Our Lady of Ashes

The Octave of Easter is Drawing to a close, and throughout the week, the liturgy has focused on the mystagogy of the Neophytes and the newly initiated into the Mysteries of the Church. But drawing deeper into the Faith is a lifelong journey, and for the newly initiated, it can seem like there's either too little, or too much in the way of suggested direction. The book The Four Signs of the Dynamic Catholic by Matthew Kelly [ https://dynamiccatholic.com/the-four-signs-of-a-dynamic-catholic-free-copy ] would not be a bad place to start. It gives you a "program" so to speak of how to stay engaged in your Faith through Prayer, Study, Generous Giving, and Evangelization on top of regular participation in the Sacraments. After that, start reading the daily Mass Readings online [http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/index.cfm] which draws you into the liturgical rhythm of the church and will feed your prayer with the Word of God. For spiritual reading and study her...

A Severe Mercy  by Sheldon Vanauken ( 1977, Harper & Row ) is a memoir of the author Sheldon "Van" Vanauken and his true love Jean "Davy" Davis but is self-described by the author as "the spiritual autobiography of a love rather than the lovers." The book has two essential parts, the first "pagan" and the second after the couple's conversion to Christianity while at Oxford up until tragedy befalls their relationship and its aftermath. It also chronicles the couple's friendship with C.S. Lewis including several letters that include outstanding spiritual advice. In what Van calls the pagan beginnings of their relationship, Van and Davy, agnostics devoted to beauty and truth, meet and from their first date discover their connection, in a moment Van describes using C.S. Lewis's words defining Friendship: "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself ..." From there, their love grows to heights and depths that I recogniz...