Daily Excerpt: Sula and the Franciscan Sisters (Sula) - The Sisters, Their Convent Home and Work, and Our Mission

 



Excerpt from Sula and the Franciscan Sisters - The Sisters, Their Convent Home and Work, and Our Mission


A long time ago, the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement, as an order, were not Catholic; they were Anglican. Then, they became Catholic. As Franciscans, they found their way to Old Mission San Juan Bautista, a Franciscan Mission established by St. Junipero Serra and Franciscan friars from Mexico in 1797. The Franciscan sisters came later. Once here, they helped the parishioners, other people, the cats who came to visit them at the convent, like my friend Julius, and, of course, me.

The Franciscans are a mendicant order. That means that they work. Some orders are cloistered—they spend their time inside all the time, praying. Some orders teach; the Jesuits like to teach. The Franciscans teach, too. The Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement at San Juan Bautista have taught at the St. Benedict School in nearby Hollister. They also have taught catechism, Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, and served as a source of information and inspiration for the Monday night bilingual prayer group. They know a lot; everybody at our Mission has learned a lot from them.

To understand the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement, you have to know who St. Francis is because he was the great-great-great times many greats spiritual grandfather of our Mission and of the Sisters of the Atonement. They follow the Rule of St. Francis. The building of our Mission by the local Mutsun Indians (fun fact for Trekkies—their language is the basis for Klingon) was overseen by the Franciscans, who to this day follow the Rule of St. Francis. (The Rule follows the guidelines that St. Francis wrote for his community in the 1200s, even before he was a saint.)

There are a lot of stories about St. Francis. You can read about some of them in my book, Saints I Know. Many other books about St. Francis tell other stories though perhaps some are more legend than true stories. One thing for sure, St. Francis liked nature and animals. I talked to him every morning after daily Mass in the Mission garden; it started my day out right.

I know that the Franciscan sisters talked to him a lot, too, though they may not have come and sat at his feet literally like I did. Figuratively, though…

So, this book is about a Franciscan Mission, with Franciscan sisters, a Franciscan cat, and lots of Franciscan statues. I will share pictures of all of that with you in this book.


To read more posts about Sula and her books, click HERE.


Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter

Follow MSI Press on Twitter, Face Book, and Instagram. 

Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC?
Check out information on how to submit a proposal.

Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book
 in exchange for reviewing a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book?
Contact editor@msipress.com.

Want an author-signed copy of this book?
Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In Memoriam: Carl Don Leaver

Image
  1948-2021 It is with great sadness that MSI Press notes the death of Carl Leaver, CEO of the Press and typesetter and graphic designer par excellence . Many authors have expressed not only condolences but also a sense of legacy from covers he designed that they love.  Here is his obituary: On August 16, 2021, Carl Don Leaver of San Juan Bautista passed into eternal rest. A forester with the US Forest Service in Idaho and Montana, he turned to nature photography while working in the Bitterroot National Forest. His photographs graced national magazine covers and on a weekly basis the local paper of Hamilton, MT, the Ravalli Republican. He later worked on photography projects for the US Army (AFEES) and taught photography at the New York Institute of Technology in Amman, Jordan. His final career change led him to computer graphics and publishing as co-owner of MSI Press LLC; his many typeset books and book covers have helped MSI Press authors win a large number of awards over the years,
Read more

A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: Book Marketing vs Book Promotion

Image
It is Tuesday. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side.  Today's post looks at the difference between book marketing and book promotion, two terms that are frequently confused. Leading to the confusion is that some of the same activities are needed for both. In fact, good marketing is dependent upon good promotion. Perhaps the essential difference is that marketing focuses on sales, and promotion focuses on awareness --  noting that without awareness, sales generally do not happen. Book Marketing Book marketing includes promotion, sales, and increasing awareness of the availability of the book. It generally starts with a marketing plan that identifies the target audiences and selects marketing t
Read more