My rating: 5 of 5 stars
"My Dear Sisters" by Fr. Jean-Marie Gueullette, O.P. and translated from the French by Fr. George G. Christian, O.P., was originally entitled "Ces femmes qui etaient mes soeurs..." is the definitive story of Pere Jean-Joseph Lataste, O.P., the Apostle to Prisoners.
This is and will be an important book when Blessed Lataste is canonized as a saint. He already is considered one by many involved in prison ministry. This biography of Lataste's singular life shows how spirituality evolves into service. As a young preacher, Father Lataste enters a women's prison and he is converted. He was timid and approached these inmates with much trepidation. The women, themselves, didn't want to be there. But when Father began his preaching by calling them, "My Dear Sisters..." Their heads lifted, their ears opened, and their own hearts were converted. The preacher himself was touched by this encounter. These women's lives were ruined by crime yet he could see the change the Holy Spirit had made. When he heard their confessions he cried along with them. Their sins were forgiven; God forgave them; would the world?
Through the mercy and providence of God, Father Lataste founded the Dominican Sisters of Bethany. The Holy Spirit provided the perfect co-founder in Mother Henri-Dominique,O.P., who carried on and help preserve the charism of mercy, when Father died too young. He was only 37. His community of rehabilitated sisters was only a few years old. But the foundation was solid and stands today.
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