Chris Nikic, the first person with Down syndrome to complete an Ironman, completes Ironman 70.3 Massachusetts.
Shortly before the race, Nikic announced that he needed a guide to run alongside him for the race.
That's when Dr. Tommy Martin decided to step up.
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"I learned more in this race than almost any other I have competed in, and none of it was about race tactics or how to PR. It was about life, perspective, determination, and grit. I owe all of that to Chris," Martin said.
"I hope every finish line Chris crosses serves as a reminder to the world: your diagnosis, your situation, your circumstances do not define your potential!"
Congrats, Chris!
Video: dr.tommymartin / ig.
Today is the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
On June 13, 1917 Mary told the children โMy Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God.โ
The city of Merrillville, IN and Andrean HS are about 15 miles from my childhood home. The HS and city have extensive damage, but, thanks be to God, nobody was injured. The crucifix at the HS is still standing, and this happened on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.โค๏ธโ๐ฅ๐
@trad_west_ The city of Merrillville, IN and Andrean HS are about 15 miles from my childhood home. The HS and city have extensive damage, but, thanks be to God, nobody was injured. The crucifix at the HS is still standing, and this happened on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.โค๏ธโ๐ฅ๐
@shaunvlog_ West of the Mississippi will take months to drive and see the sites. Our states are deceptively large. New York is the size of Spain, for example. But our country sure is amazing! Welcome to the USA!
Today, June 11 2026, the United States will be consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
The decision was made at the 2025 Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, with a wide majority
of votes in favor.
The consecration is scheduled to take place on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which in 2026 falls on June 11, today.
The year 2026 also provides the context for the semiquincentennial of the founding of the United States (celebrating 250 years since 1776).
She and I have the same birthdays, and I pray for her level of patience in difficult situations. I, too, am a housewife and mother, and I feel a connection to her. Another great in my saintly "posse".
Bl. Anna Matia Taigi, ora pro nobis!
Blessed Anna Maria Gianetti Taigi was an Italian wife, mother, and mystic who lived a life of profound holiness amid the ordinary demands of family and poverty in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Rome. Born Anna Maria Giannetti on May 29, 1769, in Siena, she came from a humble working-class family. When she was six years old her fatherโs business failed, and the family moved to Rome, where her parents found work as servants. As a young woman she took on menial jobs to help support the household.
At the age of twenty she married Domenico Taigi, a hardworking but temperamental porter in the service of a noble Roman household. Their marriage was marked by financial hardship and the challenges of raising seven children, three of whom died in infancy. Anna Maria had initially enjoyed the modest pleasures of youth, but shortly after her marriage she underwent a deep religious conversion. She renounced vanity in dress and behavior, embraced a life of prayer, mortification, and patience, and with her husbandโs consent turned their modest home into a place of quiet devotion. She later became a professed member of the Secular Trinitarians, living out her vocation entirely within the world rather than in a convent.
What set Anna Maria apart was the extraordinary mystical life that unfolded alongside her daily responsibilities. For nearly five decades she was granted a luminous globe-like vision in which she could see past, present, and future events, discern the secrets of hearts, and receive warnings about dangers facing the Church and society. She conversed familiarly with Christ and the Virgin Mary and offered constant intercession for others. Despite these gifts she remained deeply humble, performing all household tasks herself and caring for her often difficult husband with remarkable gentleness. Her patience in the face of his outbursts became legendary among those who knew her.
Anna Maria died on June 9, 1837, at the age of sixty-eight. Her reputation for sanctity spread quickly, and her cause for beatification advanced steadily. Pope Benedict XV beatified her on May 30, 1920, praising her as a model wife and mother who achieved heroic virtue in the midst of poverty and trial. Today she is remembered as a patron of housewives, mothers, and families, showing that the path to deep union with God can be walked faithfully in the very heart of ordinary married life. Her example continues to inspire those who seek holiness not by fleeing the world but by sanctifying it through love, endurance, and hidden prayer.
@father_rmv Wow - thank you for sharing this! She and I have the same birthdays, and I pray for her level of patience in difficult situations. Bl. Anna Matia Taigi, ora pro nobis!