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The Medal
Bethany Fitzpatrick is a recent graduate of a renowned culinary school with ambitions of becoming a pastry chef in Manhattan. But when Bethany's mother dies in a tragic accident, Bethany foregoes a perfect job to care for her father, who is stricken with multiple sclerosis. She moves back home to the seafaring town of Northport, Long Island, where she eventually opens a bakery, but running her own business and acting as sole caretaker for a dying man is no easy feat. Despite her enormous love for her father, she finds herself stuck in a world no one seems to understand-after all, her closest friends are married with children and enjoying life. Bethany begins to question her own life and her faith. As her father's condition worsens, Bethany is on the verge of a breakdown until a stranger named Jimmy enters her bakery. With the persona of an Italian mobster, he informs her of a mystical Italian friar, Padre Pio, who bore the five wounds of Christ and performed miracles. Despite his many gifts, Pio was shunned by the Catholic Church. Jimmy over time, gains Bethany's trust and gives her a medal containing a relic of Padre Pio, which just might give Bethany's father a second chance at life...and might bring Bethany back to a life worth truly living. Bethany's journey is one of discovery, love, acceptance, and faith. True historical accounts of the life of Padre Pio are woven throughout the book until its shocking end.
290 pages, Paperback
First published August 3, 2012
2 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Kerriann Flanagan Brosky
12 books15 followersThe success of Ghosts of Long Island: Stories of the Paranormal (2006) Maple Hill Press, prompted author and photographer Kerriann Flanagan Brosky to write the sequel Ghosts of Long Island II: More Stories of the Paranormal in 2008. After extensive research, and interviews with Long Islanders conducted with paranormal investigator Joe Giaquinto, Ms. Brosky has written 30 new accounts of paranormal happenings and haunted locations.
Kerriann Flanagan Brosky is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Long Island University at C.W. Post, and studied under renowned photographer Arthur Leipzig. She began her photographic career in 1990 as a freelance photojournalist for Newsday and local papers. She then went on to begin a writing career, combining her love of history and photography. She is the author and photographer of four Long Island historically-based books, and is the co-author of an Italian cookbook.
Ms. Brosky served as first Vice President of the Huntington Historical Societys Board of Trustees for six years, as well as serving as a Board of Trustee member for the Greenlawn-Centerport Historical Association for four years. She is currently on the Board of the Long Island Authors Group, where she is First Vice President.
The success of her first ghost book (2006) has prompted much prestigious media coverage, including features in Newsday, The New York Times and Distinction magazine, and she has appeared on the CBS Sunday Morning Show, Channel 21 WLIWs Ticket with Laura Savini, Channel 55 and News 12 Long Island. She also appeared as an authority on the history of several Long Island ghost stories and legends for the documentary portion of a film entitled Lost Suburbia (2007). She and Joe Giaquinto are working with producers on a documentary television pilot based on Ghosts of Long Island.
Ms. Brosky is currently writing her first novel.
For more information and upcoming events, visit www.ghostsoflongisland.com and www.kerriannflanaganbrosky.com. "Become a fan" on Facebook and follow the author on filedby and twitter.
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Kerriann Flanagan Brosky is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Long Island University at C.W. Post, and studied under renowned photographer Arthur Leipzig. She began her photographic career in 1990 as a freelance photojournalist for Newsday and local papers. She then went on to begin a writing career, combining her love of history and photography. She is the author and photographer of four Long Island historically-based books, and is the co-author of an Italian cookbook.
Ms. Brosky served as first Vice President of the Huntington Historical Societys Board of Trustees for six years, as well as serving as a Board of Trustee member for the Greenlawn-Centerport Historical Association for four years. She is currently on the Board of the Long Island Authors Group, where she is First Vice President.
The success of her first ghost book (2006) has prompted much prestigious media coverage, including features in Newsday, The New York Times and Distinction magazine, and she has appeared on the CBS Sunday Morning Show, Channel 21 WLIWs Ticket with Laura Savini, Channel 55 and News 12 Long Island. She also appeared as an authority on the history of several Long Island ghost stories and legends for the documentary portion of a film entitled Lost Suburbia (2007). She and Joe Giaquinto are working with producers on a documentary television pilot based on Ghosts of Long Island.
Ms. Brosky is currently writing her first novel.
For more information and upcoming events, visit www.ghostsoflongisland.com and www.kerriannflanaganbrosky.com. "Become a fan" on Facebook and follow the author on filedby and twitter.
"
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 22, 2014
the book was interesting. brings real life issues to date and shows how one s faith can vanish. then she becomes more faithfull thru interventions.
January 2, 2025
No, I do not recommend this book. Surprisingly, the author does not incorporate confession into the mix in this book, but she does bring in some strange ideas. One idea that is quite antithetical to Catholicism is the idea that you discuss with God before you're born your destiny on earth. "It's all worked out." There is no sourcing of the catechism here, and you'd be hard-pressed to find any doctor of the Church who states anything like this.
I overlooked it at the beginning of the book, but I did notice that a "past lives" social worker who is also an author of "SPIRIT GUIDES" endorsed this book. I shouldn't have overlooked that red flag. This is a NEW AGE doctrine, and conspiring with "spirits" is a mortal sin.
This book uses modernist jargon and is not a serious work. It makes Padre Pio seem like a healing Santa Claus when he was quite the opposite. He was a serious Catholic who required serious confessions from his followers. Demanding exact confessions and sometimes withholding absolution from those who would not comply.
Catholics can study the Baltimore Catechism and attend a traditional Latin Mass, which Padre Pio conducted and from whence he gained strength. If they want to do as Padre Pio did, they should pray the rosary, wear the brown scapular, and devote themselves to a simple faith.
One can use the Padre Pio Chaplet in daily prayer, and Padre Pio himself wanted us all to pray the rosary. He had a deep love for The Blessed Mother.
Padre Pio is a wonderful model of faith, hope, and charity. He prayed his rosary at least 33 times a day. "The rosary is the weapon."
Padre Pio, ora pro nobis.
I overlooked it at the beginning of the book, but I did notice that a "past lives" social worker who is also an author of "SPIRIT GUIDES" endorsed this book. I shouldn't have overlooked that red flag. This is a NEW AGE doctrine, and conspiring with "spirits" is a mortal sin.
This book uses modernist jargon and is not a serious work. It makes Padre Pio seem like a healing Santa Claus when he was quite the opposite. He was a serious Catholic who required serious confessions from his followers. Demanding exact confessions and sometimes withholding absolution from those who would not comply.
Catholics can study the Baltimore Catechism and attend a traditional Latin Mass, which Padre Pio conducted and from whence he gained strength. If they want to do as Padre Pio did, they should pray the rosary, wear the brown scapular, and devote themselves to a simple faith.
One can use the Padre Pio Chaplet in daily prayer, and Padre Pio himself wanted us all to pray the rosary. He had a deep love for The Blessed Mother.
Padre Pio is a wonderful model of faith, hope, and charity. He prayed his rosary at least 33 times a day. "The rosary is the weapon."
Padre Pio, ora pro nobis.
December 28, 2018
I did not know much about Padre Pio. I do now. Terrific read. If you like books dealing with faith, this is a book for you. Enjoy!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews