Michael D. O’Brien ist ein Autor, Künstler und häufiger Essayist und Dozent zu Glauben und Kultur. Seine Werke sind von einer tiefen katholischen Weltanschauung durchdrungen und untersuchen die komplexe Beziehung zwischen spirituellem Leben und der heutigen Gesellschaft. O’Brien verbindet meisterhaft künstlerische Schönheit mit philosophischer Tiefe und bietet den Lesern eine einzigartige Perspektive auf die Suche nach Sinn in der modernen Welt.
Der karmelitische Mönch Pater Elijah, Überlebender des Warschauer Ghettos, wird vom Papst mit einer geheimen Mission beauftragt: Er soll den „Präsidenten“, der im Begriff ist, zum Weltherrscher aufzusteigen an seine Seele erinnern … ein abenteuerliches Unterfangen, das dem Leser ebenso Einblick gibt in die Kämpfe hinter den Mauern des Vatikans wie in die Kämpfe in der menschlichen Seele. Gefesselt von der Spannung der Handlung, bemerkt der Leser am Ende staunend, dass seine innere Welt heller geworden ist und er Antworten auf große Fragen unserer Zeit bekommen hat.
Michael O'Brien has been a professional painter of religious art since 1970. Though his reputation as a Catholic novelist and essayist began in 1996, and continues on the strength of more than twenty-eight published books, he is also widely known as a visual artist, with his paintings in churches, universities, and other institutions, as well as in public galleries and private collections throughout the world. In this book, O'Brien presents and comments on many of his important pieces. He explains his development as a religious artist and his philosophy of sacred art. The vibrancy, originality, and variety of his work are on display in more than one hundred twenty full-color reproductions of his paintings and Byzantine-style icons. Also included are some of his drawings and other works in black and white.
Ethan McQuarry serves as a dedicated lighthouse keeper on a remote island off Cape Breton, embodying solitude and commitment. With no family ties, he embraces his role with courage and a strong sense of duty, ensuring the safety of those at sea. The story explores themes of isolation, responsibility, and the quiet strength of a man devoted to his work in the face of nature's challenges.
Exploring the evolution of human creativity, this essay draws on a lecture by Michael D. O'Brien and examines artistic expressions from cave paintings to modern literature. The author integrates significant artworks, philosophical insights, and personal narratives to present a comprehensive view of humanity's origin and future. Central to the discussion is the inquiry into human nature and how our creative abilities reflect our identity as children of God, offering a profound spiritual and philosophical perspective on the creative imagination.
"A modern retelling of the parables of The Good Shepherd and The Prodigal Son." -- Michael O'Brien Canadian bookseller Alex Graham is a middle-age widower whose quiet life is turned upside down when his college-age son disappears without any explanation or trace of where he has gone. With minimal resources, the father begins a long journey that takes him for the first time away from his safe and orderly world. As he stumbles across the merest thread of a trail, he follows it in blind desperation, and is led step by step on an odyssey that takes him to fascinating places and sometimes to frightening people and perils. Through the uncertainty and the anguish, the loss and the longing, Graham is pulled into conflicts between nations, as well as the eternal conflict between good and evil. Stretched nearly to the breaking point by the inexplicable suffering he witnesses and experiences, he discovers unexpected sources of strength as he presses onward in the hope of recovering his son-- and himself.
Set in a future where Earth is governed by a totalitarian regime, the story follows Neil de Hoyos, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist aboard the colossal spaceship Kosmos, designed for an expedition to Alpha Centauri. Seeking escape, Hoyos grapples with his misanthropic outlook and buried personal traumas. As the journey unfolds, he encounters unexpected revelations that challenge his beliefs and lead him toward a transformative new horizon. The novel explores themes of freedom, human nature, and the quest for meaning beyond the stars.
An epic novel set in the rugged interior of British Columbia, the first volume of a trilogy which traces the lives of four generations of a family of exiles. Beginning in 1900, and concluding with the climactic events leading up to the Millennium, the series follows Anne and Stephen Delaney and their descendants as they live through the tumultuous events of this century. Anne is a highly educated Englishwoman who arrives in British Columbia at the end of the First World War. Raised in a family of spiritualists and Fabian socialists, she has fled civilization in search of adventure. She meets and eventually marries a trapper-homesteader, an Irish immigrant who is fleeing the "troubles" in his own violent past. This is a story about the gradual movement of souls from despair and unbelief to faith, hope, and love, about the psychology of perception, and about the ultimate questions of life, death and the mystery of being. Interwoven with scenes from Ireland, England, Poland, Russia, and Belgium during the War, Strangers and Sojourners is a tale of the extraordinary hidden within the ordinary. It is about courage and fear, and the triumph of the human spirit.
Set against the backdrop of a sabbatical year, an elderly Oxford history professor finds his peaceful plans disrupted by a web of coincidences that lead him into a dangerous situation involving a family targeted by assassins. As he travels to Romania, the narrative explores profound themes of fatalism versus providence, highlighting the courage and love needed to decipher the chaos around him. The story ultimately champions the victory of faith and reason over destructive forces, intertwining personal and historical struggles in a gripping journey.
