Gill Books to publish new collection of Michel Quoist’s best known prayers

Michel Quoist was a French Catholic priest who was an inspirational figure to many Catholics and other Christians around the world seeking to relate their faith more directly to everyday life. Famous on French television and radio, it was through his many books that he reached a wider audience throughout the world. He was particularly popular in Ireland, with his visits to Dublin bringing people out to see him in their thousands.

His most famous book was Prayers of Life. First published in French in 1954 and then by Gill & Macmillan in English in 1963, it sold millions of copies worldwide.

Gill Books are now publishing a new collection of his best-loved prayers, Keeping Hope: Favourite Prayers for Modern Living. Among the subjects the prayers address are accepting ourselves as we are, ageing, feeling discouraged, keeping faith, and the power of love.

Like in previous collections Quoist addresses his subject matter through the ordinary events of life and against the background of modern life, making them easy to relate to. It is this approach which has made his prayers so popular, striking a chord with Christians all over the world seeking comfort as they struggled with life’s universal challenges - among them self-acceptance, loneliness, despair, loss and grief.

Keeping Hope: Favourite Prayers for Modern Living is published by Gill Books on Friday 5 September 2014, priced at €14.99/£12.99.

For further information please contact Teresa Daly, Communications Manager, Gill Books, 01 500 9521, tdaly@gill.ie.