These meditations on the famous prayer of St. Ignatius by a Poor Clare nun and well-regarded spiritual writer will help every reader deepen his prayer life and draw closer to the Person of Christ. Popes, saints, and common folk have made this their daily prayer for centuries. Let the Abbess of cloistered nuns help you reflect deeper on the profound thoughts of this prayer that are needed to shape a devout life in Christ.
Beneath the surface verbal expressions of this familiar prayer lie depths of meaning for which each unfolding petition prepares the next until arrival at the final all-comprehensive plea that God should call us to Himself and admit us into the eternal choir singing His praises. The unending joyous cry of the blessed taught by the ageless cry of the angels: Holy! Holy! Holy! is rehearsed on earth in the haunting reaches of this so simple and so profound prayer: "Anima Christi".

Anima Christi: Soul of Christ

Religion & Spirituality

Francis P.C.C., Mother Mary

Worship & Devotion

Ignatius Press

Among the many topics addressed by the Second Vatican Council was the need for the renewal of religious life. Some forty years later, many religious orders of women are dying out, begging the question: Did the reforms of Vatican II help the religious orders become more fruitful, or did they plant the seeds of destruction?
In writing this work, Mother Mary Francis, P.C.C., carefully and prayerfully examined the decree on religious life promulgated by the Council Fathers and uncovered its noble meaning and purpose. With her penetrating eye and thoughtful reflection, Mother goes to the heart of the document, Perfectae Caritatis, and finds there the calling to pursue perfect love―though chastity, poverty and obedience―that Christ himself extends to those disciples who would follow him more closely.
This book is a timely volume on this important topic for religious life in the Church. For Catholics who want to discover how the religious life can be restored, this is a fine place to start.

Chastity, Poverty and Obedience: Recovering the Vision for the Renewal of Religious Life

Christian Books & Bibles

Mother Mary Francis, abbess of a Poor Clare Monastery for over forty years, left an enduring legacy in her writings and in the conferences she gave to her spiritual daughters. In this work she presents beautiful meditations on the liturgical season of Lent, revealing the treasures of the liturgy to Christians in all walks of life. Her insight into Holy Scripture and her poet's heart engendered reflections that illuminate the daily Mass readings in a fresh and attractive way.
These meditations enlighten the reader to see conversion as positive and enriching, and help us to understand that the generous embrace of Lenten penance has a purpose and brings a wondrous reward: deeper union with God. She was a true daughter of Saint Francis of Assisi, who found perfect joy by turning away from self to God.
As a spiritual guide, Mother Mary Francis excels in the art of persuasion, aware that the human heart cannot be forced but only gently led to holiness. She makes this goal attractive and desirable by tirelessly explaining why striving for holiness is the happiest and wisest way to live. This book provides a wealth of material for plundering the riches of the Lenten season and for deepening one's spiritual life. Her meditations are profound and timeless, not changing from year to year, thus providing a lifetime of Lenten meditations in this one volume.

A Time of Renewal: Daily Reflections for the Lenten Season

This is a beautiful book of meditations on Our Lady based on the Litany of the Blessed Virgin and on her Magnificat prayer. It also contains reflections for all the major feasts and solemnities of Mary, as well as poetry centered on the Mother of God. These meditations come from the profound prayer of a holy contemplative nun, which gives a unique unction to her reflections because they are inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The great St. Bernard of Clairvaux said, "Of Mary there is never enough", and in the spiritually and morally challenging times that we live, these powerful Marian meditations will give us the wisdom, love, hope and strength we need to pick up our daily crosses and win the battle of life.
Acclaimed spiritual writer Mother Mary Francis speaks with an intimate familiarity of the Mother of God, and you will feel that same closeness to Mary after reading these soul stirring reflections. This book will be a vade mecum for all those who seek a deeper closeness with Jesus through his Mother.
This Poor Clare abbess, gifted with a brilliant intellect and a poet's heart, lived in abiding relationship with Our Lord and Our Lady during a monastic life spanning 63 years. In these pages you will discover the wondrous secret that walking with Our Lady day by day is the unending cause of our joy.

Cause of Our Joy: Walking Day by Day with Our Lady

Can the hidden, silent life of a cloistered nun be a fulfilling one—let alone, to use the whimsical word of Christ himself, a merry one? In the pithy and profound pages of A Right to Be Merry, Mother Mary Francis, P.C.C., reveals the the crosses and the joys of that cloistered life. 
Only those who have actually lived the cloistered life can fully appreciate how intertwined are the lives of contemplative nuns. Their hearts may be as “wide as the universe and bottomless as eternity,” yet in the practical details of daily life they must operate and cooperate, work and pray, suffer and celebrate, all within a strict enclosure and all for the sanctification of the world. Removed from this world, they still have “as great a right to be merry as any lady in the world.” “Hidden away from the glare and noise of worldly living,” Mother Mary Francis writes, “we are enclosed in the womb of Holy Church. I walk down the cloisters, and my heart moves to a single tune: Lord, it is good, so good to be here!”

A Right to Be Merry

Cluny Media

“The common denominator for every kind of love there is”: so Mother Mary Francis, P.C.C., says of friendship. In eight simple yet profound reflections, But I Have Called You Friends discourses on Christian friendship, its nature and necessity in every vocation, its challenges and its joys. Originally delivered in the late 1960s and early 1970s to the Poor Clares in Roswell, New Mexico, the benefit of these reflections is by no means limited to that time and place; rather, as stated in the Foreword, their “timeless principles of friendship” will “help anyone who seeks a deepened understanding of the mystery of loving and being loved.” 
Succinct and inspiring, But I Have Called You Friends is ideal reading for those living or discerning the vocations of marriage, priesthood, or religious life, as well as for all who have heard Christ’s invitation to friendship with him.

But I Have Called You Friends: Reflections on the Art of Christian Friendship

Parenting & Relationships

Come, Lord Jesus: Meditations on the Art of Waiting

My Beloved Is Mine and I Am His: Meditations on Brideship for Women Religious

Cluny

Strange Gods Before Me

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Books by Francis P.C.C., Mother Mary