Virgin of Prince Street

Sonja Livingston is an associate professor of English at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her essays are widely anthologized and taught in classrooms around the country. She is the award-winning author of Ghostbread, Ladies Night at the Dreamland, and Queen of the Fall (Nebraska, 2015).

“In these lyrical sojourns Sonja Livingston contemplates the riches of the Catholic tradition along with its ongoing tribulations. In doing so the essayist discovers that devotion in imperfect circumstances is, in fact, the only devotion ever possible and has the extraordinary capacity to transform the human heart. Livingston’s essays illuminate while infusing nuance and generosity into an increasingly polarized religious landscape.”-Richard Rohr, author of Falling Upward“Sonja Livingston’s honest account of a halting return to the Catholic Church, and to its rich traditions of ritual and symbol, will speak to spiritual seekers of all stripes. Her reverence for every image, every phrase, and every idea in this book makes The Virgin of Prince Street its own act of devotion.”-Valerie Sayers, author of The Powers and Brain Fever“A captivating account. . . . Sonja Livingston’s spiritual detective story is rendered in vivid, sensual prose, filled with insight and gentle wisdom. In the end, Livingston has written a prayer-not the dull, recited kind, but a real prayer, a deeply personal song of hope.”-Dinty W. Moore, author of Between Panic and Desire

• Author's NoteSearch for the Virgin, Part I: Rochester1. Absolute Mystery2. The Heart Is a First-Class RelicSearch for the Virgin, Part II: Rochester3. Real Presence4. Feast of Corpus ChristiSearch for the Virgin, Part III: Rochester5. Altar Girl6. Miracle of the EyesSearch for the Virgin, Part IV: Pittsburgh7. Litany for a Dying Church8. Feast of Saint Blaise9. Devil's AdvocateSearch for the Virgin, Part V: Buffalo10. Act of Contrition11. In Persona ChristiSearch for the Virgin, Part VI: Buffalo12. Holy Water13. The Marigold ParadeSearch for the Virgin, Part VII: Buffalo14. A Brief History of Prayer15. Feast of the EpiphanySearch for the Virgin, Part VIII: RochesterAcknowledgmentsSources