Signatures of Grace

The wonders and mysteries of sacramental life are celebrated in this distinctive collection of essays by eight acclaimed Catholic writers. In Signatures of Grace, Murray Bodo, OFM, Andre Dubus, Mary Gordon, Patricia Hampl, Ron Hansen, Paula Huston, Paul Mariani, and Katherine Vaz share the personal experiences that have deepened the significance of the sacraments in their spiritual and everyday lives. In ""Baptism,"" Katherine Vaz, a novelist and lifelong swimmer, blends images of water, creation, and rebirth to evoke the eternal readiness of the soul to receive grace. Discussing Penance. Patricia Hampl recalls her earliest confessions, when tallying up a decent number of disobediences was a challenge. Writing from a wheelchair and knowing he would never walk again, Andre Dubus, who died in 1999, learned to embrace life's simplest pleasures as gifts: a breeze wafting through his window on a fine June day; a conversation with a friend; preparing a meal for his daughters. These and other essays weave the evolution of the sacraments through the centuries with each author's unique personal history. Inspiring and deeply felt, Signatures of Grace is an invitation to revisit, or discover for the first time, the profound mysteries at the heart of Catholic life. ""For anyone who wants to know what Catholicism is really all about."" --America ""Fresh insights into these ancient mysteries. What the reader comes away with is a sense of the embarrassment of graces that are present in the seven sacraments and the sacrament of life itself."" --Paul Wilkes, author of In Due Season: A Catholic Life andBeyond the Walls:Monastic Wisdom for Everyday Life ""To Signatures of Grace Thomas Grady and Paula Huston have brought their Catholic souls, their fine eyes, and their deep love for the written word. It is a testament to the blessings of the sacraments in their own lives and vision."" --Clarissa Pinkola Estes, PhD, author of Women Who Run with the Wolves I can't think of a more useful or inspiring way to encounter the richness of Catholic spirituality than through these surprisingly personal essays by writers better known for the depth and reach of their fiction than for the intensity of their sacramental life. --C. Michael Curtis, editor ofGod: Stories ""How the mass and other sacraments are celebrated-whether in Latin or the vernacular, with Gregorian chant or folk guitars--has become the battleground upon which larger issues about the Catholic Church are contested. Fortunately, this collection of fresh essays by some of the finest contemporary Catholic writers is blessedly free of that tumult. By examining how the sacraments have gradually cut through and re-shaped their lives, the contributors address how grace works through the earthen vessels of water, oil, bread, and wine . . ."" --Publishers Weekly Thomas Grady has been an editor, publisher, and literary agent for over thirty years. He is currently President and Publisher of Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, Indiana. Paula Huston has written literary fiction and spiritual nonfiction for over thirty years. Her books include The Holy Way, By Way of Grace, and Forgiveness: Following Jesus into Radical Loving.