Customer Reviews

Amata Means Beloved

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3 star:		(1)
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There are a lot of books out there that are about religious and what supposedly goes on behind the closed doors of convents and monasteries. But here is a work of fiction written by someone who lives the life and one can be assured that the struggles, hopes and dreams of Sister Mary Catharine are reflected in the characters in her fine novel.

This is a real page turner, a great read!

I just finished this book and can't recommend it enough! The fear, the trepidation of Emily/Maria Amata comes across on every page as she struggles with her committment to the Lord and the concept of forgiveness. Truly, a good and thoughtful read for anyone of any age or faith - be you Catholic, Very Lapsed Catholic (like myself!), Protestant or of whatever faith you follow, this book will show a whole new world while telling a story that appeals to everyone's heart and soul.

If you're like me and love a good novel, you find yourself reading to discover new worlds that you may not ever be able to physically visit. A good book enables us to enter a place, interact with the community of characters living there, and grow to love and care about the people in that place and what happens to them. On a higher level, a book occasionally comes along and challenges us to look at our own lives and at how we might become more: by giving more of ourselves, by loving our family or friends more, by deepening our spiritual lives and our connection to God, even by seeing the daily tasks we undertake with a more positive attitude - seeing them as faith and love offerings to God. Amata Means Beloved is one of these treasures: a book that will take you into its world, cause you to fall in love, and challenge you to make your world a better place. Please read this book and share it with the special people in your lives - you'll be happy you took the time!

A story of tender beauty that presents a rare glimpse into the life of cloistered, contemplative nuns.

When Sister Maria Amata-the former Emily Barone-enters newly-established Mater Christi Monastery, she is eager to become a spouse of Christ-to give all she is and has to God. However, Sister Maria Amata finds that living in the monastery with the other nuns radically confronts her understanding of the life itself and her own motives. Why did she really enter the monastery? Is she instead running from facing her inability to forgive the man who murdered her brother?
The possibility of acquiring a long-desired bell for the monastery catapults Sister Maria Amata into a crisis. The novice mistress challenges the young novice by appointing her as the bell ringer for the Angelus each day. She must choose to live in the ways of freedom and love if her gift to God at first profession is to be truly one of total surrender. She can no longer hold onto her anger and lack of forgiveness.
Can Sister Maria Amata overcome her fear? More importantly, will she open her heart to God's grace and forgive?

"More than just a sparkling portrait of religious life, Amata Means Beloved is the story of a woman's deep inner struggle with pain and forgiveness. Sr. Mary Catharine Perry takes the reader on a fascinating journey, and her writing is full of heart and soul. This beautiful book is impossible to put down after reading even just one page!" -Elizabeth Kuhns, author, The Habit: A History of the Clothing of Catholic Nuns

Personally, I really liked the book. It led me to think more about my own struggles with forgiveness. And yes, the writing is very simple, short and concise - I consider it to be written in the style of a 'young adult' book, if anything. The storyline is great and leads you to learn more about contemplative cloistered Dominican life. However, I would have loved this book to be over 100 pages - more character depth, more about the life of Emily (Sr. Maria Amata) than we saw in the book.

This was quite an enjoyable read, and a welcome break from the typical heavy reading I do. I read it in two days, and that was while taking care of my 3 year old and infant! I also passed it along to two others who both enjoyed it as well. Definately worth purchasing. I look forward to the author's future works.

The other day, I ran across an article that mentioned the book "Unveiled: the Hidden Lives of Nuns"...but it wasn't available on Paperback Swap, so I picked up a copy of another book, "Amata Means Beloved" (Mary Catharine Perry). "Amata" is about a young woman who decides to join a monastery after college; through the process of becoming a nun, she heals and learns to forgive the man that murdered her brother.

It was a book that kept me reading simply because I was curious about how much it would reveal about the lives of nuns (fiction though it may be). Sadly, "Amata Means Beloved" is rushed and rather short--it skipped around when it should have explained things and explained things where it should have skipped. I think Sister Mary Catharine just wanted to get Sister Maria Amata's story of healing onto paper and out into the world, and it shows. If she had taken it to a publisher or a literary agent, they would have told her to go back and flesh things out a little more (or at least I would if *I* were in their shoes).

Emily Barone is sure in her decision to become a member of the Mater Christi Monastery. Nervous but confident that in this place, with these women, in this life, she will be able to find her place, to paraphrase the old Baltimore Catechism, to know, love and serve God in this world and to be with Him forever in the next.

Not that it will be without it's problems. Any community contains a variety of talents and personalities and some inevitable conflicts. And to give up a large degree of ones automony, to follow a strict rule of poverty and obedience, is easy for no one. But Emily, now given the religious name Sister Mary Amata...because as the novice mistress tells her "Amata means beloved. I want you to know in a real way that you are beloved of Christ"...has another very big issue keeping her from giving herself fully to this life.
Her brother was killed, shot by a madman who shot a number of seminarians as they raked leaves on the lawn of their school one fall day, and then took his own life. Sister Mary Amata can not forgive the shooter and can not surrender her anger.

"What did you come here for?...you must give it all to God...even the deep wound in your heart. You must forgive"

This is a short, lovely little gem of a book, the debut work of Sister Mary Catherine Perry, a member of the cloistered Dominican Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Summit, NJ. Certainly, the monastic life, especially that of the cloistered orders, is not something many people are familiar with. To those unfamiliar, I think book is a very nice, very real and certainly, considering the author, very authentic glimpse into this life, the daily rhythm of prayer, work and community. "In striving to live with one mind and heart in God, they seek to know and love God in the living of the traditional monastic observances of daily Holy Mass, chanted divine Office, lecto divina, private prayer, study and work."

The struggle with forgiveness which Sr Amata encounters is a deep, moving idea. Yet the writing in this book is very poor. Both the conversations and the descriptive paragraphs reminded me of a children's book. I suppose the crude vernacular the nuns employ is supposed to be natural (Marigolds? Yuck, they stink!), but I found it very trying.

The author clearly tries to incorporate varied elements: showing how all nuns struggle with selfishness and weakness; caring for others in the community; the varied paths to the contemplative vocation. It does not work in a book this slender. One is left with a brief reference, but no depth.

It is unfortunate that a theme which could have been very powerful is clouded by the folksy language and lack of character development. About all one knows of the main character - let alone the other nuns - is why she fears ringing the bell. The instant healing as she finally does so does not ring true, either.

Superbly written by Sister Mary Catharine (a cloistered Dominican Nun of the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary, Summit, New Jersey), Amata Means Beloved is a profound and emotionally moving novel about Emily Barone, a young woman who seeks to become a nun and be known as Sister Maria Amata. Yet Sister Maria Amata is hiding from a tragic and painful secret - her inability to forgive the man who murdered her brother. Sister Maria Amata's test of spirit is at hand, and she cannot keep fleeing forever; she must make a hard choice before she can walk God's path. Amata Means Beloved is a moving and uplifting story -- and highly recommended reading.