The New York Times called Chiara Lubich "one of the most influential women in the Catholic Church." This biography transports readers inside the story of a young woman, born to a poor family in Trent, who felt called to dedicate her life to God. Against the backdrop of the devastation of the Second World War, Lubich shared her passion first with a group of young women her age. Torno presents a forthright account of Chiara Lubich and her friends' collective mystical experience and their resulting life, both profoundly spiritual and deeply human, which always aimed at fulfilling Jesus' prayer "that all may be one." By the 1960's, her inspiration had reached every corner of Italy and spread throughout Europe, behind the Iron Curtain, and around the world. Wherever she went - from the jungles of the Cameroon, to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, to the skyscrapers of New York, to the Buddhist monasteries of Chiang Mai, Thailand - she shared her choice of God and the lifestyle it generated. This biography brings to life those people Chiara met along the way - from everyday folk to political leaders to popes - and describes how her charism affected each one. He reveals the challenges that arose as a vast movement grew up around Lubich as well as her joy at seeing authentic gospel life spread around the world. Together, they achieved what Chiara defined as " - the great attraction of modern times: to penetrate to the highest contemplation while mingling with everyone." Chiara Lubich was an extraordinary woman, but she was more than that; she inspired and led an extraordinary religious movement, but she was more than that as well. Chiara Lubich was the embodiment of the values of Love and Unity that she espoused; which live on after her not only in the remarkable Focolare movement itself, but in the hearts and souls of people of faiths and cultures worldwide, touched by her spirit. Rabbi David Rosen, CBE, KSG International Director of Interreligious Affairs, AJC

The 15 Days of Prayer with Chiara Lubich is a portrait of an extraordinary and holy woman whose deepest desire was to fulfill Jesus' prayer: "That they all may be one." Florence Gillet manages to find the way for Chiara to give of herself generously in the meditations and reflections contained in this book, so that many might come to know, understand, and embrace this collective way of holiness."We need to enlarge our heart to the measure of the heart of Jesus. How much work that means! Yet this is the only thing necessary." Day 3"We must love our neighbors one by one, without holding in our heart any leftover affection for the brother or sister met a moment before." Day 3"It is in meeting you [Jesus forsaken], that we become another Mary." Day 15"Whoever enters your infinite suffering finds, as if by magic, everything transformed into Love." Day 12"When unity with our brothers and sisters is complete, when it has flowered anew and more fully from difficulties, then, as night fades into day, tears into light, often, I find you, Lord." Day 9Chiara Lubich was an extraordinary woman, an apostle of dialogue in ecumenism, in interreligious dialogue, and among people of no religious affiliation.The charism of unity given to Chiara and the remarkable testimony of it she gave to the Church and humanity have proven to be well suited for our times.

Chiara Lubich is now being called a great Catholic mystic of our times. In these letters we encounter this mystical side of Chiara who is also the bearer of a charism, a gift from the Holy Spirit in response to the special needs of the Church and of the world. Chiara's charism is unity, the unity that Jesus asked for us from his Father: "May they all be one as we are one - I in them and you in me - so that they may be brought to complete unity" (Jn 17: 22-23). Chiara saw God's love in everyone and everything. The light of this discovery enveloped her, and she felt like she was at the centre of the Father's love. This discovery is at the foundation of Chiara's spirituality which emerges from these early letters. They were written to the young women and others who were drawn by the way she presented the Christian life as a response to God's love, which was shown to her in Jesus, most especially in his abandonment and death on the Cross. In these letters, the God that Chiara invites us to believe in is Love. The conversion she asks of us is a conversion to Love. Often using the language and style of the saints and mystics of other ages (like Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Francis of Assisi), Chiara communicates her burning desire that "Love be loved," that "all the world be set ablaze by the fire of Love." Her words are full of fervour, but also simplicity and practical common sense.