Marge Steinhage Fenelon is an award-winning author and journalist, internationally-known speaker, and ICF-aligned life coach who has written several books on Catholic spirituality and Marian devotion. Audiences love Marge's authenticity, warmth, and unique ability to blend faith and life. They appreciate her way of creatively putting complicated Catholic teachings into simple concepts that can be easily grasped and immediately applied to daily life. Her Marian devotion shines through in her presentations as she guides others into a deepening relationship with our Blessed Mother, Mary, and her Son, our Lord Jesus. Marge always brings joy to her audiences and has presented to an array of audiences at a variety of events, including conferences, retreats, and workshops both in person and online.
A cradle Catholic, Marge credits her deep love for Mary to having been consecrated to the Blessed Mother when she was a year old. She has always felt the special presence and protection of Mary and sees it as her mission to spread the love of Mary to others. Marge is a Life Coach with a passion for helping others to grow personally and spiritually and realize their potential. m.
Marge is a popular guest on Catholic radio and television stations nationwide including EWTN, Relevant Radio, Sacred Heart Radio, Ave Maria Radio, and more. She’s written for a variety of Catholic media including National Catholic Register, Our Sunday Visitor, CatholicMom, and Women in the New Evangelization. Marge's book, Our Lady, Undoer of Knots: A Living Novena was awarded an Association of Catholic Publishers Award for Excellence in Publishing. Her latest book America's Mary: The Story of Our Lady of Good Help is based on historical documents, testimonies, personal interviews, and expert analysis, and chronicles for the first time the United States' only Church-approved Marian apparition.
Marge has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism with Minor in Public Relations from the University of Wisconsin, a Certificate in Spiritual Mentoring from Cardinal Stritch University, and a Certificate in Marian Studies from the International Marian Institute. She’s the recipient of the Egan Fellowship for Excellence in Journalism and traveled to the Philippines to report on reconstruction efforts after Super Typhoon Haiyan. She was accepted into The Church Up Close, a seminar for international journalists hosted by the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome where she studied the various aspects of the Vatican. She was chosen by the Israel Ministry of Tourism to accompany Pope Francis on his historic Pilgrimage to the Holy Land and selected for the Jordan Tourism Board’s Religious Journalism and Blogger Tour to explore the significant sites of Old and New Testament history there. She’s been invited to speak in Germany, Chile, Ireland, Costa Rica, and throughout the United States.
Among her books other are My Queen, My Mother: A Marian Pilgrimage Across America; Forgiving Mother: A Marian Novena of Healing and Peace; Ten Promises of Jesus: Stories and Scripture Reflections about Suffering and Joy; Imitating Mary: Ten Marian Virtues for the Modern Mom; Strengthening Your Family: A Catholic Approach to Holiness at Home, and When's God Gonna Show Up?: Daily Discoveries of the Divine.
Suggested Topics for Talks:
Real Forgiveness is R.A.R.E: The Four Steps to Forgiving - Do you find it difficult to forgive – truly forgive? Perhaps there’s someone who repeatedly offends you or who has hurt or harmed you. Perhaps it’s someone close to you like a parent, sibling or spouse. Even then, forgiveness is possible. Based on her own experiences being raised by an abusive mother, Marge explains the four steps to real forgiveness and the pathway to freedom and joy.
Tips and Tools: Making a Fruitful Spiritual Pilgrimage - From the time of Adam and Eve, pilgrimage has been part of our human custom and tradition. Moses and later Abraham led the Israelites on pilgrimage from Egypt to the Holy Land. The life of Christ is a lifelong pilgrimage from his birth to his Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension. People travel to sacred destinations all over the globe, but did you know that you can go on pilgrimage right from home? Learn the tips and tools for making a spiritual pilgrimage that will deepen your faith and increase your holiness.
Transforming Hearts: The Meaning and Message of Mary’s Places of Grace - Throughout the world, Mary calls to us from her places of grace – shrines, chapels, churches, and holy, historical sites dedicated to her. Some of them are far away, and some of them are very close, perhaps just around the corner. Using examples from her own Marian pilgrimage across America, Marge explains the importance of Mary’s places of grace and how they can transform your heart.
Turning Your Sorrow into Joy: Jesus’ Promise to You - We all need a solid dose of hope in troubled times. Jesus – the Way, the Truth, and the Life – has given us that hope by promising that despite any trials we face now one day we will rejoice. Discover Jesus’ promise to you in this lively and uplifting presentation and allow him to turn your sorrow into joy.
How Mary Heals the Broken Heart - It’s hard to heal from the wounds inflicted on us by others. It might surprise you that oftentimes we don’t want to heal. Instead, we prefer to hide our pain and hope it goes away on its own. But it won’t go away on its own. Based on her personal experience, Marge explains how Mary heals our broken hearts and helps us to reach forgiveness, healing, and peace.
Waiting with Mary: A Mini-Pilgrimage to the First Advent Ever! - As Church, we celebrate Advent every year, but have you ever celebrated it with Mary? Come with Marge on a virtual pilgrimage to the Holy Land and meditate on the first Advent as our Lord’s Mother might have experienced it.
Three Things We Can Learn from the Little Flower - St. Therese of Lisieux, known as the Little Flower, taught volumes by her Little Way of holiness. Because of this, she was made a Doctor of the Church. In this presentation, Marge focuses on three things we can learn from St. Therese and how you can implement them in your own path to holiness.
When’s God Gonna Show Up?: Spotting the Divine in Daily Life (single presentation, mini- retreat, or full-day workshop) - Do you ever get those “tingle down the spine” moments when you know that there’s something going on that can’t be explained by human means? That’s God showing up in your life, waiting for you to notice him. Learn how to spot those moments and grow from them.
Strengthening Your Family: Building Stronger, Holier Families - Believe it or not, holiness is attainable, even in the midst of our crazy, over-secularized lives. Marge defines the five simple components necessary for strengthening your family and how to use them to strengthen your family.
Spirituality of Womanhood: Living Our Catholic Faith in a Uniquely Feminine Way - The Church asks us to imitate Mary, but how can we do that? She was perfect, and we’re so, well, imperfect. Imitation of Mary requires us first to study her life and then to incorporate the virtues she possessed into our own personalities and circumstances. In this talk, Marge will show you the way.
Fortifying Your Marriage: Wisdom from the Church - Whether you’re newly married or nearing your 50th Anniversary, you’ll always need to work on fortifying your marriage. Turning to the Catechism, Scripture, the popes, and real life examples, Marge offers insight and inspiration for revitalizing your marriage.
Complimentarity and Communion: The Marian and Petrine Principles of the Church - What exactly are the roles of women and men in the Church? Marge examines what the Church teaches about what are known the Marian (after the Blessed Mother) and Petrine (after St. Peter, the first pope) principles of the Church using the documents of Vatican Council II and the Catechism. Eye opening and inspiring!
Triple Header Women's Retreat - Spirituality of Womanhood, Fortifying Your Marriage, and Strengthening Your Family come together to uplift and motivate in a way that gets right to the heart of our roles as Catholic women, wives, and mothers.
