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.
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...
Essay: The First American Saint and the First American Bishop
AMERICAN FIRSTS: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and Archbishop John Carroll by Kristen West McGuire When newly widowed Elizabeth Seton returned to New York in 1804, her Protestant friends and relatives tearfully greeted her at the harbor. It was the last public display of support she received from them. Her decision to become a Catholic nearly a year later outraged them; she endured constant persecution and withdrawals of previous promises of aid. Elizabeth and William Seton sailed to Italy in...
Book Review: Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
HOUSEKEEPING BY MARILYNNE ROBINSON Reviewed by Beverly Mantyh Spring cleaning. Simplify, organize, and de-clutter. Create a refuge. Make a memory. What does your home say about you? Web sites, magazines, books and television shows devote themselves ad nauseam to the topic of housekeeping. It appears we never tire of the subject. The tasks are cyclical, never ending. Marilynne Robinson explores housekeeping as an indicator of health and social connectedness. Her main characters hope for a...
Historical Sketch: Just Levitating Together
JUST LEVITATING TOGETHER by Kristen West McGuire Saint Teresa of Avila became prioress of the monastery of the Incarnation in Avila in October 1571. It was the monastery of her profession, where she spent nearly thirty years of her life. After she began her reformed houses in 1562, she never expected to come back. Even if no man is a prophet in his birthplace, Teresa’s superiors were confident she would clean up the mess. The Incarnation included some women seeking to escape the demands of...
Prayer Intentions: For an End to Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
PRAY FOR AN END TO EUTHANASIA AND ASSISTED SUICIDE by Sr. Alicia Torres, F.E. When someone suffers a traumatic brain injury, should it be permissible to starve her to death? The parents of twenty-three year old Lauren Marie Richardson had to address this issue right in 2008, in court. Lauren was caught up in a bad relationship, overdosed on heroin, which lead to an anoxic brain injury. While in a persistent vegetative state, Lauren gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl. This case...
“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.