It is surely true that 'reclaimed' spiritual wisdom from the pre-Vatican II era can enrich the faith lives of Catholics today. The American Catholic community prior to the Second Vatican Council can be numbered among the most vital expressions of Catholicism in the history of the church. The contributors are a who's-who of the top theologians and spiritual writers today. other essays cover devotional practices, such as prayer to the saints, devotion to Mary, the Rosary, the Eucharistic Fast, and the Angelus, as well as profiles of figures such as Thomas Merton, Theodore Hesburth, Teilhard de Chardin, and Dorothy Day.

The concept of Mestizaje--a reference to the distinctive biological and cultural intermixture that occurred in the "New World"--had becme a foundational catagory in U.S. Latina/o theology. This book traces the subversive and innovative ways in which Catholic theologians have turned this concept into a powerful framework for articulating the experiences of faith of Latina/o communities.

Caryll Houselander (1901-54), an English Catholic laywoman, artist, and visionary, was driven by a strong identification with the poor that enabled her in fresh and insightful ways, to proclaim the 'Christing of the World.' Wright interweaves texts and images into an intimate encounter with a fascinating woman, a 'divine eccentric,' and a gifted reader of souls.