We, the Ordinary People of the Streets

by Madeleine Delbrêl

We, the Ordinary People of the Streets comprises the powerful reflections by Madeleine Delbrêl (1904-1964), an award-winning poet, writer, and Catholic layperson whose conviction and insight led her to a life of social work in the atheistic, Communist-dominated city of Ivry-sur-Seine, France. Delbrêl draws from her own experiences living in Ivry, witnessing to the possibility of a life at once rooted radically in the church and fully engaged in the world. This posthumously published collection spans Delbrêl’s life, from a piece she wrote as a seventeen-year-old atheist to her later Christian works. Her passionate essays explore the Christian’s role in a secular society, the difficulty of faith in an atheistic environment, the need for prayer, the centrality of the church, and the fundamental importance of loving both God and our neighbors.

Genres: Spirituality, Faith, Catholic

288 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 2000

Reviews

[Linkhng · Rating 3 out of 5]

She's touted as a "French Dorothy Day," but (in my mind) is less idiosyncratic than Dorothy Day and more conventional.
She explains the gulf between an atheist and a Christian very well: the pre-conversion and post-conversion self.

[Béatrice · Rating 4 out of 5]

L'intro, de Jacques LOEW, est déjà remarquable, et le 1er chapitre, écrit à 17 ans quand elle est encore athée, est d'une intelligence stupéfiante, aussi grande que sa générosité et plus tard sa foi.

[sr Margaret Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing and spiritually challenging book! I stop at sentences and have to meditate on what I just read. It is enough to fill me for the day. The next time I pick it up the same sentence creates a new awareness in me. There are a few hurdles to get past - the long but interesting introduction and two sections that may not pertain to our contemporary lives. However the gems that are mined in this book, by a woman whose cause is up for sainthood in the Catholic Church, take your breath away. It is only on kindle. I hope that it comes back into print soon.

[Brant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughful insights born from a Catholic French woman's struggle to love the poor in a violent communist landscape.