Mary's Mountain | Mary's Mountain (archived)

About

About Mary's Mountain

Storytelling and imaginative spiritual adventures inspired by the Catholic Christian tradition for children of all ages.

What is Mary's Mountain

Mary’s Mountain is community of three Catholic artists, Ed Noonan, Pete Ruzevich, and Mike Casey. They started this community 37 year in Chicago and moved to Helena in the summer of 1979. Guided by their spirituality, their intent was to serve the Helena community as artists, which they have done across the years. The community has a large extended family of many people of different backgrounds and faiths. This website reflects the stories and thoughts that have been developed over these many years.

The Stories

Each of the links is serialized book. All but one of the books are novels. Chapters are added across the year to the incomplete books.

The Cat in Heaven Series - The oldest story (now in 2 novels) is The Cat in Heaven series. The first volume, Good St Dominic’s Cat was started in 1979 and completed in 2000. It is a story for ‘children of all ages” about Heaven, one of the main topics of all the books on the website. The 2nd volume A Cat and St. Francis’ Dog has only one chapter so far. These volumes will tell a long story of the impact that earth animals have in Heaven even when they technically aren’t allowed there.

The Catie Jo Novels - The second group of novels follows a young girl into the fullness of her vocation. These books tell the story of Catie Jo from her pre-adolescence throughout her life. Inspired by her spiritual relationship with her patrons, Catherine of Siena and Joan of Arc, she challenges the Catholic Church to reconsider some of the hierarchy’s current assumptions especially about women. In the first volume, The Bishop’s Dilemma, she upsets the then Bishop of Helena, gains some national news notoriety, and ends up meeting John Paul II. in the second volume, The Bishop’s Assumption, she begins her friendship with a new Bishop of Helena, but she can’t help finding herself in the midst of controversy.

Cast in the Incarnation – This novel is a 1st person narrative telling of a young man who finds himself cast as a witness and adviser for Jesus across his life. If the 2nd Person of the Blessed Trinity is to be truly human, some person had to vouch for the reality that the God and man, Jesus, had the freedom to grow up and live as any human being. After the narrator’s initial shock at being chosen for this role, he finds himself discovering the marvelous reality of a loving, creative God.

Guardian of the Valley Series – This series is an urban fantasy adventure that will be told in seven books. The story looks at Helena, MT as a key spiritual place in the story of salvation and the creation of the New Heaven. The first volume is titled, Guardian of the Valley.

Path of Glory on the Purgatory Road is probably the most imaginative of the novels and sends an unlikely trio of St. Catherine, Queen Elizabeth, and Napoleon on an assignment to investigate the changing structure of Purgatory starting in the mid-19th Century. These three investigators find themselves in a startling mix of Dante’s medieval vision and the challenging pandemonium caused by the emergence of modern thought. Their journey through Purgatory is a fun adventure with many unique characters.

A Field Guide to Heaven is the only book that is not a novel. This book is meant as a source of ideas and inspiration on what it means to “go to Heaven”.

A Busy Night in Bethlehem is a collection of short stories for “children of all ages’ telling the tales of the animals that find themselves at the Birth of Jesus.

Hoo Know's Corner is a collection of poetry and short spiritual pieces.

About Ed Noonan

Ed Noonan is the main author of the stories, but many people have been involved in shaping them. Although the stories are unabashedly inspired by Catholic thought, any reader will soon discover that there are more diverse possibilities in the Heaven and on the Earth of these books than dreamed of in any religious traditions.

Any thoughts or questions? E-mail Ed Noonan at marysmountain@gmail.com