By Way of Grace: Moving from Faithfulness to Holiness

by Paula Huston

For many years, author Paula Huston had been in a faith struggle. Having returned to Christianity and converted to Catholicism, she realized one morning that God was calling her to a deeper experience of holiness, which would require of her arduous work that led to the simplest surrender. By Way of Grace is Huston's artfully written account of what she learned during her struggle to grow in faith and to accept God's grace. The book contends that the spiritual life firmly rests on saints and virtues, and each chapter focuses on how a great saint of the mystical Catholic tradition explains and exemplifies one of the traditional Christian virtues. For anyone stuggling with how to move forward in his or her faith, this book demonstrates how to know, love, and serve God in holiness.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2007

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is my third Paula Huston book inside of a year, which is a good thing mostly. I really do enjoy her writing and I enjoyed this book as well. It is written with that blend of personal reflection and theological connections which I enjoy.

The premise of the book is centred around the theological virtues and intersperses personal reflections on the virtue in question and theological discussion of the virtue. In this book, those two sections are really clearly marked, which is different from the other two books which interweave them more organically. The insights are still good and the theology is as well, but I found the more clear lines between the two experiences of virtue a little jarring at times. Both are valuable, but the transitions felt a little sharp at times.

This is only a minor criticism and I wonder how much of it is influenced by the rather rapid immersion I did with this author. I do that sometimes- discover a writer and then read everything quickly. That has its benefits, but it does mean by later in the process, I start going 'ah, that story', not dismissively, but as a little too much shorthand, which inhibits my ability to listen. So, I wonder if I was listening well to this book. A break and a re-read may be in order.

[Marie Fouhey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paula Huston uses her life as a starting point to investigate various virtues and the saints who exemplify each virtue for her. The lives of the saints are interesting and certainly wide ranging since she goes from St. Basil who was born in 330 to Edith Stein who was killed in a concentration camp
during WWII. I had a hard time identifying with her problems, since she is apparently an energetic, hard driving woman who aims for excellence in everything she does and I am not remotely like that.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insights! Well written. I enjoyed the stories of the Saints for each virtue. Inspired me to grow in these 8 Virtues.

[Minrose · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was very disappointed with this book, as her last book The Holy Way was excellent. In this book rhe layout for each chapter began with the author's present problem or concern, then she would write about a virtue. For some reason I found her concerns annoying, petty and depressing, however, once she starting writing on the virtues it was wonderful. I couldn't get past her issues so I didn't finish the book.