Benedict, Boniface, Francis of Assisi, Joan of Arc, Catherine of Siena, Ignatius of Loyola … Certain among the glorious litany of Catholic saints and heroes are familiar to us all; figures known even to the irreligious as makers and moulders of European history. Others, however, remain less well known if at all. Few English-speaking Catholics, for instance, would have even heard of those two extraordinary instruments of Divine Providence, Nicholas and Dorothy von Flüe. Fewer still would know that this fourteenth century couple united a nation and in so doing, at the eleventh hour, surely saved Western Europe from the entrenchment of a fratricidal enclave to rival the Balkans.
Set in disturbingly familiar pre-Reformation times - when the Church and society at large were, as today, in constant tumult - the story of St. Nicholas von Flüe and his spouse Dorothy is above all one of faith and virtue rooted in Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration, as miraculously personified by Nicholas himself. It is about the fruits of peace and unity reserved for those who persevere in their obedience to God and His Law, through His Church.
This simple, engaging combination of short story and biography unveils one of the best kept secrets of Catholic Europe, providing much spiritual food for thought and self-reflection along the way: Is material success the only yardstick? Are simplicity and contemplation truly productive? What does love of country demand of its citizens? Are there higher loyalties? Ultimately, it poses the only genuine solution to the alienation, divisions and social crises currently draining the joy of life from Western societies.
Nicholas and Dorothy bear a timely message for our tormented age.
The Invisible Crown, by Michael McGrade.
152 pages, clothbound. ISBN 1 901157 76 8.
£9.95 ; $26.95 in the U.S.A.
Published by The Saint Austin Press.
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