At first, his responsibilities as a novitiate, then his later theology studies in Toronto and Rome and now his current duties as an ordained priest and Master of Novitiates have meant that he is on the clock most all the time.

A visual artist who has supervised art installations for the Norbertine Fathers at their home at St. Michael’s Abbey in Silverado Canyon, Fr. Fletcher finds it difficult to find a few pockets of free time to nurture his creativity — much less enough to write and illustrate an entire book.

Yet, that’s just what Fr. Fletcher has done: My Name is Philomena: A Saint’s Story, an illustrated children’s book, is available by preorder from publisher TAN Books and Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers before its formal release on Aug. 8 – in time for St. Philomena’s Aug. 11 feast day.

“I put my heart and soul into this project,” said Fr. Fletcher, whose first sketches were done quickly in pencil on random pieces of paper. “I wanted attractive images to inspire people to be like the saints, to love God, even to lay down their lives for Him….”

“The little saint” as he calls her, has particular meaning in his life. In praying for St. Philomena’s intercession, he said, she often presented solutions for his family members.

“Their lives were made better, their sufferings removed,” he explained.

He finds the saint’s story fascinating in part because her bones weren’t discovered by Roman archaeologists until the early 1800s.

“They found a vial of her blood and her bones, and the name on the tomb said Pax Tecum Philomena, or essentially, rest in peace Philomena,” he noted….

From OC Catholic