Reflections

Christine was interviewed by Charles Camosy on Our Sunday Visitor about her book The Love of Thousands. Here is an excerpt: Charlie Camosy: I suppose I am not the first to suggest that one of the fundamental challenges that a book like “The Love of Thousands” faces is the fact that consumerist Western culture has been largely “disenchanted.” That is, many of us find it very difficult even to take seriously the ideas at the center of your book. Christine Valters Paintner: Indeed, one of the reasons such a book is needed at this time is precisely because the capitalist

Christine was recently interviewed by the National Catholic Reporter about her book The Love of Thousands and building bridges beyond the veil. Here is an excerpt: NCR: In your introduction you mention that this book began as an exploration of your relationship to your ancestors. How did that circle widen for you to include the angels and the saints? Paintner: I’ve had a long devotion and relationship to various saints — Hildegard of Bingen being the prime one, and also Benedict because I’m a Benedictine oblate. But when I was working with the ancestors, I suddenly realized that some of