With God in America: The Spiritual Legacy of an Unlikely Jesuit - Paperback

by Walter J. S. J. Ciszek (Author), Timothy M. Dolan (Foreword by), John M. Dejak (Compiled by)

2017 Independent Press Awards, Winner: Biography: General
2017 Catholic Press Association Book Awards, Third Place: Spirituality: Soft Cover

In 1963, following twenty-three years of hard labor and abuse in Russian prison camps, Walter J. Ciszek, S.J., finally returned to America. Had he come back a bitter man, or a man of diminished faith, it would have been hard to fault him. But he didn't. For the remainder of his years, until his death in 1984, Fr. Ciszek's grace, faith, and wisdom touched--often in profound and lasting ways--everyone who came into contact with him. With God in America is a collection of previously unpublished writings on Ciszek's post-imprisonment life and thoughts. The contents--which include articles he wrote, speeches he delivered at retreats, letters he sent to people he was counseling, and interviews with individuals who knew him personally--present a man unbroken by all that he had endured and eager to share God's love with others. From Ciszek's first days back home in the States to his final words before his death, With God in America demonstrates that saintliness isn't primarily about acting heroically in dramatic or devastating circumstances, but about honoring the ordinary, everyday aspects of life as treasured gifts from God.

Author Biography

WALTER J. CISZEK, S.J. (1904-1984) spent 23 years in the Soviet Union in various prisons and work camps. Upon his return to the United States in 1963, he was assigned to Fordham University in New York City where, until his death, he was a much sought after retreat master and spiritual director. He is the author of With God in Russia and He Leadeth Me and is one of the pre-eminent spiritual writers of the latter half of the twentieth century. In 1988, the cause for his canonization was officially introduced.