San Damiano Books

"Gerry renounces the facile role of guilty bystander to wrestle with the dark angels of his own and the world's sins. He is on his knees, waiting for a mercy he knows he can't manufacture for himself, much less for those whose impoverishment cannot quickly be relieved. He has discovered a mirror for his spiritual dereliction in the thousands of faces his camera has recorded." -Jonathan Montaldo, editor, Dialogues with Silence by Thomas Merton The Sunrise of the Soul is the fruit of the last 24 years of an unexpected new life and journey of transformation that took Gerry Straub from the glamour of Hollywood to a crowded slum in Haiti where he operates a home of hope and healing for abandoned kids. After more than four years of intense work in Haiti, he began to turn his attention to his own inner spiritual poverty. In the predawn darkness of each Haitian morning he waits, reflects, and prays. This book emerged slowly from those many hours of silence.

The Complete Prayers of St. Francis and St. Clare, with Selections from Brother Juniper, St. Anthony of Padua, and Other Early Franciscans We do not immediately associate Francis and Clare with prayer and praying. St. Francis, according to the most common legends, rarely sat still. St. Clare did, more so, but that was probably mostly because of the convent and the grille and the conventions of the time: she couldn't be a walkabout friar. However, they did sit still. And they stood. And they danced. And they fasted. And they sang. In all these ways, Francis and Clare prayed for hours each day, as did the brothers and sisters who came after them on the Franciscan way. This prayer book gathers the stories and words of the prayer life and prayers of these remarkable Christians.

Clare of Assisi is generally known as "the female friend" of Saint Francis of Assisi and for centuries her legacy has remained obscured by his shadow. Yet Clare's life and story ought to shine in its own light and on its own terms (her name, after all, means "light"). She is a figure of true heroism, tenacity, beatitude and grit who plotted her improbable course in the context of the raucous and explosive period of the Middle Ages. Much went wrong for Clare after the day when, as a teen, she fled the home of her noble and wealthy family to follow Francis in a life of poverty. No one would have begrudged her if, when the trials had become onerous, she had decided simply to "go home." Yet she stayed the course, even after Francis had died. She pulled from the fire of her trials embers that would become her crown. In this new book, Wendy Murray digs deeply into Clare's decision to abandon rank and wealth for allegiance to Christ (and in no small way, Francis) and explores the circumstances which, later on, tested Clare's devotion. Clare's curious and vivid spiritual vision galvanized her ability to persevere amid difficult circumstances and enabled her to stay her course and lay claim to a legacy that shines brightly among the host of medieval saints.

There is no book quite like this if you know a little bit about St. Francis and want to know more. Each chapter describes a pilgrimage to a place in Italy that's central to Francis's biography written by one of his most literary modern biographers. Greccio, Cortona, Assisi, and La Verna were dear to Francis and his early companions-and come alive in these pages. JØrgensen offers a glimpse into a bygone world, and inspiration to all who seek to follow the way of St. Francis today. "As I kneeled amid those barefooted, brown-habited friars, who in the darkness raised their hands and their hearts to heaven in voiceless prayer, I realized more vividly than ever before what the Middle Ages were-how far removed the twentieth century was-how far away beyond the crest of the mountains was the modern world, and how remote the great, busy towns, with their glare and noise, unrest and endless amusements, seemed." (From the Book)

Franciscan Lectio is for all those on a spiritual journey who long to see the world more beautifully and deeply and become more attentive and present. "This unique Franciscan reader is like nothing else in its field-and so well put together!" -Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M. An ancient tradition dating back to the third century, lectio divina has long served as an avenue of contemplative prayer, but the practice has often been systematized, intellectualized, or only practiced by monastics. Few authors have attempted to universalize lectio using contemporary language or approach it from a Franciscan perspective. St. Paul says that the Word of God is alive and active in our hearing, and if the incarnation is true, then the Word can be experienced in all places. Lectio, therefore, is not only a spiritual practice for reading sacred texts but can be applied to any felt experience. Our experiences, too, are sacred: we need only to acknowledge their depth and beauty. In the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, we can see the God of all creation who has always been "hidden in plain sight"-a presence that shows forth in every created thing. In Franciscan Lectio, Fr. Dan Riley comes alongside us in our own encounters with lectio and inspires our spiritual imagination through story, art, poetry, nature, Franciscan mysticism, and Scripture - helping us to see that all of life is unitive and sacred.