Mary Flannery O’Connor (March 25, 1925 – August 3, 1964) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. She wrote two novels and thirty-two short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries. She was a Southern writer who often wrote in what is known as a Southern Gothic style. Her writing reflected her Roman Catholic faith and frequently examined questions of faith, morality and ethics. In a letter to her friend Elizabeth Hester she wrote:

Then another thing, what one has as a born Catholic is something given and accepted before it is experienced. I am only slowly coming to experience things that I have all along accepted.

Good words. May we be intentional, mindful, grateful, curious, and persevere in the Faith we received as our experience grows.