At the start of the third Millennium there is an ever more urgent need for christians to take up seriously the challenge of the universal call to holiness.

“The Beatitudes depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray his charity. They express the vocation of the faithful associated with the glory of his Passion and Resurrection; they shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life; they are the paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulation; they proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ’s disciples;…” (Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 1717).

In this book Gerald Vann presents a whole programme of holiness based on the Eight Beatitudes and the Sacramental life for the Christian who wants to know, love and serve God in this world and be happy with Him forever in the next.