If you haven’t read this book by Mother Mary Francis, you must read it. Until recently it was out of print and hard to find (I think I paid almost $40 for my copy 10 years ago), but the book has since been rereleased, so now you have no excuse!

In A Right to be Merry, Mother Mary Francis talks about leaving her Poor Clare Monastery to help start a new monastery in Roswell, New Mexico. Mother Mary Francis doesn’t just convey the excitement of a new place and all moving involves. She gives an intimate glimpse into the cloistered life of the Poor Clare nuns, and in doing so, gives many tips into finding joy and God in any lifestyle, in any location.

A Right to be Merry isn’t just a book for those wanting to be nuns or interested in nuns. This book is for anyone looking for a closer relationship with God.

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Tuesday Book Review: A Right To Be Merry

While I found some of  Fialka’s writing to be a bit dry, the subject matter was anything but.  Bringing together the words of the Sisters themselves with statistics and history, gives life to what otherwise might be a dry recitation.  It’s not just all the hospitals and schools run by the Sisters, but their individual devotion to their students and patients.  For much of our history, often the only health care or education for the poor came from selfless Sisters who spent untold hours working in desperate conditions to provide for their charges.

Fialka also delves somewhat into the causes of the current loss of numbers in American religious life, as well as what hopes there are for the future of religious life in America.  More than anything, though, the book celebrates the greatness of what so many Sisters have provided to all of us, Catholic or otherwise. Fialka’s book is well worth the reading time. If you’re a woman discerning your vocation, this book will be a treasure.

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Tuesday Book Review: Catholic Nuns and the Making of America

Well, this isn’t really a book review, because I haven’t had a chance to read this book yet. However, it’s on my list of books to read as soon as I can afford to get a copy of it (already checked the library, and they don’t have it).

In Discovering Your Personal Vocation, Fr. Herbert Alphonso, SJ, talks about using the Spiritual Exercises to understand your vocation in life. I think I’ve mentioned my experiences with the Spiritual Exercises before and how incredibly useful I found them in deepening my own spirituality. So, needless to say, this book is definitely going on my wish list.

The Editorial Review on Amazon begins, “Deceptively brief and simple, this is a profound reflection on identifying your “personal vocation”–not just discovering what you really want to do, but discovering the very essence of your being, what is unique and unrepeatable about you. Doing flows from being, so this is the spirit that animates everything you do; this is the secret of unity and integration at the Heart of Life, how you are called by name. ”

If anyone out there has read it, I’d love to hear your opinion of the book. Just leave a comment!

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Tuesday Book Review: Discovering Your Personal Vocation

I first read Sr. Joan Chittester’s book, Wisdom Distilled From the Daily almost 15 years ago, when I was discerning religious life.  While I believe it has great significance for those discerning vocations, I think it is also a book appropriate for anyone attempting to live an authentic life of love.

The Rul of St Benedict was written centuries ago for the monks of his order.  But it is a rule that is easily adaptable to any state of life.  What always struck me more than anything else about Benedict’s Rule is it’s kindness and generosity.  Every rule is written for those with love and consideration for others.

Sr. Joan Chittester brings this beautiful rule forward into the modern world and applies it to the modern day struggles.  Well, not entirely modern day as it was written almost 20 years ago and society has changed a great deal since then.  But her words are still applicable today.

The point of the Benedictine Rule is to build our spirituality on our every day experience.  Sr. Joan does a great job of bringing into the every day experience of modern life.

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Tuesday Book Review: Wisdom Distilled From the Daily

Divine Intimacy: Meditations on the Interior Life for Every Day of the Liturgical Year, by Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, OCD.

Steeped in the Carmelite mystical traditions, Divine Intimacy is a tool for drawing closer to God.  If you are just learning to habitualize daily prayer and conversation with God, Divine Intimacy is a tool to help you along the way.

For each day, Divine Intimacy gives two meditations based on the readings for the day, and then provides a colloquy to assist you in beginning your conversation with God.  Divine Intimacy “seeks to arrange meditations in such a way that in the course of one year the most important problems of the spiritual life and all the supernatural realities met with in the interior life will have been reviewed.” (From the Preface)

I spent a year working through Divine Intimacy over a decade ago, but I still keep my copy near and refer to it in times of need.  It’s a beautiful volume that can help you find your voice with God and your path in this life.

I chose to review Divine Intimacy now because the year of meditations starts with the beginning of the liturgical year, which is the first Sunday of Advent.  If you want to begin the Divine Intimacy meditations at the beginning, you only have a couple of weeks to get your copy.

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Tuesday Book Review: Divine Intimacy

Today’s book selection is:

This was one of the very first books that was recommended to me when I first began discerning. I was still learning to pray and to be still with God.

The information here is very basic. It’s for those who are just starting out on their journey and need some grounding in basic techniques. I still have this book (although a much older version of it) and I still refer to it from time to time when I seem stumped. Sometimes when your prayer life just doesn’t seem to be working, going back to the basics helps.

The author, Fr. Thomas Green, is a Jesuit and a spiritual director. I’ve read a number of his books on prayer and discernment, and you’ll see them later in the Tuesday Book Review Series. I must say that I’ve never read one of his books that I didn’t find spiritually renewing and uplifting. While his approach to prayer doesn’t necessarily fit everyone, I do know that it helped me tremendously in learning to be quiet and be still with God.

Disclosure: the above book link is an affiliate link (meaning I make a portion of any books purchased through that link). If you prefer a non-affiliate link, go here.

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Tuesday Book Review – Opening to God