Stray Leaves

This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design. Stray Leaves, or Traces of Travel is a warm, observant Catholic travel memoir in which Bishop Alex. MacDonald turns a long journey into an act of devotion, memory, and discovery. From Montreal and Quebec down the St. Lawrence to the Atlantic crossing, he records daily Mass, hymns, Rosary, blessings, seasickness, fog, and the comic life of shipboard travel, while his reverent, humorous eye catches birds, weather, and the changing coast. The voyage widens into England, France, Scotland, and the western isles, where sacred history and local legend shape every stop. In London, he meditates on Westminster Abbey, Catholic revival, Newman, and the living faith of the city. In Paris, he contrasts public irreligion with hidden piety and the splendor of Notre Dame, then moves on to the Exposition and the pilgrimage center of Paray le Monial. The Scottish chapters range from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Oban, Skye, Loch Maree, and Inverness, blending lyrical landscape, Gaelic speech, ruined monasteries, healing wells, and stirring memories of castles, saints, and exiles.