I’d been meaning to write about Maria Lectrix some time during these 40 days, and this seemed like a good time. Since September 2005 (which pre-dates Librivox, Maureen O’ Brien has been doing a daily podcast of readings of public domain literature. Her tastes are very catholic (note the lower-case c) in that they are broad and wide-ranging. She usually has several serial books going on at the same time and divides the week up according to genres.

From About Maria Lectrix

Mondays, I do whatever kind of literature comes into my head: short stories, poems, essays, history, even plays. Tuesdays are currently dedicated to fantasy. Thursdays are for mysteries, and Fridays are for science fiction.

Wednesdays are for reading the Fathers of the Church and other Early Christian literature. (As members of a diverse and advanced civilization that is often hostile to their religion, their problems are very similar to ours.) Saturdays are for the works of later Christians.

In general, the idea behind this podcast is that I catch up on my reading while sharing it with others. There are a lot of things that just work better read out loud; there are others that could go either way. Sometimes my choices may prove less than felicitous, since I’m often reading works for the first time. But I will try to keep things from getting boring.

As seen above, Maria Lectrix also has recorded a great deal of early Catholic literature (note the upper case C). Next week for Holy Week she will be reading, The Seven Words on the Cross by St. Robert Bellarmine. Thanks Maureen. This would be an excellent way for Catholics to reflect on the meanings and mysteries of Holy Week and the Death and Resurrection of Christ.

If you enjoy audiobooks, I definitely recommend that you check out Maria Lectrix.

BTW: As a long time sci-fi fan, I really enjoyed Maureen’s reading of H. Beam Piper’s Little Fuzzy.

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