Chaplain's Memoir Tells of Surrender After Covid Loss

A.J. Neal Publishing has released A Thousand Hands But One: How GOD Prepared a CATHOLIC Chaplain For the Surrender She Never Expected, a memoir by former Catholic chaplain Laura Riccardi. The book recounts how Riccardi’s years of bedside ministry—holding the hands of the sick and dying—prepared her for a devastating personal trial: when her husband, Len, was hospitalized during Covid-19, rigid hospital protocols prevented her from being at his side, and he died alone. That experience of being unable to hold the one hand she most longed to hold became the catalyst for a deeper surrender to God’s will.

In the memoir, Riccardi shares stories from her time as a hospital chaplain, showing how those encounters quietly readied her for her own cross. The book’s central spiritual lesson is surrender to God’s will, a theme echoed by endorsers. Cynthia Zack, composer and host of Mary, Mother and Queen of the Divine Will on Radio Maria, calls 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.” A Benedictine monk and priest of more than 50 years adds that the book is “more than a memoir. It is a testimony to the grace of surrender—to trusting God when the path ahead is uncertain.” Heartbreaking yet hope-filled, the memoir bears witness to the message that where human hands fall away, God’s grace remains.

Published by A.J. Neal Publishing of Jackson, New Jersey, the book is available in paperback and ebook through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers. More information can be found at www.athousandhandsbutone.com. Laura Riccardi’s background includes 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. She is also an award-winning former teacher, mother of four, and longtime homeschooling mom.