Madeleine Delbrêl

"There are some people whom God takes and sets apart," observes Venerable Madeleine Delbr l (1904-1964), but "there are others whom he leaves in the masses and whom he does not withdraw from the world. These are people who do ordinary jobs, who have an ordinary household or an ordinary single life. . . . We, the ordinary people of the streets, believe with all our might that this street, that this world where God has placed us, is, for us, the site of our holiness." French poet, social worker, and lay missionary Madeleine Delbr l knew that Christ's unspeakable goodness touches the smallest, most forgotten corners of our everyday world--the laundry, the checkout counter, the commute. His word shines before us "while we walk in the street, while we do our work, while we peel our vegetables, while we wait for a phone call, while we sweep our floors. We see it glow between two of our neighbor's sentences and between two letters to write, when we wake up and when we go to sleep." Yet prayer alone gives us the eyes to see it. This book gathers together essays and notes written by Delbr l during her most active years, giving peerless insights into the distinctive lay vocation in the Church. All men and women--married and unmarried--must follow the Holy Spirit into all that is true in this world, from the small talk around the coffeepot to the great silence of the Holy Eucharist. "The holy Church expects saints," she tells us, "and saints are those who love."

"Everything is so beautiful when we look at it with a little love," wrote the French social worker and poet Madeleine Delbr l (1904-1964), whom the Vatican named Venerable in 2018. Through the convulsions of the twentieth century, she made her home in one of the most brutal towns of Europe--the Communist-run Parisian suburb of Ivry. But to her shock, she saw the dazzling light of God everywhere she looked. Gathered in this book are buds of wisdom from across the writings of Madeleine Delbr l, who believed that Christian joy is possible--indeed necessary--in the bleakest settings. God can never abandon the world he loves. "We, the ordinary people of the streets, believe with all our might that this street, that this world where God has placed us, is, for us, the site of our holiness." Delbr l's luminous reflections on Christ, man, and everyday life tap into the depths of divine mystery yet shine with the simplicity of a child. If we read them carefully, we might finally become the saints we're called to be.

Madeleine Delbrels "Der kleine Monch im Alltag" zahlt zu den Klassikern der spirituellen Literatur. Pater Anselm Grun hat die Merksatze der weltbekannten franzosischen Mystikerin neu entdeckt und fur unsere Zeit gedeutet. Seine Auslegungen zeigen: Die kurzen Weisheiten des kleinen Monchs zu Gebet, Miteinander, Zeitnot oder Neid bringen liebevoll und augenzwinkernd, aber nie anklagend auf den Punkt, was auch heute noch viele Menschen bewegt. Ein spiritueller Schatz, neu erschlossen und kommentiert von Pater Anselm Grun.