Books

MOTHER BENEDICT: Foundress of the Abbey of Regina Laudis, by Antoinette Bosco

Reviewed by Br Barry Coldrey

Contents - Feb 2011 - Buy a copy now Editorial: Challenges ahead for the Church in 2011 - Michael Gilchrist Book Review: Cardinal Pell and Pope Benedict XVI's interview - Cardinal George Pell News: The Church Around the World Liturgical rights of Catholics must be upheld - Fr Martin Durham Marriage: US bishops signal a tougher stance in the culture wars - Michael Gilchrist Vocations: Following in the footsteps of St Francis of Assisi - Kay Cozad Key issues of ecumenism: new Vatican president's assessment - AD2000 Report Science and Christian faith: the case for intelligent design - Babette Francis That ubiquitous F word: don't demean the sacred - Fr Max Barrett CSsR Young children: never too early to love God - Bishop Arthur Serratelli Pope Benedict honours Catholic Women's League member Brenda Finlayson - AD2000 Report IVF: The Catholic Church and reproductive technologies - Fr John Fleming Letters: Euthanasia - Leon Voesenek Letters: Apostles' wives - Francis Vrijmoed Letters: Leadership - Joe Lopez Letters: Correction - M.J. Gonzalez Letters: From India - Fr S. John Joseph Books: Isabel of Spain: The Catholic Queen, by Warren Carroll - Terri M. Kelleher (reviewer) Books: Christ Our High Priest, by Cardinal Albert Vanhoye - Br Barry Coldrey (reviewer) Books: MOTHER BENEDICT: Foundress of the Abbey of Regina Laudis, by Antoinette Bosco - Br Barry Coldrey (reviewer) Books: MOTHER ANGELICA: Prayers and Personal Devotions, by Raymond Arroyo - Br Barry Coldrey (reviewer) Books: Order books from www.freedompublishing.com.au Reflection: The great but neglected harvest of inactive Catholics - Joseph Agius

MOTHER BENEDICT: Foundress of the Abbey of Regina Laudis
by Antoinette Bosco
(Ignatius Press, 2007, 423pp, $35.90, ISBN: 978-1-58617-411-8. Available from Freedom Publishing)

Christian history is alive with the stories of formidable, contemplative Religious women whose spiritual influence extended far beyond the walls of their enclosed convents.

This is the inspiring story of one of them, Mother Benedict Duss, and the famous Benedictine monastery she founded in Bethlehem, Connecticut, the Abbey of Regina Laudis, a large flourishing community of contemplative Benedictine nuns.

The Abbey has attracted many vocations of accomplished, successful women from all walks of life and many fields of study. The place is truly a spiritual powerhouse.

The core of this book is the amazing story of Mother Benedict who was born in the US but travelled to France as a young woman for tertiary study at the Sorbonne and graduated a medical doctor in Paris. However, she later abandoned this profession for the life of a Benedictine contemplative.

Mother Benedict lived through the French collapse in World War II and the resulting horrors of the Nazi occupation. After this she felt an overwhelming interior call to return to America to found the first community of contemplative Benedictine nuns.

Aged just 35 but with incredible faith, courage and the help of popes, politicians, famous writers, and many others, she persevered in her call.

The author of this biography, Antoinette Bosco, has been an award-winning journalist and writer for over 25 years, has appeared on many TV shows and is the author of fourteen other books. The 1940s movie, Come to the Stable, had this Abbey as its background.

The book's Foreword is provided by the present Prioress, Mother Dolores Hart OSB, who was a famous Hollywood actress before she entered Regina Laudis.

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 24 No 1 (February 2011), p. 17