- January 5, 2018 Sister Stories
Speaking about this book, Sister Mary shared, “It’s really exciting to have all of this together. Each Sister of St Joseph knows our own great characters but we don’t know one another, and we didn’t know how much they worked together. I think it is going to be really fun for us to read this and talk about what got us started.”
Sister Marcia Allen, CSJ, a member of the reading committee for this book has this to say: “This story of the origins of the Communities of St. Joseph in the United States is mesmerizing, to say the least. McGlone expertly attends the details with thoroughness and scholarship and artfully limns the fluidity, the audacity, the tenacity and the persistence of the founding women who from decade to decade moved with the exigencies of the 19th and early 20th centuries. At times their motive was mere survival and then again it was the passion for those in need. This book will prove inspiring for any reader, particularly for Sisters of St. Joseph and their friends. Scholars will find direction for further exploration in McGlone’s generous and comprehensive footnotes.”
From a communicator’s point of view, Sister Joanne Gallagher shared, “This first volume of the history of the Sisters of St. Joseph in the United States capsulizes significant moments, thoughts, patterns, threads, and available facts into a remarkable journey marked by clarity and vision. The women who shaped our history come alive as their stories unfold. We meet dozens of spirit-filled, but very human, women who faced unimaginable challenges as they crisscrossed North America with courage and creativity for the sole purpose of serving the “dear neighbor” wherever needed. Where precise documentation is scanty, Mary McGlone fills in the spaces with plausible assumptions that entice the reader to connect past, present, and future into an evolving vision of what is to come.”
Sister Mary noted, “Just as Pope Francis said that pastors needed to have the smell of their sheep, I recognized that I was part of the same flock in each motherhouse I visited. Differences among us are not much bigger than the differences within each congregation.”
Dr. Carol Coburn, a chronicler of religious life in the United States, said, “Like a diamond, this book has many facets. It is a story of spirit-filled women who responded directly to the needs of others. It is a story of women’s leadership, power, advocacy, struggle, adaptation and change. It is the story of the Sisters of St. Joseph who created a powerful religious and social movement that spanned over three centuries and thousands of miles. And ultimately, this book and these stories answer the question of what women are capable of – everything.”
Cost for the book is $21.99. The book is available through Bookbaby, in hard copy, soft copy or as an E-Book at https://store.bookbaby.com/book/Anything-of-Which-a-Woman-Is-Capable. Use coupon code 1836 for a discount on the hard/soft copies. Or, for a soft copy, contact Sister Mary McGlone directly at [email protected].