Rebroadcast of the long running radio program, "The Ave Maria Hour", a presentation of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement. www.AtonementFriars.org

Alessandra di Rudini - The Marchesa Alessandra di Rudini, known in Carmel as Mother Marie of Jesus, came of an old Neapolitan family. Her privileged childhood was marred by her mother's ill-health and her father's womanizing. Perhaps it was the problems between her parents that led her to question her faith, a crisis which was reinforced by an atheistic teacher when she was thirteen. As Alessandra di Rudini became a young lady she moved in the highest circles of European society. A Russian Grand Duke wanted to marry her but Alessandra would not renounce her Catholic faith as would have been required, showing that her convictions may have been deeper than her doubts.