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Gerry's journey from atheism to serving the poor through the power of film and story were the inspiration for many books about his film making and about his spirituality that grew from his encounter with the poorest of the poor, and God incarnate in them.
 
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NEW - Holy Silence: Musings on Stillness & Silence in the Spirit of St. Francis
For St. Francis of Assisi, prayer was the breath of life and the sunrise of his soul.
Prayer was the simplest most direct way for the saint to acknowledge his dependency on God for everything. Prayer enabled St. Francis to become more aware of God’s presence, a presence that was at once far beyond him and deep within him. Through prayer Francis entered communion with God. Prayer was the saint’s safest haven, and he devoted himself to long periods of intense prayer, sometimes lasting throughout the night. He peppered his life with periods of solitude. He sought out solitary places where he could enter communion with God.
For Francis, silence was the language of God; and he knew the importance of being still and resting in God. Fully half his converted life was spent in contemplation and prayer. Prayer was part of the fabric of his life, and everything he did began with and grew out of prayer. Francis spent hours on his knees before the crucifix; adoration was the oxygen of his spiritual life. He breathed deeply the pure divine glory of Life itself. Francis sacrificed everything to enter deeply into a life of prayer. For Francis, prayer was Reality, and it became the center of his life.
Holy Silence explores the contemplative dimension of the life of the saint, for it was in stillness and silence that St. Francis entered deeply into unity with God—and as a result into unity with all of creation. Holy Silence is a mix of short poetic and prose meditations on the invisible spiritual world of the saint and how his sacred discoveries can help us as we move toward God in our own way, in our own day.
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The Monastic Cloister of My Heart: Poetic Reflections and Prayers from the Edge of Life is a collection of short poetic, spiritual reflections. 
Gerard Thomas Straub hopes the book fosters stillness and silence and awakens the reader’s contemplative heart, leading to more peace within our fast-paced, fragmented, and often divisive modern culture.

“In Gerry Straub’s prose poems, we are gifted with a lifetime of change and transformation to help us all on our own journeys. The Monastic Cloister of My Heart will delight you with love—unconditional love, nonviolent love, and preexistent love. . . .”
—Fr. Paul Milanowski
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In this powerful spiritual memoir, The Cross of Love, The Pain of Poverty, Gerry Straub shares his roller-coaster journey from the world of Beverly Hills and Hollywood, where he was the producer of the leading soap opera General Hospital, into the world of the poor to “put the power of film at the service of the poor.” Few people in history have had the experiences Gerry has had—traveling into the worst slums on the planet to shed light on the poorest of the poor.

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“This new book is the finest rendition of Gerard Straub’s on-a-rough-road contemplative life in action. He recounts the influence of the monk Thomas Merton on his conversion and contemplative life. Straub’s journal reflections share his whole-hearted commitment to aid the most vulnerable.”
—L’Osservatore Romano

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After more than four years of intense work in Haiti, GTS began to commit himself to the rejuvenating power of authentic solitude in order to turn his attention to his own inner spiritual poverty. In the silent predawn darkness of each Haitian morning he waits, reflects, and prays. This book emerged slowly from those many lonely hours of silence.
Watch the Booklaunch interview

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“Distilling his prize-winning, The Sun and Moon Over Assisi, and re-fashioning an image of St. Francis drawn from his work and presence among the poorest of the poor in places like Uganda and Haiti, Gerard Straub gives us a St. Francis of and for the Poor: the materially poor and those who are in poor of spirit. Here is a humble, mellow pen ‘trying to fall in love with Francis again’ and in the process finding words to reveal the depths of a St. Francis who speaks in the poverty of our own loneliness and longing in the 21st Century.”


—In the Introduction, by Murray Bodo, OFM


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Looking In, Looking Out is a touching and poignant collection of Gerry Straub's writings on creativity, spirituality, poverty, and most important, peace. These essays and articles are taken from his previous books and other published works, written about his exploits to the most poverty-stricken countries in the world. Gerry's The Sun & Moon Over Assisi was named the “Best Spirituality Hardcover Book of the Year”

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Of this first place winner in the hardcover spirituality book category in the 2001 annual Catholic Press Awards, “The Catholic Journalist” wrote:“This book is an invitation to listen to a seductive story of how this man, who had walked away from God, got ‘pulled’ back, not simply into a relationship with God, but into the mystery of God, led and lured by a guide who lived 800 years ago.

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List of Books by Gerard Thomas Straub
  • Holy Silence: Musings on Stillness & Silence in the Spirit of St. Francis
  • The Monastic Cloister of My Heart: Poetic Reflections and Prayers from the Edge of Life
  • The Cross of Love, The Pain of Poverty
  • Reading Thomas Merton and Longing for God in Haiti: Learning Wisdom in the School of My Life
  • Looking In, Looking Out
  • A Journey to Meekness
  • Sunrise of the Soul: My journey from Hollywood to Haiti

  • The Sun & Moon Over Assisi

  • When Did I See You Hungry? (photo/essay)

  • Thoughts of a Blind Beggar

  • Hidden in the Rubble

  • The Loneliness and Longing of Saint Francis

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