Customer Reviews

The Shepherd Cannot Run : Letters of Stanley Rother, Missionary and Martyr

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Fr. Stan was priest, missionary, martyr and may soon be canonized a saint. The book is the compilation of the letters from the last year of Fr. Stan's life. The words are simple and straightforward yet I couldn't put the book down. It electrified me. If you care to learn how this saint dealt with the horrible events of the 36 year Guatemalan civil war (1961 - 1997) and his certain death this is a must read.

I have led many mission groups to Fr. Stan's church in Santiago Atitlan and have given away many copies of the letters. For the past 17 years I have been a one-week-a-year missionary to the same Atitlan highlands where Fr. Stan (known as Francisco or Aplas to the indigenous) lived the gospel among the Tzutuhil. He was ultimately martyred. I learned of Fr. Stan 16 years ago and bought my many copies of the book from the Oklahoma City Diocese. In recent years I found and befriended the Carmelite nun who worked with Stan at the time of his murder. She is the one who found his tortured body. Her eye witness testimony is even more chilling than what you will find in the book. The life of Fr. Stan, revealed through his letters, is an inspiration.