ATLANTA—Maria Morera Johnson, who writes about holy women as feisty and inspiring role models for her and all those looking for heroines, will be the guest speaker at the November Magnificat meal for women.

The Magnificat will be held Saturday, Nov. 10, at Holy Cross Church, Atlanta. All women are invited to attend.

Maria Morera Johnson

In addition to her two recent books on women saints, both honored by Catholic publishers, Johnson is a speaker and catechist and has been active in the New Evangelization through Catholic blogs and podcasts for a decade.

Her books include “My Badass Book of Saints: Courageous women who taught me how to live” and “Super Girls and Halos: My companions on the quest for truth, justice and heroic virtue.” The second book looks at the cardinal virtues of the Catholic faith through the lens of women saints and fictional super girl characters.

A native of Cuba, she immigrated with her family to Atlanta in the 1960s, where she attended Christ the King and St. Pius X schools. But then her parents rocked her world and moved to Miami, Florida, where she finished high school and attended Florida International University and the University of Miami. Maria met her husband in a church youth group in Miami. She became a high school English teacher while hoping to become a New York Times best-selling author.

Throughout her childhood and young adulthood, she doggedly submitted stories and poems for publication. It resulted in just as many rejections. Defeated, she quit trying and focused on raising a family. Three teenagers, a husband building a business, and a scrappy dog kept her busy.

Nothing is wasted in God’s economy. He placed that desire to write in her heart, so all those years developed her craft. When Maria had a profound spiritual conversion and aligned her will to God’s, everything changed. She will share how her “fiat”—her surrender to God’s will—changed the course of her life and the explosion of graces that followed.

Magnificat is a ministry to women within the Catholic Church that began in the United States and has spread throughout the world, including Canada, the Caribbean and Africa. The Atlanta chapter, the Joyful Visitation chapter, is 26 years old.

The heart of the Magnificat ministry is to hear the faith story of an ordinary person and to be encouraged and surprised by the actions of God in daily lives around us.

Its purpose is to help women open more and more to the Holy Spirit through a deeper commitment of their lives to Jesus as Lord and to impart the Holy Spirit to one another by their love, service and sharing the good news of salvation.

The Magnificat is held in the parish hall of Holy Cross Church from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. Each table has a hostess and seating is open so women are welcome to come either on their own or with friends.

In addition to the testimony of the speaker, the Magnificat includes a catered hot breakfast, a time of praise and worship led by a music ministry, and intercessory prayer. The sacrament of reconciliation and the opportunity for individual prayer from a prayer team are available afterward.

Reservations are $20 and are made in advance. No tickets are returned. Check-in is at the door for those with reservations only.

To make an online reservation, go to https://conta.cc/2Du2402. Or to register by mail, please send your name, address, parish, if applicable, contact information and a check made payable to Magnificat Joyful Visitation to Debbie DuPont, 315 Rose Court, SW, Lilburn, GA 30047. Mailed reservations must be postmarked by Nov. 4.

The doors open early and guests are encouraged to arrive by 9 a.m. Holy Cross Church is located at 3773 Chamblee Tucker Road, Atlanta, less than a mile from the Chamblee Tucker Road exit on Interstate 285.

Priests and religious are invited to attend free of charge, but reservations are still requested to plan for the meal. Since the morning is designed to speak to the hearts of women free of distractions, it is respectfully requested that young children not attend.