Books
We invite you to browse our collection of books by Loretto authors.
Books for sale by Loretto
To order a Loretto book, send a check with shipping information to:
Loretto Books (c/o Amanda Mattingly)
515 Nerinx Road
Nerinx, Ky 40049
Make check payable to Sisters of Loretto; indicate book by name on the memo line and add $4 postage (unless indicated otherwise). If you are ordering more than one book, please email us for the postage cost.
Give Me a Living Love: The Poems of Ann Manganaro SL
By Ann Manganaro SL
Ann Manganaro wrote, “I sing of the light behind the sky” (1/1/1981). In these poems, she sings, laments, shares life’s beauty and struggles. Readers will appreciate her intelligence, passion and clear sightedness. Her spirituality is deeply lived. In September 1992 she wrote in her journal, “… the writing for me is like a prayer.” In her poetry God is often encountered, addressed or questioned (I came here gasping for God as if for air. / And came to the right place it seems, for God / Hangs in the very air like incense here). Reading these poems, you will likely find yourself smiling, weeping, whispering amen. They are as alive now as when they were written.
$10 (includes S&H). Ordering info above.
Women of Spirit, Courage and Action: A collection of stories that celebrate women across generations who have worked for justice and acted for peace
Written and collected by the Loretto Feminist Network
“Stories are an important part of learning. They help us see how a life can be meaningful. They help us gain clarity on who we are and what is important to us. This book is a collection of stories you can explore. Notice justice in action!”
The Loretto Feminist Network (LFN) is pleased to offer this collection of stories about the lives of women who embody the Loretto mission to “work for justice and act for peace.”
You may read or download the digital version of the book here. LFN has chosen to make the digital version of the book available to all for free of charge. However, if you wish to make an offering, Loretto will gratefully accept donations in furtherance of our mission. Donate through this form and select “Wherever Funds Are Most Needed.”
You can learn more about the Loretto Feminist Network and/or contact members on this page.
$5 for a print copy (includes S&H). Ordering info above.
A Path to the Divine in Human Life: The Role of Chakras in Religious Dedication
By Elaine Marie Prevallet SL
In this publication, Elaine Prevallet offers her thoughtful integration of how basic human energies embodied in each of us encourage us to lead a committed life. A Path to the Divine in Human Life: The Role of the Chakras in Religious Dedication opens up new ways to explore and name commitment in these challenging times.
You may read or download the book here. Courtesy of Elaine Prevallet SL and the Loretto Community, this book is being offered free of charge. However, if you wish to make an offering, Loretto is happy to accept donations in furtherance of our mission. Donate through this form and select “Wherever Funds Are Most Needed.”
A Century of Change: 1912-2012
Initiated by PJ Manion SL
This collection of essays tells stories of the Loretto Community over the past century – documenting changes in mission and ministry, money and simplicity, educational philosophy and more. 20 Loretto authors contributed writings.
$15. Ordering info above.
For Children Cannot Wait
By Susan Carol McDonald SL
This book, printed simultaneously in English, German and French, is full of photos and information regarding orphaned children (1967-1975) during the war in Vietnam. Its focus is children with no known parents, many of whom were Amerasian. Several members of the Loretto Community were involved in the care of these children.
$25, plus $8 S&H. Ordering info above.
The Stitched Hearts of Jesus and Mary
By Rosemary Chinnici SL
This book traces the history of the founding of Loretto and includes stories of various sisters from 1812 – 1862. It also includes a chapter on Loretto spirituality and demonstrates the close relationship between Loretto spirituality and Salesian spirituality.
$20. Ordering info above.
Voices from Silence: A Loretto Patchwork
By the Loretto Class of 1962
Members of the Class of 1962 share their novitiate experiences and explore how their Motherhouse years shaped their lives. The beautifully illustrated book describes painful transitions from home to the Motherhouse; rhythms of prayer, work, play; Vatican II spirituality; celebrations; community; almost under-cover-of-night departures; and echoes of Loretto in class members’ lives.
$15. Ordering info above.
Venture into the Unknown: Loretto in China 1923-1998
By Patricia Jean Manion SL
PJ writes: “The title of this book not only speaks of the nearly 30 years Sisters of Loretto lived and worked in China, but also speaks of my experience. While writing this book my thinking in many ways was changed. I lived their lives through the more than 600 letters and memoirs that rested for years in the Loretto Archives at Nerinx, Kentucky. I experienced with them an incredible journey. I hope you, too, take the opportunity to live for a while with these women of heroic stature.”
$20. Ordering info above.
Toward a Spirituality for Global Justice: A Call to Kinship
By Elaine Prevallet SL
Quote from the book: “As Christians, we affirm that Jesus’ divinity is not a compartment separated from his body or from the rest of his life process. God cannot be wholly present in Jesus without being present to the rest of creation.”
$15. Ordering info above.
Other popular titles
Naming Our Truth: Stories of Loretto Women
Editor Ann Patrick Ware SL
Read a chapter here!
$18. Ordering info above.
Beyond the Adobe Wall
By Patricia Jean Manion SL
$14. Ordering info above.
Making the Shift: Seeing Faith Through a New Lens
by Elaine Prevallet SL
Book review here.
$6. Ordering info above.
Loretto books available from other sources
Power of Sisterhood: Women Religious Tell the Story of the Apostolic Visitation
Edited By Margaret Cain McCarthy and Mary Ann Zollmann BVM
Contributors include Donna Day SL and Cathy Mueller SL
In 2008, the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life initiated an Apostolic Visitation to examine the quality of life of women religious in the United States. “Power of Sisterhood: Women Religious Tell the Story of the Apostolic Visitation” serves as a historical record of the event and describes the experience of the women who participated in it.” Says Joan Chittister OSB, “If you really want to know what is going on between the nuns and the Vatican, read ‘Power of Sisterhood.’”
$32.99. More details and ordering information here.
On the Street
By Marianne Novak Houston CoL
“On the Street” is a collection of poems & prose poems, written over a period of years. They give voice to the histories, dreams, realities, frustrations and also the undeniable gifts and talents found among individuals whose lives are often minimalized by our descriptions of them as “the homeless,” “the marginalized,” “the poor,” “the unemployed” or “the mentally ill.”
$20. Purchasing info here.
Breaking Through the Stained Glass Ceiling: Women Religious Leaders in Their Own Words
By Maureen Fiedler SL
This collection of lively Q&A interviews with key contemporary female religious leaders focuses not only on the discrimination faced by some of the most important women in religion, but documents the emerging leadership of women in several faith traditions.
Read more at the Huffington Post.
Hidden in the Same Mystery: Thomas Merton and Loretto
Edited By Bonnie Thurston and Mary Swain SL
By including the texts of talks Thomas Merton gave to the novices at the Loretto Motherhouse, Hidden in the Same Mystery presents previously unpublished Merton materials which are a rich source of his thinking on prayer and on religious life.
$21.95. Order here.
