Showing results by publisher "Franciscan Media" in Biographies & Memoirs

In this provocative spiritual autobiography, Diarmuid O'Murchu explores the many paschal journeys in his personal life as well as in the life of the church and the world. He shows how the paschal paradox—the movement through death and resurrection—is at the heart of God's creation and gives meaning to all life.

Franciscan Murray Bodo illuminates seven key teachings from St. Francis and tells us how these teachings are the foundation for Franciscan spirituality today. Beginning with the wonder of the incarnation, he moves through the paradox of evangelical poverty, living the Gospel, repairing God's house, making peace, the recognition that we are one with all of creation, and the joy and humble service of God. All of these teachings have their roots and destination in the love of God that surrounds all of creation and each individual person.

Sharing memories from early childhood through her life as a Carmelite nun, Therese opens her heart to us. This bride of Christ reveals her passion and longing for union with God. Her simplicity is charming and we begin to believe that we can travel the path to salvation that she points out to us.

Gratitude and Grit tells the startling story of the simple friar whose loving concern for everyday people dramatically transformed thousands of lives. A warm, straightforward account of Casey’s life from someone who knew him personally, this book is a testament to the fact that God is present in even the most unlikely places.

This series of reflections reveals the importance of gratitude in helping us see beyond the immediate to a broader and deeper reality. The discovery of this perpetual alleluia will help you discover what you are, become who you are, and grow with gratitude into the unknown.

Canonized on June 16, 2002, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968) was a Capuchin monk and mystic whose life was marked with miracles and wonders, but who said that his only desire was “to be a poor friar who prays.” In this intimate biography, you will see the results of this humble Capuchin's prayers and discover for yourself the source of his great hope. This updated edition contains five new chapters covering the years between beatification and canonization, St. Pio’s continued work in people’s lives, and the devotion of St. John Paul II to this extraordinary saint.

"This book is my secret journal," Nouwen wrote. At first he had no intention of sharing this personal diary of the difficult months when he felt all meaning in his life was missing and all ahead seemed a dark, bottomless abyss. In spite of his inner turmoil, Nouwen recorded the descent into his heart in these 63 journal entries. Friends persuaded him that sharing his painful soul-searching might help others who also struggle to embrace life with joy.

When Paula D'Arcy lost her husband and baby in a car crash, she began an inner search for a faith that was stronger than fear. In Gift of the Red Bird she shares her remarkable spiritual adventure. Grief, she shows us, is an ongoing, never-completed process, one that becomes woven into the fabric of the grieving person's spiritual life.

This book includes correspondence (and context for understanding it) from Mother Teresa's early years in religious life and throughout her years as founder of a new religious community. This correspondence reveals Mother Teresa's struggles, doubts and her sense of abandonment by God. These revelations can encourage and strengthen us as she reveals her abiding faith despite darkness and trials.

Be inspired by saints like never before in My Life with the Saints by James Martin, SJ. This best-selling memoir of spiritual self-discovery is an homage to the saints who have accompanied Fr. Martin throughout his life. From a lukewarm childhood Catholicism, to the Wharton School of Business, to the executive fast track at General Electric, to the Jesuits, to a media career in Manhattan, Martin has relied on the saints to intervene in and guide his life.

Francis of Assisi is one of the most beloved of all saints. Both traditional and entirely revolutionary, he was a paradox. He was at once down-to-earth and reaching toward heaven, grounded in the rich history of the Church while moving toward a new understanding of the world beyond. Franciscan Father Richard Rohr helps us look beyond the birdbath image of the saint to remind us of the long tradition founded on Francis' revolutionary, radical, and life-changing embrace of the teachings of Jesus.

This autobiography includes childhood and seminary reflections, as well as Sheen's views on media stardom, pastoral work, international travels, conversions, Vatican II, Mary, and more. Listeners can expect to hear many of this saintly and sage communicator's famous phrases and inspiring stories. Treasure in Clay illuminates why Bishop Sheen is now called "Servant of God", a step towards possible canonization in the Catholic Church.

In 1972, a young Franciscan friar named Murray Bodo wrote a unique book about the life of St. Francis of Assisi. Francis: The Journey and the Dream offered people a unique combination of lyrical prose and brief, absorbing vignettes that inspired hundreds of thousands of people all over the world to contemplate the life of the famous saint and see him in a new way. Fifty years and over 200,000 copies later, this book still captivates people everywhere, and Fr. Bodo is still writing about St. Francis and the Franciscan way of life.

This book will introduce St. Clare of Assisi to those who do not know her and those who wish to know her better. It leads the listener from Clare's birth to her death. While taking account of modern scholarship, Sr. Margaret Carney tells the story of this medieval woman in a way listeners today can understand.

Healing After Divorce is a breath of fresh air for all who are going through the divorce process. Rowland offers insightful advice about how to begin to rebuild one's emotional, spiritual, physical, romantic, familial, and financial life after divorce. Acknowledging the heartbreak, Rowland offers practical and easy-to-follow steps to begin to mend a broken heart and find hope, fulfillment, and love after divorce.

Christianity is a mysterious faith. Some of these mysteries can be described with Scripture or doctrine, but others can only be experienced. Those graced with these experiences, these intimate glimpses of God, are called mystics. Murray Bodo's sensitive guidance leads us into the heart of what these mystics have expressed about God and how their insight can deepen our own experience of the boundless mystery of a loving God. This updated and expanded edition includes new chapters on St. Clare and St. Bonaventure.

Through her autobiography and an extensive collection of letters, St. Thérèse helped people understand nothing was too little to give Jesus, and nothing done out of love for him was insignificant. Perhaps this is why so many lives still resonate with hers. It is easy to feel insignificant and unimportant. Yet, the clear and compelling language of her story and her letters remains the perfect antidote to such feelings.

The wisdom of the early Franciscan saints—Francis, Clare, and Bonaventure—continues to resonate in the spirituality of many in the twenty-first century. Their approach to life can lead us to new solutions to the chaos of our time and new ways to appreciate and celebrate the joy of God’s creation, human and nonhuman alike.

Francis and Jesus is the story of how the poor and humble St. Francis of Assisi gave away all to gain all, sharing in God's kingdom on Earth. Francis' life exemplifies what it means to be a genuine disciple of Jesus, walking in Christ's footsteps to show how ultimate truth is lived in small, unique ways. Franciscan Father Murray Bodo takes us on the journey with Francis, as we see his pain, his suffering, his dying to self. On that difficult road we are reminded that death to self creates new life....

At the close of the tumultuous Middle Ages, there lived a man who seemed destined from birth to save the world. His name was Peter Morrone, a hermit, founder of a religious order, and depending on to whom you talk, a reformer, an instigator, a prophet, a coward, a saint, and possibly the victim of murder. A stroke of fate would, practically overnight, transform this humble servant of God into the most powerful man in the Catholic Church.