When Laura Riccardi spent years holding the hands of the sick and dying as a Catholic chaplain, she could not have known those moments were preparing her for the one hand she would be unable to hold. In her new memoir, A Thousand Hands But One: How GOD Prepared a CATHOLIC Chaplain For the Surrender She Never Expected, Riccardi recounts how her husband, Len, was hospitalized during the Covid-19 pandemic. Rigid hospital protocols kept them apart as he became gravely ill and died alone. That personal tragedy became the crucible for a spiritual lesson she had been learning her entire ministry: surrender to God's will.
Published by A.J. Neal Publishing, the memoir is more than a collection of bedside stories. It is a testament to how God uses our service to others to prepare us for our own trials. Riccardi's years as a hospital chaplain placed her at the intersection of human suffering and divine grace. She offered prayer, comfort and Christ's presence to countless patients. Yet when her own husband lay dying, she found herself on the other side of the hospital door, unable to provide the physical comfort she had so often given. That experience forced her to confront the book's central theme: where human hands fall away, God's grace remains.
The book has drawn praise from those who know Riccardi's journey. Cynthia Zack, composer and host of Mary, Mother and Queen of the Divine Will on Radio Maria, called it "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." A Benedictine monk and priest of more than 50 years, who asked to remain anonymous, described the memoir as "more than a memoir. It is a testimony to the grace of surrender—to trusting God when the path ahead is uncertain."
The implications of Riccardi's story extend beyond one woman's grief. In a time when many have lost loved ones under similar isolating circumstances, her account offers a language for lament and hope. It challenges readers to consider how their own experiences of loss might be transformed by trust in a larger plan. By weaving together her chaplaincy encounters and her personal tragedy, Riccardi demonstrates that preparation for life's hardest moments often comes through ordinary faithfulness. The hands she held in ministry became the training ground for the hand she could not hold—and for the surrender she never expected.
A Thousand Hands But One is available in paperback and ebook editions through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers. More information can be found at www.athousandhandsbutone.com.
