRIOR ON TELEVISION

THE MOST WIDELY-VIEWED RELIGIOUS TELEVISION SERIES IN WORLD HISTORY

On the 11th of June 1951 he was consecrated a bishop. expand===

This same year, he began his famous television series, Life is Worth Living, reaching a weekly audience of 30 million viewers. His series went on to become the most widely-viewed religious television series in world history.

MOST OUTSTANDING TELEVISION PERSONALITY AWARD

Bishop Sheen went on to win an Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality. expand===

1952

COVER OF TIME MAGAZINE

14 APRIL 1952

Bishop Sheen was featured on the cover of Time Magazine, and became one of the most influential Catholics of the 20th century.expand+++

1950s-60s

WARRIOR FOR THE POOR AND DISADVANTAGED

Heading the Society for the Propagation of the Faith for 16 years, Bishop Sheen raised millions of dollars to support the Catholic missions in 129 dioceses throughout the United States.

He supported many foreign missions in many countries and tens of millions of people all over the world were influenced by his efforts.

CONVERTED NUMEROUS SOULS TO CATHOLICISM

Bishop Sheen is known to have converted numerous people to Catholicism, from those who sought him and for those whom he sought.

The working class, the wealthy, businessmen, prostitutes, alcoholics, famous celebrities and communist spies, they all came to the ultimate truth through his influence.

Some of the more famous people of the day whom he helped convert include:

Automobile manufacturer Henry Ford II.

Actress Virginia Mayo

Communist spy Bella Dodd

Communist writer Louis F. Budenz

Agnostic writer Heywood Brou

Politician Clare Boothe Luce

Theatrical designer Jo Mielziner

Violinist and composer Fritz Kreisler.

WARRIOR AGAINST COMMUNISM

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BISHOP SHEEN ATTENDED ALL SESSIONS OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL

Bishop Sheen attended all the Second Vatican Council sessions from 1962 through to 1965,

Bishop Sheen ? did he know about bella dodd?+++

Bishop Sheen worked closely with a theological expert, a priest called Father Joseph Ratzinger, who would later become Pope Benedict XVI.

In 2012 Pope Benedict XVI gave an interview with Vatican Radio, and recalled:

“Fulton Sheen … would fascinate us in the evenings with his talks.

BISHOP OF ROCHESTER

In 1966, Bishop Sheen was named Bishop of the Diocese of Rochester.

He remained in this postion for 3 years resigning in 1969. In his resignation letter, he wrote, “I am not retiring, only retreading.”

BISHOP TO ARCHBISHOP

Pope Paul VI named him:

Archbishop of the Titular See of Newport, Wales.

He spent the last years of his life mostly writing and preaching, with an emphasis on spending one hour with Jesus in the most Blessed Sacrament.

HIS PRIMARY TEACHING, HIS CONSISTENT THEME:

THE HOLY HOUR

The main, consistent theme in the preaching and teaching of Archibishop Sheen was:

The benefits of making a holy hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

Archbishop Sheen practiced what he preached and never failed to keep his holy hour from the day of his priestly ordination until the moment of his death.

Encouraging devotion to the practice of Eucharistic Adoration was his primary focus.

“There is no one in the modern church who has done more to popularize the practice of praying in the presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.” Author Michael Dubruie

THE EMBRACE OF SAINTS

Only two months before his death, on the 2nd of October 1979, Archbishop Sheen was embraced by Pope John Paul II (now Saint John Paul II) in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.

Pope John Paul II said to him:

“You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus. You are a loyal son of the Church!” 

ARCHBISHOP SHEEN DIED IN FRONT OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

On the 9th December 1979, Archbishop Sheen died on the floor of his private chapel, in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ during Adoration of the most Blessed Sacrament.

A Theory

I wondered why he did not die in his sleep. I like to think that maybe Jesus woke him up and inspired him to adore him one more time in the Blessed Sacrament and as he was adoring, he saw his Saviour in all His Glory and he died in an ecstacy of happiness.

In 2002, Archbishop Sheen’s Cause for Canonization as a saint was officially opened under the leadership of the Diocese of Peoria, and from then on he was referred to as a “Servant of God”.

On June 28, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI announced that the Congregation for the Causes of Saints had recognized Archbishop Sheen’s life as one of “heroic virtue,” and proclaimed him “Venerable Servant of God Fulton J. Sheen.”

On March 6, 2014, the board of medical experts who advise the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints unanimously approved a reported miracle attributed to his intercession. On June 17, 2014, the seven-member theological commission that advises the congregation unanimously agreed with the medical team’s finding.

On Nov. 18, 2019, Pope Francis called for Sheen to be beatified on Dec. 21, 2019. However, on Dec. 3, 2019, Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky announced that the Vatican had decided to indefinitely postpone the beatification ceremony. That decision was in response to a request submitted to the Vatican by some U.S. bishops for further investigation of Sheen’s tenure as bishop of the Diocese of Rochester from 1966 to 1969.

PATRON AND GENERAL OF CATHOLIC ARROWS

GUILT

FULTON SHEEN SAYS:

“No one today is guilty, but they’re sick.  You have gulit only in an age where you have reason. As long as people think and believe in conscience ..they will have a sense of guilt, but now reason is not very popular.  All the fruits of our 2,000 years of Christianity are being bypassed. There is almost a contempt today for philosophy and theology. Why? Well, it’s simply because it’s reasonable”