Italian Carmelite Antonio Maria Sicari''s vibrant biographies of saints--from Augustine to Catherine of Siena to Faustina Kowalska--have been read across Europe for decades. In How Saints Die, Sicari turns to the most difficult challenge in the life of a Christian: the hour of death. What he uncovers in this darkest moment, however, is not desolation, but inexplicable joy. I have recounted the death of many saints, he writes, but all of them have confirmed for me the truth of this ancient Christian intuition: in the death of a saint, it is death that dies! With in-depth research and a flair for storytelling, Sicari brings before our eyes the gracious last hours of one hundred men and women--lovers and martyrs, thinkers and workers, ancients and moderns, old men and teens. Included are Kateri Tekakwitha, Maximilian Kolbe, Mother Teresa, Thomas Aquinas, Josephine Bakhita, Jérôme Lejeune, Clare of Assisi, and many more. In each, a new shade of the divine light shines through. Those seeking insight into the mystery of death and suffering will find in this book not only wisdom, but rich and realistic consolation. Divided into brief, readable chapters organized by theme, the collection offers at every bend another fine-grained snapshot of a Christian fully alive.
What would it be like if we were to finally become Christians? Are we ready to embark upon this formidable adventure of holiness? Such are the questions posed to the reader by Father Antonio Maria Sicari in this book. In these pages the author, who is also a founder of the ecclesiastical movement that makes up the overwhelming majority of faithful laymen, has profoundly advanced the teachings which he offers throughout these luminous pages, finally accessible to English-speakers as well. He invites us to overcome the imagined resistance between observing the commandments – a task required of everyone – and the practice of the evangelical counsels of virginity, poverty and obedience, reserved solely for the ordained. In order to do this, one must engage in a profoundly Christian train of thought, that is one which begins with the Mystery of Christ and our close relationship with Him. Through Jesus Christ, God reveals Himself to mankind. Living according to the evangelical counsels of virginity, poverty and obedience – those which Christ proffers to all of his friends – opens up to laymen, in every aspect of their lives (conjugal, familial, ecclesiastical, professional, civil), a new Life which is, from that very first moment, filled with the Mystery of God's Reign.The counsels appear for what they truly are: a path towards freedom, joy and complete fulfillment with the Son of God for every member of the Church, which is what we are and what we must fully become.
Italian Carmelite Antonio Maria Sicari''s vibrant biographies of saints—from Augustine to Catherine of Siena to Faustina Kowalska—have been read across Europe for decades. In How Saints Die, Sicari turns to the most difficult challenge in the life of a Christian: the hour of death. What he uncovers in this darkest moment, however, is not desolation, but inexplicable joy. "I have recounted the death of many saints," he writes, "but all of them have confirmed for me the truth of this ancient Christian intuition: in the death of a saint, it is death that dies!" With in-depth research and a flair for storytelling, Sicari brings before our eyes the gracious last hours of one hundred men and women—lovers and martyrs, thinkers and workers, ancients and moderns, old men and teens. Included are Kateri Tekakwitha, Maximilian Kolbe, Mother Teresa, Thomas Aquinas, Josephine Bakhita, Jérôme Lejeune, Clare of Assisi, and many more. In each, a new shade of the divine light shines through. Those seeking insight into the mystery of death and suffering will find in this book not only wisdom, but rich and realistic consolation. Divided into brief, readable chapters organized by theme, the collection offers at every bend another fine-grained snapshot of a Christian fully alive.
Italian Carmelite Antonio Maria Sicari''s vibrant biographies of saints—from Augustine to Catherine of Siena to Faustina Kowalska—have been read across Europe for decades. In How Saints Die, Sicari turns to the most difficult challenge in the life of a Christian: the hour of death. What he uncovers in this darkest moment, however, is not desolation, but inexplicable joy. "I have recounted the death of many saints," he writes, "but all of them have confirmed for me the truth of this ancient Christian intuition: in the death of a saint, it is death that dies!" With in-depth research and a flair for storytelling, Sicari brings before our eyes the gracious last hours of one hundred men and women—lovers and martyrs, thinkers and workers, ancients and moderns, old men and teens. Included are Kateri Tekakwitha, Maximilian Kolbe, Mother Teresa, Thomas Aquinas, Josephine Bakhita, Jérôme Lejeune, Clare of Assisi, and many more. In each, a new shade of the divine light shines through. Those seeking insight into the mystery of death and suffering will find in this book not only wisdom, but rich and realistic consolation. Divided into brief, readable chapters organized by theme, the collection offers at every bend another fine-grained snapshot of a Christian fully alive.
What would it be like if we were to finally become Christians? Are we ready to embark upon this formidable adventure of holiness? Such are the questions posed to the reader by Father Antonio Maria Sicari in this book. In these pages the author, who is also a founder of the ecclesiastical movement that makes up the overwhelming majority of faithful laymen, has profoundly advanced the teachings which he offers throughout these luminous pages, finally accessible to English-speakers as well. He invites us to overcome the imagined resistance between observing the commandments – a task required of everyone – and the practice of the evangelical counsels of virginity, poverty and obedience, reserved solely for the ordained. In order to do this, one must engage in a profoundly Christian train of thought, that is one which begins with the Mystery of Christ and our close relationship with Him. Through Jesus Christ, God reveals Himself to mankind. Living according to the evangelical counsels of virginity, poverty and obedience – those which Christ proffers to all of his friends – opens up to laymen, in every aspect of their lives (conjugal, familial, ecclesiastical, professional, civil), a new Life which is, from that very first moment, filled with the Mystery of God's Reign.The counsels appear for what they truly are: a path towards freedom, joy and complete fulfillment with the Son of God for every member of the Church, which is what we are and what we must fully become.
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