Born in a small Alpine town in 1912, the son of a domestic servant and a migrant bricklayer, Albino Luciani became Pope John Paul I on 26 August 1978, succeeding Pope St Paul VI in one of the shortest conclaves in the history of the Church. Pope John Paul I quickly won hearts around the world with his gentle smile but, tragically, his papacy was cut short when he died in his sleep after just thirty-three days. Published to mark his beatification by Pope Francis, Small Things and Silence reminds us of the wisdom and kindness that shone through his papacy, an all-too-brief gift to the Church.