In the 1940s and 50s Caryll Houselander enjoyed enormous success in the English-speaking world. Her books of that period include The Reed of God, The Flowering Tree, The Passion of the Infant Christ, A Rocking Horse Catholic, The Risen Christ, and many others, all published by Sheed and Ward. Frank Sheed had discovered her in the early 1940s on one of his numerous trips to England and the publication in 1941 of This War is the Passion established her reputation as a Christian writer of great profundity and sensitivity. On the face of it, Caryll Houselander would seem an unlikely candidate for worldly success. She was neither a scholar nor even particularly well-educated. Her chosen profession was that of an artist and she thought of herself, above all, as a wood-carver. Had it not been for the mysterious workings of providence in her early childhood, she would probably have blended imperceptibly with those who inhabit the fringes of the artistic world. She was certainly talented and loved the artist ’s craft, but it was Yvonne Bosch van Drakestein, the Dutch founder of the Grail Society in England, who first recognized her unique gifts and who encouraged her to pursue her vocation in the field of writing after Caryll had appeared at her door and offered to help in any way she could to further their apostolate. Caryll Houselander ’s literary output was phenomenal by any account. Apart from the fifteen books published by Sheed and Ward, her bibliography consists of upwards of 700 items: poems, short stories and articles for innumerable catholic periodicals in England and the United States while, at the same time, continuing to paint, draw and carve and teach art to disturbed children. Unpaid even after she had achieved success as a devotional writer, she continued each month to write and illustrate short stories and articles for The Children ’s Messenger of the Sacred Heart and, in the late 1940s, frequently wrote entire issues when its editor, Father Geoffry Bliss, was to ill to do so. Clearly she was what today would be called a "workaholic," but neurotic as her compulsiveness was, through grace, it was transformed into total According to her own account, Caryll had worked with the poor and the dispossessed of London in the East End and in Soho. After she achieved recognition through her books, she carried on a vast correspondence with hundreds of people throughout the world. In the letters edited by Maisie Ward after Caryll ’s death we catch a glimpse of a person who, through her personal sufferings and identification with the suffering Christ, had become, as it were, another Christ in her healing compassion toward others. Caryll Houselander ’s legacy therefore includes much more than a few devotional works, good as they are. Her impact, both literary and personal, was due above all, to the intensity of her vision of the suffering Christ, a vision she expressed with utter sincerity and immediacy and, on occasion, with breathtaking luminosity. Indeed, she can best be described not as a writer, nor even as an artist, but as a mystic and a visionary in the tradition of Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena, or Teresa of Avila.
Peregrina is Toronto-based company (Ontario, Canada) with a phone number 4166041719. Our data show that the company is located at the address: 17 Woodside Ave. The company has a web site: www.peregrina.com.
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