The author Flannery O’Connor once said that “the pious style is a great stumbling block to Catholics who want to talk to the modern world.” No one would ever have accused Edel of having a pious style at odds with modern life. She had all the usual traits you’d expect to find in a missionary—zeal, a strong relationship with God, and a firm grip on Church teaching—but she had something else: a zest for life and an outstanding sense of humor. “She was great fun,” Frank Duff, her friend and the founder of the Legion of Mary, said of her. “She laughed her way through everything.”