Holy Thursday: The Night That Changed the World

In this profound and unique book Mauriac is able to touch his readers in a completely unexpected manner. It is a short and simple work yet deeply rich. The reader is given a chance to see the personal spirituality of Mauriac, which is normally more inaccessible in the fiction he is famous for. In this devotional work, Mauriac is able to avoid the pitfalls of using transparent sanctimonious language, and follows a format all his own. At a quick glance the reader expects to find the all to banal character of most devotional books about holy days, which tend to focus too much on liturgical rites and their symbolism. This work is different. As a layperson Mauriac writes his reflections on what Holy Thursday personally means to him evidently after years of reflection on this holy time of year. It is refreshing and spiritually stimulating on all levels, as well as skillfully written. It was the first work of Mauriac that I had the chance to read and has since led me to read most of his other work. I would recommend it to anyone who seeks a deeper understanding of exactly what Holy Thursday is. Keep in mind it comes to us from a man who understood the spiritual and mental trials of being in this world, yet not of it.