Two women in Southern California are starting what they hope will become a national novena for the victims of the wildfires there, including seven families at their Catholic school who have lost their homes. 

The novena, which is available at the “Pray More Novenas” website, begins Friday, Jan. 24 and ends Sunday, Feb. 2, on Candlemas.  

The women are also making a pitch for donations for the families, many of whom are staying with friends and relatives or at Airbnb dwellings and have been told it may be three to four years before they can rebuild their homes. 

“We just wanted to be able to have a Catholic response to these wildfires and, in corporal works of mercy, to be able to help these Catholic families,” said Kendra Tierney Norton, 48, who operates the “Catholic All Year” blog. 

Nine of the 12 homes in her neighborhood in Altadena were destroyed by fires. Tierney Norton’s house survived, though it sustained smoke damage and is currently unlivable, and the property sustained extensive damage. 

As of midday Thursday, the wildfires that started Jan. 7 have killed 28 people and destroyed more than 15,000 structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. 

Micaela Darr, 47, of Arcadia, who runs a Catholic-mom blog, told the Register that displaced families will need help long after the California wildfires of January 2025 stop making headlines. She and Tierney Norton have organized fundraising websites for displaced families they know, including here. 

“Kendra and I said, you know, we've got to do something a little longer term. Because as you probably know, there’s always this initial desire to help. Everybody wants to help. And then it sort of peters out. But this is such a long-term rebuilding project, and people need prayer,” Darr said. 

Both women have children at St. Monica Academy in Montrose, where seven families lost their homes to fire. 

One of those is the Bulgarini family of Altadena. 

Elizabeth Bulgarini, 57, told the Register that her house burned down, leaving her, her husband Leo, and their son Lorenzo, 17, staying with friends. 

The past month has been hard on the family. Bulgarini’s mother died Christmas Eve. The wildfires delayed the funeral. 

And when they evacuated their home one night earlier this month, they expected to be returning shortly, since they have gone through several similar situations in the past. So they didn’t take much with them — and they lost everything they left behind. 

The family is staying at a dwelling provided by Airbnb, which has offered displaced families a credit for a week’s stay. 

The Italian restaurant they run in Altadena has survived, but it is shut down, since the area is devastated — so their major source of income has stopped. A GoFundMe page for the family had raised more than $70,000 for the family as of Thursday morning. 

Bulgarini told the Register she finds hope in the forthcoming novena. 

“I think that the prayer is the only thing keeping us together. I think it’s beautiful. God is all we have to rely on,” Bulgarini said. 

The novena that begins Friday is under the patronage of Our Lady of Champion. It also invokes St. Florian, the patron saint of firefighters. 

The nine-day prayer includes the following petition to Our Lady of Champion: 

“We ask you to pray for all those who have suffered such great loss; console them and bring them closer to your Son. Pray for those who have lost their lives and for their families. Pray for all whose lives have been upended — that the Lord will guide them and provide strength to endure and begin again.”