Posted April 26, 2007 Book: Encounters with Holiness Author: Fr. John T. Catoir, St Pauls. New York. 2007. Pp. 176 An Excerpt from the Jacket: The last century produced an extraordinary large number of saints. Some of them have already been proposed for canonization, others, have not. In this book Father Catoir presents a number of personal encounters and “Christopher Closeup” interviews that he had over the course of the last quarter century with some of the saints who are now up for canonization, as well as with a few others who will probably never be canonized, though all of them are among the holiest people of the twentieth century. An Excerpt from the Book: Bishop Sheen on loneliness The basic cause of loneliness is the excessive desire to be loved, for this creates a loveless atmosphere. The more we seek to be loved, the less we are loved. The less we are loved, the less loveable we become. And the less lovable we become, the less capable we become of loving anyone else. Like a bird caught in a net, we deepen our own tragedy. The most immediate cure for loneliness is to show kindness to others. The search for happiness, by turning one’s back on humanity, kills happiness. The slums, the city hospitals, the missions, the unloved, the ugly, the socially disinherited — all these are potential remedies for the darkest of souls. Table of Contents: 1. Father James Keller 2. Father Walter Ciszek, SJ 3. Dorothy Day 4. Mother Teresa of Calcutta 5. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen 6. Catherine de Hueck Doherty 7. Leon-Josef Cardinal Suenens 8. Archbishop Joseph M. Raya 9. Mr. Fred Rogers 10. John Cardinal O’Connor 11. Father Bernard Haring 12. Father Harvey Steele 13. Mother Angelica