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Rev. Louis Bouyer (1913-2004) was a member of the French Oratory and
one of the most respected and versatile Catholic scholars and theologians
of the twentieth century. 
A friend of Hans
Urs von Balthasar, Joseph
Ratzinger, and J.R.R. Tolkien, and a co-founder of the international
review Communio,
Bouyer was a former Lutheran minister who entered the Catholic Church in
1939.
He became a leading figure in the Catholic biblical and liturgical movements
of the twentieth century, was on influence on the Second Vatican Council,
and became well known for his excellent books on history of Christian spirituality.
In addition to his many writings, Bouyer lectured widely across Europe and
America.
Woman
in the Church (with an epilogue by Balthasar and an essay by C.S.
Lewis), was one of the first three books published by Ignatius Press, in
1979. Other Ignatius Press books by Bouyer include The
Word, Church, and Sacraments in Protestantism and Catholicism, Women
Mystics, and the introduction to John
Henry Newman: Prayers, Verses, Devotions (Bouyer wrote a biography
of Newman).
  
Related IgnatiusInsight.com articles:
• "God and
Woman", an excerpt from Woman in the Church, by Louis Bouyer
• "Why Catholicism
Makes Protestantism Tick: Louis Bouyer on the Reformation" by Mark
Brumley
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Catherine of Siena
by Sigrid Undset
Sigrid Undset's Catherine of Siena is critically acclaimed as one of the best biographies of this well known, and amazing fourteenth-century saint. Known for
her historical fiction, which won her the Nobel Prize for literature in 1928, Undset based this factual work on primary sources, her own experiences living in Italy,
and her profound understanding of the human heart.
One of the greatest novelists of the twentieth century, Undset was no stranger to hagiography. Her meticulous research of medieval times, which bore such fruit in her
multi-volume masterpieces Kristin Lavransdatter and The Master of Hestviken, acquainted her with some of the holy men and women produced by the Age of Faith.
Their exemplary lives left a deep impression upon the author, an impression Undset credited as one of her reasons for entering the Church in 1924.
Catherine of Siena was a particular favorite of Undset, who also was a Third Order Dominican. An extraordinarily active, intelligent, and courageous woman,
Catherine at an early age devoted herself to the love of God. The intensity of her prayer, sacrifice, and service to the poor won her a reputation for holiness and wisdom,
and she was called upon to make peace between warring nobles. Believing that peace in Italy could be achieved only if the Pope, then living in France, returned to Rome,
Catherine boldly traveled to Avignon to meet with Pope Gregory XI. Continue reading....
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