Below is an excerpt from the introduction to Praying in the Presence of the Lord with Fulton Sheen , edited by Michael Dubruiel, originally published in 2002.
Excerpts from the book will be published in this space over the next few weeks, in honor of Archbishop Sheen's beatification on September 24, 2026.
%20(pdfresizer.com)-images-0.jpg)
I, of course, wan not alone in my appreciation of Archbishop Sheen. Millions were touched by him from the time of his birth in 1895 until his death in December 1979, and many more are discovering him anew now some twenty years after his death. His “Life Is Worth Living” series (both the original black-and- white show of the 1950s and a later version that the archbishop made in color) is once again broadcast nationally, this time on the Eternal Word Network (EWTN). His books are being reprinted at an astonishing pace. Books like the one you hold in your hand compile his writings on certain subjects.
And there is talk of sainthood. In December of 1999, on the twentieth anniversary of his death, Cardinal John O'Connor authorized the private investigation into the life of Archbishop Sheen by the Archbishop Fulton John Sheen Foundation.
A bishop recently told me that he was privileged to meet Bishop Sheen when he was a young priest. He said that Bishop Sheen had taken him aside and given him a very personal message about the future. What Bishop Sheen had told the young priest had come to pass in his life, He now says that he has no doubt that Sheen was a mystic.
When you read the passages he wrote years ago included in this book, you too will reach that conclusion. I have been amazed as I chose various texts from his writings, some written over sixty-five years ago, to discover how relevant they are to the present.
