Just got back from the Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit, where I was a featured author for my beloved publisher Our Sunday Visitor. I was signing copies of Take 5: On the Job Meditations With St. Ignatius, my new devotional, co-authored with Father Kris Stubna. We just got the good news that the book went into its second printing less than two months after it hit the stores! I even met a woman who ordered sixty-four copies on impulse. The cover’s lovely, and that surely helps; but I like to think the book is a good introduction to Ignatian prayer for folks in all lines of work. You can look it up.

OSV was also previewing my upcoming patristic title, Signs and Mysteries: Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols. The folks at OSV told me that that book generated quite a bit of buzz at RBTE. In this case, it had to be the cover, because there was nothing else to see (yet). But once they — and you — see the insides, sparks will certainly fly. The book contains hundreds of illustrations by Lea Marie Ravotti — gorgeous reproductions of the artworks of earliest Christianity. I can’t wait to hold that book in my hands. Pre-order now for Christmas gifts!

Several publishers were exhibiting new patristic titles, and of course I walked away with copies. So I’ll be posting reviews in the coming weeks.

This was my third visit to RBTE, my second as a featured author. Last year I signed hundreds of copies of The Resilient Church: The Glory, the Shame, & the Hope for Tomorrow. KVSS Radio recently posted a series of audio interviews on that very book.