Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Living Memento Mori: My Journey through the Stations of the Cross
    Living Memento Mori: My Journey through the Stations of the Cross
    Living Memento Mori: My Journey through the Stations of the Cross
    Ebook127 pages1 hour

    Living Memento Mori: My Journey through the Stations of the Cross

    By Emily M. DeArdo and Theresa Aletheia Noble FSP

    5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at eleven, Emily DeArdo knew what it was like to live with a keen awareness of her own mortality. In this book, she draws on the medieval practice of memento mori, “remember you must die,” and shares her personal story with unique and compelling insight into the meaning of Christian life and death. Using the Stations of the Cross as a framework, DeArdo leads readers to trust in God’s providence as they confront suffering and death and develop enduring spiritual strength and courage along the way.

    Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble, FSP, kicked off a rediscovery of memento mori on social media when she began tweeting about #mementomori and what it’s like living with a plastic skull on her desk. Emily DeArdo said the practice caught on with millennials like her who were searching for what’s real, true, and lasting in life. Trying to find the answer to “is this all there is?” often led her to thinking about death and what happens afterward, she noted.

    In Living Memento Mori, DeArdo shares the insight she gained from living her life on the precipice of death: a willingness to embrace the Cross of Christ can transform the pain and loss we all inevitably experience into a source of spiritual growth.

    DeArdo’s life and reflections on mortality give a fresh voice to the traditional themes found in the Stations of the Cross. She offers the courage to face one's own suffering and concerns about death and to follow Jesus wherever he leads. You will discover:

    • how memento mori can help you live a deeper spiritual life
    • how to unite your sufferings with those of Jesus
    • what the Catholic faith teaches about the meaning of suffering
     

    Station by station, DeArdo links her personal and spiritual journey to the suffering of Christ and shows readers how to do the same. Each chapter of Living Memento Mori begins with scripture, including a quotation from Pope John Paul II’s Salvifici Doloris (The Christian Meaning of Human Suffering), and closes with three questions for personal reflection or group discussion. An appendix provides readers with a guide to praying the Stations of the Cross with original meditations in the spirit of memento mori.

    Emily DeArdo passed away in 2023 at the age of 41. Her memory and reflection on memento mori show us how even a life of considerable suffering can be full of joy, hope, and peace.

    “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAve Maria Press
    Release dateJan 24, 2020
    ISBN9781594719684
    Living Memento Mori: My Journey through the Stations of the Cross
    Author

    Emily M. DeArdo

    Emily M. DeArdo (1982–2023) was a Catholic writer and speaker who graduated in 2004 from Capital University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and English literature. She worked for the Ohio State Senate for ten years. At age eleven, DeArdo was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a fatal genetic disease, and received a double-lung transplant at age twenty-three. She contributed to several studies published by Take Up & Read in 2018 and 2019 and also self-published an eBook, Catholic 101. DeArdo was also a guest on The Jennifer Fulwiler Show on SiriusXM Radio. She was named Young Catholic Woman of the Year by the Diocese of Columbus in 2005. She was a contestant on Jeopardy! in 2016. DeArdo was a Third Order Lay Dominican who lived in the Columbus, Ohio, area. She passed away in 2023 at the age of forty-one. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7

    Related authors

    Related to Living Memento Mori

    Related ebooks

    Holidays For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      A Former D1 Athlete Turned Nun Is Running The Chicago Marathon To Raise Money For Her Church

      Oct 9, 2019

      Sister Stephanie Baliga no longer runs for herself, but for her community and for God. So she was undeterred as the predawn thunderstorm rolled in. The thunder roared, the sky flashed a bright blue and the obliquely falling rain whipped across her gl

      3 min read

    • Article

      Death

      Jul 29, 2019

      The fear of death is very puzzling, in a way that regret about the end of life is not. It’s easy to understand that we might want to have more life, more of the things it contains, so that we see death as a negative evil. But how can the prospect of

      3 min read

    • Article

      Morbidity & the Miniature

      May 11, 2018

      Morbidity & the Miniature
      14 min read

    • Article

      Hedonism Is Overrated – To Make The Best Of Life There Must Be Pain, Says This Yale Professor

      Jan 23, 2022

      The simplest theory of human nature is hedonism– – we pursue pleasure and comfort. Suffering and pain are, by their very nature, to be avoided. The spirit of this view is nicely captured in The Epic of Gilgamesh: “Let your belly be full, enjoy yourse

      6 min read

    • Article

      Death Is A Powerful Teacher

      Jul 29, 2019

      Death Is A Powerful Teacher
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Secret Life of Grief

      Dec 3, 2013

      The Secret Life of Grief
      12 min read

    • Article

      The Universal Language Of Pain

      Apr 2, 2018

      Pain speaks to us as humans. It’s something that we can all understand. At a molecular level, pain is a universal language. American social critic and novelist James Baldwin stated: “The things that tormented me most were the very things that connect

      4 min read

    • Article

      The End of the World As We Know It

      Oct 1, 2019

      If the world is torn to pieces,” writes Terry Tempest Williams in her explosive and unflinching new collection, Erosion: Essays of Undoing, “I want to see what story I can find in fragmentation.” Written over seven years and exploring the erosion of

      4 min read

    • Article

      Table Talk

      Sep 1, 2018

      Table Talk
      10 min read

    • Article

      Designed To Fail

      Dec 25, 2023

      Designed To Fail
      6 min read

    • Article

      Facing the LAST TABOO

      Mar 26, 2020

      Facing the LAST TABOO
      4 min read

    • Article

      Moving Toward Happiness

      Mar 1, 2024

      Moving Toward Happiness
      5 min read

    • Article

      Thinking About Your Death

      Jan 23, 2018

      Thinking About Your Death
      4 min read

    • Article

      Death & Dying

      Apr 19, 2021

      Death & Dying
      7 min read

    • Article

      Letter From The Founder

      Dec 8, 2022

      Letter From The Founder
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Living Memento Mori

    5/5

    1 rating1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      This book is so good that I stayed up reading it nonstop. Wow, this is so inspiring and really helped me to understand the Stations of the Cross in a deeper level. Well-written book that all Christians need to read. Life application at the very best!

    Book preview

    Living Memento Mori - Emily M. DeArdo

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1