Biographies/Autobiographies
Alessandro's story has never been fully told "€" until now. Alessandro Serenelli: A Story of Forgiveness is a captivating story of mercy and forgiveness, both given and accepted. Learn about Alessandro's difficult childhood, the murder of Maria Goretti, his prison sentence, his conversion as a result of Maria's intercession, and the final years of his life with a Capuchin community. Through his life story, you'll gain a new understanding of the nature of repentance and of God's patience and unfailing love.
On December 18, 2017, Pope Francis declared that Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., lived a life of heroic virtue and gave him the title "venerable," marking another step closer to sainthood for the "Rosary Priest." This new edition of Peyton's biography tells the story of his life and dedication to the Blessed Mother as he discerned his vocation, overcame the obstacles of advanced tuberculosis and lack of education, and became a priest who eventually preached to more than 28 million people worldwide, worked with Hollywood stars, and founded Family Rosary and Family Theater Productions.
This new edition of Peyton's autobiography--originally published in 1967 and reissued in a revised edition in 1997--includes black-and-white photos and a new foreword by Holy Cross Family Ministries president Fr. Willy Raymond, C.S.C., reflecting on Peyton's legacy as a saint for family prayer and his cause for canonization.
Meet one of the newest candidates for sainthood: a priest who was formed by his own family's Rosary devotion--and his formation as a Holy Cross priest--to promote peace and unity across the globe through family prayer.
Peyton--probably best known for the inspirational phrases "the family that prays together stays together" and "a world at prayer is a world at peace"--encouraged family prayer and devotion to the Rosary throughout his ministry. In his autobiography, the Rosary Priest reflects on his journey from a farm boy in Western Ireland to one of the most effective missionaries of the modern age.
In All for Her Peyton describes his travels to America, hoping to become a millionaire and instead finding work as a janitor in the Scranton cathedral, where he realized the call to the priesthood. In 1929, Peyton entered the seminary, but after years of study and training he was diagnosed with advanced tuberculosis. Conventional treatments at the time were not working. He prayed to the Virgin Mary and his health quickly began to improve. In gratitude he committed his vocation to promote devotion to the Blessed Mother and the Rosary. On the day of his ordination as a priest in the Congregation of Holy Cross, Peyton said, "I gave my heart and soul in love to Mary. I promised her all the merit of my priesthood until death. The merit and glory of every action I would ever perform would be hers and hers alone."
Peyton immediately began advocating for the practice of family Rosary devotion. He embraced the new media as a means to reach people across the globe, and developed radio and television programs that spread a message of prayer and family unity. He founded Family Theater Productions in 1947. Performers in his productions included such stars of Hollywood's golden age as Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Gregory Peck, and Lucille Ball.
Peyton also preached to millions in person, organizing two hundred-sixty Rosary Crusades across the globe. These large rallies included worship, prayer, and benediction. Peyton continued to be active until the 1990s and died in 1992. In 1997, the cause for his canonization was opened.
All for Her is part of Ave Maria Press's Holy Cross series. These books explore and celebrate the history and spiritual vision of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a religious order of priests, brothers, and sisters founded in France in 1837 by Blessed Basil Moreau, C.S.C., who was beatified in 2007. Included in the series are works of biography, spirituality, and devotion.
In 1981, Mother Angelica, a cloistered Franciscan nun, launched what became the largest religious media network in the world; Eternal Word Television Network. She began the network with $200 in a monastery garage in Birmingham, Alabama. EWTN now reaches 264 million homes in 145 countries and over 700 million homes with AM, FM, shortwave radio and internet.
It all began in 1923 in a small home in the southeast end of Canton, Ohio. Born Rita A. Rizzo, the future Mother Angelica, grew up in a working class neighborhood during the Roaring Twenties a block away from her parish church.
Young Rita had a difficult childhood. Her father, John abandoned the family before Rita was five years old. Divorce soon followed. Life was a struggle for Rita and her mother. Rita's years of trial were compounded by a debilitating stomach ailment until she was healed by Jesus through a woman named Rhoda Wise. That healing set her life on a course that would ultimately change the world........ Here is her story.
Venerable Fulton J. Sheen was one of the greatest spiritual leaders--and entertainers--in America's tumultuous twentieth century. His television shows, for which he eventually won an Emmy Award, reached millions of viewers, and in the 1950s and '60s, "Fulton Sheen" was a household name.
But his greatest gift was in finding lost sheep. Through his thought, wit, and compassion, many thousands of people likely entered the Church, from all walks of life. Among them were jazz legend Ada "Bricktop" Smith, journalist Heywood Broun, Communist activist Louis Budenz, U.S. Congresswoman Clare Boothe Luce, spy Elizabeth Bentley, composer Fritz Kreisler, Communist Bella Dodd, and Hollywood starlet Virginia Mayo.
This in-depth work by historian Cheryl C. D. Hughes lets readers inhabit the postwar America where Bishop Fulton Sheen thrived, in order to reveal what made him such a magnetic figure in his own era. It peers into the complex lives of the celebrities and fallen stars who saw in the warm, brilliant bishop a sign of God's grace, and it offers a study in the inner dynamics of conversion.
Sheen was far more than a speaker and a scholar. A priest and shepherd foremost, he firmly believed that the Church needed to be poor to serve the poor, personally donating all the money he ever earned--over $200 million--to mission services. He was also an active participant at the Second Vatican Council, where he befriended the young bishop of Kraków, Karol Wojtyla, who had learned English, at least partially, from listening to recordings of Sheen. Pope John Paul II would later embrace Archbishop Sheen and say, "You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus. You are a loyal son of the Church."
While Sheen influenced countless conversions, he was always clear that it was the Holy Spirit, not the man, who makes the convert. By examining this bishop's ministry in action, we can catch a glimpse of how God works in the human heart, and in a fallen world.
Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers tells the gripping story of Augustus Tolton, who valiantly overcame a series of seemingly insurmountable challenges - birth into slavery, his father's death, abject poverty, and even being denied acceptance by every Catholic seminary in America - to become the first black American priest.
Winner of a first-place award in memoirs, a second-place for best front cover artwork, and a third-place in the category first time author of a book from the Catholic Media Association.
Where is God when the innocent suffer? Jennifer Hubbard began to grapple with the question in 2012 when her six-year-old daughter Catherine was killed in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. In the depths of her grief, Hubbard founded an animal sanctuary in Catherine's memory, creating a place of healing for her family and their community and fulfilling her daughter's dream.Hubbard's courageous witness will uplift your faith and demonstrate how Christ's redemptive suffering provides a path of hope, even in the darkest moments of our lives.
Hubbard's daughter Catherine was a happy little girl who wanted to spend her life rescuing animals. All that changed on the morning of December 14, 2012. Though her daughter's tragic death marked the end of Hubbard's world as she'd known it, she instinctively held on to her faith in God, realizing it was the only way she could bear the initial impact of her daughter's death and the subsequent waves of grief and loss as her marriage ended and she was forced to forge a new life.
A typographic mistake on Catherine's obituary led Hubbard to an unexpected invitation to fulfill her daughter's dreams of opening an animal shelter. She began to channel her grief into a work of peace by starting a foundation in her daughter's memory, by writing, and by helping her son recover after surviving the tragedy that took his sister's life. Ultimately, it was Hubbard's faith that gave her the courage to entrust her daughter to God and to seek his plan for her own life. "God helped me to look back on my life up to that time and to see all the ways he had been preparing me for what was to come," she writes.
In Finding Sanctuary, Hubbard shares her journey of healing and transformation in order to help those who may be grappling with an inability to trust in the goodness of God. You will learn:
Each chapter in the book is dedicated to one step in Hubbard's journey toward wholeness and includes reflection questions to guide you to consider what God is teaching you as you make your own way toward God's kingdom of peace.
Part thriller, as when Moynihan details his efforts to reach Vigano and makes his way to their meeting, and part personal memoir as both men reflect on their lives, families, and the state of the Church in the world, Finding Vigano has something for everyone. Readers familiar with the Vigano saga will appreciate the insights into the man provided through the interviews, while those unfamiliar with the drama of the Testimony will, after reading, have a better understanding of the key issues and players involved.
- Publisher : Tate Pub & Enterprises Llc (16 December 2014)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 384 pages
Meet the brilliant, fiery, and heroic Ven. Mother María Félix Torres of Spain (1907-2001), whose life is compared to St. Ignatius of Loyola's and who desired to belong to a Society of Jesus for women. Surmounting great obstacles, she founded the religious institute Company of the Savior and Mater Salvatoris Colleges -- with convents and schools in Europe, Africa, and the Americas -- following the steps of the saints and missionaries of the Society of Jesus.
Even as a child, María was gifted with an aptitude for learning and bore a great capacity to love. She was full of life in her close-knit family, and experienced God's presence powerfully with her First Communion, developing from that moment a special devotion to our Lord. As she began reading spiritual books and practicing devotions at boarding school, María's life was transformed. She sought from there to live for "the greater glory of God," even as a chemist in the world of academia.
In these fascinating pages which read like a novel, you will gain:
Your passion for evangelism will soar when you read María's accounts of bringing the knowledge and love of Christ to others during periods of political instability in Venezuela and severe religious persecution in Spain, when many faithful were martyred and convents and religious schools were looted and burned.
By her witness through daily financial struggles, health issues, and times of incomprehension and trouble that deeply pierced her heart, Mother María's example will spur you on in the pursuit of holiness. And through her heart-pounding and harrowing real-life adventures, you will see how she cherished and protected the greatest secret of all.
Meet the brilliant, fiery, and heroic Ven. Mother María Félix Torres of Spain (1907–2001), whose life is compared to St. Ignatius of Loyola’s and who desired to belong to a Society of Jesus for women. Surmounting great obstacles, she founded the religious institute Company of the Savior and Mater Salvatoris Colleges — with convents and schools in Europe, Africa, and the Americas — following the steps of the saints and missionaries of the Society of Jesus.
Even as a child, María was gifted with an aptitude for learning and bore a great capacity to love. She was full of life in her close-knit family, and experienced God’s presence powerfully with her First Communion, developing from that moment a special devotion to our Lord. As she began reading spiritual books and practicing devotions at boarding school, María’s life was transformed. She sought from there to live for “the greater glory of God,” even as a chemist in the world of academia.
In these fascinating pages which read like a novel, you will gain:
- Gratitude and joy, realizing how deeply you are loved as a child of God
- Fortitude, in seeing how María overcame her resistance in following God’s call
- Serenity, in regarding the peaceful way she dealt with her sufferings and imperfections
- Inspiration, through María’s apostolic fervor among atheists at her university
- Encouragement, in how God guided María on the tortuous road of discerning her vocation
- Courage, in seeing how she practiced the Faith clandestinely in a time of persecution
- Zeal, via María’s tireless desire to set others afire for the glory of God
- Rekindled faith, through her mysticism and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament
Your passion for evangelism will soar when you read María’s accounts of bringing the knowledge and love of Christ to others during periods of political instability in Venezuela and severe religious persecution in Spain, when many faithful were martyred and convents and religious schools were looted and burned.
By her witness through daily financial struggles, health issues, and times of incomprehension and trouble that deeply pierced her heart, Mother María’s example will spur you on in the pursuit of holiness. And through her heart-pounding and harrowing real-life adventures, you will see how she cherished and protected the greatest secret of all.
"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings liberates the reader into life simply because Maya Angelou confronts her own life with such a moving wonder, such a luminous dignity."--James Baldwin
Paul Wilkes has been a writer/journalist, a TV producer, a monastic, a hedonist, a friend of the famous, a family man, and ultimately a true prodigal son. With In Due Season, Wilkes, one of America's most respected writers on religious belief and spirituality, details his search for God--from his working class upbringing in Cleveland to giving up everything he owned and living with the poor to his hedonistic life among the rich and famous. Wilkes's inspiring life story is one of abysmal failure and ultimate triumph, of a faith in God, battered and tried in the crucible of his experience.
Paul Wilkes wanted to be like social justice advocate Dorothy Day, and spend his life with the poor. He wanted to be like Thomas Merton, and spend his life behind monastery walls in prayer. He failed on both accounts. He only became himself.
One of America's most respected writers on religious belief and spirituality, Paul Wilkes's search for God begins in a poor, working class family in Cleveland and winds through lonely nights in a factory, working his way through college; a surprising confrontation during the Cuban Missile Crisis; a torrid romance on the Indian Ocean; acceptance into an Ivy League school; and into the perfect marriage, which would fail.
A man who seemingly had everything, one day he took scripture literally and gave up everything he owned to live with the poor. But then, in a dizzying turnabout, he became a person he eventually could no longer recognize in the mirror. He spent his summers in the Hamptons and lived the life of the man about town--single, facile, popular, hollow. He knew Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, and Kurt Vonnegut, but not himself. He sat at the feet of the Dalai Lama. He was an avowed hedonist. He lived as a hermit at a Trappist monastery. He found true love and ran from it. He was a true son of the Church and a sinner beyond anything he might have imagined.
Paul Wilkes' life is one of abysmal failure and ultimate triumph, with a faith in God battered and tried in the crucible of his life.
Rome in the year 590 a.d. A plague is tearing through the city. Pope Pelagius II is dead. Outside the walls, Lombard soldiers are raising their swords. What can save the Eternal City? All eyes, and all hopes, are on the next Pope.
Veteran writer Sigrid Grabner tells the dramatic story of Pope Gregory I -- a poor monk known now to history as St. Gregory the Great. Born to a noble family and trained in Roman law, Gregory had been prefect of the city of Rome as a young man, but gave up his power to walk in the footsteps of Saint Benedict. Everything changed in a flash when, in 590, he was raised, against his will, to the highest office of Christendom and found himself, as he wrote to one friend, in the eye of a storm, at the helm of an old and rotten ship, with the waves groaning around him. He thought he was not up to the job. But he was wrong.
Gregory's political savvy, spiritual energy, generosity, and gift for peacemaking not only steered Rome clear of a shipwreck, but laid the foundations for the future of Europe.
Rome in the year 590 a.d. A plague is tearing through the city. Pope Pelagius II is dead. Outside the walls, Lombard soldiers are raising their swords. What can save the Eternal City? All eyes, and all hopes, are on the next Pope.
Veteran writer Sigrid Grabner tells the dramatic story of Pope Gregory I — a poor monk known now to history as St. Gregory the Great. Born to a noble family and trained in Roman law, Gregory had been prefect of the city of Rome as a young man, but gave up his power to walk in the footsteps of Saint Benedict. Everything changed in a flash when, in 590, he was raised, against his will, to the highest office of Christendom and found himself, as he wrote to one friend, "in the eye of a storm", at the helm of an "old and rotten ship", with the waves groaning around him. He thought he was not up to the job. But he was wrong.
Gregory's political savvy, spiritual energy, generosity, and gift for peacemaking not only steered Rome clear of a shipwreck, but laid the foundations for the future of Europe. In fourteen years as pope, he instituted sweeping financial reforms, ensured legal protection for the poor, developed a system of musical notation, wrote influential works of theology, quieted the Byzantines and the warring Lombards, and led a citywide pilgrimage to the church of Saint Mary Major that, tradition says, brought an end to the plague.
Grabner's vivid narrative of the life of Gregory the Great reads more like a novel, evoking the landscape of early medieval Italy with humanity and realism. It brings us face to face with a man who, for all his weakness, became an instrument in the hand of God and let himself be made great.
In 1969, Israeli soldiers burst into Terry Ahwal's home while she and her family were eating breakfast. More than fifty years later, she still vividly sees her father's arms up in the air while young soldiers kicked him, hit him, and beat him with their automatic weapons. Her mother's shouting and pleading also are seared in Terry's memory. And she still has visions of her and her sister howling from terror as they watched their father dragged into the street.
Keeping the Dream Alive: One Woman's Quest for Justice is Terry Ahwal's story. It details her years growing up as a Palestinian Catholic under Israeli occupation, her reluctant immigration to the United States as a teenager, and her daily battles in becoming a Palestinian American who cares deeply about both her homeland and her adopted country.
As Terry has ascended professional and political life in mainstream America, she also has endured harassment by the Israeli government for daring to speak on behalf of Palestinians. As an adult, she witnessed further horrors when she returned to Palestine with Jewish and Palestinian colleagues, and a U.S. senator, on an economic mission. She has since been banned from returning.
Her goal is not to cast aspersions against the Israeli people, but to support her fellow Palestinians, who have endured much hardship under Israeli rule, and to realize her dreams of seeing a lasting, just peace between Palestinians and Israelis.
Blindfolded, tied, prodded by guns, Alexandre faced intense interrogations, fearing all the while that torture and death were imminent.
In Kidnapped in Iraq, Alexandre Goodarzy describes in gripping detail his abduction by Islamic terrorists in January 2020, how prayer and his Catholic Faith sustained him, and why he now views the entire ordeal as a blessing from God.
After learning of the fate of untold Christians in the Middle East, Alexandre was among a cadre of young men who agreed to assist Christians in danger. As the war in Syria quickly turned into a religious war, Alexandre provided aid to Christians there who were caught between a hardening regime and increasingly bloodthirsty Islamist groups.
The brutalization of Syrian Christians was only recently exposed, since the real story was often distorted by the media. In recent years, Syrian Christians faced the grim choice of fleeing from ISIS and abandoning their homeland or enduring barbaric martyrdom. Their cities were leveled and their churches destroyed. Goodarzy describes how these Christians, loyal to their country, were sporadically kidnapped by Kurds and held for ransom or forced into military service. In Syria, priests provide both spiritual and temporal care, assisting with basic necessities in the community and working to preserve their culture while mediating with secular authorities.
In what reads like a dystopian thriller, Alexandre describes the dangerous episodes he experienced assisting Christians, including the perilous twelve-hour bus ride from Damascus to Aleppo and the numerous face-to-face encounters with Islamic rebels -- the last of which resulted in his abduction and sixty-six-day captivity by Iraqi terrorists.
"What is affecting us here today will strike you tomorrow!" people in Iraq and Syria told Goodarzy, predicting that the radical Islamic atrocities in their countries would soon assail France and other Western countries.
Kidnapped in Iraq is a riveting story of bravery and courage and one man's extraordinary efforts to aid Christians in need. It is also a chilling guidebook on how to fight for justice and proclaim the hope that comes in the triumph of the Cross.
These moving Memoirs reveal the full story of the legendary hero-priest József Mindszenty, who has come to be regarded as a symbol of Christian and national resistance to Communism. His brave, uncompromising leadership against the atheistic totalitarian government set the example and laid the foundation for the strong, outspoken Christian leadership and witness of the Church in Hungary today.
Mindszenty was arrested, imprisoned, and physically and psychologically tortured by the Communist government. He spent eight years in solitary confinement. After the Hungarian uprising in 1956, he took refuge for fifteen years in the American embassy.
This work is an extraordinary contribution to contemporary history and an eyewitness account of a Church and country under brutal Communist domination in the Cold War era. It also sets the record straight on the causes and circumstances of Mindszenty's departure from the embassy, his visit to the Vatican, and his deposition to the archiepiscopal office. Memoirs is an unforgettable reading experience.
Emil Kapaun--priest, soldier and Korean War hero--was a rare man. He was awarded posthumously the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award, and is also being considered by the Vatican for canonization as a saint.
Just as remarkable are the many non-Catholic witnesses who attest to Father Kapaun's heroism: the Protestants, Jews and Muslims who either served with the military chaplain in the thick of battle or endured with him the incredibly brutal conditions of a prisoner of war camp. These Korean War veterans, no matter their religion, agree that Father Kapaun did more to save lives and maintain morale than any other man they know. Then there are the alleged miracles--the recent healings attributed to Father Kapaun's intercession that defy scientific explanation. Under investigation by the Vatican as a necessary step in the process of canonization, these cures witnessed by non-Catholic doctors are also covered in this book. In tracking down the story of Father Kapaun for the Wichita Eagle, Wenzl and Heying uncovered a paradox. Kapaun's ordinary background as the son of Czech immigrant farmers in Kansas sowed the seeds of his greatness. His faith, generosity and grit began with his family's humility, thrift and hard work.
The world came to know the Franciscan priest Mychal Judge through the bravery and self-sacrifice he displayed during the World Trade Center attacks of September 11, 2001. But long before his lifeless body was carried out of the rubble (a moment captured in a photograph that became immediately famous), and before he was officially designated "Victim 0001" of that day's attacks, Fr. Judge was, to a great many people, a beloved priest known for his compassion and faith.
In Mychal Judge, Francis DeBernardo offers a spiritual biography that will move and fascinate readers. It details the personal history and experiences--including his Irish-American upbringing, his struggles with alcoholism, his care for the marginalized, and his ministry to firefighters--that formed the man who ultimately died running into the North Tower to try to save and minister to the terrified and the dying. Whether meeting him in these pages for the first time or getting to know him better, readers will encounter in Fr. Judge a figure they will not soon forget.
Innocent! That final verdict came after George Cardinal Pell endured a grueling four years of accusations, investigations, trials, public humiliations, and more than a year of imprisonment after being convicted by an Australian court of a crime he did not commit.
Led off to jail in handcuffs, following his sentencing on March 13, 2019, the 78\-year\-old Australian prelate began what was meant to be six years in jail for \x26#34;historical sexual assault offenses\x26;. Cardinal Pell endured more than thirteen months in solitary confinement, before the Australian High Court voted 7\-0 to overturn his original convictions. His victory over injustice was not just personal, but one for the entire Catholic Church. Bearing no ill will toward his accusers, judges, prison workers, journalists, and those harboring and expressing hatred for him, the cardinal used his time in prison as a kind of \x26#34;extended retreat\x26#34;. He eloquently filled notebook pages with is spiritual insights, prison experiences, and personal reflections on current events both inside and outside the Church, as well as moving prayers. In this second of three volumes, Cardinal Pell receives the terrible news that his first appeal is rejected. With the same grace, wisdom, and calm perseverance we see on display in Volume 1, he continues his quest for justice by appealing to the Australian High Court. Glimmers of hope emerge as more legal experts, including non\-Catholics, join the chorus of those demanding that this miscarriage of justice be reversed.
PRO-LIFE CHAMPION is the untold story of Monsignor Philip J. Reilly, who, almost single-handedly, reclaimed the pro-life movement from a course of violence by setting it on a path to prayerful, non-confrontational witness to the sacredness of human life. In the course of rescuing the movement from an untimely death at the hands of pro-choice politicians, he has counseled thousands of distraught women on the street and trained hundreds of like-minded individuals to do the same, thereby saving an estimated hundred thousand lives. As for the salvivic effect of his intervention on the souls of countless parents bent on destroying God's greatest gift, it is beyond telling. The Helpers of God's Precious Infants, which he founded in 1991, has chapters in forty-five American states, as well as thirty foreign countries. This is the story of a Latin teacher and prep school principal who sacrificed an academic career in order to answer God's call, a man who risked his life in order to awaken people to the devastating effect of destroying innocent human beings. With Scripture as his sword -- "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you" (God to Jeremiah) and Isaiah's rhetorical question, "Can a mother be without tenderness for the child of her womb?" -- he organized police-protected prayer vigils led by Catholic cardinals with up to 2500 participants at a time. He has been on the receiving end of rotten eggs, vitriolic invective, and a $117 million law suit. Six times arrested (before opting for non-violence), he has likewise been dragged into court scores of times without ever losing his sense of humor. One of the organizers of the first March for Life in Washington, D.C., he counts among his students Joe Scheidler, founder of the Pro-Life Action League, and David Bereit, founder of 40 Days for Life. Frederick Marks, who holds a Ph.D. degree in history from the University of Michigan, has written an account of the life of Msgr. Reilly that is both gripping and scholarly, based, as it is, on seventy hours of interview time with its subject. This is more than a biography. It sets the work of a distinguished prayer warrior against the broader backdrop of the pro-life movement in general, taking the reader all the way from Colorado's decision to become the first state to legalize abortion down to the present.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - THE CLASSIC BESTSELLER WITH MORE THAN 2 MILLION SOLD
"[Merton] is an incredible source of light and comfort and humor." - Anne Lamott
The famous autobiography of one of the most acclaimed faith leaders and theologians of our time.
Credited as being the first major Catholic book to achieve widespread popularity in America, Thomas Merton's spiritual evolution has captivated millions since its publication. Based on Merton's personal journals, The Seven Storey Mountain tells of the growing restlessness of a brilliant and passionate young man, who at the age of twenty-six, takes vows in one of the most demanding Catholic orders--the Trappist monks.
At the Abbey of Gethsemani, "the four walls of my new freedom," Thomas Merton struggles to withdraw from the world, but only after he has fully immersed himself in it. At the abbey, he wrote this extraordinary testament, a unique spiritual autobiography that has been recognized as one of the most influential religious works of our time. In this remarkable book, readers will gain insight into:
- How spiritual fulfillment leads to the deepest form of self-discovery
- The true redemption that comes from forgiving ourselves and past sins
- The sacred power of vulnerability and relinquishing control
- How to navigate our desires, discouragements, possibilities, and limitations
- How our cumulative lived experiences broaden our cultural acceptance
- What it truly means to be human in the world
Arriving on the heels of the devastation of WWII, Merton's compellingly passionate words touched a society longing for direction and a true sense of purpose. This work continues to inspire and motivate both present day believers and non-believers alike, through intimate discussions of the power of the human spirit during times of suffering and immense self-doubt. While Merton's story is uncommon, his experiences are universal - touching those of all backgrounds and identities. The immediacy of his words and reflections bring solace to an anxious world.
Translated into more than twenty languages and for readers of Jennie Allen, Brené Brown, and Flannery O'Connor, this spiritual journey towards enlightenment exposes the trials and tribulations that give our lives their ultimate meaning.
"The more you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer, because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you, in proportion to your fear of being hurt. The one who does most to avoid suffering is, in the end, the one who suffers most."
This inspiring, insightful, and often humorous look at the life of Father Stuart Long is told by his close friend Father Bart Tolleson. After their relationship began and almost ended with a practical joke, the two men were ordained together and forged a strong, lasting friendship. As the exuberant, edgy Father Stu confronted a rare degenerative disease, the former brawler and professional boxer used every ounce of his declining strength to fight the good fight for souls.
Also included in this book is the enduring legacy of Father Stu, whose moving story continues to draw people closer to God, especially in times of suffering. His life inspired actor Mark Wahlberg to produce the film drama Father Stu, in which Wahlberg plays the title role. Father Bart, who was consulted by the makers of the film, provides interesting background on the movie.
Illustrated with many photos.
In the West African country of Benin - the birthplace of Voodoo - witches, "healers," and charms are common and a way of life for many. Yet those who suffer from mental illness are nearly universally perceived as being possessed demonically and are thus objects of shame, disgust, and terror. In fact, most are chained to trees and treated like animals.
One man, however, travels all over West Africa to find those "unclean" people who have been disowned by their families and thrown out onto the streets. With love and affection, he gives them a home, medical treatment, and mental care.
In this gripping memoir, Gregoire Ahongbonon recounts his journey from a simple garage owner to a beacon of hope to the homeless and mentally ill of West Africa. You'll learn how a succession of life trials and hardship brought him to the brink of suicide - and how God intervened and set his life on a new and valiant course.
You'll journey with Gregoire through war zones, stonings, and near-death experiences as he swims against the cultural tide to care for those shunned by society. You'll come to understand the dire poverty that grips this part of the world, as well as the horrific damage that widely held superstitions inflict on societies.
Best of all, you'll be inspired by the real-life miracles performed through Gregoire's efforts, demonstrating that God is actively engaged in our world and ready to work through those who care for His children.
Despite financial destitution and overwhelming obstacles, Gregoire has established 79 institutions in Africa that have helped more than 100,000 people. Few stories offer such a stirring, real-life example of courage, and fewer still provide such exhilaration over what can be accomplished when one follows God's will.
J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings took first place in several nationwide British polls on the "greatest book of the century". He may be the most popular writer of our age, but Tolkien is often misunderstood. This major new study of his life, his character, and his work reveals the facts and confronts the myths. It explores the man's background and the culture in which he wrote.
Tolkien: Man and Myth observes the relationships that the master writer had with his closest literary colleagues. It sheds light on his unique relationship with C. S. Lewis, the writer of the Narnia books, and the roots of their eventual estrangement.
In this original book about a leading literary life, Joseph Pearce enters the world that Tolkien created in the seven books published during his lifetime. He explores the significance of Middle Earth and what it represented in Tolkien's thinking. Myth, to this legendary author, was not a leap from reality but a leap into reality.
The impact of Tolkien's great notoriety, his relationship with material possessions, and his deep religious faith are all examined at length in this biography, making it possible to understand both the man and the myth that he created.
Unleashing Hope draws you into the powerful life of Luisa de Ia Pena Navarro (1886-1937), "Mother Luisita," a petite woman from a small town in Jalisco, Mexico, who devoted her entire life to serving the poor, the sick, and especially the children. She established schools, hospitals, and orphanages at a time when it was against the law to even be a Catholic. Gripping historical events including revolution, religious persecution, and the Cristiada reveal her as a spiritual mother who brought healing and hope. After her husband's death, Mother Luisita answered God's call to establish a new Carmelite community that would "stand in the presence of the Living God, and with Mary make known the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus" to a world suffering the wounds of sin and division.
Unleashing Hope comes at a time in history when the world must reset its moral compass and rediscover the beauty and dignity of each person and the joy and healing that comes through living in God's abiding presence. You will not easily forget Mother Luisita and her compelling life story.
Here is the book that you need to "live in hope" in uncertain times. This seminal biography of Venerable Luisa de la Pea Navarro (1866-1937), "Mother Luisita," reveals gripping historical events and stories of the atrocious persecution of Catholics in Mexico in the 1920s and 1930s. Mother Luisita's Carmelite spirituality, illuminating each page, will remind you that God has your back and keeps His promises. Mother's life and late religious vocation bears witness that it is never too late to begin, that you can trust God, and He will never abandon you.
You will learn how Mother formed her sisters to prepare a dwelling place for God within. This helped them withstand violence and remain faithful in the face of death, when they had to flee for their lives repeatedly. There were times when they had no food or money, but God always provided.
Mother Luisita is still a beloved spiritual mother to the faithful in Jalisco, Mexico, and beyond, and memories of her holiness and kindness continue to bring hope and healing. Included in this biography are firsthand testimonies, Mother's inspirational maxims, excerpts from her letters, a prayer for her cause, and other compelling documents.
You will also learn about Mother's early life: her poor health from youth, her privileged background, and her marriage to a medical doctor, with whom she founded a hospital for the poor.
Fortify your faith as you read about Mother's adventures, trials, and joys in establishing two religious orders - the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles and the Carmelitas del Sagrado Corazon de Mexico - as well as numerous foundations and institutions. The work of the Sisters proceeded even during a smallpox epidemic and periods when it was illegal to be Catholic in Mexico.
Discover the truth about the atrocities that the faithful suffered during the Mexican Revolution through a rare testimony of a Carmelite religious superior before the U.S. Congress.
Best of all, you will be encouraged by Mother's:
Documentation for a potential miracle wrought by Mother Luisita is presently being investigated.