NEW BOOK on Mother Angelica with never before published information

The other day I chatted for a bit with Raymond Arroyo of EWTN, who stopped at our table at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.  When I got home from DC, I found waiting for me a copy of his new book about Mother Angelica.

UK HERE
ITALY HERE

Grand silence… that is a churchy term which refers to the silence imposed on religious communities during the night after the ringing of a particular bell.  Think about it: grand silence… religious life… a stroke… work that still needs to be done….

Raymond provides some amazing new material about Mother, including details about a trip she made to the far East after she had her stroke and about torments by the Devil in her cell.

Mother was an amazing woman and she accomplished so much of great benefit to many.

Here is an important point: some of the proceeds of the sales will go to supper Mother’s community of sisters.

Meanwhile, check out Storyented!

Raymond also interviewed an interesting Catholic author, N.D. Wilson:

The author wanted to create a mythos for American children.   So much magnificent literature comes from English authors.  Perhaps an American mythos is needed?

He works real evil into his books for children, he wants to scare, because children need to get it.  He wants to equip kids for reality.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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19 Comments

  1. CharlesG says:

    An American mythos? Somebody told me once George Martin was the American Tolkien. After having slogged through the massive gratuitous violence and sex of the Game of Thrones TV shows for a couple of seasons, I say thanks but no thanks. Doesn’t hold a candle to Tolkien.

  2. CharlesG: While that is an interesting point, it really doesn’t get to the point of the entry.

    Also, I can’t say much about Game of Thrones. I’ve seen some of it on TV but I haven’t read the books.

    Frankly, I am not sure why you even brought these books up, given the topic of this entry.

    Was there a subtle point to this that I missed?

    But all of that is a rabbit hole. Perhaps I can open a Game of Throne’s thread.

    Meanwhile…. MOTHER ANGELICA. BUY THE BOOK.

  3. My copy of Her Grand Silence arrived day before yesterday. I started it in the afternoon and had it very nearly finished at 1 a.m., when I finally closed it because I was going to have to get up and go to work in the morning.

  4. liebemama says:

    Father, did you want to post a different picture of a children’s adventure book? The cover posted looks similar to the new “Will Wilder” book by Raymond Arroyo. Or are you also recommending the N.D. Wilson series? I don’t know them at all .
    Thanks for the heads up on the new Mother Angelica book. I just ordered it here in Germany. There is an amazon.de online shop too. You might want to connect to the german shop as well. I am sure you have many readers here in Germany and it just might be worth your while. Then I wouldn’t feel so guilty not purchasing from the .com or the.uk stores…

  5. stuart reiss says:

    Yes liebemama I thought so too. Frankly I’m fed up of mr orroyo’s Shameless plugging away of his book. I try to watch the EWTN world over at times. But here’s the man promoting his book tour as part of world news. Ridiculous. Michael Voris is right. EWTN has lost its salt.

  6. St. Rocco says:

    I got my book Wednesday and finished it the same night, staying up way too late. Gripping, haunting, and eye-opening.

  7. Suburbanbanshee says:

    For the uninitiated, Tolkien’s intention with Middle-Earth was to “fill in” the English mythology which was largely lost to history (unlike the German, Irish, Norse, Greek, and Roman ones). We know that English monks did record some of this material, but of course Henry VIII’s looters (and Elizabeth I’s, and Cromwell’s Puritans in the Civil War, and….) destroyed most of England’s heritage of books.

    Since England did not have a mythology left, Tolkien meant to create a sort of “shared world” that all English people could play in and enlarge upon, just as all the rest of Western civilization plays with its mythological stories. (And those of other people, of course! Even the Japanese, who actually have their own going pagan concern, like to play with other people’s myths!)

    Various American writers have also played with this idea of a shared American mythos or a shared American folklore. Nobody has totally succeeded (except maybe Frank L. Baum), but the results are usually fun and interesting.

  8. Kathleen10 says:

    Raymond Arroyo is a very good writer, and apparently the book is doing well with young people and parents. Look, today our children are up against terrible realities, and they are not even safe from worldly propaganda in their own classrooms, and certainly not out in the world. They need every positive thing they can get and I certainly would trust Raymond’s worldview against 99.9% of other children’s authors out there. So here is a super alternative to the diabolical material that is pushed on kids today, even by adults who love them! For the love of Pete, why snipe at Raymond for a good book. Raymond has done a great job at EWTN. Over the years he has written masterfully (his first book on Mother Angelica was excellent), and provided so much intelligent and sophisticated commentary and guests on his program and served EWTN’s audience so well over the years. It has to be very difficult in some ways for him now. Clearly EWTN has changed, primarily in the last few years and certainly seems to have lost it’s salt. It’s run by what looks like secular religious folks now, not a Catholic nun who cares deeply about the authentic message of the Gospel being taught to souls at risk, which is what we had. Why they don’t re-run the older fantastic programming I’m sure I don’t understand. The programming is now oriented toward “NewChurch” and there is very little actual informative or teaching programming now. We miss it terribly (especially since we are now down to one or two channels and sports) but we don’t blame Raymond for it, not a bit. In fact, we really thank him for his wonderful contribution to our Catholic knowledge over the years and wish him well in every endeavor. I believe he will always have Mother with him in a special way. They accomplished something unique for the glory of God, together.

  9. Ellen says:

    I teach children’s literature (and so far I have held out against the GLBT influence that is streaming in). I will look up N.D. Wilson’s books. I checked out his website and he talks about the elements of American mythos: The Tall Tale and The Superhero. His books look very interesting and I am looking forward to reading them. I have Will Wilder and the Relic of Perilous Falls on the end table and it is next in line after Off The Grid by C.J. Box.

  10. un-ionized says:

    Ellen, they were written for adolescent boys in 1900 but I enjoy Joseph Altscheler’s books, especially the French and Indian War series and Civil War series.

  11. stuart reiss says:

    @Kathleen10..You must be a fan..not a ‘snipe’ at Mr Orroyo..but simply stating an objective fact..if EWTN is to be taken seriously then plugging one’s own book whilst doing a show would not be appropriate. Perhaps its a cultural thing. We in England frown upon that sort of thing. Where EWTN is going since Mother Angelica’s death is frankly of little concern..as long as Fr Z’s alive..
    Ad Multos Annos Pater..

  12. First, let us go a little easier in Arroyo. The book has some inspiring material and we all need that these days. Also, what Mother Angelica accomplished is of huge importance for the Church in the English speaking world. Even though not all their programming is what I would prefer, there is little question that by raising the tide level everyone’s boat rose with it. There is now a globally available Catholic TV presence: amazing.

  13. Geoffrey says:

    “…if EWTN is to be taken seriously then plugging one’s own book whilst doing a show would not be appropriate…”

    This happens all the time on secular television networks. By all means, let a Catholic do it.

  14. jm says:

    ND Wilson is a Christian writer but not a Catholic one, unless you have more recent scoop than I know of… Son of Reformed celeb preacher Doug Wilson…

  15. Gail F says:

    Not exactly an American mythology, but for lots of magic and scary stuff — I LOVED his books as a teen — try John Bellairs. There is a Catholic priest in the series books too. I remember them as being wonderful. http://www.amazon.com/John-Bellairs/e/B000APZTO2

  16. I just ordered Mother Angelica: Her Grand Silence and God or Nothing (which had interested me but I was waiting for something to add to get free shipping).

  17. tealady24 says:

    I like Raymond Arroyo and always have. He is a talented writer and has had a remarkable relationship with Mother Angelica. How lucky he is! EWTN is not offering programming like they once did, but I still enjoy Marcus Grodi and Johnnette. EWTN news is what we watch every night. Much much better than network trash or Fox News bigheads.

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  19. Books just came via free 5-8 day shipping, in case anyone is interested. Now to find time to read them.

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