My Secret is Mine
“Secretum meum mihi,” (“my secret is mine.”) was St. Edith's Stein's cryptic response when her best friend asked why she converted. We serve up interviews, historical sketches, Bible studies, book reviews and essays for Catholic women. MY SECRET IS MINE is for women with an audacious hope: that the Messiah makes all things new.
Death Visits the Martin Household
Death Visits the Martin Household by Kristen West McGuire On February 24, 1877, Sr. Marie-Dosithee of the Visitandine convent in Le Mans died of tuberculosis. Her sister, Zelie Martin, had just realized that her breast cancer was terminal. Of her five girls, Leonie worried her the most. How could she face leaving her rebellious, difficult daughter? Small Leonie had suffered from eczema and had a frail constitution. Where her older sisters were pretty and vivacious like their mother, Leonie...
Pray for Families Adjusting to a Difficult Diagnosis
Pray for Families Adjusting to a Difficult Diagnosis by Kristen West McGuire When chronic medical problems are first diagnosed, the family’s pain can be overwhelming. Parents must navigate immediate medical treatment options and financial considerations. Time and logistics can morph into enemies, as families juggle the needs of the patient amid work and regular household duties. It may not be possible to truly understand someone else’s experience. When seeking to offer help, be receptive to...
Bible Study: Job's Wife Copes While Job Philosophizes
JOB'S WIFE COPES WHILE JOB PHILOSOPHIZES by Kristen West McGuire Job 1:8-12; 2:4-10; 42:10-17 And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Then Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nought? Hast thou not put a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in...
When God Sends a Special Child, Everything Changes
MEET DR. LISA SCHILTZ by Kristen West McGuire Lisa Schiltz teaches law at the University of St. Thomas. A graduate of Yale and Columbia, she grew up in Germany. She has four children. Her son Peter has a dual diagnosis of Down’s Syndrome and pervasive development disorder, a diagnosis on the autism spectrum. This interview was conducted in 2008. Kristen: Were you a cradle Catholic? Lisa: Both my parents were Catholics of German and Polish descent. There were six kids and we went to Mass every...
That Crazy Martin Family!
THAT CRAZY MARTIN FAMILY by Kristen West McGuire More than one nun has confided to me that she was forcefed a spiritual diet of the “Little Way” of St. Therese during her novitiate. It’s an acquired taste, at least for some. Although St. Therese is a doctor of the church and widely invoked today, her wisdom is more readily apparent after life’s experiences buffet our complacency. The Martins weren’t exactly your average Catholic family. Both Louis Martin and Zelie Guerin attempted to join...
Book Review: In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden
IS RELIGIOUS LIFE AN ESCAPE FROM THE REAL WORLD? Reviewed by Beverly Mantyh In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden (available from Cluny Media, 390 pp., $19.95) Philippa Talbot appears to have it all: good friends, a respectable career, a pension plan. She inspires employees to walk taller, dress with style, and improve themselves. However, at age 42, Philippa decides to abandon it all to serve God as a cloistered Benedictine nun. She gives away her office possessions to her co-workers and...
Archbishop John Carroll Visits Emmitsburg
ARCHBISHOP CARROLL VISITS EMMITSBURG by Kristen West McGuire Archbishop John Carroll visited Emmitsburg on October 20, 1809. At age seventy-four, every clump of the horse’s hooves must have jolted his brittle backbone. He was anxious to see the foundation of the first American nuns. But he also needed to assess the spiritual problems reported to him by Mother Seton. The sisters were largely settled by the end of July 1809. After their first community retreat, Fr. Dubourg, the first...
Pray for an Increase in Vocations to Religious Life
PRAY FOR AN INCREASE IN VOCATIONS TO RELIGIOUS LIFE by Sr. Alicia Torres, FE Religious sisters were the architects of some of my most joyful experiences, including canoeing at summer camp with Sr. Mary-Elizabeth, singing praise-and-worship with Sr. Elizabeth at Youth2000 or walking through the Bronx with the Sisters of Life. The deepest desire of our feminine hearts is to learn our irreplaceable role in the world and experience selfless love and intimate union with the Beloved. This desire is...
Bible Study: Paying Homage to Church Leaders
ACTS 14:8-18: Paying Homage to Church Leaders by Kristen West McGuire 8 Now at Lystra there was a man sitting, who could not use his feet; he was a cripple from birth, who had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul speaking; and Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, 10 said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and walked. 11 And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have...
Meet Sr. Louise Hembrecht, FSCC
COMMUNITY DIRECTOR, NOT MOTHER SUPERIOR by Kristen West McGuire (Sister Louise Hembrecht is the community director of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity of Manitowoc, Wisconsin. She holds a masters degree in Franciscan Studies from St. Bonaventure University and has taught both junior and senior high school in several states. This interview was conducted in 2008.) Kristen: Were you a student body president? Sr. Louise: Actually, I was the vice president, in junior high! I told...
“Secretum meum mihi,” (“my secret is mine.”) was St. Edith's Stein's cryptic response when her best friend asked why she converted. We serve up interviews, historical sketches, Bible studies, book reviews and essays for Catholic women. MY SECRET IS MINE is for women with an audacious hope: that the Messiah makes all things new.