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

Emily M. DeArdo was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at eleven, so she knows what it's like to live with a keen awareness of her own mortality. 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 you to trust in God's providence as you confront suffering and death and develop enduring spiritual strength and courage along the way.

Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble, F.S.P., 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 are searching for what's real, true, and lasting in life. Trying to find the answer to "is this all there is?" often leads to thinking about death and what happens afterward, she noted.

In Living Memento mori, DeArdo shares the insight she has 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 shows you how even a life of considerable suffering can be full of joy, hope, and peace.

DeArdo's life and reflections on mortality give a fresh voice to the traditional themes found in the Stations of the Cross. She offers you the courage to face your 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, includes 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.

Author: Emily M. Deardo
Publisher: Ave Maria Press
Published: 01/24/2020
Pages: 128
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.25lbs
Size: 6.80h x 4.90w x 0.40d
ISBN: 9781594719677

About the Author
Noble Fsp, Theresa Aletheia: - Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble, F.S.P., is the founder of the Memento Mori project and the author of Remember Your Death: Memento Mori Journal.Deardo, Emily M.: - Emily M. DeArdo is 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 has also been 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, who is a Third Order Lay Dominican, lives in the Columbus, Ohio, area.

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