The Kiss of Jesus
How Mother Teresa and the Saints Helped Me to Discover the Beauty of the Cross
by Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle
About the Book
When Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle was growing up, she had no thought of one day becoming a popular author and television host. She was immersed in her life as the seventh of eight children in a Catholic family. Sometimes that life was carefree and fun, spending time with relatives dancing the festive Polkas at family weddings, and enjoying picnics in her back yard dappled with fruit trees and flower gardens. Other times, life for her was very dark and tarnished with struggles and pain. Struggles that she felt were perhaps best left a secret.
Donna-Marie retreated to the beauty of nature, thanking God for its splendors, pondering and meditating. She plunged her heart and soul into a deeper meaning of life as she tried to navigate the ups and downs in a large struggling family. She turned to God for help especially as she became increasingly misunderstood by her family and her peers.
Life took some bizarre turns, and Donna-Marie was forced to deal with a crazed man who took away her freedom and held her hostage. Eventually escaping the nightmare of her prison, she married and began raising her family, believing she had finally found her true vocation. But she couldn’t seem to get out from under the shadow of the Cross. She lost three babies to miscarriage, struggled with her husband’s serious drinking problem and was later abandoned by him just before she gave birth to her third living child.
Raising her family alone, she was subjected to abusive neighbors and appalling living conditions, struggling to overcome these challenges as she held onto hope for better days.
Her knight in shining armor finally came on the scene. Or so she thought. Another unexpected adventure ensued, thrusting Donna-Marie into a more affluent yet controlled life. “Prince Charming” had charmed his way into her life, but under the veneer of his charm was a dark side.
Survival mode took over as Donna-Marie had to fight for her life and for her children’s safety. Providentially, a saint or two crossed paths with Donna-Marie and impacted her life greatly. One was Blessed Mother Teresa who would become her close friend and spiritual mother.
The Kiss of Jesus is a powerful, moving true story of a well-known Catholic author who faced great suffering, abuse and rejection, but through faith, hope and love she found redemption and the beauty of the Cross.
Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle is a Catholic wife, mother, speaker, catechist, and EWTN TV host of “Everyday Blessings for Catholic Moms” and “Catholic Mom’s Café.” She is an award winning and best-selling author of numerous Catholic books, and was blessed with a ten-year friendship with Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
Praise for THE KISS OF JESUS
“Perseverance, faith, hope, and humility are the currents of grace that flow through The Kiss of Jesus. Donna-Marie proves that God works all things to the good no matter how ruthless, devastating, or humiliating they may be. This candid and poignant account pierces the heart and leaves the reader changed by the experience.”
– Johnnette S. Benkovic, Founder, Women of Grace®
“Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle allows us to enter into her heart, a heart touched personally by Mother Teresa, and accompany her on a remarkable spiritual journey in The Kiss of Jesus.”
– Brian Patrick, Anchor, EWTN News Nightly
“For anyone who wishes to move beyond anger and resentment, this book is an answer to prayer.”
– Mike Aquilina, EWTN host and author of The Feasts
I have no doubt that this extraordinary true story can and will bring hope to those who are suffering or who have suffered and are struggling to make sense of it all.
– Dan Burke, Executive Director, National Catholic Register
“In Donna-Marie’s beatific smile and warm eyes, we glimpse her earnings from a life fraught with poverty, denied friendships, betrayal, abandonment, and real violence, yet filtered through a most unexpected, and arduous, ‘vocation to love’. The Kiss of Jesus is a courageous, sometimes stunningly personal memoir.”
– Elizabeth Scalia, Author, Strange Gods: Unmasking the Idols in Everyday Life
“The “Kiss of Jesus” runs the full gamut of virtue and vice, flesh and spirit, demonic and holy. Donna-Marie’s extraordinary life bears witness and hope to us all, ‘nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.’”
– Jim Pinto, Co-Host of EWTN’s @ Home with Jim and Joy
“The Kiss of Jesus is no ordinary spiritual autobiography. It is a gripping account of spiritual adventure and an emotional roller coaster telling of God's faithfulness in times of terror, abuse, and profound encounters with grace and holiness.”
– Mark P. Shea, Author, By What Authority: An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition
“This book knocked my socks off! I would have never expected that such a sweet, joyful and soft-spoken woman had lived such a perilous, abusive and violent life. Yet she never lost her joy or her hope. God was always with her, just as He is with each of us.”
– Gail Buckley, Founder & President, Catholic Scripture Study International