At Last—The Book We’ve Been All Waiting For!
Posted by Lily Wilson
October 27, 2025
After 15 years of promoting reverence to the Blessed Sacrament, it was a welcome development to receive the most definitive book on the chapel veil to date.
Anna Elissa is a wife, mother, psychiatrist and Lay Dominican who offers "the most thorough, insightful, and serene guide to veiling ever written—one that will equip you with answers to your own questions as well as the never-lacking questions of friends, relatives and strangers." (From the back cover.)
The author highlights what we must never lose sight of in our devotion: that "the ultimate goal of every devotion is to lead people to a true appreciation of the faith in the mystery of God's saving work through Jesus Christ" (p. 61).
To this end, remaining committed to the universal call to holiness and continual conversion is a must. Indeed, our home page has always stated the purpose of the chapel veil:
If you are thinking about beginning this beautiful devotion, remember that it is God before whom you wish to humble yourself. Like a religious habit, your veil is a public proclamation of your desire to submit to the will of God for your life, and of your commitment to answering the universal call to holiness and continual conversion. Your veil is also a sign of the great dignity inherent to a woman, who has the potential to receive life within herself... both human life and the supernatural life of God. This is an important message the world needs to hear, now more than ever!
If you have wavered in this commitment, no matter. The Lord waits for you at every moment, watching for any sign of openness to His love. Indeed, it is that love that will change you.
In His great goodness, Our Lord left us a way to know with certainty that we are reconciled to Him. The Sacrament of Reconciliation brings us back into union with God and we are instructed, "Go in peace."
Anna Elissa encourages us to stop thinking the Sacrament is only for confessing mortal sins, and shares with us what Pope Pius XII taught us in his encyclical, Mystici Corporis Christi in regard to the other fruits of the Sacrament:
- Geniune self-knowledge is increased;
- Christian humility grows;
- Bad habits are corrected;
- Spiritual neglect and tepidity are resisted;
- The conscience is purified;
- The will is strengthened;
- Salutary self-control is attached;
- Grace is increased.