The Sweetness of Grace

Stories of Christian Trial and Victory

By: Constantina R. Palmer

Narrated by: Constantina R. Palmer

From the author of The Scent of Holiness, The Sweetness of Grace is a collection of stories derived from conversations with Orthodox nuns, monks, and laypeople, along with experiences of Orthodox life in South Korea, Greece, and North America.

Those who enjoyed Everyday Saints will enjoy these similar stories from other parts of the Orthodox world. The book includes conversations with monastics, priests, and laypeople and stories of the sweet and difficult aspects of Christian life. The stories span three continents, including experiences in South Korea, Greece, and North America.

©2017 Constantina R. Palmer (P)2020 Constantina R. Palmer

Truly inspiring

I don't think I was ready to listen to these in the beginning of my conversion to Orthodoxy, but I am truly enjoying these stories, as well as, her previous book. The stories are inspiring and thought provoking.

A window into holiness

The Sweetness of Grace is by far the favorite book I read in 2020. I had the pleasure of listening to it on Audible and I truly enjoyed hearing Matushka Constantina tell her stories aloud --- and it felt as if you were sitting with her surrounded by Holy Icons as she read. She and her husband have been blessed with being able to travel and have many encounters with monastics over the years during their time in Greece, Korea, and North America. She is a masterful storyteller and relays the experiences, teachings, miracles, and other encounters with holiness and weaves them into a beautiful tapestry and colors them with Scripture and the writings of the church Fathers. The stories are grouped into eight chapters, one for each Beatitude.

These vignettes make one long for holiness and a more intimate knowledge and relationship with Christ. While many of us, especially in North America, do not have easy access to monastics (especially in these most recent days), Constantina gives us a window to look and see that Christ is real and a life of devotion to him is possible both in and outside of a monastery. Her stories also made me realize that we often are to busy to seek the blessings that Christ has to offer us – whether it be the blessing from our own parish priest, visiting clergy or a pilgrimage to a nearby monastery. Miracles, blessings and answers to prayers abound if we are open to acknowledge them and receive them. As I listened to this book, I would very often be reminded of Isaiah 55:6, “Seek the Lord while he may be found..”

This book is written in a very conversational style, which makes it completely approachable for a nice long listen, but I also wound up purchasing the written copy so that I could keep it on my nightstand to read and ponder a specific story or miracle that she relayed.

I cannot recommend this book enough. It beautifully depicts the teachings of the Orthodox Church and offers inspiration to continue the journey toward (and I paraphrase): “attaining holiness, tasting the sweetness of Grace, and living a life of blessedness.”

A Grace for Every Virtue

As someone who listened to and loved The Scent of Holiness, I was beyond excited to start listening to The Sweetness of Grace. The Sweetness of Grace has the familiar, comforting format of short stories that are simultaneously easy to listen to and are full of great spiritual depth. The Beatitudes were used as both the book outline and chapter titles, and this format helped me to focus on how every virtue is a source of a particular grace.

Constantina beautifully shows the simplicity and depth of the Orthodox faith through this book, and the stories she shared have been good reminders and sources of encouragement to keep pursuing the narrow path. I also appreciated Constantina’s openness in the book, sharing her own personal stories and experiences of God’s grace in her life.

Two parts of the book I especially appreciated were (1) the importance of taking your spiritual rule seriously, not doing things outside of that rule without a blessing from your spiritual father and not growing prideful if you have a stricter spiritual rule than someone else and (2) the reality of and to be cautious against spiritual delusion. I appreciated how open Constantina was in talking about these topics and personally learned a lot. As these are just two small pieces out of a book filled with a plethora of nuggets of spiritual wisdom, I believe that anyone who reads this book will be able to learn something.

The Sweetness of Grace is truly a book for everyone. Its short stories make it easy to digest, especially for someone who may not have the time or focus to keep up with one elongated story, Constantina is a wonderful narrator that is both pleasant to listen to and draws you into each of the stories as though you were right alongside her, and most importantly, this book is another tool to aid in spiritual growth by learning through the stories of others and wisdom of many saints.

Loved these wonderful stories

This compilation of stories about holy people and followers of Christ has strengthened my faith and helped me through some of the doubts i was going through. I’m so glad I read this and i would highly recommend!

Such wonderful stories! Sorry it ended!

I was sorry this ended and wished it went on and on. The stores are deep and told so well. The narration is very pleasant and I enjoy how the author speaks so openly as if she is sitting right here telling you about what she experienced. I hope she writes more books about where she is now and what is happening around her!