Black Friday/Cyber Monday Book Sale at Ave Maria Press!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you had a great day with your family/friends and lots of food and fun.

‘Tis the season for sales, and I know you’ve been bombarded with the emails (I get them too!), but I want to let you know about Ave Maria Press’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale!

Use the code BFCM23 to get 30% off and free shipping through Monday, November 27! If you want to do your book shopping somewhere other than Amazon, this is a great way to do it and support Catholic publishing and Catholic authors, while saving money!

Just click on any image in this post to go to my book’s page on the Ave Maria Press website and enter the code BFCM23 at checkout to get the deal! (Or, here’s another link).

Happy shopping!

A REALLY big sale!

My book is currently on MASSIVE sale at Ave Maria Press—it’s $2.

That’s right, folks. TWO BUCKS. That’s it!

That makes it a great time to get not only a copy for you, if you haven’t done it yet, but also copies for other people. Early Christmas gifts! Easter baskets! Presents just-because!

This is only happening at the AMP website, so go shop. Do it!

Lent-y goings on!

So, Lent is upon us, and that means it’s time for me to ramp up talking about MY BOOK.

You can get it everywhere ( here is the Amazon link, you can find more links to buy here) ! You can even get a signed book from me! Just contact me—signed books are $20 and that includes a prayer card and a bookmark, and shipping!

If you are in the Columbus area, I will be doing a book signing at the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference next weekend (Feb. 18) at the Ohio Expo Center—details and tickets here.

Happy Thanksgiving! (And a book sale!)

I hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving full of yummy food and time with family and friends! I am thankful for all of you—you readers are really the ones who keep the lights on over here and allowed me to reach my goal of having my story published. I am so thankful that you keep reading! :) You are in my prayers!

That’s a nice segue into….

The Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale at Ave Maria Press!

Use the code BFCM22 at Ave Maria Press and get 30% off plus free shipping! My book will cost you seven bucks. That’s it! $7! (With this deal, that is.) So if you need more copies because you gave yours away to friends, if you think it would make a good gift (it would), or you just want to Lent prep early, this is the sale for you. Go get it!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a great weekend!

Living Memento Mori is a Book Club Selection--And You Can Join!

I’m thrilled that Living Memento Mori has been selected as part of the Seton Shrine’s Memento Mori book club series!

The other books in the series are written by Sr. Theresa Aletheia, who wrote the foreword! So you know this is going to be a great series.

The Seton Shrine is the shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, located in Emmitsburg, MD. You can register for the online book club here; it starts on October 13 (so next Thursday!) I will be joining the book club on the last meeting date (November 17) to do a Q&A!

You can purchase your copy directly from the Shrine if you don’t already have a copy.

You can also register for the entire Memento Mori series and save 35%!

The Seton Shrine is home to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s grave, a basilica, a museum, and several historical sites. It’s a wonderful place to visit and I am so glad they chose my book for their book club!

I hope to see you there (virtually, that is)!

It's a Summer Sale!

Ave Maria Press is running their big summer sale from July 11 to July 24 on their website! Use the code SUMMER22 at checkout to save 25%!

So of course that means it’s a great time to stock up on Living Memento Mori!

Get copies for yourself, and for friends and family! This is a great time to do it and support your local Catholic author.

It's Time for Lent!

Botticelli, The Man of Sorrows

In case you were unaware, Lent starts on Wednesday. Yes, this coming Wednesday, March 2!

So, let’s talk about Lent, shall we?

First a few things…

• My friend Jen Fitz has written a retreat ebook, called Lord, You Know That I Love You, that is currently free on Amazon. That’s right, free! I highly encourage you to go check it out! The sale runs through the end of the month. (as in, through Monday, Feb. 28, 2022)

• Not sure what Lent is? Or what we do during it? You can check out this post, which has a link to a weeklong series I did on Lenten practices!

• Do you want to know more about the basics of Catholicism? Then you’re in luck! I wrote a whole ebook about them, called Catholic 101! It covers the church year, the sacraments, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and lots more! You can read it on any e-reader, as well as on your desktop/laptop/phone, and you can even print it out if you want to read it on paper. It’s $5!

• And, of course, Living Memento Mori is, dare I say, perfect for Lent. If you’d like a signed copy, email me.

My Lent is usually focused on a few things. I can’t fast, but I can abstain from meat, so I do that on the days required (Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all the Fridays of Lent). I also don’t use food for a penance. Instead, I give up book and yarn buying, and with the money I save from that, I use it for charitable donations (ie, almsgiving in Church parlance). Two of my favorite charities are Mary’s Meals and our local diaper bank.

I am single. I know you probably know that, but when I talk about things like penances and living Lent, I want to remind you that since I don’t have a family, I have a lot of flexibility that you might not have. Take what’s good here, and leave the rest. :) So when I say I want to try a monastic horarium for Lent (which I do, generally, try to do during Lent, in order to deepen my prayer life), that’s something that a lot of people can’t do, because they work outside the home, or they have children that wouldn't exactly allow them to pray all seven offices of the Liturgy of the Hours or have a holy hour every week!

I have a few books: Restore and Just Rest (a study of the book of Exodus). I will try to incorporate more offices from the Liturgy of the Hours —right now I say lauds (morning prayer) and vespers (evening prayer) every day, and I’d like to add in compline, night prayer. I can find time for more prayer because I’m going to limit my time on certain social media platforms, mostly Twitter right now, because I know I’m spending too much time there and Lent is a good time to try to restore correct balance in how I spend my time.

Is there anything that you would like to see me do during Lent? Living Memento Mori book club? Stations of the Cross on Facebook Live? Anything else? Please let me know!

What does your Lent look like? How are you preparing for this season?

2022 Columbus Catholic Women's Conference--In Person!

It was so nice to be back at the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference! Last year we didn’t have one, and the 2020 conference took place before all of the COVID shut downs. It was so wonderful to gather again in person!

The conference day begins with Mass and then there are four speakers scattered through the day, which ends with a holy hour. Breakfast and lunch are also provided, and during the lunch break, I had a book signing!

It’s still surreal to sign copies of my book. I mean to have my book out there in the world and people can read it and buy it and I can sign real copies! It’s insane!

I was also so happy to see my friend Elizabeth Tomlin, author of Joyful Momentum, who also did a signing at the conference!

The day is always a long day (I got up at 5:30 and was in bed at 11!) but it’s so worth it to see friends and to be spiritually nourished. I really loved all the speakers this year, especially Sr. Tracey Dugas:

And Lisa Brenninkmeyer, the founder of Walking with Purpose:

If you’d like to hear the conference talks, you can listen to them here.

And if you’d like a signed copy of Living Memento Mori for yourself, you can use the contact form, or email me!

BOOK SIGNING! At the Columbus Catholic Women's Conference!

YES! It’s a REAL EVENT!

I will be signing copies of my book at the Ave Maria Press table at the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference! If you’re attending, come say hi!

I loved doing this in 2020 and I’m so glad to get the chance to do it again.

Al Kresta appearance!

If you couldn’t listen live yesterday, here is the audio of my appearance on Al Kresta’s Kresta In the Afternoon radio show! I had a great time talking to Al about my book, memento mori, and the stations!

Seven Quick Takes: Women's Retreat, a New Book, and Yarn-A-Palooza!

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In the words of Dumbledore (adapted), “Welcome, welcome, to another week of Quick Takes!”

Post from earlier this week, which is proving really popular: Get In The Picture.

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Last weekend, I attended my parish’s women’s retreat, and it was so lovely! I loved the items we received from Pio Prints, a fabulous local company.

Each table had a lovely bouquet of flowers.

I just joined this parish in January, so I hadn’t been to this retreat before, and I hadn’t had a chance to meet many women in the parish. Fellow Ave Author Emily Jaminet was the speaker, and she gave us three fabulous talks that were just what I needed to hear.

Emily’s authored and co-authored several books, and her talks were derived from those books. The first talk was about the Sacred Heart, which was a devotion I’d heard of but hadn’t really thought much about. Emily runs the local Sacred Heart Enthronement group, and it was beautiful to hear her talk about this special devotion! (Her book, Secrets of the Sacred Heart*, is well worth reading to learn more about this devotion).

Her second talk was about Christian friendship (based on her book The Friendship Project*, which is great), and the third focused on making time for prayer throughout our busy days! (Based on her book Prayfully)

My notebook is full of a lot of “thank you, Jesus!” for bringing me on this retreat, because initially, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go. I am really glad I listened to Jesus’ prompting and went. And I told Him so when we had adoration after Mass.

It was also really great to talk to Emily about writing and being a writer, especially since we are published by the same publisher. She was also gracious enough to plug my book several times during the retreat!

There are so many lovely women at my parish who are truly seeking holiness, and it was great to meet them and have good Catholic women’s fellowship!

(Also, want a signed copy of my book for a Christmas gift? Keep reading. ;-)

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Speaking of great Catholic women….my friend Kelly (who runs the Seven Quick Takes) has just published her first book!

I was deeply honored to endorse Better than OK*, which I think (and I wrote!) is vital for parents with kids who have chronic illnesses or other types of issues (I just say issues. I could say special needs, etc. but issues is the word that comes to mind for me!) It’s a beautiful, helpful book and I hope that it reaches the wide audience it deserves!

This sort of thing is something that the pro-life movement needs. We need parents to hear that it will be OK—BETTER than OK!—to raise these children, from parents in the same situations. We need to hear stories like mine that talk about how it’s possible to find job in a hard life. All these things come together to create a culture of life, with support that people need.

So go get this book! Get it! Now!

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In Patty updates: this week, she has become a little girl.

I mean she always was one, duh. But she’s gone from baby/toddler to a little girl.

She has seemingly discovered her sister Bridget’s baby dolls this week, and…what a little mama! I just can’t believe how grown up she is, all of a sudden. Like I said—little girl, not a baby.

And what a fun stage—to hear her talk and to get to play dolls with her, like her sisters are doing—but it’s also sad to leave behind baby Patty.

Fortunately Baby Maddie (my niece, my sister Melanie and BIL Jason’s little girl) is on her way!!

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Speaking of Maddie, I’ve started working on her blanket!

It’s a variation of the one I made Patty….

Which in and of itself is a variation on the Sully blanket pattern. (I don’t do the picked up border.)

or this one, I’m adding a small garter stitch boarder to keep the ends from curling up. You can’t really see it here (the bottom part, you can, imagine it doing that all the way around), but I don’t block blankets and with stockinette stitch (which this blanket is), I want there to be less curling. So basically every time I make this I modify it a little bit!

I’m using Rowan’s Baby Cashsoft Merino, which has cashmere in it, because, why not, and she is my first niece. :) (Well first niece or nephew, for that matter.) It’s so great to work with! I’m using the colors turquoise, rosy, snowflake, and lavender (in that order of striping) and I’m almost done with the first turquoise stripe. Because of the stockinette pattern you can’t see it really well, but I took a photo for you anyway (above)!

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OK before we continue Yarn-A-Palooza, CHRISTMAS BOOKS.

If you would like a signed copy of Living Memento Mori for Christmas, then please email me. They are $20, and that includes shipping, a bookmark, and a prayer card. I can make it out to anyone you want! They are great gifts!

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Back to yarn. :) I recently ordered these beauties, to make into a shawl:

And Christmas knitting has begun! I didn’t do too much of it last year, but this year, I’m making a few things for people. Do you make hand made gifts for anyone? I’m using some really soft yarn that will make up into great winter accessories!

Labor Day Sale at Ave Maria Press!

Happy Friday everyone!

There will be quick takes later but I wanted to post this first—Ave Maria Press is having a Labor Day Sale! You can get Living Memento Mori for 10% off through Monday! (As well as everything else they sell.)

Enter LABORDAY21 at checkout and there you go!

Another great resource is Ave Maria Press’s Notetaking Bible. I’m using it for my Bible In A Year studies. I’m ridiculously picky about Bibles and especially paper—I use fountain pens, sharpies, all sorts of markers, and I want them to work and not make a mess. That doesn’t happen with this bible—seriously. I can use fountain pens to make notes and there aren’t issues with feathering. (Sometimes, depending on the ink, it can bleed through a bit, but it’s not a big problem and it hasn’t happened often to me.)

It’s also a one-column Bible, which I like because it’s a lot easier to read!

There’s the hardcover or the imitation leather (which is the one I have). Take your pick!

So go shop! :) Enjoy!

Writing: The State of the Wicket

“Woman Reading”, Edouard Manet

I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about a second book. (Including from my doctor!)

“Are you writing one?”

“What are you writing about now?”

“So you’re writing a second book, right?”

Welllllllllllllll.

(It’s not bad news, don't worry.)

Here’s the deal.

For someone to get to write a second book, the first book has to sell.

Yes, it’s true. It all comes down to money. A publisher has to see sales to think, “Oh, OK, this person has an audience, so it’s worth our outlay of cash to support this person’s writing and give them a book contract.”

So, yes, if you want another book, you have to buy the current book.

I know so many of you have, and I am incredibly, stupendously grateful for your support. Everyone who has left reviews, or written blog posts, or bought copies for friends—I love you. I am so grateful to you.

If you would like to buy a copy, her are all the places you can get it:

Amazon

Ave Maria Press (they often run sales, and I always post about these on the blog and on my social media accounts)

Barnes and Noble

As a NOOK book and on Kindle

Books a Million

Indiebound (you can also order it through your local indy bookstore!)

Wal-mart

Also your local Catholic bookstore or indie bookstore can order it for you. Just ask them! They will do it!

I hate, hate, hate selling things. I hated selling candy bars for school, cookies for Girl Scouts, and cheese and sausage for choir. I HATE it.

But I know that if I want to earn any money writing, I have to ask people to support my writing. Which….I hate doing!

But it’s necessary.

If you already have Living Memento Mori, you can also get Catholic 101, my ebook about the basics of Catholicism, inspired by the years I taught first grade CCD. You can download it, read it on iPad or Kindle, or even print it out! You can gift it!

AND newsletter subscribers get 15% off the $5 price!

Another way is to support my Patreon. It’s more behind the scenes notes on creativity and what I’m working on than here, and it’s somewhat sporadic in posting, but there re goodies you can get and things that I only post there. So if you’re really interested in my inner workings, or just want to support my writing, that’s the way to go. Memberships start a dollar. You can become a patron here!

OK after all that, Patty cleanser!

She has EIGHT teeth now!

OK so on to fun things: projects!

There are a few projects I’m working on.

The first one is Catholicism and Outlander, and I talk a lot more about that over on Patreon. I’m in the research phase of that one right now! (Which means reading and watching TV, POOR ME!)

The other one is a really, really basic knitting series. As in, yes, needles come in packs of two (I seriously did not know this). I know that I wanted something like that when I was starting, and it didn’t exist, and even “beginner” books were not really for beginners! So I’m working on that as well.

And that, my friends, is the state of the wicket!

SUMMER SALE at Ave Maria Press!

Want to get your own copy of Living Memento Mori?

(Of course you do. There’s no other answer here.)

Or maybe you’re like my mom and you want to start your Christmas shopping early?

Ave Maria Press will help you out!

There is a SUMMER SALE going on right now.

Get 25% off EVERYTHING with the code SUMMER21

Here’s the link to get my book at the site!

The sale runs through 7/18, so hop to it! :)

And if you have read the book (and you have, right?) please leave a review on Amazon! It’s so helpful for sales!

Seven Quick Takes--Second Shot!

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Hi!

Let’s start with what was on the blog this week:

Living Memento Mori on Catholicmom.com!

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Depending on when you’re reading this, I will either be on my way to get my second COVID vaccine, or I will have it! My parents and I are fully vaccinated!!!! Woo woo!

That means—MASS NEXT WEEKENDDDDDD. Church for Holy Week!!!!

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It also means the I’ve booked a trip to see Patty and crew this summer!

Patty and her oldest sister, Susie, on their grandparents’ Texas ranch.

Looking for cows.

Do I even NEED to tell y’ll how excited I am to get to see Patty? No? OK. :) :) Seriously SO EXCITEDDDDDDDDDD. And to see everyone else, of course. I haven’t been to Houston in a few years. My sister used to live there before she got married, so I’ve been there twice. Once to see Mel, and once to see Diane when her daughter holding (Susie) Patty was A BABY. Seriously. She’s 12 now and playing lacrosse for her school and I’m thinking, you were just Patty’s age!

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I am prepared to spend the weekend feeling not good, but that’s OK. I have meds here and entertainment. Worse comes to worse, I just sleep it off.

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I am actually KnoMari’ing everything. I’ve done it before, but it wasn’t really thorough, I sort of half-did it, which is a no go. So the first thing was clothes. Oh my goodness WHAT a clothes purge. I’ve gotten rid of all sorts of things and it definitely makes me feel good. (I am donating everything, not tossing it unless it’s really just I crappy shape, like shoes with holes [why do I even have them?!] or things that are ripped.) I’m not really going to do books because I ddi them before I moved and I have my own system. So I’m finishing clothes and then I’ll move on to papers, which I actually have a fairly good handle on, but it can’t hurt to go through them again. I don’t think I need my tax return for 2006 anymore, right? :)

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Don’t forget STATIONS OF THE CROSS on my Facebook page tonight at 7:00 EST!

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And finally, if you’ve read Living Memento Mori, please leave a review on Amazon or goodreads? THANK YOU! They’re so helpful in getting the word out! (It can be the same one both places!) Also on goodreads, be sure to add it to your shelves!

-BONUS-

Do you remember Little Billy? He would’ve been a year old on St. Patrick’s Day. Please pray for his parents and family!

Living Memento Mori on CatholicMom.com!

I’m so happy to see a lovely review of Living Memento Mori up at Catholicmom.com!

Seven Quick Takes--Fourth Friday of Lent

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Hi everyone! Sorry no quick takes last week. I was on the last day of the Evil Antibiotic and my body was just blah. So there was no blogging, or really much of anything. But I feel much better now and my sleep schedule and energy and coming back! Yay!

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Most recent posts:

The Cardigan is DONE!

Podcast Interview and Best Of List for Living Memento Mori!

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This Lent has been sort of meh. I didn’t really make a good plan this year, if I’m being honest. I did my usual things of no book buying and no chocolate but I wanted to stay off social media more than I have. So….Lent’s not over and I can still do something about that! I’m going to try to be better with set limits. How’s your Lent going?

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I am doing Stations of the Cross every Friday on my Facebook page during Lent, however!

(yes, I just wrote about social media and here’s Facebook. It’s the best way to communicate with video, I’ve found. IG live is sort of fiddly for me and I need to figure out videos without social media…it’s on my to-do list.)

I post a prayer request thread every Wednesday on my page as well! So these intentions are prayed for during the stations and in my own prayer a well. We use the prayers from Living Memento Mori for the stations, so you can follow along in your own copy if you want.

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Here’s your weekly dose of Patty:

She also got her blanket!

And you can also clearly see her two teeth! She’s working on an upper tooth now, her mom says, so she’s sort of crank-tactic. This week she tried to eat a spider and was very put out when her mom didn’t let her.

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If you would like a signed copy of the book, they are $20 and they include a bookmark, a prayer card, and free shipping! Drop me an email.

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I’m still waiting for the second dose of my COVID vaccine to be scheduled. It hasn’t quite been a month yet, but it will be next weekend, so…..I’d like to know if I’m going to be getting it then! I am totally chomping at the bit to be fully vaccinated!

Book News: Podcast Interview and a Best Of List!

Two things in the book news category!

First, my episode of the podcast “How They Love Mary” is live! Go check it out!

Second, Living Memento Mori was named one of the best books of 2020 in a Catholic World Report piece! It asked its contributors to name the best books they read last year, and Living Memento Mori was on the list.

Seven Quick Takes--1st Friday of Lent

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Hello everyone! How’s your Lent going so far? (The weather might be providing your penance….)

So far mine is going well. I’m adapting this monastic horarium for my use, which is great for adding in extra prayer and also dedicated times for spiritual reading, Lectio, and work. So I get a lot more done, partially because I use this schedule and partially because I’m on social media less, although I think I might need to cull that even further. We’ll see how it goes.

(Fun fact: I was discerned being a cloistered Dominica nun! At Summit!)

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Little Patty and her family are definitely getting penitential weather. They live in Texas, so they lost power, gas, and water, and then had to go to her grandparents’ house for a bit. Now they have gas, power, and “60% water pressure” (according to her dad) so Patty and her family are warm, but so many families aren’t. Pray or them!

Patty does not seem to mind being bundled up….

And yes, she has two teeth now!

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Patrice Fagnat-McArthur wrote a lovely review of Living Memento Mori! (You can find all the reviews of the book here). If you’d like a copy, there are nine left on Amazon! Yes, more are coming, but you know you want it now, right? :)

In other book related news, don’t forget that I’ll be doing Stations of the Cross, using the prayers in my book, starting next week! (We were going to start tonight but….see next point.)

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This is going up later than usual because I had an ENT visit this morning. No, not Tolkien Ents, Ear, Nose, and Throat. I knew that it was going to be AN APPOINTMENT, meaning we’d have lots of thing to do, and we did. Ears were vacuumed (that’s the BEST seriously), and my sinuses were found to have infection. Yayyyyyy. (Not) So that means cipro, which means not moving for two weeks so I don’t rupture any tendons. Seriously, no working out. It sucks because I just started working out again yesterday and it was great. But, alas. Cipro for two weeks.

So because of that I am headach-y and dehydrated (because of all the heat that’s on), so my cochlear implant is hurting my head. So it’s going to go off making me deaf for the rest of the day, but that’s OK. But it does mean no stations tonight. Next week, though!

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I also have clinic on Monday. I have basically three hours between the testing part of clinic (labs, chest X-ray, and PFTs) and seeing my doctor. So I might go to the yarn store. I’ll definitely hit the local French bistro for lunch because it’s one of the perks of being at New Resort. I’m close to really really good food.

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My cardigan is ALMOST DONE! Yay!!!!!!!!!! Just about an inch more to knit on the collar and then I can cast off!

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I get my first COVID vaccine tomorrow! REJOICE!

Read Living Memento Mori for Lent!

Although one can read Living Memento Mori any time, it’s really great for Lent. If you haven’t picked it up I hope you will!

The book is divided into fourteen chapters and an epilogue, each chapter focusing on one of the stations of the cross. There are discussion questions at the end of each chapter and an appendix that contains the Stations of the Cross with a memento mori focus.

If you are reading the book with a book club or small parish group, I would love to come talk to you! Just email me and we’ll set up the details.

If you would like a signed copy, same deal—email me. They’re $20, which includes shipping and a book Mark and prayer card.

You can check out the book’s resources page here, and more about the book here.