Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting

Winner of a 2015 Catholic Press Association award, Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting is now available from Liturgical Press in paperback or e-book. You can also buy it from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Now available: a FREE companion guide with reflection/discussion questions – perfect for your small group or book club! Click here to download. 

Everyday Sacrament Appvd 2.inddFrom the book cover:

Everyday Sacrament: The Surprising Grace of Parenting is one mother’s story of discovering God in the daily rush of raising children. Laura Kelly Fanucci sets the Catholic sacraments in a new light through the smudged and sticky lens of life with little ones. From dinner time chaos to bath time giggles to never-ending loads of laundry, Laura stumbles into the surprising truth of what the seven sacraments really mean: that God is present always, even in the messes of motherhood.

A spiritual memoir of parenting’s early years and a sacramental theology rooted in family life, Everyday Sacrament offers an honest, humorous, and hopeful look at ordinary moments as full of grace.

Reviews:

As a mom, Laura Kelly Fanucci has a unique perspective on the Catholic sacraments — informed by everything from giving birth to her first child to chaos at the dinner table. Fanucci walks us through her experience of the seven sacraments as only a mother can.

– St. Anthony Messenger magazine

With heart, honesty and humor, Laura Kelly Fanucci’s offering of a peek into her quest for God in the midst of the craziness of parenting will help inspire you along your own path to God. Full of tender moments and truth, this is a book that every Catholic who ever lived in a family will appreciate.

– Lisa M. Hendey, Founder of CatholicMom.com and author of The Grace of Yes

Everyday Sacrament is a gift to any of us seeking God in the messiness of life and raising kids. With refreshing honesty, Laura Kelly Fanucci shares her home and heart to reveal the sacred in everything from changing diapers to rocking a child to sleep. Along the way, she develops a real-world theology that brings the sacraments to life and honors parenting for the holy vocation that it is. As with any encounter of grace, gratitude is in order for this powerful testimony to the messy grace of parenting.

– Jeremy Langford, author of Seeds of Faith: Practices to Grow a Healthy Spiritual Life

Everyday Sacrament is a gift to every parent everywhere. Whether she’s writing about giving a newborn a bath or flying with a cranky toddler, Fanucci reveals the holiness that lives right in the mess of parenting. Her writing is graceful, sensitive, and honest in its portrayal of the highs and lows of motherhood. This beautiful book is a feast for the mind, the heart, and the soul.

– Ginny Kubitz Moyer, author of Random MOMents of Grace: Experiencing God in the Adventures of Motherhood

Excerpts from Everyday Sacrament available online:

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1 Comment

  1. Emily A. on 28 February 2016 at 9:01 pm

    Laura-
    I just finished your book today and then just happened to stumble upon your blog post of Mary of the Miscarriage. Thank you so much for the gift of this post and this book. I have a 20 month old son and can relate to all that you have written. I began reading this book several weeks ago right before my 17 week visit for my latest pregnancy. I had only gotten through the chapters on baptism. It was at that visit that we discovered our baby’s heart had stopped beating. We were devastated. I went on to labor and deliver and it was then that I remembered back in your words about finding the sacraments in our everyday living. Never did I imagine that it would be there after delivering my 17 week old baby boy that I would start to understand more fully the sacrament of baptism. In baptism we are cleansed and renewed by the water that washes over us. My son was born completely in his sack of waters. When the nurse opened it up so that I could hold him more intimately, she did so as I was holding him. The water rushed over the top of him and my hands and I felt renewed in this moment of sadness. I am not sure I would have had the clarity to make this connection without your words of inviting me to see the sacraments all around me.

    I was finally able to finish the rest of your book today! I also want to thank you for sharing of your struggle with infertility and miscarriage. I have had two previous miscarriages before this most recent loss. I have often shared in many of the same feelings and it is comforting to share in solidarity with other women this suffering. Know that in sharing your story you have helped me cope with my own suffering. I pray for you and your family!

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