April 4, 2024

Hello John,

I hope you take the opportunity to experience something new: a beautiful and inspiring journal that depicts Mother Mary and features 20 paintings by Holly Schapker and personal reflections from artist and art historian Cecelia Dorger!

"The paintings in this book portray Mary in various times, cultures, ethnic characters, and styles to show her universal appeal and love for all God's children." —Universal Mother: A Journal for Finding Yourself in Mary

I found this journal to be so beautiful and inspiring that I had to get it for the loved ones in my life! It would be perfect for Mother's Day!

With profound gratitude, 

Tara Hemelgarn
Marketing Manager

Saint of the Day for April 4: Isidore of Seville

(c. 560 – April 4, 636)

Saint Isidore of Seville’s Story

The 76 years of Isidore’s life were a time of conflict and growth for the Church in Spain. The Visigoths had invaded the land a century and a half earlier, and shortly before Isidore’s birth they set up their own capital. They were Arians—Christians who said Christ was not God. Thus, Spain was split in two: One people (Catholic Romans) struggled with another (Arian Goths).

Isidore reunited Spain, making it a center of culture and learning. The country served as a teacher and guide for other European countries whose culture was also threatened by barbarian invaders.

Born in Cartagena of a family that included three other sibling saints—Leander, Fulgentius and Florentina—he was educated by his elder brother, whom he succeeded as bishop of Seville.

An amazingly learned man, he was sometimes called “The Schoolmaster of the Middle Ages” because the encyclopedia he wrote was used as a textbook for nine centuries. He required seminaries to be built in every diocese, wrote a Rule for religious orders, and founded schools that taught every branch of learning. Isidore wrote numerous books, including a dictionary, an encyclopedia, a history of Goths, and a history of the world—beginning with creation! He completed the Mozarabic liturgy, which is still in use in Toledo, Spain. For all these reasons, Isidore has been suggested as patron of the Internet. Several others—including Anthony of Padua—also have been suggested.

He continued his austerities even as he approached age 80. During the last six months of his life, he increased his charities so much that his house was crowded from morning till night with the poor of the countryside.

Reflection

Our society can well use Isidore’s spirit of combining learning and holiness. Loving, understanding and knowledge can heal and bring a broken people back together. We are not barbarians like the invaders of Isidore’s Spain. But people who are swamped by riches and overwhelmed by scientific and technological advances can lose much of their understanding love for one another.

Saint Isidore of Seville is the Patron Saint of:

Internet users
Computers users

“Walking with Mary is choosing to live in mystery. In this painting, Mary kisses a vulnerable and simply clothed infant who is also the Kind of endless glory. With her, even the simplest moment can be imbued with extravagant grace."

—from the book, Universal Mother, by Holly Schapker and Cecelia Dorger

Today, too many of God’s sons are without dignity, self-confidence, or true power. They have little inner authority and predictably over-rely upon outer authority. They look like the oppressors, but have no doubt: They are really the oppressed. We believed the false promises of the system even more than women and are now trapped at what is supposed to be the top. We need true friendship, male and female; we need our also-feminine souls; we need fathers and brothers; we need a good and also-masculine God to find our way back into the human circle. We need ourselves—from the inside—yet we need to act on the outside. It is a dance.

The spiritual man in mythology, in literature, and in the great world religions has an excess of life. He knows he has it, makes no apology for it, and finally recognizes that he does not even need to protect or guard it. It is not for him. It is for others. His life is not his own. His life is not about him. It is about God.

—from the book From Wild Man to Wise Man: Reflections on Male Spirituality
by Richard Rohr

A Journal for Finding Yourself in Mary

St. Francis heard a divine call to rebuild, to heal, and to love unconditionally. Today, that call echoes through this email, reaching hearts across the digital landscape. Become a co-creator of faith-filled narratives, touching lives and sowing seeds of grace with your support of this newsletter.