"I was looking for a good book to read from one of my family’s many bookshelves, when I stumbled upon an old, paperback novel called The Living Wood. Intrigued, I picked up the book and read with my usual excitement and speed. I believe I finished it that day."

            Last issue of The Compass I wrote about one of my favorite Catholic authors. This issue, I would like to introduce you to another one. Louis de Wohl has been a long time favorite of mine. I discovered him when I was twelve or thirteen quite by accident. I was looking for a good book to read from one of my family’s many bookshelves, when I stumbled upon an old, paperback novel called The Living Wood. Intrigued, I picked up the book and read with my usual excitement and speed. I believe I finished it that day.

            The story of St. Helena and her discovery of the Cross of Christ enthralled me. The novel was written not as a biography, but as a fictional novel; in fact, I often forgot that the story I was reading about was in fact, about the life of a saint. Louis de Wohl presented the saint, in this case St. Helena, as a human being with flaws and a true desire to do what was right in the eyes of God. This particular style of writing interested me and I decided to try and find more of his writings.

            Since I had found the book on a shelve that held many of my dad’s old books, I asked him if Louis de Wohl had written any other novels. In no time, I was reading moving stories about St. Augustine (The Restless Flame), St. Ignatius (The Golden Thread), St. Francis Xavier (Set All Afire), St. Francis of Assisi (The Joyful Beggar), and my all time favorite saint, St. Catherine of Siena (Lay Siege to Heaven).

            All of his books are wonderful windows into the lives of these different saints. The books include not only a glimpse of the saint’s character, but it also shows you how others where effected by this saint’s example. I particularly enjoy the book The Golden Thread. While it deals in large part with St. Ignatius and his conversion, Louis de Wohl manages to tie in quiet a bit of history while telling his story.

            My all time favorite novel about St. Longinus (The Spear) who, according to the Catholic Church’s tradition, was the soldier who pierced the side of Christ and then later converted to Christianity. Much of the story deals with characters involved in one way or another with the life of Christ. Louis de Wohl provides his audience with close views of Pontius Pilatus and his wife Claudia, Bar Abbas, and others who were intimately involved with Christ’s crucifixion and death.

            All of Louis de Wohl’s novels are worth reading. Although some of them are fairly long, the reading is very easy and the stories will definitely keep you interested until the end. I guarantee that you will laugh, you will cry, and you will be inspired by the timeless stories of these great saints of the Church.