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“To be honest, at this point only two things interest me: my oncologist’s advice and if you can teach me to pray.”
So began a two-year correspondence between a medical doctor who became a priest, Benedictine monk, and now prior of Montserrat—the monastery that is a spiritual, cultural, historical, and environmental icon in Catalonia—and an accomplished and beloved cardiologist, scientist, mentor, daughter, sister, wife, mother, and friend with a newly diagnosed lung tumor. In this profoundly honest book, two spiritual seekers on two different life-paths walk together through the valley of the shadow of death, praying the psalms in joy and anguish, doubt and praise.
The letters and conversations shared between Magda and Fr. Ignasi offer deep and poignant insights into the very human—and quotidian—dynamics of the life-and-death journey we all face.
Magda Heras was born in Terrassa, Catalonia (Spain), and never lived far from the city of her youth-except as a visiting cardiology researcher at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City-but she eagerly traveled the world, often with her husband and daughter.
Ignasi Fossas, OSB, was born near Barcelona, where he received his medical degree. He is a Benedictine monk, holds a degree from the Pontifical Institute of Liturgy in Rome, and studied management at IESE School of Business (Barcelona campus). He has served as prior of the monastery at Montserrat since 2011.
Elaine M. Lilly, PhD, is a freelance academic editor. Her business, Writer’s First Aid, provides prepublication support for scientific/medical researchers whose first language is not English (mainly Catalan or Spanish). Her deep love for Magda and her extended family, for Catalonia (her husband’s homeland), and for the Catalan language led her to translate this book into English.
