A new selection of classic essays by Alice von Hildebrand, the first published gathering of her shorter writings. Beloved through her books, television appearances, and public speaking, she was also a gifted essayist, and the form suited her: it comes closest to the naturalness and immediacy of her speech, the ideas spilling out as they did in conversation. To read these pages is to sit in the presence of the woman Pope Benedict XVI called “a noble lady.” Part II gathers remembrances and tributes from her friends, among them Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, Rocco Buttiglione, John F. Crosby, Anthony Esolen, Dana Gioia, Rabbi Mark Gottlieb, Scott Hahn, Peter Kreeft, Fr. Paul Scalia, and Josef Seifert.
She writes about truth and charity, how the first exists and how the two are bound together. She explains the true meaning behind sacramentals, that it is a betrayal of truth and love to be unwilling to care about a loved one’s moral state, or that an ancient sacred liturgy should not be forbidden. She gives a voice to the ideas that swirl around my mind and reminds me what we believe and why we believe it. Reading her words, I feel seen, known, and loved. And as always, Alice von Hildebrand does this in an effortless, approachable, conversational style.
When arguments for God’s existence fall on deaf ears or objectivity has been undermined, it can still be meaningful to share a powerful story, especially one that involves special person. The desire for truth may wane, but the power of truth communicated in love remains. As this work shows, such stories invite us into something beyond ourselves, a union with a Love that knows no bounds, or what Alice might call “a remnant of paradise.”
“Remnant of Paradise” illuminates the life of a woman who magnificently united word and wisdom within her. Alice von Hildebrand did not merely comment on the pernicious ideologies of the secular landscape via her pen but also confronted it head-on as a professor. Her professional and personal life each fully aligned, with the indwelling of God in her soul as the true key to her peace and presence. She was a woman with faults and fears like us, but who strove for transformation in Christ and to lead a recollected life in the light of eternity.
