In her book Whispers of Mary, Gayle Somers introduces us to ten Old Testament women and shows us how each of their stories leads us to Mary, our Blessed Mother.

No matter what season we find ourselves, God in His wisdom gave us Mary, who meets us where we are with the love of a mother.

When it comes to our spiritual lives, the right book can be a game-changer. Jenna Guizar and Beth Davis are so excited to share their top Catholic book recommendations -- books that changed their lives forever. Tell us your favorite in the comments! Jenna's Pick: Time for God by Father Jacques Philippe First, Jenna's Catholic book recommendation is Time for God by the renowned French author Father Jacques Philippe. This book has become, as Jenna describes it, "a personal roadmap" for her, leading her into mental prayer. As Beth says, Father Jacques Philippe "distills high-level concepts and teaches them to 5-year-olds like us," Beth explains. The simplicity and clarity of Father Philippe's teachings have been transformative, motivating Jenna to prioritize faithfulness to mental prayer as a "school of Freedom." Ultimtaely, Time for God reframes prayer as an invitation into God's presence. Jenna shares, "It's not a chore, it's not something you have to do...it will excite you into the moment." Beth's Pick: The Context for Holiness by Fr. Jacques Philippe Next, Beth describes Context for Holiness as the most powerful spiritual book she has come across since reading Jacques Philippe. This book offers the insight that our unique personalities, temperaments, and life experiences are not obstacles to holiness but rather the very context in which God desires to make us saints. As Beth explains, "Your life, my life is the context for my holiness. I don't need a different life – God is actually using my psychological wounds, my temperament, my past, my sensitivities to make me a saint." Context for Holiness has been revolutionary for Beth. "It has awakened in me like a grit and a fortitude that I didn't know I had," she shares. "It taught me how to do it – how to become holy while being me." Honorable Mention: Divine Intimacy by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene As an honorable mention, both Jenna and Beth enthusiastically recommend the spiritual classic Divine Intimacy by Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene. This book is a treasure trove of daily meditations covering a vast range of spiritual topics. Beth says, "I read and I try to stay with one thing...I'm still thinking about one about the storm at sea...I'm still praying about that I probably read that a year ago." The depth and richness of the reflections in this book have the power to captivate the reader and draw them into intimacy with the Lord. Although Divine Intimacy may be more complex compared to some other spiritual reads, both Jenna and Beth attest to its ability to speak to the heart of even a novice. In Jenna's words, "I am a little baby 2-year-old who understands nothing and I need very simple invitatory language, and this is theologically dense but somehow it speaks to me." The Power of Spiritual Reading Finally, as you consider adding these or other Catholic book recommendations to your reading list, remember that the goal is not to simply read more. Rather, allow the words on the page to lead you into the heart of God. Approach your spiritual reading with an open and expectant heart, ready to draw closer to the One who created you. Your Turn: Share Your Favorite Spiritual Read Now, we'd love to hear from you! What is the #1 spiritual book that has changed your life? Share in the comments below or on YouTube! WANT TO DEEPEN YOUR PRAYER? Get ready to be radically changed by the Lord and His presence. Be drawn into intimacy with the Lord by way of weekly videos, a community within the Blessed is She app, and invitations into reading scripture in a whole new way. BEGIN THE WELL: ABIDE MARY SHOWS US THE WAY Just as a mother might pass on a beloved family tradition to her daughters, Mary shares the recipe for growing in virtue with us. This study on Mary's Virtues will breathe new life into your everyday, beginning right in Mary's home. GET HOME STUDY

On All Saints Day this past year, I taught my 5th grade faith formation students what it means to be a canonized Saint in the Catholic Church. We went through the basics: you have to be dead, you have to have lived an extraordinarily holy life, and you have to intercede for those who are still on earth. We discussed many saints from an array of vocations, cultures, and backgrounds. Afterwards, the students chose a Saint to draw and wrote a prayer asking them for their intercession. To Be Like Jesus As the children worked, one of my students sat contemplating this newfound understanding of sainthood. She asked me, “So, Saints are all totally different, but they are also all like Jesus?” I thought about her question for a moment before realizing she was precisely correct. This is exactly what it means to be a Saint: to be completely unique in your route to sanctification, but in your own way, to resemble Christ. In the book Chiara Corbella Petrillo: A Witness to Joy, close friends of Servant of God Chiara tell the particular story of her resemblance to Jesus. Through her dating, marriage, and motherhood before an early death at the age of twenty-eight in 2012, Chiara’s particular reflection of Christ is a modern and relatable model of holiness with a deep and true joy in the midst of intense sorrow. {formbuilder:OTk3ODc=} Chiara // A Witness to Joy The book begins with Chiara and Enrico’s dating relationship, engagement, and marriage. The Italian couple, who lived in Rome and spent quality time in Assisi, met at Medjugorje, a Marian apparition site, on pilgrimage in Bosnia and Herzegovina. While the route to marriage was a bumpy and stressful road for the two of them, including breakups and heartache, the strength of the love in their relationship became a cornerstone of their story: strengthening and bringing joy to the hardships that followed them. A Witness to Life Throughout Chiara’s three pregnancies, the couple found immense joy in their children regardless of their length of life. Chiara and Enrico’s first two children had terminal conditions. Despite knowledge of the children’s deaths to come shortly after birth, both were carried to term in a great act of charity and respect for human life. Chiara expressed great joy at every kick in her stomach. Furthermore, Chiara delayed chemotherapy for her own illness in her third pregnancy to ensure the health of her son. Chiara displayed true motherhood in her knowledge of her children as not her own, but also as God’s. She expressed a willingness to do everything in her power to love them, protect them, and lead them to her Heavenly Father.  Carrying Crosses, Radiating Light Beyond her family, Chiara’s story is also full of other moments and relationships she brought joy to, including beautiful friendships with Father Vito, an important figure in the spiritual lives of the couple, and Simone and Christiana, a married couple and the authors of this book. Chiara Corbella Petrillo: A Witness to Joy is a quick and phenomenal read, one I would recommend to all women, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, as her story contains an aroma of holiness that so clearly reflects the light and joy of Christ. The book will make you cry, but despite the tragedy and death, the tears are tears of joy, tears at the sight of the immensely beautiful image of Christ Chiara becomes as her story unfolds. Just as the Cross, a symbol of death, is the tool Jesus uses for salvation, Chiara’s story displays sacrificial love and an acceptance of her own cross in a way that will not be forgotten and has her swiftly on the route to canonization.   Annie Navone is currently finishing her MA in Theology from the University of Notre Dame and ministering in parishes and schools in Tampa, Florida. Her greatest passion is Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, a Montessori method of catechesis for young children. In her free time, she enjoys walking along the beach, cheering on the TCU Horned Frogs, journaling in Adoration, and spending time with close friends.

With the start of the new year, the scent of freshly sharpened pencils and blank slates comes to mind. I want to do this year right. While I did not make any specific New Year’s resolutions, I do have hopes and goals in mind. As I pause to consider what this year holds, and my desire to live it well, a book written by a professor from my alma mater comes to mind.  The book is titled Getting Work Right: Labor and Leisure in a Fragmented World, written by Dr. Michael Naughton, director of the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas. An Entrustment and an Example Naughton’s main thesis is that in order to get work right, we have to get leisure right. In the very first book of the Bible, God both gives man both the responsibility of work and sets the example of rest and leisure.  Before God entrusts us with work, He shows us how to rest. “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation” (Genesis 2:3).  Then, a few verses later, “The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it” (Genesis 2:15).  Our task now is to rightly order this relationship between work and leisure. As Naughton says, “rightly ordered labor and leisure gives us roots in a world that too often only gives us cut flowers.” This book will help grow the roots for a garden that flourishes. Defining Our Terms Before we get into the integration of work and rest, let’s define what we are talking about.  Labor  God created man to work. In the words of Pope Saint John Paul II, work is: “something that corresponds to man’s dignity, that expresses this dignity and increases it . . . through work man not only transforms nature . . . but he also achieves fulfillment.”  Naughton affirms this point, stating that “work is central to the practical life of goal-setting and decision-making . . . from which springs our well-being as creatures who are by nature doers.”  While goals and achievements are important, Naughton does warn against the two opposite extremes of viewing work as purely a job or becoming consumed with one’s career. To view your work as just a job is to look at it solely as a source of income and a means to an end. In doing so, work can feel empty and depleting. However, the other extreme of being consumed by one’s career can result in an identity that is so connected to one’s work that it becomes the only source of self-esteem. While work is good, it is not our ultimate purpose in this world, and continually chasing the temporary high of the next rung on the ladder will leave one equally empty. Leisure  In Leisure: The Basis of Culture, a source which Naughton drew heavily upon, author and philosopher Josef Pieper wrote, “leisure is . . . to be found in the soul that receives the reality of the world.” It is to “steep oneself in the whole of creation.” To contemplate. Leisure is to sit in the stillness and be open to what it may want to reveal to you. My favorite quotation by Pieper is his sentence, “When we really let our minds rest contemplatively on a rose in bud, on a child at play, on a divine mystery, we are rested and quickened as though by a dreamless sleep.” We are restored.  The purpose of leisure is not to distract ourselves from the world through television or our phone. This pulls us out of reality, not deeper into it. Naughton views leisure not as amusement or utility, and cautions readers not to fall into either trap:  “Wiktionary defines amuse as ‘to stare stupidly at something,’” he writes. This “amusement” does not fulfill our longing for rest, but rather stirs up restlessness in us as we find our time wasted scrolling through our social media accounts or watching our favorite streaming service. We know our time could be used better and we want our time to be used better.  To view leisure as utility is to see it only as a means to the end of work itself, but not as a good in and of itself. It is like seeing leisure as a necessity in order to get back to the work week refreshed, but then when the work week is over, we find ourselves drained and in desperate need of what we see as a well-deserved break. It’s a vicious cycle with a gloomy future. {formbuilder:OTk3ODc=} Integration Over Balance So how do we get to rightly ordering our relationship between labor and leisure? First, we need to make sure we are not putting labor and leisure into two different boxes: labor  in our nine-to-five box and leisure in our after-dinnertime or on-the-weekend box. We are called to integrate our active life with our contemplative life, not to place these areas of our life into separate boxes, hoping that if they never touch each other we’ll achieve a “balanced” life.  Our contemplative life is meant to touch all the other facets of our life. Naughton writes, “We were created both to work and to rest, both to be active and to be contemplative. These two dimensions of our lives are meant to inform each other as part of a deeper whole rather than exist as two modes of being that balance each other or effectively cancel each other out. Integration Through The Sabbath In the final chapter of the book, Naughton focuses on celebrating the Sabbath as a way to allow our contemplative life to touch our active life. He writes, “The Sabbath—the commandment to both rest and celebrate—is essential to our work and to the order of our lives.” He argues that if we don’t get Sunday right, we won’t get Monday right: “Sunday is the day when production, consumption, and especially technology do not own us; but when we are defined not by our doing or having but by our being made in God’s image; when we remember that life is a gift  given, not a task achieved”. In other words, it reminds us who we are and Who we were created for.  When we celebrate Sunday as we are meant to, keeping it holy and taking time for true rest, we put ourselves in a position to rest in the loving embrace of our Father. To receive Him. “The power of Sunday is in the rest it provides, not the work it produces; in receptivity, not in activity; in its celebratory affirmation of the deeply ordered goodness of creation, all of which nurtures our relationship with Christ.” This time with our Maker is never wasted, but enables us to grow in our identity as children of God. When we submit to the stillness Christ invites us to, we recognize that we become more fully human through what we receive from Him and how we respond to Him, not by what we achieve. HIS WORD CHANGES LIVES God is speaking to you through His Word. In this personal study, you will learn to hear God's voice by reading slowly and praying deeply. BEGIN THE JOURNEY

Saint John Bosco is famous for being a great educational reformer, yet he would probably not point to education as his success story. I imagine he would point to specific boys and share their stories. Knowing “his boys” was an integral piece of Saint John Bosco’s educational philosophy.  I stumbled upon Saint John Bosco’s educational philosophy providentially. I was not happy with any discipline system I tried in the classroom—all were from a negative perspective. I desired a classroom that was friendly and trusting, one that was open so I would not have to worry about what my students were doing in secret. I looked to the great Saint educators like Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton and Saint Katherine Drexel—and a quick internet search led to the book The Educational Philosophy of Saint John Bosco. (Sadly, the book is out of print, but there are used copies available.) I was hooked, both by Saint John Bosco himself and by the way he interacted with his students. I think his philosophy is not limited to the classroom; it’s appropriate for parenting, friendship, and even the workplace.  The Preventative System Saint John Bosco stumbled into being an educational leader. In the midst of the Industrial Revolution in Turin, he saw how many young boys were ending up in prison. He wanted to prevent this from happening, and headed out into the streets to meet the boys and young men where they were. He “hooked” them first with his skills of juggling and acrobatics, then shared the Gospel with them. His outreach grew into finding proper housing, then education for his boys. His work reached thousands of boys, and provided housing for eight hundred of them, with the help of Saint John Bosco’s mother.  Saint John Bosco’s educational philosophy is called the “Preventive System.” It centers on reason, religion, and kindness. It focuses on knowing the child so well as to prevent discipline, and instead forms and encourages self-discipline.  {formbuilder:OTk3ODc=} How Did Saint John Bosco Teach? Perhaps it’s better to introduce it in Saint John Bosco’s own words and as described by his own contemporaries:  In John Bosco’s own words:  “Boys should be guided and corrected but not by aloof superiors.”  “Without confidence and love, there can be no true education.” “Behave in such a way that all those who speak to you may become your friends.” “You asked for advice. Here it is:  When you have to correct someone in particular, never do so in the presence of others. When you give advice or counsel always try to send the person away satisfied and still friendly to you. Always thank those who admonish you and take their corrections in good part.  “Question, question, question, over and over again. The more the pupil is made to talk the more he will profit from his schooling.”  “Think of them as your brothers; kindness, understanding, and patience are the keys to their hearts.” He loved to quote Saint Philip Neri: “Run, jump, have all the fun you want at the right time, but for heaven’s sake, do not commit sin!”  “A warm welcome is what, above all, attracts boys. To obtain good results in educating youngsters, one must find a way first to win their love, then they will fear to displease him.”  “Be quick to forgive—and do so wholeheartedly . . . When a punishment is unavoidable, take your pupil aside and show him his wrong as well as your regret at having to punish him.”  “If you have to give any correction, do it privately, in secret, and with the greatest sweetness.”  Saint John Bosco as Described by His Contemporaries Saint John Bosco “was friendly and affable, avoiding a formalism and a rigorism which erect a wall between superior and subject. His authority inspired respect, confidence and love . . . This was a mode of operation that enabled an educator to discover his pupils’ temperament, wield it prudently, and unlock its hidden energies.”  “Humble as he was, he acted amiably with both rich and poor. He refrained from giving orders, even to his boys. His usual approach was: ‘Would you please do this or that?’”  He “knew them all individually by name and surname . . . even though the number of boys he dealt with, whether boarders or day students, ran into the thousands.”  “He was firmly convinced that to educate boys one must find the way to their hearts.”  Saint John Bosco’s Educational Philosophy “Friendliness and affability, based on patience, self-control, self-denial, and love of his fellow man were to be characteristics of the Christian educator.”  “Discipline was based on mutual trust between the teacher and taught . . . His work was useless if he failed to win the confidence and love of the educand; education was a failure if the youth did not place his trust in the educator. “ “The methods of correction were said to be effective because they appealed to the conscience and not to fear of reprimands or punishments.” “In the ‘pedagogy of confidence’ the teacher was expected to become interested in those things which interested the pupils. “Perhaps the most demanding aspect of the preventative system, in which the educator continually present among his students, involved himself in their world; they in turn adopting his because they were aware of his love for, and interest in, them.”  The Mission of the Soul For John Bosco each life was his mission, he knew he was about the salvation of that soul.  He considered the primary duty of the teacher (and anyone really) is to bring Christ to that person. My classroom, and I myself, transformed as I worked to implement the philosophy of Saint. John Bosco. I found I was able to connect with my students in a Christ-centered way, and it led to deep conversations and relationships with their families. I experienced what Saint John Bosco said about his work: “How many wonders had the Lord wrought in our midst!”

 Scripture, lives of the saints, and other spiritual readings are all ways to deepen prayer life and discover new intricacies of our faith (I’m slowly working through the Diary of Saint Faustina, and I love it!). However, sometimes it can be hard to work through those denser spiritual works, especially with less time. And the Lord knows, the older I get the less time I have! 5 Fiction Books to Spiritually Renew Your Soul In the following fiction books, I have felt completely immersed in the story and refreshed upon completion. Whether it be a dramatic tale of conversion, an account of the Lord’s grace working in outer space, or an apocalyptic story, all these books have deep and mystical Christian and Catholic themes with which to meditate upon. So, without further adieu, let's begin! Father Elijah: An Apocalypse by Michael O’Brien This book is number one on the list for a reason! Michael O’Brien writes a thrilling novel which explores the state of the modern world. A Carmelite priest, Father Elijah Schafer, is secretly tasked by the Vatican with a mission of utmost importance; one which involves the fate of millions of souls. Traversing across the Middle East and Europe, Father Elijah encounters saints and sinners, men of power, mystics, journalists, and traitors, all while reflecting upon his own childhood of surviving Nazi Germany. This powerful book is filled with adventure and hope, and the reminder that even the smallest among us can accomplish great things with the help of the Lord. The Spear by Louis de Wohl Before this book, I had never even heard of St. Longinus, even though he was mentioned in Scripture. Longinus, I discovered, was the centurion who speared Christ’s side on Calvary. This dramatic story follows Marcus Longinus’ early life, from that of a prominent member of a Roman family to that of a slave who sold his freedom for his father. Although you can guess the outcome, it doesn’t take away from how deeply you feel Marcus’ questions and journey towards understanding this man everyone calls “The Messiah.” This story culminates in the supreme hope shared among Christians, and leaves one meditating on their personal journey to Christ. {formbuilder:OTk3ODc=} The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis Surprisingly, I was long into my love of C.S. Lewis before I realized he had a sci-fi trilogy. And it is probably one of the best sci-fi series I have ever read (“Of course,” you say, “It’s C.S. Lewis!”). The three books contained in this trilogy are Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength. It centers around Dr. Elwin Ransom, a university professor, who is taken to outer space. In the first book, he encounters life on mars. This planet has not fallen into Original Sin, and the beings he meets there reflect upon earth and draw striking contrasts. In the second, he reaches another planet where he meets two beings much akin to Adam and Eve before Original Sin. In the close of the trilogy, the now-beloved Dr. Ransom is fighting for earth with the dark forces that were present in both Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra. I would highly recommend this trilogy to anyone, Christian or not! Ben-Hur I originally saw the 1959 movie version of this book, and the on-screen rendering struck me so deeply that I had to find the book to understand the full picture. Although not necessarily an easy read, this book touches the very core of one’s heart, with themes of mercy and love contrasted with revenge and hatred. It follows the young Jewish prince, Judah Ben-Hur, as he is thrown from a life of aristocracy to a slave in the gallows after an accidental crime. After years as a slave, a turn of fate finds him once again in a high position, building his life up again in anonymity. Searching for his lost mother and sister, and trying to avenge the wrongdoings against the family, Judah Ben-Hur is ready for a fight. All the while, tales of a young Jewish rabbi float around and interweave, until Judah encounters him face-to-face. The Father’s Tale by Michael O’Brien We started with a book by Michael O’Brien, and we shall end with one of his as well. The Father’s Tale is a story of a middle-aged father whose life is upended when his young adult son goes missing. From England to Russia, this father travels in search of his son, who potentially was involved in a mysterious cult. This story is saturated with the truth of a father’s love and evokes images of the one sheep that strayed. If you are looking for a reminder of how much our Heavenly Father loves you, but in a fictional odyssey novel, I would point you to this book right here.   Maggie Agra is a junior theology major at Franciscan University of Steubenville. She enjoys learning all things theology, especially Theology of the Body. When she’s not weightlifting or watercoloring, you can find her enjoying a cup of coffee with friends or trying something new and adventurous.   This post contains affiliate links. Thanks so much for supporting the ministry of Blessed is She!

In the Gospels, we see that an integral part of Christ's mission on earth was healing. As He traveled from town to town preaching the coming Kingdom of God, He showed forth that that Kingdom involves healing on every level: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Suffering Trauma in Our Humanity While we live as daughters of the King through Baptism, we still live in a fallen world. None of us escape heartache, loss, or trauma. These challenges are varied in type and tempo, but the effects of sin touch all of us. If you have already experienced deep trauma in your life, I am sorry. These experiences give us a front row seat to the fallen state of the world. What happened to you should not have happened to you. The brokenness you feel or have felt is not what was the original intent. Working All Things for Our Good The enemy would have these sufferings derail, deter, and discourage us. He seeks to use our pain to pull us away from hope and from the Lord. But what the enemy intends for our all, God will use for our good. He works all things for the good of those who love Him, and He will take what is formed against us and turn it on its head. God's Heart breaks when we experience suffering or trauma, but He does not leave us there. He is our Protector and Redeemer, and He offers us grace and healing for every wound we bear. Healed and Restored This kind of divine restoration is the theme of the newest book from BIS blog writer Elza Spaedy. In Healed and Restored, Elza walks us through her own experience of deep trauma and how it impacted her life. She is honest about the wounds and doubts she incurred through the experience, and she gives us great hope in her testimony to God's intervention. Elza is a true mentor and sister in Christ. You can feel her compassion ooze through the text. She has an enormous heart for women who suffer trauma. She doesn't sugarcoat it. She names it and honors the pain we may experience. But her Christ-like heart shines through in the fact that she does not let that by the end of the story. Elza did not let her pain be the end of her story—she let God write a redemption. And she offers us the same invitation. Through advice both practical and spiritual, Healed and Restored offers us a path forward in God's light and love. Elza covers the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of healing from trauma, seeking to bring comfort to the whole person. If you or someone you love has experienced deep suffering, please gift them this book. It will provide a light in the darkness and point to the One Who will ultimately make all things new. Have you read this book yet? What did you think?   [bctt tweet="BIS Reads // Healed and Restored #BISblog //" via="no"]

In this Year of the Eucharist, I have constantly been called by Our Lord to visit Him. As a mom of five littles, that doesn’t look like frequent Adoration in our parish’s Adoration chapel. It doesn’t always come in the form of daily Mass. In this state in life, in this moment in time, my desire to visit Our Lord is made manifest in my day-to-day and the attitude with which I carry out my daily tasks. I’m humbled many times as I do these things imperfectly. Adore Him Always Yet, every day, visiting and adoring Him occurs when I’m present with my husband and children. Do I start off our day with morning prayers? How am I leading them to Him that day? How do I react when there’s an argument? What do I do when my Italian nature shows its true colors and I allow my impatience and temper to reign? Do I resign to my weakness and sum of my failures, or do I run, returning to Him, acknowledging and adoring His Eucharistic power? Since our goal in this life is to visit Him permanently and adore Him always in the next, we ask our Lord to keep our feet firmly planted in His will and His way, always returning to Him when we stray. Eucharistic Power // A Poem Here I sit In front of God Holy ground below, my Sinful feet dare trod To honor and adore You In Your presence, Lord Alive I remain because My life, You graciously afford It is for this reason And because of it, I live You created me for You For Your love to give Let me desire none other Than to relish this time To feel my heart beat for You Body and soul, ecstatic and sublime Just being in Your sight Holy Host, powerful be You root myself firmly My being planted in front of Thee All a dream, these moments In Heaven, I wish here to stay A glimpse of the life I desire When death whisks me away My God, omnipotent Host Take me that hour to Thee By Your Eucharistic power Make my dream reality   [bctt tweet="Eucharistic Power // A Poem #BISblog // " via="no"]   Danielle Erwin is a Catholic wife, a homeschooling mother of 5, and she loves writing poetry whenever the Holy Spirit inspires her! She has published a book of poetry she wrote after her miscarriages (Holding On: Poems on Coping With Loss After Miscarriage) and a book of poetry on the Catholic Faith (Something More: Poetic Moments With God).

1,119 pages. This is the page count of my copy of Kristin Lavransdatter. It is well over 200 pages from the longest book in the Harry Potter series. This Nobel Prize winning trilogy which was published in the 1920s is a historical fiction piece set in fourteenth-century Norway. (Author Sigrid Undset donated all of her prize money to charity.) It combines her novels, The Wreath, The Wife, and The Cross, complete with maps of medieval Norway, explanatory notes, and a list of important Norwegian holy days. I’d be lying if I told you that picking up this book would be an easy undertaking. But neither is confronting our sin or receiving undeserved mercy. Both of which this book will ask of you. The Humanity and the Holy in Kristin Lavransdatter What is unique about this novel is how it invites you into a deep experience of the human heart. It is a medieval story complete with elf maidens, chieftains, hearth, and home. It is about kinship and family lineage, exhilarating passion, betrayal, scandal, breathtaking Norwegian landscape, motherhood in its rawest form, holding grudges, learning how to get over our ego and ask for forgiveness, free will, and opening one’s heart to receive mercy. Ultimately, this is a book about grace. What will have you turning page after page is the way that Undset dives into the morality of each character, how their conscience informs their choices, and how they transform over time. But these transformations involve pain. As Gunnulf, one of the priests in the book says, we should “all have the courage to suffer. Who would be so foolish not to accept pain and torment if this was the way to a faithful and steadfast bridegroom who waits with open arms, his breast bloody and burning with love” (page 449). This book is about God’s open arms. Meeting The Characters One of my favorite college professors warned against letting anybody spoil this story. Rather, it is meant to be slowly unraveled with the turning of each page. I respect him too much to defy his words of wisdom. So rather than give you spoilers, I will give you a glimpse of some of the story's important characters. Kristin Lavransdatter: This is a coming of age story with Kristin as the protagonist. You will get to know her from her childhood on to her womanhood. As a child, she holds a deep respect for her father Lavrans and loves him above all. She is his little companion whom he cherishes deeply. In Norwegian culture it was customary to have your last name come from your father. Because Kristin was Lavrans’ daughter, her last name becomes “Lavransdatter”. Lavrans Björgulfsson: Lavrans is Kristin’s father and a hard working, well-respected, and gentle man who is the landholder of Jörundgaard manor. He lives out his Christianity generously and courageously making him a character to pay attention to, learn from, and look up to. Ragnfrid Ivarsdatter: This is Lavrans’ wife who inherited their estate (Jörundgaard) from her father. She strives to live out her vocation as a wife and mother well, but suffers from depression after the death of her young sons and a guilty conscience from sins of her past. Arne Gyrdssön: This is one of my favorite characters in the book. He is a fun loving, childhood friend of Kristin who grows to love her as he becomes a young man. Simon Andressön of Dyfrin: This is the son of a neighboring landowner and the man whom Kristin is betrothed to. He is an honorable man and becomes a good friend of Lavrans. Erlend Nikulaussön: This is the knight who meets Kristin while she is still betrothed to Simon. He falls quickly in love with her after their first encounter. He is good-looking, endearing, passionate, but also hot-tempered and wild. Erlend has been excommunicated from the Catholic Church for being in an adulterous relationship. Gunnulf Nikulausson: Erlend’s brother, a priest, and another favorite character of mine. He is a man who possesses great knowledge and virtue. He isn’t afraid to say things as he sees them and will point out the flaws he sees in others, but he always does so out of charity. A Few Excerpts This book is like a long examination of conscience. As you walk alongside Kristin you will have a front row seat not only to her weaknesses and vulnerability, but also those around her. I couldn’t help but pause to reflect on how I struggle with some of the same vices that Kristin expressed. The Wreath, Part II, Chapter Five “She began looking for evidence that other people, like herself, were not without sin. She paid more attention to gossip, and she took note of all the little things around her which indicated that not even the sisters in the convent were completely holy and unworldly." Kristin also had a tendency to cling too tightly to the world. While she had a fiery passion for her husband and fierce love of her children, she needed to learn to loosen her grip on them. The Wife, Part II, Chapter Two When Kristin spoke of her love for her children Gunnulf says to her, “all other love is merely a reflection of the heavens in the puddles of a muddy road. You will become sullied too if you allow yourself to sink into it. But if you always remember that it’s a reflection of the light from that other home, then you will rejoice at its beauty and take good care that you do not destroy it by churning up mire at the bottom”. In his honest efforts to help Kristin see the light of God’s love he reminds her of the gift He gives us of our free will. “If God wanted to, He could take our souls by force; then we would be completely powerless in His grasp. But since He loves us the way the bridegroom loves the bride, He will not force her; if she won’t embrace Him willingly, then He must allow her to flee and to shun Him.” // Gunnulf to Kristin Yet even in our sin, Christ reaches out to us, inviting us back into His embrace. The Wife, Part II, Chapter Four “And so he would have to put his trust in God who judges a man not according to his worth but through His mercy”. // Thoughts from Simon Andressön I’d include an excerpt from Part III, but I’m afraid it might hint at spoilers, so instead I’ll just say that the third book is a culmination of how Kristin uses her free will and what her pleading with the Lord and her answered prayers brought to her. Will she end up with Arne, Simon, or Erlend? How will the strength of the relationship she has with her Father shape her womanhood? Will her mother ever find true happiness? What does Gunnulf have to say to you that might have you running to prayer or reconciliation? It’s all yours to find out, one page at a time. Have you read this novel before? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!   [bctt tweet="BIS Reads // Kristin Lavransdatter #BISblog //" via="no"]   This post contains affiliate links. Thanks so much for supporting the ministry of Blessed is She!

“Have you ever considered that the devil is active in your prayer life? In the parish church where you attend Mass? In the lives and actions of people of goodwill all around you?” So begins the inspiring and compelling book by Dan Burke, The Devil in the Castle: St. Teresa of Avila, Spiritual Warfare, and the Progress of the Soul. This series of questions is startling, isn’t it? And it certainly jolts the reader to consider an aspect of prayer she has never considered: the devil’s undetected activity. The Invisible Battle When we think about the demonic, more often than not, obvious evil plots unfolding in the world come to mind. We think about demonic oppression or possession and the possible need of an exorcist. Sure, we may think about the small, spiritual attacks we encounter when plans—especially spiritually good plans—seem to go amuck. But in the quiet of our prayer? In our communion with the Lord? In the interior castle of our soul? How can that be? In The Devil in the Castle, Burke explains how “an invisible battle for souls is being waged in and around us without reprieve, and we remain ignorant of it to our peril.” But through this book, which uses Saint Teresa of Avila’s masterpiece Interior Castle as its foundation, Burke explains that we no longer need to remain ignorant. Now we can be very attune to the simultaneous movements within our prayer: Those of the Holy Spirit that draw us closer to Christ. Those of demonic activity that strive to distract and derail us. Saint Teresa’s Interior Castle Before we dive into Burke’s bestseller, let’s learn a bit about the book behind the book Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila. Saint Teresa entered the convent at age 16, but it wasn’t until her 40s that she began a life of true contemplative and mental prayer. Soon after her own, deepening conversion, Saint Teresa began reforming her Carmalite order, which had fallen into worldliness. She wanted to teach her sisters how to mature in prayer. However, she struggled with how to explain this to them. Finally, in prayer, she received a vision of the soul that served as a roadmap for growth in contemplative prayer. The vision was of a castle that contained seven mansions centered around an innermost chamber. Making Spiritual Progress She utilized this vision to write Interior Castle in 1577. In it, she explains that prayer is essential for traveling through each mansion. However, prayer is not an immediate achievement. Rather, it progresses, step-by-step, over time. As a soul advances to the next step (or mansion), she receives special gifts but also distinct challenges, including demonic opposition. Yes, as the soul travels to the center of the castle where Jesus Himself dwells, Saint Teresa details the marks of progress the soul makes. However, she also “points out clearly where the devil is lying in wait and how he is most likely to reveal himself.” And this is the basis for Burke’s The Devil in the Castle: to reveal the reality of spiritual warfare in prayer that Saint Teresa unfolds in Interior Castle: The devil’s sole aim is to prevent each soul from reaching the goal, and he disguises himself in the process. He will make every effort to waylay you: to get you to pause, to walk another (easier) path, to give up, or to believe that what is good is actually bad, or vice versa. Not only is the enemy seeking to keep you from union with God, but he is also trying to get you off the path and to deceive you and lure you, inch by inch, toward Hell.     The Devil in the Castle Each chapter of The Devil in the Castle is devoted to one of seven mansions. Woven throughout are Saint Teresa’s own words, as well as Burke’s clear and thorough explanations, making this book thought provoking yet easy to comprehend. In each chapter, Burke explains what is happening in the soul as it responds to God’s invitation to a life of prayer. He indicates how the soul progresses from one mansion to the next, and he provides the essential prayer practices needed to advance into each mansion. Burke also explains what the soul can expect from the Lord, such as how He uses consolation and desolation in prayer to invite the soul into deeper dependence on Him. The majority of The Devil in the Castle, however, outlines the various goals and tactics of the devil within each of the seven mansions. As the soul progresses in the castle—from the first mansion to the seventh—it becomes closer to God and thus stronger. Here, the devil loses his power, and therefore, his tactics have to adapt to the soul’s dwelling place within the castle. Sometimes his tactics remain similar, but they become much more subtle in hopes that the soul will fumble. Each chapter concludes with a very helpful summary that serves as a great reference point for future review. Reflection questions allow this book to be a prayerful aid in advancing in the spiritual life. At the end of the book, Burke gives a step-by-step guide on what to do next, in light of a greater awareness of the war the devil has raged on our souls. He also includes a substantial section of “Resources for Continued Spiritual Growth.” Why I Loved This Book Many years ago, I attempted to read Saint Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle and it felt so beyond me. I didn’t understand what she was even talking about! And I quickly gave up. Perhaps I wasn’t ready for it, or maybe it just wasn’t the right time for me to explore this spiritual treasure, or maybe it was a badly-written translation. But throughout the years, I continued to feel as if this Doctor of the Church was too advanced for me; that she was out of my reach. Until I read The Devil in the Castle. Dan Burke has introduced me to a saintly friend who is not beyond me at all, but who wants to guide me beyond the outer chamber of my soul and into its very depths. For she knows that in the interior castle I will find the love and light of the Lord Who deeply wants to share that inner chamber with me. And not only in eternity, but in the here and now, in the everyday encounter with Him through prayer and living a life centered on Christ. But like any good friend, Saint Teresa also warns me of the pitfalls that lie ahead as I advance in the spiritual life. In fact, she insists that I understand what is happening. And for this new awareness, I am especially grateful. As I continue on my own journey within my interior castle, I feel more equipped to notice the devil’s plan to derail me. I also feel more confident in hearing the promptings of the Holy Spirit over the noise of this world. And I think I’m almost ready to give Interior Castle another try. Have you read either of these wonderful books? Share your thoughts in the comments?   [bctt tweet="BIS Reads // The Devil in the Castle #BISblog //" via="no"]   This post contains affiliate links. Thanks so much for supporting the ministry of Blessed is She!

It's called Loving God, Loving Others: 52 Devotions to Create Connections that Last. We are just thrilled by the stories in this book that walk through six different rungs of relationship. Perfect for you, a sister, a neighbor, or your mom! Meet the Authors of Loving God, Loving Others So what perspectives are shared in this book? Let's hear from the six writers themselves. Beth Davis Q: You write vulnerably about letting God in on how you’re really feeling. What’s your advice for women struggling to be honest with God about the hard stuff? A: Keep it simple. I find some of those big, hard memories and emotions really just boil down to a single sentence: I’m mad; I hated that; This hurts. Talk to Him like a child would! I try to stay away from questions and notice when I’m trying to force understanding. Instead, just relate your heart to God. Starting with “little” everyday irritations or disappointments helps, too. Q: Do you have a favorite story of those that you share? A: It means a lot to me to share about how Jesus delivered me from pornography. I want to give hope to women who have struggled or are suffering from sexual sin and give them hope of healing and restoration. I didn’t really know that was possible in the midst of it, so to be able to give that gift of hope and remind others Who Jesus still is: Healer, Deliverer, Restorer, Redeemer. He wants to be Savior in every aspect of their lives, too. Megan Hjelmstad Q: You share intimately about your health and the journey of God showing you to love your body. What would you tell women who feel disconnection or struggle to love the challenges of health and body image? A: You are absolutely not alone. It’s a constant battle to accept and bless the inherent goodness of our God-crafted bodies in a world that’s constantly modeling how we should reject them. Step 1 is to invite God openly and honestly into your struggle. Tell Him about it continually when it comes up, so He can gradually shift your perspective to align with His truth. I also love to pray with the image of our bodies as living tabernacles. We marvel at the most beautiful cathedrals while criticizing ourselves, but God tells us we are infinitely more beautiful and desirable to Him than even the most stunning tabernacle ever made by man! He wants nothing more than to make His dwelling in us and heal what has been tarnished from the inside out. Q: Do you have a favorite story of those that you share? A: I loved sharing about the grilled cheese memory! It’s been a tender lesson to my heart that God could bring such redemption from an experience of suffering I thought had no silver lining. What the enemy intended for my bitterness, isolation, self-pity, and hunger, God redeemed to bring real and concrete joy, generosity, community, and deeper fulfillment! It’s just a testament to how Our Lord desires to make all things, down to the last detail, when we give Him permission. Nell O'Leary Q: You tell us about your family of origin and how layers of family wounding can be hard to understand as an adult. Do you have encouragement for women looking to address some of these stories from their family of origin but who are reluctant because it’s messy and unknown? A: I would tell them to find a trusted counselor, friend, or sister and to start slowly. Just look carefully and calmly at your story from the beginning. Try to put yourself in the shoes of your family members. Walk through memories that are painful with Jesus holding your hand. Practice radical forgiveness and boundaries as needed. Then I ask myself: What’s the worst thing that happens? I feel badly? But the best thing that happens is that I can start healing that will affect me, my family of origin, my nuclear family and kids, and ripple out to others I love. God’s grace is with us as we hope for healing and that is a powerful guide. Q: Do you have a favorite story of those that you share? A: I loved sharing about the creme brûlée French restaurant moment with my mom. It’s a beautiful thing when you can acknowledge someone’s feelings and reaction without backing down from a truth or boundary that needs to be said. I hope for the reader to find the truth and rest in it, too. Bonnie Engstrom Q: You explore different relationships that are in the context of love and closeness, family or like family, and are honest about how those can actually be some of the hardest to navigate and be gracious in. What do you say to the woman who feels like she can keep it together for the world but comes home and has trouble loving, actively loving, those closest to her? A: To the woman who can keep it together for the world but struggles at home I say: you are not alone. Especially in certain seasons of life, those closest to us are the ones who need the most from us, and while that can be deeply affirming, it can also be incredibly difficult. Having trouble actively loving those closest to us should not be a prolonged experience. Personally, the Lord answered my prayers for healing through the help of a trusted doctor and the support of my husband and good friends to help me order my priorities, emotions, and energy. The world does not deserve our best, God and our loved ones do. Q: Do you have a favorite story of those that you share? A: My favorite story is from “Shouldering Responsibilities,” where I write about a perfect Michaelmas feast that was ruined—not by my husband and kids being home late from a sports event, but by my grumpy attitude. I think it’s a good example of how good marriages and happy families are not perfect, and it’s a good illustration of how the Lord uses every day life to grow us. Sarah Elizabeth Q: You step through the tricky lines of friendship and go deep into how God alone fulfills our most inner needs, but He also works through the friendships in our lives to demonstrate His love for us. For the woman who is struggling to make and keep close friendships, what is your advice for her on a practical level, but also interiorly? A: That was my story for the longest time. Enduring the revolving door of friendships is deeply painful, and I think it can teach us this narrative that rejection and unforgiveness must be our story. At an interior level, we have to rebuke that, and continue to lean into the belief that love endures. Every time I have persisted in prayer, I have been so surprised by the way the Lord has responded to my need for community. On a practical level, if we want to sustain our friendships, we have to pour out, and be generous with our time and emotional energy. Sometimes my prayer is just, “Lord, how could I be inconvenienced for a friend this week?” It’s little things, like cooking dinner or leaving a voice note to check in, but they matter. Q: Do you have a favorite story of those that you share? A: It’s probably the story related to peer pressure. I tell it to my friends all the time, mostly because it’s a fun, dramatic high school story. At the same time, I look back on the moment as deeply pivotal. My senior year of high school was a year of radical docility to the Lord, and I remember feeling so secure in who I was and where I was going, probably for the first time ever. I never advocated for myself back then, so I feel like that moment was truly the beginning of me coming into my own, before I made the move to DC. There was no real external validation to affirm I was on the right track, but I knew the Lord and I knew myself, so I was confident. I’m twenty-three now, and I try my best to hold that seventeen-year-old freedom close. Emily Stimpson Chapman Q: You describe the challenge of not being defined by our work, talents, or even our God-given gifts. For the woman who feels secure in her identity coming from how or what she does or produces, what would you tell her about the deeper identity of being made in God’s image and likeness and how to un-entangle these ideas? A: An identity that is rooted in what we do and how well we do those things is a fragile identity. Sooner or later, it will break. How well we weather that failure will depend on what we have to catch us. If we have a relationship with Christ and a knowledge of who we are in Him and how great His love for us is, that failure can be a gift. It helps strip us of our illusions about ourselves and root ourselves more firmly in Him. That relationship really gives us a soft place to land. When we don’t have that soft place, though, when the relationship with Christ isn’t there, that failure can be a heck of a lot more scary, upending our identity and our world. The invitation to find our identity in Christ is still there, but it can be harder to recognize that invitation and take us longer to accept it. So, if I have any advice, it’s don’t wait. Don’t wait until failure comes to start building that relationship, and don’t wait until failure comes to start rooting your identity in Christ. Start doing the hard work now. Spend time with Him. Read about Him. And slow down. Start saying no to more things. Think and pray about where you’re truly called to give your time and energy and evaluate if you are doing anything simply because it seems impressive and important, and not because it’s something you love and to which you feel called. Q: Do you have a favorite story of those that you share? A: That’s like asking me to pick a favorite child! Impossible. I will admit, though, that in the craze of this past year, juggling three babies and keeping house and all my work, that I have thought back fondly more than once to the quiet and peace I experienced during the months I spent working at the retreat house on the Eastern Shore. It was such a gift to be surrounded by that kind of quiet. And even more of a gift to learn to find meaning and purpose in simple acts of service. That was a lesson that has blessed me so much in these busy days of mothering, where the temptation is to find meaning in the more exciting to seemingly important work of writing and not in the deeply meaningful act of caring for my children and making a home for them. How Would Your Life Change? In this brand new book, you will get to walk alongside these women as they share stories of how the Lord changed their lives in both simple and radical ways once they shifted their focus to loving Him and loving others for His sake. What would happen in your life if your focus became those two tasks? What could be different? What could be redeemed? We can't wait to walk alongside you in this new devotional! GET YOUR DEVOTIONAL

I sat outdoors under Monterey cypress trees on a bench less than ten feet from the drop, looking over the sandy surf of Monterey Bay in California. With my laptop open and a baby in my belly, I struggled to find the words to support the title “Peace in Pregnancy.” You see, I was pregnant and experienced anything but peace as my heart felt tied up in knots, all its strings pulled taut, waiting for the day when I could have the twenty-week anatomy scan that I hoped would settle all my fears and tell me everything would be all right. In the two pregnancies before this one, everything was not all right. Peter was diagnosed with a midline cleft lip and palate, which we later learned was caused by a genetic condition called SPINT2 that led to all kinds of complications. I was so afraid my next child would have the same condition. Celeste was diagnosed with something much worse because instead of navigating and supporting her life with medical supplies, we would never get to meet her. Celeste had anencephaly, she grew in my womb without a brain and died during birth at 37 weeks. So now, now, with Stella, what would we face? Will This Settle My Anxiety? I shared the reflections that kept me afloat during our days with Peter and Celeste in Journey in Love: A Catholic Mother’s Prayers after Prenatal Diagnosis. I shared our story in and out of the hospital with those two in What God Had Emptied: How I Found Hope in My Children’s Diagnoses. But how would I get through these days? Stella’s anatomy scan was normal. I wish I could say that quelled the anxiety, but it did not. Because peace is not something based on external circumstances. Rather, “the universal path to peace is the radical acceptance of God’s will.” That doesn’t mean that everything is okay, but that, “we choose to see in our experiences the hand of God, guiding us according to his will, for our benefit, just as we see the changes of pregnancy occurring in their own time, to guide the child in its development” (Peace in Pregnancy. That is the universal path to peace. Our personal, particular path to peace is more complicated as we must address our history, our personality, and our circumstances and consider how these impact our ability, strengths, and weaknesses when it comes to that radical acceptance of God’s will. “Whenever we turn to the Lord to guide us, he wants to gently pull back the layers of our heart that hold the wounds we’ve carried. He wants to heal us. He will use these opportunities to do so if we allow him and ask him to walk with us” (Peace in Pregnancy). A Continual Decision With each change in the pregnancy, the decision to accept this place in my life had to be renewed. None of it happened magically or simply, and I only really began to feel at ease when Stella was two months old and past the many trauma points of my history. Peace is more than the absence of conflict. It is more than being at ease. It is seeing in the middle of the storm, someone to anchor us, someone to trust, to know that somehow, someway, it will be okay, maybe not in this life, maybe not for years, or maybe tomorrow. We do not know and we do have to know. We want to know. We desperately want to know, but it actually will be okay if all we can do is "wait and see." He remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. // 2 Timothy 2:13 The words I wrote that day, ultimately had to be rewritten. When I sat down to write them, not to myself in my brokenness, but to a friend in sisterly affection, as an older woman with more children and more years of marriage, the words came freely. “You have been entrusted with the greatest gift imaginable…” Are you being asked to trust the Lord during a difficult pregnancy right now? How can we pray for you?   [bctt tweet="Searching For the Words of Peace #BISblog //" via="no"]   Kathryn Anne Casey is a writer with a focus on faith, art, psychology, and the importance of local community. She blogs at KathrynAnneCasey.com and is a regular reporter and columnist for The Hughson Chronicle and Denair Dispatch. She studied gender complementarity and psychology at the University of St. Thomas and clinical psychology at Divine Mercy University. Kathryn lives in Hughson, California, with her husband and children.   This post contains affiliate links. Thanks so much for supporting the ministry of Blessed is She!

We are called to be Christ’s light to the world and to spread the Gospel to all, unabashedly. The Holy Spirit gives us the courage and wisdom to do this if we but allow Him in our hearts. Lo! Think also on the graces Our Lord gives us each time we receive Him in Holy Communion to go and spread the one true Faith to all we encounter! The heart of our Faith, the Source and Summit of all we’ve been given, is Our Lord,Himself. He gave Himself on the Cross and in a perpetual re-presentation of His Sacrifice, He gives Himself to us each Holy Communion. We may be tempted by others to think we can believe as we wish, and that this is our truth. But remember this: Christ has given us the Truth, we don’t make something true because we believe it to be so. We don’t make the Body and Blood of Our Lord exist because we believe it to be true. He did this for us, and because of that, we believe. I Believe // A Poem What but as bread, This appears to be Is You, Lord, it’s truly Thee! It is You, Lord, I now receive This is true, not because I believe My belief cannot create Can’t sew a seed, give man a mate Can’t fashion out of dust One who knows You, merciful and just Alone, I am capable of but sin Despite this belief I hold within No, my belief doth not make You to be Nor do You exist because You, I see To You alone this glory belongs To be praised in all earthly songs It is You Who instills this Faith in me You, Who inspires my will to believe Danielle Erwin is a Catholic wife, a homeschooling mother of 5, and loves writing poetry whenever the Holy Spirit inspires her! She has published a book of poetry she wrote after her miscarriages (Holding On: Poems on Coping With Loss After Miscarriage) and a book of poetry on the Catholic Faith (Something More: Poetic Moments With God).   [bctt tweet="I Believe // A Poem #BISblog //" via="no"]

Amoris Laetitia. The joy of love. This is the title of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation which focuses on the love within the family. Just over a year ago, on the Feast of Saint Joseph, he launched the year “Amoris Laetitia Family,” which comes to an end this June during the World Meeting of Families in Rome. This year promulgated because he saw the great witness that the family can be to the world. Within the family one can experience sincere communion when it is a house of prayer, when affections are serious, profound, pure, when forgiveness prevails over discord, when the daily harshness of life is softened by mutual tenderness and serene adherence to God’s will…the family evangelizes by the example of life. To Married Couples Pope Francis expressed a deep desire to show his love and support for all individuals, married couples, and families. He expressed this in his Letter to Married Couples for the “Amoris Laetitia Family” Year. He writes about his recognition that life often brings us out of our comfort zones. Sometimes to roads that may seem unpaved and rocky. Yet our relationship with God holds us steady and carries us on. This letter is pure gold. Planting Seeds of Trust Francis urges parents to be aware of how closely their children watch and observe them. It is to parents that they look to learn what love means and it is our love for which they hunger. How important it is for young people to see with their own eyes the love of Christ alive and present in the love of spouses, who testify by the reality of their lives that love forever is possible. Parents have the blessed responsibility of witnessing to their children the joy of what it means to know and experience God the Father’s love. Through seeing the love shared between their mother and father, children begin to plant seeds of trust in their Heavenly Father. The beauty of this example helps to build up a sense of security in your children. A confidence that they will never be abandoned. [bctt tweet="How important it is for young people to see with their own eyes the love of Christ alive and present in the love of spouses. // Pope Francis #BISblog //" via="no"] Transforming Society The laity is charged with the mission to transform society. This can be done by one’s presence in the workplace and advocating for the needs of the family to be considered. It can also be done through the gifts and talents a couple may share, and by offering those to be used by your parish or diocese at large. I encourage you, dear married couples, to be active in the Church, especially in her pastoral care of families…Never forget that the family is the ‘fundamental cell of society’. The family is a domestic church. Through marriage and family life, Christian values are passed from generation to generation, thus building up the “culture of encounter” which Pope Francis speaks of. Welcoming Jesus Into Your Boat One of the things I love about Pope Francis are the word pictures he paints. He writes about the vocation of marriage in the context of a boat. Marriage, as a vocation, calls you to steer a tiny boat—wave-tossed yet sturdy, thanks to the reality of the sacrament—across a sometimes stormy sea. Though waves may abound, the Sacrament ensures that Jesus is with us amid the storm like in the Gospel of Mark when the winds died down after He got into the boat with the Apostles. Like Peter, we must fix our eyes on Jesus. In doing so, we will find peace to overcome. Problems won’t magically disappear, but He will help us to view them with new eyes. It is in suffering through the storm that we come to know Christ and learn to depend on Him more fully. Forgiveness Pope Francis also acknowledged moments of tension which arise within marriages. Here he advises couples to go before the Eucharist in Adoration, a place of peace and refuge. When one of you is a little angry, take him or her by the hand and force a complicit smile. As hard as it might be, try not to let a spirit of stubbornness settle in your heart. Ask Jesus for the grace to forgive. He knows that our human love is weak and He is waiting for us to call on Him for strength, just as Peter called out to him when he was sinking. Presence and Perseverance Pope Francis ends his letter by asking Saint Joseph to pray for families to have “a creative courage” and for the Blessed Mother to help us practice the gift of being present to others so that we may truly encounter them. Live out your vocation with enthusiasm… your husband or wife needs your smile. Your children need your looks of encouragement. Your priests and other families need your presence and your joy: the joy that comes from the Lord! Reflect on your marriage and family life over this last year. Can you identify moments or seasons of grace in this year of the family?   [bctt tweet="Letter to Married Couples in the Year of the Family #BIS blog //" via="no"]

I love to read: Scripture, spiritual reading, lives of the Saints, novels, and my new favorite, narrative nonfiction. Growing up, I was the kid who read the Reader’s Digest front to back. Some of my dearest friends were Anne Shirley and Nancy Drew. As I grew older, I was drawn to spiritual reading, many works drawing me into prayer. Sometimes, we want to read something light and easy. Although summer is not a liturgical season, it is often a season of renewal. It is a time to slow down, enjoy the outdoors, vacation, and often, go to the beach. You may have heard the term "beach reads," which refers to books that are enjoyable to read while you're meant to be relaxing. You can find dozens of lists of beach reads classified by being light and easy reads. Though light and easy, we don’t always want fluff. Sometimes, we want light, easy, and fulfilling. This seems to be a very narrow criteria! Summer Beach Reads for Catholics I have compiled a list of what I would consider to be Catholic beach reads. These books are engaging, easy to understand, and best of all, draw you deeper into faith. St. John Paul II: His Five Loves by Jason Evert This biography of Pope Saint John Paul II is framed in the perspective of what he loved, written by someone who loved him. John Paul II’s life was so full that it is hard to capture, but this book makes him easily approachable. The Bones of St. Peter by John Walsh This true story reads like a mystery. It tells the story of the discovery of Saint Peter’s bones under Saint Peter’s Basilica. This is a history, but told in an approachable way. Jane Austen’s Genius Guide to Life by (BIS friend) Haley Stewart I have long been a fan of Stewart’s podcast and was thrilled when I saw this book as I am a huge Jane Austen fan. Stewart frames Austen in a Catholic perspective. She links the main characters to virtues and then ties in Our Lady in a masterful way. If you love Austen like I do, or even if you are a casual fan, this one is for you. I also recommend her other book The Grace of Enough. Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Von Trapp If you love The Sound of Music and haven’t read the true story, this book is for you. Maria Von Trapp is an inspirational writer in her own right, having written multiple books about life and faith. To hear the story from her perspective is delightful. Spoiler alert: the engagement is very different from the movie. Chiara Corbella Petrillo: A Witness to Joy by Simone Troisi You are not likely to forget the picture of Chiara Petrillo when you see it: her evident joy while she wears a patch over her eye. This book tells the story of her life and marriage. I walked away feeling like we could have been friends, as we are about the same age. There were so many pieces of this book that I loved: the witness of her marriage (including the struggles) and her heroic battle with cancer (including a striking similarity to Saint Gianna). You might need tissues, but you will finish with a full heart. He Leadeth Me by Fr. Walter Ciszek Father Ciszek has an incredible story of survival in Soviet prison camps after World War II. He tells that story in With God in Russia, which is also a great read, but not exactly a light read. In He Leadeth Me, Father Ciszek shares the journey of his prayer during the 23 years he was imprisoned. It is honest; and in a situation you think would lead to despair, Father Ciszek shares a story of hope we can learn from. [elementor-template id="704005"] Hiking the Camino: 500 Miles With Jesus by Fr. Dave Pivonka, TOR Whether or not you are interested in hiking the Camino, this book is a great read. I felt like I learned many spiritual lessons without having to get the blisters of the walk! Father Dave shares both the physical and spiritual side of the Camino pilgrimage, in an engaging and humorous way. I also recommend Father Dave’s books on the spiritual life. Searching For and Maintaining Peace by Fr. Jacque Philippe This little book manages to be both simple and profound. I love all of Father Philippe’s books, but this one is my favorite. He gives practical guidance for facing anxiety with the Lord’s help. The Gathering Place did a podcast episode on this book, so don’t just take my word for it! The Chronicles of Narnia Series by C.S. Lewis Overlook my inclusion of seven books in a single recommendation. Perhaps you read this series as a child. But do not write this off as a children’s series. In reading or re-reading it as an adult, you can deeply enter into the allegory of Narnia as Heaven and find yourself learning about yourself from the characters. If you have only read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, read the rest. If you read the series as a child, read it again! My favorite of the series is The Last Battle, the last of the series. The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis At the risk of fan-girling C.S. Lewis too much, this allegory kept me pondering Heaven long after I put it down. Told as a fictional journey that could be read in a day, it’s a profound insight into our humanity, surrender, and holiness. I had long avoided this book because the premise and genre are not my typical preference, but now it is one I return to frequently. The Hidden Legacy by Carrie Sue Barnes This lovely multigenerational fiction novel by Catholic author Carrie Sue Barnes is a refreshing, clean story that weaves the journey of faith that will keep you reading. It smoothly weaves the journey of a granddaughter entering into her grandmother’s story during World War I. Reading is a Delight I often give thanks to the Lord for reading. From characters who reveal myself to me to books who introduce me to Saints who become friends, I find reading consoling. It resets my heart. Combine that with time away, and what a true gift it can be! I hope you can find a gift among this list! What are some favorite Catholic books that you would consider to be summer beach reads? Share your recommendations in the comments below!   [bctt tweet="Summer Beach Reads for Catholics #BISblog //" via="no"]   This post contains affiliate links. Thanks so much for supporting the ministry of Blessed is She!

When I hear the words “Theology of the Body” (TOB) I think almost instantly of Pope Saint John Paul II as well as people who have devoted their lives to making this great treasure of the Church more accessible. I think of the books I have read on the topic and the conversations which have been sparked because of it. While the Theology of the Body can sometimes be mistaken as what the Church tells us we “can’t” do when it comes to sex, the goal of TOB is to help us understand how our bodies reveal God Himself. It isn’t just for married couples. Books about the Theology of the Body The Theology of the Body teaches us what it means to be human and points to our ultimate vocation: a vocation of love. The book list below will explain how. In The Words of JPII Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body by John Paul II, translated by Michael Waldstein The great work of John Paul II himself must be included at the top of any list about the Theology of the Body. This is the pope who delivered one-hundred and twenty-nine papal audiences on the topic, taking him five years to complete. In these addresses, he spoke about Christ’s spousal love for the Church and how this very real and genuine love is actualized through human relationships and through our gift of self. It’s Not Just About Sex These Beautiful Bones: An Everyday Theology of the Body by Emily Stimpson Chapman For ten years, I’ve been waiting for someone to write a book about the theology of the body that wasn’t just about sex. Emily explains why she wrote These Beautiful Bones, a book that speaks to the beauty of the Theology of the Body beyond the bedroom. In the words of Dr. Scott Hahn, Emily “uses the sacramental lens of the liturgy to explore a wide range of activities in daily life. Whether it’s your eating habits or clothing styles, the dignity of hard work or the pitfalls of pop culture, you will find in this book lots of graceful guidance in living out the physical side of being spiritual.” As she points out, the Theology of the Body is about treating both ourselves and others around us with love and respect, recognizing that they too are made in the image and likeness of God. “Magna res est amor!” // “A great thing is love!” Marriage: The Mystery of Faithful Love by Dietrich Von Hildebrand While he doesn’t focus specifically on the words “Theology of the Body,” Von Hildebrand does write about the role of love within marriage and provides an understanding for why God chose marriage as a symbol for His relationship with us. In less than 100 pages, he shares the right motive for marrying, the difference between marriage’s meaning and its purpose, how marriage reveals God’s love for us, and so much more! He writes that marriage is used as a symbol for God’s love for us: because marriage is the closest and most intimate of all earthly unions in which more than in any other, one person gives himself to another without reserve…in love the partner we love Christ simultaneously. In the beloved, we love Christ. My “Three Stages” For Couples Looking back, I think of three different “stages” of books about the Theology of the Body that my husband and I read throughout our relationship. First Stage Theology of the Body for Beginners: Rediscovering the Meaning of Life, Love, Sex, and Gender by Christopher West I consider this one to be “first stage” because we each read it individually while we were single, and then together when we were dating. It is a wonderful entry-stage book that really takes you into a deep, Catholic understanding of sexuality. In these pages, Christopher West provides the foundation for better understanding Saint John Paul II’s teaching on the Theology of the Body. It also helped my husband and I come to a greater appreciation of one another, to better understand what we were created for, and to deepen our gratitude for the Church and why she teaches what she does. Second Stage Good News about Sex & Marriage: Answers To Your Honest Questions About Catholic Teaching by Christopher West In Archbishop Charles Chaput’s foreword of this book he writes, “...it’s not a theoretical work, nor a textbook. Rather, it’s a source of practical nourishment, because it continually shows that dealing honestly with issues of sex and marriage brings us face-to-face with the whole Gospel message and the meaning of our lives.” My husband and I read this during our engagement and I loved how comprehensive the topics were. Chapters include a focus on: Church Authority Chastity Outside of Marriage Chastity Within Marriage Reproductive Technologies Same-Sex Attraction and more One of my favorite aspects is the Q&A format of the book. I appreciate how honest the questions are and how thoroughly each is addressed. Questions include why there is a widespread misunderstanding that the “Church is down on sex” as well as questions regarding what the Church teaches when it comes to oral and anal sex, masturbation, impotency, and infertility within marriage. Third Stage Holy Sex!: A Catholic Guide to Toe-Curling, Mind-Blowing, Infallible Loving by Gregory K. Popcak, Ph. D. Now we arrive at the “stage three” TOB book that my husband and I read together during our engagement and it’s one I recommend waiting to read with your significant other until then. Despite the fact that this book remains faithful to Church teaching in regards to sexual union, Popcak goes into great detail about it. And while the book offers helpful questionnaires and quizzes, it is probably best to wait until engagement before diving into those deep and intimate questions together. Beyond the questionnaires and quizzes, this book shares real life testimonies from couples who talk about their own experience of sexual intimacy. Stories which include feelings of shame and/or fear of vulnerability, and how they found healing from their past and grew in trust of their spouse and their spouse’ intentions. This book provides the answers for so many questions you might be afraid to ask. What Books about the Theology of the Body Do You Love? I hope that through one or more of these books, you will come to find a deeper and more full understanding of who God created you to be and how He created you to love. What is your favorite book on the Theology of the Body?   [bctt tweet="Best Books about the Theology of the Body #BISblog //" via="no"]