The Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a devotion that began through a humble widow with six children named Elizabeth Kindelmann (1913-1985), who lived in Budapest, Hungary during the height of communism. She began receiving interior locutions from Our Lady and Our Lord 60 years ago in 1961, and they continued until a few years before her death in 1985.
The primary desire of the two hearts is to form an army of willing prayer warriors to stand in the gap for our brothers and sisters through a weekly regime of prayer, fasting and sacrifices. Through this devotion, specific prayers have been given that have the power to blind Satan. By engaging in spiritual combat using these weapons, we can free our brothers and sisters from temptations posed to them by the evil one, helping them to avoid sin, become freed from the snares that have already enslaved them and turn to Jesus for forgiveness. On several occasions, Our Lord told Elizabeth, “The grace from the Flame of Love of My Mother’s Immaculate Heart will be to your generation what Noah’s Ark was to his generation.” One of the most comforting promises that Mary gave for those who join her special fighting force is that they will see the fruit of their efforts while still here on earth.
What are some of the fruits that have already resulted from the Flame of Love grace? The growth of the movement is a fruit itself. What began with a single, poor, humble, widow and one willing priest (12 were invited, only one accepted) in Hungary 60 years ago has grown to a worldwide movement of hundreds of thousands in a matter of only a few years (Bishop Erdo of Hungary only made his official proclamation giving blessing to this movement in 2009). In the United States, the movement began at the kitchen table of the current US National Director’s home with herself and three others in 2013. Only eight years later, the US Flame of Love has grown to tens if not hundreds of thousands and is growing by leaps and bounds every single day. There are also very strong connections between many of Mary’s other apparitions and the Flame of Love.
Members attest to unmistakable callings from Mary to join the ranks of her children in praying for those who are in most need of the mercy of God and to serve as eyewitnesses to great miracles that have resulted through their efforts to spread this Holy Flame (which is Jesus Himself). Take the story of Patti Schwartz, who now serves as the director of the Spanish outreach for the Flame of Love in the United States and as regional director for Florida. Of Hispanic descent, Patti was and still is an avid devotee of Our Lady of Guadalupe. A teacher for 24 years, she began her work for Our Lady in New York where she used to take the traveling image of Our Lady of Guadalupe to various parishes in the evenings and speak about her. She did this for four years and then read the book by Father Michael Gaitley called 33 Days to Morning Glory, a 33-day spiritual retreat and consecration to Our Lady based on the spiritual wisdom of such giants as St. Maximillian Kolbe, St. Louis de Monforte, St. John Paul II, and St. Mother Teresa. Her humble beginnings led to speaking about Our Lady to 29 different groups during this period of service, but Our Lady had something else in mind. One day during a visit of the pilgrim image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patti saw the eyes on the image look at her and heard Our Lady say in her heart, “Would you like to be my ambassador?” Patti wasn’t sure what that meant at that moment, but she answered with a generous heart, saying “Of course, Mother, I want to be your ambassador.”
Mary introduced Patti to the Flame of Love and soon she became coordinator for New York State. Mary asked her to retire from her job. Then one day, the visitation of the traveling image of Our Lady of Guadalupe got canceled at a nearby parish so Patti arranged to host the image at her house and hold a luncheon in honor of Our Lady. Her husband had always wanted to move to Florida and that very day, he received a good offer for his business and sold it, allowing them to move to Florida. Patti knew Our Lady was behind this move.
One of the first miracles Patti witnessed through the Flame of Love was a miraculous pregnancy in a young woman who had been trying to conceive a child for ten years. She had spent huge sums of money and had undergone many treatments and procedures, all of which failed. Patti met this woman in a church and invited her to come to a Flame of Love conference being held that weekend at the Shrine of the North American Martyrs. She gave the woman her contact information and offered to drive her to the conference. When Saturday came, shortly before Patti was about to leave, the woman called saying she was lost on her way to Patti’s home. She got there just in time to leave for the conference. After attending, they formed a Flame of Love prayer cenacle together. After praying for less than one month, the woman became pregnant! She told Patti her story then, explaining that when Patti had approached her, she was lighting a candle at the feet of a statue of Our Lady, offering up her efforts to conceive and leaving that desire in Our Lady’s hands. She named her daughter Grace, in honor of the grace of the Flame of Love she received to enable her to conceive. When someone chooses to help Our Lady spread the Flame of Love, she responds with great generosity!
A second example of Our Lady’s intercession occurred at St John the Evangelist Church. A woman named Debbie came to the little gathering of six people: Patti, the priest, Debbie, and three others. Debbie had been suffering for a long time from cancer. Her physical distress was evident from her weak appearance and the presence of bandages up and down her arms. Her hair was gone. She was in obvious pain. Debbie began praying the Flame of Love Rosary with Patti and within that year, her illness got progressively better, little by little. Debbie is now cured and took over for Patti in New York when she left for Florida.
There are many others who work to spread Our Lady’s Flame of Love who tell of similar stories of outward and inward miracles and workings of grace in the hearts, minds, and souls of those who are touched by the Flame of Love. Rebecca, a former nun who had to leave the convent because she had tuberculosis, tells of an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe whose glance also penetrated her very being, and a heavenly encounter with a young woman named Rena (Queen) in a street shop in Mexico near the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. She had gone into the shop to purchase an image of Our Lady that was being sold in the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe for $500. She hoped to be able to find something similar for less money because she could not afford that high of a price. Rena, the beautiful young girl who was running the shop, agreed to sell her two images for only $20. She told her one was for her and the other was to share her story with others. The next day, Rebecca felt so guilty about how little money she had given for such beautiful images of Our Lady that she returned to the shop with more money to offer to Rena. However, when she arrived at the shop, the owner told her that nobody named Rena worked there and that she knew everyone on the block and nobody named Rena worked anywhere on that street. Rena, or Queen in English, was Our Heavenly Mother and Queen, who came to bless this servant of her Son, Rebecca, because she was feeling sad about having to leave her convent due to her illness. In addition to leading a Spanish ministry at her parish, Rebecca now goes around speaking to audiences about her experience as “Rena” had predicted.
And there is also the story of Mary B. who with the help of her husband, a convent of nuns, and some other willing friends, was responsible for getting one of the first 24/365 Eucharistic Adoration sites online. This site, one of the first of its kind, is located at Savior.org. This site, which went live in the mid 1990’s, is still active today. Mary B. actually witnessed a shining Flame of Love appear at the base of the Eucharistic Host as a witness that our little Flame of Love that Mary enkindles in our hearts is enfolded within the Eucharistic Heart of Our Lord. Jesus once told one of the saints that when we receive Him in the Holy Eucharist, He comes into us. When we sit in front of Him in adoration of the Holy Eucharist, our heart is enclosed within His most Sacred Heart.
To learn more about the Flame of Love devotion, to join a prayer cenacle, or to learn about the Spiritual Diary of Elizabeth Kindelmann go to https://flameoflove.us
My Adorable Jesus:
May our feet journey together,
May our hands gather in unity,
May our hearts beat in unison,
May our souls be in harmony,
May our thoughts be as one,
May our ears listen to the silence together,
May our glances profoundly penetrate each other,
May our lips pray together to obtain mercy from the Eternal Father.
We look forward to meeting you and having you join the effort to blind Satan!
For more information about these miracles, you can listen to the recent National Flame of Love Conference Proceedings which took place July 30-Aug 1, 2021 at the Malvern Retreat Center in Pennsylvania. To learn more about the Flame of Love Devotion and find a prayer cenacle near you, visit https://flameoflove.us. You may also contact Patti Schwartz, Spanish Outreach Coordinator and Florida Regional Director for the Flame of Love at pschwartz63@gmail.com