This afternoon, in a few moments of blessed peace and quiet, I finished Our Lady of the Lost and Found by Diane Schoemperlen. I enjoyed it a lot.
One word of caution. If the idea of Mary showing up at your house wearing sneakers and a brown cardigan would offend you, then I suggest that you not read it. If you can only conceive of her in robes with stars around her head, then this book isn't your cup of tea. And, I will admit, it did take some getting used to.
But the book has lots of stories of Marian apparitions, which are interesting. And the stories are treated very respectfully. If you've not done much Marian reading, this would definitely whet your appetite for more information on Marian sightings.
But more than that, it is a musing on what faith IS. Whether it precludes doubt (the author's answer is a resounding NO). What the meaning of history is. Lots of questions like that.
And it's a wonderful love song to Mother Mary--her mission, her friendship, her love for us.
And there are sparkling paragraphs, paragraphs that just make you stop and nod your head, sprinkled all through the book. Take this one, for example:
Despite these rather unkind thoughts, still I suspected there was something important to be learned here. Mary seemed to approach housekeeping as an action, rather than a reaction. As she worked, it was clear that she was involved not in a process of negation (of dirt, dust, and the inevitable debris spawned by every activity of daily life) but of creation (of order, shiny surfaces, perfectly aligned towels, floors to which your feet did not stick). She seemed to have no doubt that what she was doing was important. She had faith, obviously, in the restorative power of domesticity.
I LOVE THAT!
if you liked that one, you will probably also like "The Miracle Detectives" and Beverly Donofrio's book about Mary (The title momentarily escapes me but it is about a return to faith for a fallen away cradle Catholic through marian apparitions).