Experience the contempt and revenge of a nun scorned and shed tears for Maria Chesters, who discovers a secret past and touches love for the first time. The Postulant is an intricate story that takes you deep into the lives of those who will affect Maria’s final decision. Accompany her on this tropical trek, as she encounters unabashed men on their youthful quests for adventure. The dichotomy of their worlds collide as a jealous nun, attempts to destroy the man Maria must ultimately love. Follow Maria’s gripping search for purpose, as she struggles to devote her life to the convent and confront the obstacles that beset her along the way. Experience this emotionally-charged tale as this perplexed woman leaves the confines of her scripted life, unearthing a secret she never knew existed. Mario Iezzoni, a writer, wrote Kracker Flats, a story of an upscale family and a band of indigents, isolated after a devastating hurricane strikes Florida’s west coast. Living in New Port Richey, Florida, Mario is currently working on two more novels, Voodoo Cruise and Upitao.

Offers insight into the issue of vocation and ministry for a large number of prospective clergy Along with the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church has been in the vanguard in opening up the option of ordination to holy orders for partnered gay and lesbian people. As a result, many gays and lesbians are considering an option, which just a decade ago, would have been impossible. The question then becomes, “Does God want me—in my full integrity as a gay “out” person—as a priest in the church?” This is the first book to look at the issue of discernment in the Episcopal Church while simultaneously taking seriously the dynamics for a gay person seeking to discern his or her future in the church.

For many American Catholics in the twentieth-century the face of the Church was a woman's face. After the Second World War, as increasing numbers of baby boomers flooded Catholic classrooms, the Church actively recruited tens of thousands of young women as teaching sisters. In Into Silence and Servitude Brian Titley delves into the experiences of young women who entered Catholic religious sisterhoods at this time. The Church favoured nuns as teachers because their wageless labour made education more affordable in what was the world's largest private school system. Focusing on the Church's recruitment methods Titley examines the idea of a religious vocation, the school settings in which nuns were recruited, and the tactics of persuasion directed at both suitable girls and their parents. The author describes how young women entered religious life and how they negotiated the sequence of convent "formation stages," each with unique challenges respecting decorum, autonomy, personal relations, work, and study. Although expulsions and withdrawals punctuated each formation stage, the number of nuns nationwide continued to grow until it reached a pinnacle in 1965, the same year that Catholic schools achieved their highest enrolment. Based on extensive archival research, memoirs, oral history, and rare Church publications, Into Silence and Servitude presents a compelling narrative that opens a window on little-known aspects of America’s convent system.