(The village of Eyries on the Beara Peninsula, southwestern Ireland)

Have you been making time in 2018 for spiritual reading? The spiritual writers recommend 15-20 minutes a day of spiritual reading...and there is an embarrassment of riches nowadays when it comes to spiritual books. Books on the virtues, books on the saints, books on the lives of Our Lord and Our Lady, abound. We can find them in hardcover, softcover, ebook (Kindle, Nook, etc.), or even have them read to us on CD or Audible! One book my father especially enjoyed years ago was This Tremendous Lover by Fr. M. Eugene Boylan, O.C.R.. Today's quote regarding reading is from that book;

"Regular reading of a suitable sort plays a more important part in the life of Catholics today, and for the educated at least, is well nigh essential for their progress if not also for their salvation. This practice ranks equally with mental prayer and the other exercises of devotion in importance and in fact it is so closely connected with these other exercises, especially the essential one of mental prayer, that without it -- unless one finds some substitute -- there is no possibility of advancing in the spiritual life; even perseverance therein is rendered very doubtful."

I posted the above rainy-day picture of a colorful village in Ireland today because I was thinking about St. Kentigern. His feastday passed those of us in the States without a glance (it was this past weekend). But when I was in the little village of Eyries a few years ago, I visited the small local church and found this sign:

The history of our holy Catholic Faith, beginning with the birth of Our Lord, and continuing down through the millenia, is fascinating to read. Because of this saint, a beautiful cliff near Eyeries is still referred to as "Kilcatherine Point." And, as we flew past the ruin of the Kilcatherine Monastery at dusk in the rain, I snapped this photo:

Okay, so it's not my best photographic moment, 😀but at least it triggers the memory. See, through the *reading* of the sign about St. Kentigern, I learned about a new heavenly friend. May our reading bring us to a closer relationship with Our Lord, His Mother and all the Saints!

St. Kentigern, pray for us!