“The Sober Catholic Way” is available on Amazon Kindle!

Take a look at my latest Sober Catholic Book: “The Sober Catholic Way,” now available at Amazon as a Kindle book. Here’s the cover (designed by my very lovely, patient and understanding wife, Rose Santuci-Sofranko.)

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“The Sober Catholic Way” helps Catholics by describing the many ways in which their faith can assist in maintaining sobriety. Drawn from nearly two decades of blogging at SoberCatholic.com, “The Sober Catholic Way” shows the importance of the sacraments, the Bible, the Catechism and other books. It continues on with the various ways one can “live” out Catholicism by nurturing devotions to the Sacred Heart, Blessed Virgin Mary, and other saints. All of these contribute to sobriety as well as one’s spiritual progression!

Discover the importance of the Real Presence, the Rosary, the Stations of the Cross, St. Joseph, St. Therese (the “Little Flower”) and Matt Talbot. You’ll get ideas on how to apply the Beatitudes, the Divine Mercy Message, as well as learning about the Apparitions of Our Lady at Guadalupe, Lourdes and Fatima and how they can guide one’s life.

“The Sober Catholic Way” is a basic handbook on how anyone can live a sober life. This book does not guarantee anything, but doing these things have helped the author keep his sobriety intact since May 22, 2002. Will he ever drink again? Quite unlikely, but the tools to help recover from a relapse are in every chapter! The love and mercy of God is everlasting and endless!

I am working on a paperback version, as well as additional print and digital distribution avenues. Check back for updates! Oh, yeah, GO BUY A COPY!!! 🙂 (And thank you!)

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

The Sign of the Cross Apostolate

 I have been delving deeper into EWTN’s programming since I posted the other day about Mother Angelica is as helpful and inspiring today as she was decades ago. I have also begun exploring their programming on Lourdes (an obvious devotion for anyone who is an alcoholic and addict or is otherwise afflicted with physical and emotional maladies.) I found this series from a few short years ago: My Lourdes Faith Journey. It is like a companion to this book: Everyday Miracles Of Lourdes – Twenty Extraordinary Experiences Along The Way To The Grotto

Both are products of the work of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality North American Volunteers. Many of the chapters of the book serve as episodes of the “My Lourdes Faith Journey” program. One in particular stood out for me. At the end of Episode 5- Jamie Jensen, Mr Jensen (a quadriplegic who’s been to Lourdes well over a dozen times and serves on the Board of Advisors to the Hospitality NA Volunteers group) casually mentioned about a “Sign of the Cross Apostolate.” I couldn’t find any website, not even a page on the Volunteers Hospitality  site, but that might be because it’s very simple and probably spreads by word of mouth by those who participate in the Volunteers Hospitality pilgimages. 

Here’s some background: Our Lady of Lourdes North American Volunteers is an apostolate dedicated to arranging pilgrimages to Lourdes for North Americans who need to immerse themselves in the baths, visit the grotto, and obtain a physical, mental or spiritual healing. They are based in Syracuse, NY (not too far from my hometown of Oneida!) The book, “Everyday Miracles of Lourdes” details 21 stories of healing and conversion. The EWTN series “My Lourdes Faith Journey,” like I said above, is about many of those stories. Marlene Watkins, the host of the show and author of the book, interviews the pilgrims. It’s quite a wonderful, uplifting experience. 

Now, about the Sign of the Cross Apostolate. Mr. Jensen refers to it near the end of the episode he’s featured on. Since he is a quadriplegic, he cannot physically make the Sign of the Cross. People have to do it for him. He said in the book’s chapter on him as well as on the show, that if he could  move his arms only once, it would be to make the Sign of the Cross. 

The Sign of the Cross is an important part of the Lourdes devotion because St. Bernadette said that it is the path to Heaven when done with devotion and piety. The Sign of the Cross is also important when you consider the words:

“In the Name of the Father,

and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen””

Whenever you pray ‘In the name of,’ such as praying in the Name of Jesus (“In Jesus’ Name!”) and so forth, you are submitted to the authority contained in that name. In essence, when  making the Sign of the Cross, you are inviting the Will of God into your life and and are subjecting your prayers to His authority. You may get the things you prayed for or you may not. It’s all up to whether it’s a part of God’s Will for you. So, when you make the Sign of the Cross, you are inviting the Trinity. (I think you are also inviting the Blessed Mother in since being the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, she is an integral part of the Trinity. St. Maximilian Kolbe wrote extensively on her ‘Quasi-Trinitarian participation in a quasi-hypostatic union’ – or something like that – with the Trinity since she is the Daughter of God the Father, Mother of God the Son, and Spouse of the Holy Spirit.) 

Many people cannot make the Sign of the Cross because of their physical disability. Many people cannot do it in certain countries because it’ll mean imprisonment or death. This kind of shamed me (not a bad thing; the world can use a greater awareness of ‘shame’) since I am a rather casual Sign of the Cross maker. 

THAT is the Sign of the Cross Apostolate. Making the Sign of the Cross for those who cannot. That’s it. No special prayers or writings or devotions. Just make the Sign of the Cross for those who cannot. 

So, every time I make the Sign of the Cross, whether in private or in public (a courageous act!) I will do it with this in mind. Not only for my salvation, as per St. Bernadette’s conviction, but for all of those who cannot do it for whatever reason. 

You should too! Spread the word about this!

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

The Pilgrims of the Living Water (Pelerins del Eau Vive)

Once upon a time (I’ve ALWAYS wanted to begin a post or a story with those words) three women attended a meeting of the Charismatic Renewal in Lourdes, France. This is the site of one of the most visited Marian Apparition shrines in the world. The Blessed Virgin Mary had appeared there to a poor, uneducated peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous eighteen times in late Winter through Spring, 1858.

This is not that story. It is the story of the three women and an organization they started in France in 1979 that helps people become liberated from alcoholism.

Marion Cahour, a doctor specializing in alcoholism, was accompanied by two friends, Marie-Claire, who was a recently retired nurse with an enthusiasm for people, and Zélie, a mother of six children.

The story goes that while at Lourdes during this Renewal they were confronted by an alcoholic hotel hostess who had repeatedly insulted them after they returned to their hotel room. Now, Marion Cahour’s father had died from alcoholism in 1922 when she was just 14. She later entered medical school and worked with alcoholics throughout her career. (By the way, in 1979 she was 71 years of age. Just like Mother Angelica who started EWTN at the age of 58, this shows that one is never too old to begin something that establishes a legacy.) They hit upon an idea during the torchlight procession, that of turning to Jesus to free people from alcoholism. They created a cardboard sign with the words:

“Jesus Savior heal us of alcohol, Thank you!”

 The sign and their public declaration were reportedly well received given that they were not expelled from the solemn ceremony. To quote from their website (links at the end of this post):

When they arrived at the Crowned Virgin, the master of ceremonies came to pick them up and brought them up the whole esplanade to place them on one of the side stairs of the basilica, in the middle of the banner carriers, just below a large lamppost so that they can be seen everywhere.

“Keep straight, carry the sign high,” his friends blew him, but the advice was useless. Thousands and thousands of eyes converged on them, on this sign, an unusual cry of misery and hope. When the Salvation ceremony at the Blessed Sacrament was completed, the cord of the many bishops in red or purple dresses at the foot of the basilica turned around and discovered them. One of them detached himself and came to them: “I congratulate you, ladies, he told them, for your courage and faith, it is above all this word “THANK YOU” that strikes me. (It was already a sign of recognition from our Church).

“Stay straight, hold the sign up,” his friends blew to him.

Then they were overwhelmed by a crowd of pilgrims from all sides, especially by groups of Italian and Spanish women, who shouted “alcohol-alcohol” while kissing their hands. For the three of her, it was a novelty. Their eyes got wet and after two hours they were still on the spot.

 They returned in 1980 with family and friends burdened by alcoholism. The nascent movement, obviously infused by the Holy Spirit and encouraged by His Immaculate Spouse, the Blessed Virgin Mary, began. The Mission of the Pilgrims of Living Water (Pelerins del Eau Vive in French) was born!

 From their site:

We are a Catholic mission that has existed since 1979, at the service of alcohol patients and their families, believers or unbelievers, who are either sick or have relatives who suffer from this disease (called codependents). It was created by Marion Cahour (see history of our mission) and is a Catholic mission constituted as a private association of the faithful, recognized by the Bishop of Nantes. Our foundation and spirituality place them in the Health Pastoral Care deployed in the Catholic Church

The Pilgrims of the Living Water are groups of Christians experienced by the ravages of alcohol, sick or codependent, whether in their personal lives, in that of their families or friends.

Cahour had the notion that alcoholism is a disease of the soul. 

“…at the origin of this dependence, there is a disease of the soul”

-Marion Cahour, The Pilgrims of the Living Water founder

I agree completely with this! I’ve written before on that and you’ve probably heard on your own about how people have a “hole in the soul” and they yearn to fill it. Many fill it by inappropriate means such as addictions, sex, drugs, and a host of other things which all have one thing in common: they do not fill that “hole in the soul.” That hole can only be filled by one thing: God.

Eau Vive meets once a week for 90 minutes in support groups called “Hearts,” to share, listen, and pray the Rosary. They also recite the “Prayer of the Glass of Water.”

 It refers to the Gospel of the Samaritan woman according to Saint John ch 4, v10 and 13.

“If you knew the gift of God and who is the one who says to you: “Give me a drink”, it was you who would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

Jesus answered: “Whoever drinks from this water from the well will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks from this water that I will give him, will never thirst again.”

This is also done at home in a private ceremony:

Every evening: (because the victory of the next day is won the night before)

Fill a glass of water by reciting the “Our Father” so that it becomes the glass of water given to the Samaritan.

Every morning: when you wake up, swallow it in confidence by saying:

“Jesus the savior, heal me of alcohol. Thank you” and then reciting the “Prayer of the Glass of Water:”

My God, come to my help

Lord to my rescue.

With the help of the Holy Spirit,

I decide to prefer today

Jesus Christ, my savior to my alcohol.

Blessed Virgin Mary,

I put my choice in your hands.

Pray that I will hold on,

O my father from heaven,

Hear my sick cry,

Take pity on me,

And give me the courage

To start this prayer again tomorrow.

Our Lady of Impossible Missions

Pray for us.

“Jesus Savior

heal us

of alcohol

Thank you!”

Finally, they work in a spirit of communion and reparation in something called the “Living Water of the Glorious Cross.” The…

…pilgrims of the Living Water of the Glorious Cross … offer in the communion of the saints their present sufferings to support the sick and their families wounded by this “ALCOHOL” scourge.

They will pray more particularly for those who struggle and hang out in a long fight of relapses, not to mention those who have died or will die without having experienced the release of their drug. They are entrusted with the great intentions of the Mission and the friends whose journey is the most difficult.

This mystical and contemplative branch will be the best lightning rod against the mortal danger of any division within the mission of the “Pilgrims of the Living Water”.

I learned about this group while reading a book on the 150th Anniversary of the Apparition of Lourdes; containing 150 ‘miraculous stories’ of healing and conversion, as well as stories of particular importance to the growth of the Shrine of Lourdes, one of these stories was about a man who ‘had it all’ and lost it because of the drink. He had a conversion experience while homeless in Paris when he chanced upon a Catholic Church where young people were praying the Rosary with some homeless people. He prayed for deliverance, the people took him in and helped get his life together and he joined Eau Vive.

You may have noticed that the “Prayer of the Pilgrims of Living Water” harkens to the Matt Talbot Way method of transferring your love for alcohol onto Jesus: ”

“With the help of the Holy Spirit, I decide to prefer today Jesus Christ, my savior to my alcohol.”

The links I promised, follow. They are all in French, but most modern browsers have a translation function. Please make use of it because the information is quite wonderful and useful!

Their homepage: Pelerins del Eau Vive

Their history: History of the Mission

Their program of recovery: What do we offer?

Their locations: Our ‘Hearts’  (None in the United States or Canada, alas. All appear to be in French-speaking countries.)

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

More on the “Sacred Heart Prayer Book” by “Brother James”

This Sacred Heart Friday post is an update about something from earlier this year.

In “Mother Angelica and the Sacred Heart” I mentioned her using the ‘Sacred Heart Prayer Book.’

Something about the book intrigued me and I made some inquiries. I contacted SS Peter and Paul Parish parish in San Francisco where Brother James was when the book was published and asked if they knew anything about him or the book. The only thing they were able to tell me was that Br. James had left the Salesians quite some time ago. My contact (and I can’t tell from the name they are male or female, the first name sounds like a surname) has been with the parish since 2000 and had thought Brother James left around 1990. The person also told me that they get an inquiry about the book every 3-5 years! The contact suggested I try the Salesians provincial office for that region. And so I did! I got a reply within a few hours! Salesians are really on the ball in responding to inquiries right away! I’m impressed!  

Brother James’ real name is James Marolus, and I was told that he left the Salesians ‘a number of years ago.’ The Sacred Heart Prayer Book was self-published; which explains why the publisher’s name no longer comes up anywhere: if it had been a regular publisher there would have been a bigger ‘paper trail’ on the Internet. Anyway, after leaving the Salesians, Br. Marolus ‘found a benevolent Bishop’ who ordained him a priest. Father Marolis ended up in Florida, where he exercised his priestly ministry for a number of years. The Salesians person who wrote to me admitted not knowing much beyond that, except that Fr. Marolis became sick and died.

I ran his name through Google search, DuckDuckGo, and StartPage. Much of what I learned confirmed everything I was told. He is not listed on any obituary site that I ran his name through. If he is still alive, 

then he’d be 94 or 95. (This does not mean that the Salesian was incorrect about him being dead. He did admit to not knowing much and perhaps they assumed he’s dead?) And these ‘name lookup’ sites are notoriously incorrect: some of them list my sister as being alive despite her dying in 1988.

I have made further inquiries through people I know with contacts with the Salesians, but so far nothing’s turned up. If anything changes, I’ll update this post.

The book is no longer in print, and its availability online varies.  (You will have to do a search for “Sacred Heart Prayer Book Brother James” or variations on that to distinguish it from the thousands of books with similar titles.) 

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

“Life of Matt Talbot,” by Sir Joseph Aloysius Glynn

While looking randomly around CatholicSaintsInfo for random information on random saints, I ran across a free download of an ebook on the Venerable Matt Talbot! Entitled, “Life of Matt Talbot,” by Sir Joseph Aloysius Glynn:

Cover Life of Matt Talbot

 

The text of these files is taken from the book Life of Matt Talbot, by Sir Joseph Aloysius Glynn, first published in 1928. The edition used was printed by the Catholic Truth Society of Ireland in 1942.

Source:

CatholicSaints.Info » Blog Archive » Life of Matt Talbot, by Sir Joseph Aloysius Glynn

For the link to download it, go here: LINK TO THE DOWNLOAD OPTIONS

Please note the first option didn’t work, but the download link to the Google Docs and the Archive.org link works.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

The Catholicpunk Manifesto is now available in paperback!!!

My new book, inspired by St. Maximilian Kolbe and my way of working out Total Consecration to Mary, is now available in paperback through Amazon! Some of you were waiting for this! (Thank you in advance!)

AMAZON LINK TO PURCHASE THE PAPERBACK!! 

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For info on where you can purchase the ebook version (available NOW!) visit: The Catholicpunk Manifesto

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

The Catholicpunk Manifesto is available all over the place!!!

The other day I announced a new book I wrote. Well, distribution of The Catholicpunk Manifesto has increased! You can now obtain an ebook copy for yourself through Amazon Kindle and through (as of now) a half-dozen or so other digital publishing sites via Books2Read: click here for the list of these additional options.

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There will be a paperback version, but I have to work out some issues with Amazon and Draft2Digital. The paperback edition should be available (hopefully) within a week or two? NOTE: Draft2Digital is a company that offers self-publishing opportunities to a growng number of people who seek to diversify away from (or in addition to) Amazon. I love Amazon, most of my sales for The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics and The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts come from them. But, it is prudent not to have all your beer bottles on one cooler, as they say, and Draft2Digital offers distribution to a wide array of epub sites. For those ‘in the know,’ I had used Smashwords previously as my Amazon alternative; Draft2Digital acquired Smashwords in 2021 and is slowly merging accounts. Within a few months, by Smashwords account will be merged into my Draft2Digital one, and my Smashwords storefront will have a new look.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

ANNOUNCEMENT!! NEW BOOK!!!! “The Catholicpunk Manifesto: ‘Creatives of Catholicism, unite! You have everything to gain, especially souls!'”

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I hinted at being busy with a new project that interfered a bit with posting to this blog. Well, I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT!!!! I have written a new book. It isn’t recovery related, but it can be useful to you if you’ve sobered and cleaned up and now want to know what to do with the rest of  your life. It was inspired by some thinking done over the past few years, and was the subject of two recent blogposts, which  this book combines and greatly expands upon.

 

A N N O U N C I N G :

 

The Catholicpunk Manifesto: “Creatives of Catholicism, unite! You have everything to gain, especially souls!”

From the book description:

“The Catholicpunk Manifesto is a call to arms, or rather, a call to pens, paintbrushes, and video cameras, for creative Catholics to take up St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe’s call to infiltrate pop culture and help alleviate the ills that pervade contemporary society. St. Maximilian saw back in the 1920s how the use of cinema, radio, and mass-market books was corrupting society. He thought that those same tools could be used as a force to counter this corruption. The Catholicpunk Manifesto tells how the teachings of the Catholic Faith can be used to provide a road map out of our current morass and a blueprint to build a more just and fair society constructed according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy and other elements of traditional Catholic Social Teachings (CST).

A Catholicpunker is someone who Catholicpunks. Catholicpunk is, to borrow from the Manifesto:

“…a literary and artistic form that seeks to mak

e use of Catholic Social Teachings to lead the world away from the cliff of self-destruction it is heading towards…

The ‘-punk’ suffix as typically used in literary and artistic forms suggests a countercultural, anti-establishment, and anti-authoritarian ethic.

Think of ‘cyberpunk,’ ‘steampunk,’ ‘solarpunk,’ and so forth.

Therefore, ‘Catholicpunk’ utilizes countercultural values in opposition to secularist and modernist mores and values. It is anti-establishment inasmuch as it defies the increasingly centralized authority of modern governments and the intrusive reach of corporations and is anti-authoritarian based on Catholicism’s traditional opposition to dictatorships.

Catholicpunk addresses how the future might look if humanity survives the contemporary social and moral collapse plaguing the Western world and the poverty and oppression prevalent in the Global South and the East. Catholicpunk illustrates how applying CST solves major contemporary challenges made by globalism, militarism, and the anti-life and sexual libertine agendas. When Catholicpunk emphasizes sustainability, it will be with an eye towards responsible management of resources so that there will be plenty for future generations, and not through restrictions on population such as aggressive birth control and abortion agendas. People from womb to tomb will be viewed as resources to be cherished and valued, not as parasites or polluters.

Catholicism is the purest form of counter-cultural expression there is today. Catholicpunkers capitalize on this… and inspire people and give them a way out.”

Are you a creatively inclined Catholic? Are you an aspiring writer or musician, do you write poetry in secret, do you want to go to Hollywood and sell a spec script for millions, or did you draw on walls when you were little and never could color within the lines but loved drawing and coloring anyway, despite the critical opinions of others?”

Then you need to be a Catholicpunker, find other Catholicpunkers and mutually support one another in Catholicpunking! Buy and read one another’s works, listen to Catholicpunk music, watch Catholicpunk videos, support Catholicpunk painters, and so forth.”

This book can hopefully inspire you to get going and start creating and applying your Catholic faith to your works! Become a Catholicpunker!”

It’s available for $5.99 through this link: The Catholicpunk Manifesto. It will be available as a paperback within a few weeks (updates on that as I get them) and also through other online vendors. When those are completed, I’ll post updates. 

The book has it’s own Page: The Catholicpunk Manifesto Page on Paul Sofranko Space.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Creativity and the Immaculate Heart

Continuing along with yesterday’s post; on this Immaculate Heart Saturday, think about the ways in which you can use your creative aspirations to lead people through Mary and onward to Jesus. Mary participated in the creation of Jesus in His sacred Humanity when she said ‘Yes,’ to the Angel Gabriel and the Holy Spirit overshadowed her and Jesus was conceived in her most holy womb. Allow Mary to work with you; allow yourself to be a pen or paintbrush in her hands and use your God-given talents to win souls for Jesus.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Creativity and leading souls to Jesus

Creativity can be a divine grace; with it we participate in the divine act of creation. The ultimate act is procreation, of course, but the art of writing fiction and poetry, painting and making music can also be a grace if it leads people to God. 

Creativity can be therapeutic, it can also be redemptive in that its inspiration can convert souls.

For this Sacred Heart Friday, think about ways any creative aspirations you might have can lead people to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)