{"product_id":"the-virgin-of-prince-street-9781496217172","title":"The Virgin of Prince Street","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e2019 Foreword INDIES Award, Gold for Essay\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e With organized religion becoming increasingly divisive and politicized and Americans abandoning their pews in droves, it’s easy to question aspects of traditional spirituality and devotion. In response to this shifting landscape, Sonja Livingston undertakes a variety of expeditions—from a mobile confessional in Cajun Country to a eucharistic procession in Galway, Ireland, to the Death and Marigolds Parade in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Mass in a county jail on Thanksgiving Day—to better understand devotion in her own life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Virgin of Prince Street\u003c\/i\u003e chronicles her quest, offering an intimate and unusually candid view into Livingston’s relationship with the swiftly changing Catholic Church and into her own changing heart. Ultimately, Livingston’s meditations on quirky rituals and fading traditions thoughtfully and dynamically interrogate traditional elements of sacramental devotion, \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Livingston’s essays are light-hearted, witty, told in a comforting, sisterly voice, someone you can trust, someone who speaks her mind, someone who explores those things lost and found.”—Debbie Hagan, \u003ci\u003eBrevity\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Livingston is to be lauded for documenting an honest journey back home.\"—Nick Ripatrazone, \u003ci\u003ePlough\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"If you think a woman’s quest to find a statue from the church of her childhood wouldn’t be that engaging a mystery, you’d be wrong. In \u003ci\u003eThe Virgin of Prince Street: Expeditions into Devotion\u003c\/i\u003e, Sonja Livingston refuses simple devotion as a motive and keeps digging for the source of religious impulse.\"—Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew, \u003ci\u003eBookends Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Liv­ing­ston's invitation to her expeditions is pitch perfect. She is skilled at laughing at herself, gently poking fun at the tradition that she's returning to with new eyes, and drawing us toward the mystery that ultimately cannot be spoken.\"—Amy Frykholm, \u003ci\u003eChristian Century\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"As Livingston moves through the pews of her memory and her present, the authenticity of her pursuits captivates.\"—James M. Chesbro, \u003ci\u003eAmerica Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe Virgin of Prince Street\u003c\/i\u003e is beautiful in its craft. It is also important enough in its message that any Christian, indeed, any person of faith in the world right now, ought to encounter.\"—Kristina Marie Darling, \u003ci\u003eTupelo Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"In examining the sustained power of a central icon of the Catholic church and an object of personal, sentimental attachment, Livingston’s linked essays highlight the irresolvable paradox of modern religiosity—that the seeker must follow an uncharted middle pathway when the old texts and their tropes, their patriarchy and their strictures, necessarily fall away.\"—Elizabeth Kadetsky, \u003ci\u003eLiterary Hub\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“In these lyrical sojourns Sonja Livingston contemplates the riches of the Catholic tradition along with its ongoing tribulations. In doing so the essayist discovers that devotion in imperfect circumstances is, in fact, the only devotion ever possible and has the extraordinary capacity to transform the human heart. Livingston’s essays illuminate while infusing nuance and generosity into an increasingly polarized religious landscape.”—Richard Rohr, author of \u003ci\u003eFalling Upward\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e“Sonja Livingston’s honest account of a halting return to the Catholic Church, and to its rich traditions of ritual and symbol, will speak to spiritual seekers of all stripes. Her reverence for every image, every phrase, and every idea in this book makes \u003ci\u003eThe Virgin of Prince Street\u003c\/i\u003e its own act of devotion.”—Valerie Sayers, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Powers\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eBrain Fever\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e“A captivating account. . . . Sonja Livingston’s spiritual detective story is rendered in vivid, sensual prose, filled with insight and gentle wisdom. In the end, Livingston has written a prayer—not the dull, recited kind, but a real prayer, a deeply personal song of hope.”—Dinty W. Moore, author of \u003ci\u003eBetween Panic and Desire\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAuthor’s Note    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Search for the Virgin, Part I: Rochester    \u003cbr\u003e 1. Absolute Mystery    \u003cbr\u003e 2. The Heart Is a First-Class Relic \u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e Search for the Virgin, Part II: Rochester    \u003cbr\u003e 3. Real Presence    \u003cbr\u003e 4. Feast of Corpus Christi    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Search for the Virgin, Part III: Rochester    \u003cbr\u003e 5. Altar Girl    \u003cbr\u003e 6. Miracle of the Eyes    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Search for the Virgin, Part IV: Pittsburgh    \u003cbr\u003e 7. Litany for a Dying Church    \u003cbr\u003e 8. Feast of Saint Blaise    \u003cbr\u003e 9. Devil’s Advocate    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Search for the Virgin, Part V: Buffalo    \u003cbr\u003e 10. Act of Contrition    \u003cbr\u003e 11. \u003ci\u003eIn Persona Christi \u003c\/i\u003e   \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Search for the Virgin, Part VI: Buffalo    \u003cbr\u003e 12. Holy Water    \u003cbr\u003e 13. The Marigold Parade    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Search for the Virgin, Part VII: Buffalo    \u003cbr\u003e 14. A Brief History of Prayer    \u003cbr\u003e 15. Feast of the Epiphany    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Search for the Virgin, Part VIII: Rochester    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments    \u003cbr\u003e Sources    ","brand":"University of Nebraska Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49409227850071,"sku":"9781496217172","price":13.29,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781496217172.jpg?v=1730506041","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-virgin-of-prince-street-9781496217172","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}