The Basics: Born about 650 in England; died about 727 in England; canonized precongregation; feast day, October 19. Woman religious. The Story: Many of the stories around women saints involve their rejection of suitors, and Fridewide is no exception. Born to a minor king in England, she convinced her father at a relatively young age to help… Continue reading Wednesday’s Woman: St. Frideswide
Category: Nonfiction
The Center Can and Does Hold
Note: On Tuesdays and some Sundays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there. Just as we all have our personal moments of annunciation, so do we all have glimpses of a second coming. For Thomas, who had walked and talked and… Continue reading The Center Can and Does Hold
On the Nightstand: Steps to Spiritual Perfection
While at the Holy Cross Abbey retreat center in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, I ask Monk A if he’s ever heard of Evagrius, whose writings I keep seeing referenced in stuff I’m reading. Eagerly, he says yes and that Evagrius (unlike me, he pronounces it correctly, ee-VAY-gree-us), a fourth-century Desert Father, is featured in a chapter… Continue reading On the Nightstand: Steps to Spiritual Perfection
Wednesday’s Woman: Blessed Maria Guggiari Echeverria (Maria Felicia de Jesus Sacramentado)
The Basics: Born January 12, 1925, in Paraguay; died April 28, 1959, in Paraguay; beatified June 23, 2018; feast day, April 28. Woman religious. The Story: Unlike so many female saints, Paraguay’s first beatified woman did not receive her religious vocation early. That is not to say Maria, the oldest of seven children, was frivolous; far from… Continue reading Wednesday’s Woman: Blessed Maria Guggiari Echeverria (Maria Felicia de Jesus Sacramentado)