NEWS PROVIDED BY
Women of Grace®
Aug. 25, 2026
CLEARWATER, Fla., Aug. 25, 2026 /Standard Newswire/ — In celebration of the historic beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Catholics are invited to rediscover one of his signature spiritual works, The World’s First Love: Mary, Mother of God, through a special online book study.
Hosted by Women of Grace, the study begins on Monday, September 21—just three days before Sheen’s September 24 beatification in St. Louis—and will meet Monday evenings from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. ET. Weekly discussions will be led by Catholic author and award-winning journalist Susan Brinkmann, O.C.D.S.
Originally published in 1952, The World’s First Love is one of Sheen’s great spiritual works and a testament to his profound devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In the first part of the book, Sheen explores the great events and mysteries of Mary’s life, including the Annunciation, Visitation, Virgin Birth, her marriage to St. Joseph, the Wedding Feast at Cana, her suffering at the Cross, and her Assumption. He then turns to questions that remain strikingly relevant today, including love and marriage, the relationship between men and women, human dignity, suffering, mercy, prayer and the Rosary, and the spiritual struggles of the modern world.
Each week, participants will discuss assigned chapters and explore Sheen’s insights, their spiritual significance, and their relevance to Catholic life today.
“This is such a fitting way to celebrate Archbishop Sheen’s beatification,” says Johnnette Williams, President and Founder of Women of Grace, and popular EWTN host who will be attending the beatification in St. Louis, “Sheen had an extraordinary gift for taking profound truths of the Catholic faith and expressing them in a way that could reach both the mind and the heart.
“The World’s First Love gives us an opportunity to rediscover not only Sheen’s remarkable spiritual wisdom, but the woman he loved so deeply—the Blessed Mother—and to understand why her message is just as urgently needed today.”
His beatification offers a new generation of Catholics an opportunity to discover the spiritual wisdom behind the famous voice and television personality. And perhaps there is no better place to begin than with the woman Sheen called “the world’s first love.”
SOURCE Women of Grace®
CONTACT: Thea Parsons, tparsons@womenofgrace.com, 800-558-5452