Saints for All Occasions

by J. Courtney Sullivan

I exist in two places, here and where you are. —MARGARET ATWOOD,

It wasn’t quite right to say that Theresa was bad, though she could be. She was simply the most.

Anna

Faith was not a constant. Faith took reviving.

barmbrack,

also called Barmbrack or often shortened to brack, is a yeasted bread with added sultanas and raisins.[2]

Her sorrow was her one companion, ever present, making her arms and legs sore, as if she’d just climbed a mountain. Some mornings it was a struggle to stand and get dressed. She slept and slept and slept. On the weekends, she slept all day, and then was awake at night, her heart pounding in her chest as she remembered it all, as she wondered what Nora and Patrick were doing at that minute.

The Rule of Saint Benedict

Composed nearly fifteen hundred years ago by the father of Western monasticism, The Rule of St. Benedict has for centuries been the guide of religious communities. St. Benedict's rules of obedience, humility, and contemplation are not only prerequisites for formal religious societies, they also provide an invaluable model for anyone desiring to live more simply. While they presuppose a certain detachment from the world, they provide guidance and inspiration for anyone seeking peace and fulfillment in their home and work communities. As prepared by the Benedictine monk and priest Timothy Fry, this translation of The Rule of St. Benedict can be a life-transforming book. With a new Preface by Thomas Moore, author of The Care of the Soul.

Ora et labora. Prayer and work.

It seemed a person never had the information she needed at the moment it would help her most.

Do not be daunted immediately by fear and run away from the road that leads to salvation. It is bound to be narrow at the outset.

Mother Stella Maris got a doctorate in microbiology in the end, which she applied to her cheesemaking.

Michael Pollen, Cooked, Fermentation