A sacrament according to St. Thomas Aquinas is "the sign of a sacred thing in so far as it sanctifies men." St Augustine called it "a visible form of an invisible grace."The sacraments are essential to the life of the Church in most traditions but they have received little attention from theologians of late and there is great misunderstanding about their nature and purpose.Fr. Anselm Grnn, the best-selling German Benedictine, has set about answering this need. This new book contains seven chapters, one for each sacrament. This is not a theological exposition though it is based on the soundest theology. Grnn is a spiritual writer who has learned much from his study of analytical psychology (the writings of C.G. Jung) and uses these insights to bring fresh understanding to the sacraments of the Church.His writing is orthodox but because of its psychological sophisitcation, Grnn once again manages to touch the hearts and minds of men and women of today. The sacraments, Grnn shows, are the free gift of God and are not dependent in any way upon the worthiness or unworthiness oif the Christiian believer.Grnn's new book will be welcomed by priests, ministers, teachers and countless people who are trying to make sense of being Christian in the turbulent modern world.
