Thomas Verner Moore (1877-1969)-priest, author, teacher and practical psychiatrist-was one of the first advocates of modern psychology among Roman Catholics in the United States. In this fascinating biography Benedict Neenan brings to life this man of staggering accomplishments and recounts the many twists and turns he took in the search for his professional and spiritual development. Skillfully intertwining the dramatic interaction between Moore's intense activism and his deeply felt need for contemplation and asceticism, Neenan points out the many paradoxes and tensions of his rich and eventful life. For example, Moore started out in his adult religious life as a member of one of the most progressive and distinctly American religious communities, the Paulists, and ended it as a member of one of the most traditional orders, the Carthusians. Besides detailing the life of this accomplished man, this work offers a glimpse into American Catholic life American social life in the first half of the twentieth century.

This New York Times bestseller (more than 200,000 hardcover copies sold) provides a path-breaking lifestyle handbook that shows how to add spirituality, depth, and meaning to modern-day life by nurturing the soul.

In this meditative spiritual memoir, Judith Valente, celebrated PBS religion journalist and celebrated poet, invites readers along on her transformative pilgrimages to Mount St. Scholastica monastery in Atchison, Kansas. The Benedictine sisters who invited Valente presented her with a view of monastic life and wisdom that brought spiritual healing to her fast-paced life--and promises to do the same for her readers. The first time Judith Valente arrived at Mount St. Scholastica monastery, she came prepared to teach a course on poetry and the soul. Instead, she found herself the student, taking lessons from the Benedictine sisters in the healing nature of silence, how to cultivate habits of mindful living, and the freeing reality that conversion is a lifelong process. With the heart of a poet and the eye of a journalist, she tells how her many visits and interviews with the Benedictine sisters forced her to confront aspects of her own life that needed healing--a journey that will invite readers to healing of their own. A beautiful and heartfelt work that crosses The Cloister Walk with Tuesdays with Morrie, Atchison Blue will resonate with readers of Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, Mary Gordon, and Anne Lamott.