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.
Meet Katie Gordy: "My daughter became a homeless drug addict."
MEET KATIE GORDY by Kristen West McGuire (Katie Gordy served as a Pastoral Associate at St. Monica parish in Oklahoma City. The mother of five girls, she has six grandchildren. She has a masters degree in human relations with an emphasis on chemical dependency, and taught at junior and senior high schools. This interview was completed in 2007. Mrs. Gordy died in 2022.) Kristen: Where did you grow up? Katie: In the Catholic ghetto in Oklahoma City, right across from the Church. There were...
The Gift of Poverty: Saints Francis and Clare
THE GIFT OF POVERTY by Kristen West McGuire War changes things. Within Assisi, opposition between “old money” nobles, such as Clare’s family, and the “new money” merchants, such as Francis’ family, was virulent. When riots erupted in Assisi, Clare’s family took refuge in neighboring Perugia. The disparity between rich and poor was easier to see as a refugee. Clare was deeply moved. When the battle engulfed both towns, aspiring knight Francis was imprisoned for over a year in Perugia, and...
Book Review: The Patron Saint of Liars
THE PATRON SAINT OF LIARS by Ann Patchett reviewed by Kristen West McGuire Abortion has been legal for all of my adult life. What happened to young women in crisis pregnancies prior to Roe v. Wade? This novel about a home for pregnant women in a hushed up hotel in Arkansas piqued my interest accordingly. It’s narrated in the first person in three parts, first by pregnant Rose, next by her hero, Son, and third by her daughter, Cecilia. Rose is not an unwed mother. She leaves her first husband...
Converting One Lusty Priest After Another
CONVERTING ONE LUSTY PRIEST AFTER ANOTHER by Sandra Miesel Sexual harassment is hardly a modern invention. And like so many of life’s problems, there’s a saint who suffered it. The saint in question is the colorful but obscure Christina of Markyate (1098-1157) who defended her virginity with courage and resourcefulness. Providence rewarded her patience. Christina was the daughter of a wealthy Anglo-Saxon couple in Huntingdonshire, England. She’d originally been named Theodora (“Gift of God”)...
Prayer Intentions: For Women Suffering After An Abortion
PRAY FOR WOMEN SUFFERING AFTER AN ABORTION by Kristen West McGuire Especially in an election year, the word ‘abortion’ brings about some heated debates in our society. Less noted in the media are the pockets of sympathetic friends, some pro-life and some pro-choice, who attempt to be supportive of women before, during and after a crisis pregnancy. The Alan Guttmacher Institute estimates that 1,037,000 abortions were done in 2023, an increase of 11% from 2020. Of those, about one third have...
Jesus Heals the Woman with a Hemorrhage
MARK 5:25-34 - JESUS HEALS THE WOMAN WITH A HEMORRHAGE by Mother Martha Driscoll, OCSO Meditation excerpted from Reading Between the Lines of the Gospel copyright © 2006. Used with permission of Liguori Publications, Liguori, MO 63057. 1-800-325-9521 25 And there was a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the reports about Jesus, and came...
Interview: Dr. Cynthia Jones-Nosacek
INTERVIEW: Dr. Cynthia Jones-Nosacek - Pro-Woman and Pro-Life (Dr. Cynthia Jones-Nosacek is retired, after over 40 years as a family practice doctor. The mother of five children, she was interviewed by both ABC and the BBC for her pro-life testimony before the Wisconsin state legislature. This interview was completed in 2007.) by Kristen West McGuire Kristen: How did you end up as a pro-life physician? Cynthia: When I talked to my priest about these issues in the 1980s, he basically said...
Essay: A Powerful Female Mentor
A POWERFUL FEMALE MENTOR: St. Christina of Markyate and Geoffrey of St. Albans by Kristen West McGuire Our 12th century heroine, Christina of Markyate, dreamt in Technicolor, with visions beginning in girlhood. The story of her life has an unmistakably medieval flamboyance. (The historical sketch will show the gory details of her early trials.) She had a notable devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, but it wasn’t a quiet piety. Her imitation of Mary skewed toward the dramatic, outflanking and...
Historical Sketch: Poetic Beauty and Devout Souls
POETIC BEAUTY AND DEVOUT SOULS by Sandra Miesel Fortunatus and Radegund met in what had been Roman Gaul and was in that day the Kingdom of the Franks. The Frankish invaders had been nominally Catholic since the baptism of their king, Clovis, in 496. But Christianity had little impact on the behavior of Clovis and his descendants, the feud-prone, polygamous and bloodthirsty Merovingian dynasty. Radegund, a Thuringian princess, was born into a troubled family around 520. After murdering her...
Book Review: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
BOOK REVIEW: The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton by Kristen West McGuire The First World War hurt everyone: rich and poor, old and young. Edith Wharton wrote her masterpiece after she helped countless orphans and widows to thrive in the desperate ruins in France. Small wonder that she would look back over her life after the war, and reminisce with great insight on her coming of age in New York’s elite social circles in the 1870s. In fact, Edith Wharton’s maiden name was “Jones,” of the...
“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.