Office:

Fordham University
Department of Philosophy
113 West 60th Street, 915C
New York, New York  10023

(212) 636-6368

(212) 636-7153

Fall 2010: Fantasy and Philosophy; Spring 2011, Philosophy of Human Nature; Religion and Morality

Books in Print:

A Mysticism of Kindness: The Lucie Christine Story (Scranton, PA: The University of Scranton Press, 2011)

On the surface, Lucie Christine — the pseudonym given to a nineteenth-century Frenchwoman named Mathilde Boutle —
was a very ordinary upper-middle-class woman, fulfilling her daily responsibilities to her husband and children. But underneath,
Lucie Christine was an extraordinary human being. In A Mysticism of Kindness, Astrid M. O’Brien tells the life story of this
remarkable woman, revealing how her experiences as a mystic allowed her to persevere as a wife and mother in the midst
of constant verbal and physical abuse from her alcoholic husband. Her story will inspire all those who struggle to find a way
to live a strong spiritual life in an often difficult and troubling world.

The Meaning of Resolution as a Reflective Method in the Philosophy of Thomas Aquinas
(Published in: Fordham Library Digital Research Collections)

Selected Journal Articles and Book Chapters:

“Lucie  Christine: Nineteenth-Century Wife, Mother and Mystic” in: Mapping the Catholic Cultural Landscape, eds., Sister Paula Jean Miller, FSE and Richard Fossey (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield [Sheed and Ward], 2004), pp. 145-156.

“Contemplation along the Roads of the World: the Reflections of Raissa and Jacques Maritain” in:  Lay Sanctity: Medieval and Modern, ed., Ann Astell (Notre Dame: Notre Dame Press, 2000), pp. 147-160, 226-228.

 

A new preface to a new edition of JOURNAL SPIRITUEL DE LUCIE CHRISTINE (Paris : Téqui, 1999), pp. 7-11.

 

“A Note on the Translations,” in: Sigrid Undset on Saints and  Sinners; New Translations and Studies, ed., Deal Hudson (San Francisco, Ignatius Press, 1993), pp. 165-168.

 

“Raissa’s Hasidic-Catholic Spirituality” in: Jacques Maritain and the Jews, ed., Robert Royal (Notre Dame: Notre Dame Press, 1994), pp. 168-178.

 

“Metaphysics as a Spiritual Journey: Thomas Aquinas’ Doctrine of Resolution”  in: Conflict and Community: New Studies in Thomistic Thought , ed., Michael B. Lukens (New York: Peter Lang, 1992), pp.  51-59.

“Platonic vs. Aristotelian Perceptions of the Church” The Journal of  Religion and Psychical Research, v. 1 (1988): 218-225.