In a time when the COVID-19 pandemic separated countless families, former Catholic chaplain Laura Riccardi faced an agonizing trial: her husband, Len, was hospitalized with the virus, and rigid hospital protocols kept her from holding his hand as he died alone. That experience, and the years she spent ministering to the sick and dying, form the heart of her new memoir, A Thousand Hands But One: How GOD Prepared a CATHOLIC Chaplain For the Surrender She Never Expected, published by A.J. Neal Publishing.
Riccardi's story matters because it speaks to a universal question: how do we trust God when our deepest fears are realized? For years, she held the hands of patients at their bedsides, offering prayer, comfort, and Christ's presence. Yet when her own husband became gravely ill, his was the one hand she could not hold. That painful irony—and her subsequent surrender to God's will—is the book's central lesson. As one Benedictine monk and priest of more than 50 years, who has known Riccardi for many years and asked to remain anonymous, said, "A Thousand Hands But One is more than a memoir. It is a testimony to the grace of surrender—to trusting God when the path ahead is uncertain."
The memoir draws on Riccardi's extensive background: eighteen years of formation with the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, fifteen years as an RCIA catechist, seven years as a hospital chaplain, and five years cohosting Radio Maria's Mary, Mother and Queen of the Divine Will. Her experiences with the dying, she says, quietly prepared her for what was to come. In sharing those stories, she offers readers a model for facing loss with faith. "This is a story of spousal love both on earth and as the Bride of Christ—a story for every soul seeking understanding of God's eternal plan, with lessons for us as a people and as a nation," said Cynthia Zack, composer and host of Mary, Mother and Queen of the Divine Will on Radio Maria.
The implications of this book extend beyond one woman's grief. It arrives at a moment when many are still processing the isolation and loss of the pandemic, and when questions about suffering and divine purpose remain urgent. Riccardi's witness—that where human hands fall away, God's grace remains—challenges readers to consider their own willingness to surrender control. The book is available in paperback and ebook editions through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other booksellers. More information can be found at www.athousandhandsbutone.com. A.J. Neal Publishing, an independent press founded by author Christopher Holl, is dedicated to bringing distinctive stories to readers, and this memoir stands as a testament to love, loss, and trust in God's will.
