Theresa Marafito, daughter of Irish immigrant parents, was born in 1933 in New York City, blind in one eye with partial vision in the other. She was a precocious child, who wanted to appear "normal" to her peers and family, regardless of her disability. Her game, was to be independent, not dependent, and would rarely, ask for help. At nineteen, she graduated magna cum laude with two master's degrees. Theresa and her husband Jerry, who was also, visually...

There are a variety of people, practices, and celebrations in the Catholic Church. At times some of these can be dismissed too easily as extreme, superstitious, or uninformed. Such is the case with the Penitentes of New Mexico. In I Was and I Am Dust, David M. Mellott shares his experiences of the Penitentes as an outsider. He explains their struggles with the institutional church, and some of the seemingly extreme rituals they facilitate during Holy...