Those of you who subscribe to my email list will already know that the brains behind the newly released Christian children’s book “On the Third Day” belonged to a wonderful Monsignor at my church. (You’ll find his full name in the book’s dedication!)
He commissioned it because he wanted children (and their families) to be more aware of the Resurrection of Jesus. It concerned him greatly that people don’t talk enough about it.
I had never written for children before, but you never said ‘No’ to Monsignor, because you just knew the Holy Spirit was talking through him! So I set about creating the little volume, constantly checking with my Word Editor that I was at the reading level of children ages 8 through 12.
Monsignor loved children and started not just one, but two Catholic schools here in the Low Country of South Carolina. So this project was very dear to him.
In August of 2024, he became seriously ill. He was 98 years young and we’d all so hoped he’d make it to the age of 100. But it was not to be. He had originally asked me to create a series of children’s books on the Seven Sacraments, but at the onset of his cancer he switched to the Resurrection.
He also requested that I write a book about a Catholic teen hero. I asked which he wanted first, and he chose what became On the Third Day. Once he’d approved the outline, I knew it was a race against time if he was to see the full manuscript.
I finished it with two weeks to spare. Monsignor’s joyful response to the final draft moved me to tears. I uploaded the book for its pre-set publication date of 18th March, but he died on the morning of Sunday, 9th March. The day of his funeral, it became the #1 Amazon Best Seller for Children’s Books About Jesus. He would have been so pleased!
Yet I am confident he is resting with all the angels and saints in Heaven and did know. 😉
Monsignor was very learned; his lessons at the seminary were all conducted in Latin!
As the bishop said at his funeral Mass, Monsignor could read souls, which made him such a wonderful confessor and spiritual director. A gentle man, he constantly exhorted us in his sermons to be kind to one another and to do little things with great love.
It is hard for me to believe he is gone. His impact on my spiritual life is impossible to measure, and his death has left a gaping hole in my heart that hurts dreadfully. It is the same for everyone who knew him. We all considered him to be a living saint.
I ask him daily to intercede for me and to continue guiding me with the help of the Holy Spirit in my work as a writer. May he rest in peace. Amen.
Hilary Walker Books 