Sacrament: Personal Encounters With Memories, Wounds, Dreams, and Unruly Hearts

by Patrick Hannon

This collection of perceptive personal essays brings the meaning of the sacraments to life with unflinching realism and compassion. Drawing on his experiences as a priest as well as memories of childhood and adolescence, Patrick Hannon weaves his stories with quirky characters and startling insights into the central actions of Catholic faith.In the tradition of such writers as Anne Lamott, Richard Rodriguez, and Barry Lopez, Patrick Hannon takes his readers on a captivating spiritual journey with unexpected turns and delightful characters. In Sacrament, Hannon guides readers through his own everyday sacramental encounters as living, breathing moments with God. Each essay is a carefully crafted metaphor of one of the sacraments, and Hannon shows moments of deeply human interaction to indeed be encounters with divine grace. The connections between these narratives and the sacraments only come into focus at the very end of each account in a moment of well-earned epiphany. In presenting th

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 22, 2014

Reviews

[William Hogan]

Met this man when he was Principle of Notre Dame High School in Niles, IL. His homilies were fantastic.

Reading the stories of his life in this book is sort of reading parts of my own story, or parts of all of our stories, and that is what makes this book so, so good.

His books make me feel safe and comforted, like I'm in the arms of my parents, or securely wrapped in the arms of God.

[Nicolas Carrillo-Santarelli]

This is a very powerful and most surprising book, in which the author somehow opens the doors to his soul, dilemmas and life, and by doing so lets us know that many of our predicaments, joys and inner experiences are also experienced by others, who can help us in life... showing how the graces of the sacraments can be experienced in different levels and forms through encounters with others and different aspects of life.
The book is divided into sections each of which is devoted to a sacrament. After an interesting presentation of the Scriptures, each of them goes to introduce a sacrament and then the author shows what they aim to do in life by presenting analyses and thoughts about related issues, some directly related, some subtly so. This is a most interesting book that I completely recommend.

[Anthony]

One of the most readable and personal series of essays I've read. I would recommend this primarily Catholic-oriented collection (the author is, after all, a priest) to anyone interested in self-reflection and self-knowledge (regardless of religious or spiritual background). Hannon paints a bit of an impressionist self-portrait that helps you better understand yourself. He exposes his own flaws in a deeply humble way that is thoroughly relatable. Other authors should take note: this is how you do personal essays the right way. Highly, highly, recommended.