But increasingly he emphasized a new mission—humane care of the mentally ill.

Cornelia Connelly was born in 1809 to a wealthy Philadelphia family. In 1831 she married an Episcopal priest, Pierce Connelly, who subsequently renounced his Anglican orders and, joined by Cornelia,…

Thurman’s brand of mysticism was an intense awareness of “a conscious and direct exposure” to God, in which “we find our true dignity and the sacred core of our being.”

They instilled in her a desire to serve God through other people.

But for another America, those who shared Martin Luther King’s vision of justice and dignity for all, Viola’s sacrifice would be remembered as a milestone on the long march to freedom.

She poured herself out in service to her sisters, those in her care, and to the wider community.

As a young man, St. Abraham, who was born near Edessa in present-day Syria, felt irresistibly drawn to a life of prayer.

But he remained always a missionary

Villana soon became a Third Order Dominican, maintaining her married life while devoting what time she could to prayer and sacred reading.

During this time, he achieved both notoriety and literary fame through the publication of religious poems and a number of tracts defending the loyalty of his fellow Catholics.