New December 2005!
Recommended Reading List
These books have all been recommended by other women who are discerning their call to vowed religious life. We hope you will find them beneficial in your journey to God.
Following each title will be one or more of the following marks:
(?) - indicates that I could not find any listing for this book with any of the on-line booksellers.
(*) - indicates that the book is out of print, but I have found listings for it on either Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com through their out of print booksellers.
(A) - indicates that this book is available through Amazon.com
(B) - indicates that this book is available through BarnesandNoble.com
(E) - indicates that this book can sometimes be found on eBay.com
If you are looking for out of print books, try checking with your local library system. If you have any contacts with religious communities, they may have some of the books in their library and may be willing to let you borrow them.
Contemplatives:
A Right to Be Merry (*, E) Sister Mary Francis, Sheed and Ward (1956) Lib. of Congress Catalog #56-9528 ISBN #1819905062
My Beloved: The Story of a Carmelite Nun (?) Mother Catherine Thomas, McGraw Hill, New York (1955, 1962)
Edith Stein: A Biography (A, B) Waltraud Herbstrith, Ignatius Press (1992) ISBN #0898704103
Burnt Out Incense - The Saga of Citeaux (?) M. Raymond, OCSO, P.J. Kennedy & Sons, N.Y. (1949)
1012 Monastery Road: A Spiritual Journey (A, B) William Meninger, OCSO, St. Bede's Publicaitons, Petersham MA. ISBN #0932506739.
Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel (A) Thomas Keating, OCSO, Element (Reissue 1994) ISBN #0826406963.
The Wound of Love: A Carthusion Miscellany (A) Cistercian Publications ISBN #08790775
Monastics:
The Fire Within These Ashes Joan Chittester, OSB, Sheed and Ward. This book may be ordered directly from Benetvision at http://www.erie.net/~erie-osb/benetvisioncatalog.html or Benetvision, 355 East Ninth St., Erie, PA, 16503-1107, (Telephone) 814-459-5994, (FAX) 814-459-8066, e-mail: msbpr@juno.com
Wisdom Distilled from the Daily: Living the Rule of St. Benedict Today (A) Joan Chittester, OSB, Harper, San Francisco (1991) ISBN #0060613998. This book may be ordered directly from Benetvision at http://www.erie.net/~erie-osb/benetvisioncatalog.html or Benetvision, 355 East Ninth St., Erie, PA, 16503-1107, (Telephone) 814-459-5994, (FAX) 814-459-8066, e-mail: msbpr@juno.com
In a High Spiritual Season, Joan Chittester, OSB. This book may be ordered directly from Benetvision at http://www.erie.net/~erie-osb/benetvisioncatalog.html or Benetvision, 355 East Ninth St., Erie, PA, 16503-1107, (Telephone) 814-459-5994, (FAX) 814-459-8066, e-mail: msbpr@juno.com
Seasons of Your Heart: Prayers and Reflections (A, B) Macrina Wiederkehr, Harper Collins (1991) ISBN #0060693002.
Seeking God: The Way of St. Benedict (A) Esther De Waal, Liturgical Press (1985) ISBN #0814613888.
Forever Your Sister (A, B) Anthology by 22 Former Sisters, North Star Prof St. Cloud (1998) ISBN #0878391282. To order, send $15.95 US (Includes postage - MN residents add 6.5% tax) check or money order made out to Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict. Send to: Development Office, Sisters of St. Benedict, 104 Chapel Lane, St. Joseph, MN 56374-0220
Grace Before Meals: Food Ritual and Body Discipline in Convent Culture (A) Patricia Curran Urbana, Univ. of Illinois Press (1989) ISBN #0252015851.
Autobiographies/Biographies:
An American Nun in Taiwan (?, E) Sister Mary Paul, Doubleday (1967) Lib. Of Congress Catalog #67-11150The Springs of Silence, (*) Madeline deFrees (Sr. Mary Gilbert), New York, Prentice Hall (1953)
With Love and Laughter Sr. Maryanna, O.P., Hanover House (1960).
Stare Back and Smile: Memoirs (*) Joanna Lumley, Penguin (1990) ISBN #0670821748
The Servant of God Mother M. Angeline Teresa O Carm Daughter of Carmel Mother to the Aged (A - Special Order) Jude Meade, C.P., St. Bede's Publications, Inc., ISBN #093250681x
The Called and the Chosen: The Diary of Sister Ursula Auberon (?)Karol Jackowski, Ave Maria Press, ISBN #0877935947
Mary MacKillop's Sisters: A Life Unveiled (?) Anne Henderson, Harper Collins (1997) ISBN #0207191816.
Through the Narrow Gate: A Nun's Story (A, B, E) Karen Armstrong, Macmillan Co (1981) ISBN #0312119038.
Fiction Based on Fact
In This House of Brede (A) Rumer Godden, Pan Books (1970) ISBN #0330026410. Buccaneer Books (Reissue 1998) ISBN #0899668100.(fiction baesed on fact)
The Nun's Story (*, E) Katherine Hulme, Little Brown Co., Boston (1956)(fiction based on fact)Unveiled: Nuns Talking (A, B) Mary Loudon, Vintage (1992), Templegate Pub. (1993) ISBN #0099326515 and 0872432017.
I Leap Over the Wall (*, E) Monica Baldwin, NY Rinehart (1950)(fiction based on bio)
History and Contemporary Writings on Nuns, Sisters, and Religious Life
Veil and Cowl: Writings from the World of Monks and Nuns (A, B) James B. Simpson, editor Ivan R. Dee, Inc. (1994) ISBN #1566630517.
Marvels of Charity: History of American Sisters and Nuns (A, B) George C. Stewart, Jr., Our Sunday Visitor, Inc. (1994) ISBN #0879736488.
Sisters in Arms: Catholic Nuns Through Two Millennia (A, B) Jo Ann Kay McNamara, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, ISBN #0674809858.
Sisters in Crisis: The Tragic Unraveling of Women's Religious Communities (A, B) Ann Carey, Our Sunday Visitor Press, ISBN #0879736550 and 0779736550.
Sisters: Live of Devotion and Defiance (*, E) Julia Lieblich, Ballantine Books (1992) ISBN #034372999.
Whatever Happened to the Good Sisters (*) Kathleen W. Fitzgerald and Claire Breault, editors, Whales' Tales Press (1992) ASIN #1882195000.
Spiritual/Discernment
VISION Magazine - a handbook for discernment- can be ordered through www.visionguide.org
A Guide To Religious Ministries - for Catholic men and Women - has Ads for communities and very complete listings of communities in the US in index. $10 or free through some vocation directors (they get them for free) Order through: Catholic News Publishing Company,210 North Avenue, New Rochelle, NY,10801 or write: info@catholicguides.com
Introduction to the Devout Life (A) St. Francis De Sales Image Books (Reissue 1972) ISBN #0385030096.
Listening to the Music of the Spirit: The Art of Discernment (*) David Lonsdale, SJ
Weeds Among the Wheat: Discernment, Where Prayer and Action Meet (A) Thomas Green, SJ, Ave Maria Press (1984) ISBN #0877933189
