At the recent International Book Fair held in Taiwan, an international jury made up of highly-qualified members from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and France, awarded the FSP publication Healing the Eight Stages of Life first prize for best book cover and graphics.
455 books were in the running for the prize and this was the first time it was awarded to a Catholic publishing house–an honor conferred, through the Daughters of St. Paul, on the Local Church of Taiwan. The Secretary of the Episcopal Conference was present at the award ceremony, while the Archbishop stopped by our sisters’ stand later to express his pleasure and gratitude.
The prize-winning cover depicts the profile of an elderly woman, who appears to be lost in thought. Alongside her face is the title of the book in Chinese calligraphy, the stylized characters seeming to repeat the countless age lines carved into her face. Across the woman’s cheekbone is an artificial red gash, like a tear, simulating an open wound. The message is clear and eloquent: the love of Jesus enters a person’s wounds, penetrates the depths of his/her soul and heals it. The gash allows us to glimpse the work of grace, which can transform human wounds into rainbows.
