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Christian Spirituality: Themes from the Tradition, by Lawrence S. Cunningham and Keith J. Egan. Paulist Press, 1996.
Christian Spirituality is a concise and accessible overview of the ways Christians over the centuries have approached God in prayer and practice. In ten chapters, Lawrence Cunningham and Keith Egan explain the dynamics of spiritual life, each chapter exploring a single theme such as scripture, journeying, meditation and contemplation, asceticism, mysticism, solitude and
community, friendship, and the eucharist. The themes are not mutually exclusive, since believers frequently embrace several or all of these "ways" at once. But in different times and places people have tended to focus on one or another, so that they have become discernible paths to the Holy. Christian Spirituality explores each them in depth, tracing its evolution over the centuries. Within this historical framework, the book provides the reader with a "taste" of the different ways
Christians have sought or lived in the presence of God. Each chapter concludes with a list of selected works for further reading and with exercises intended to provide a personal experience of the "way". Christian Spirituality is engaging, informative, inspiring, and will reward the reader with fresh insights and a renewed aspiration drawn from the hallowed traditions of Christianity.
-- Midwest Book Review
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Podcasts on Christian Spirituality and Theology
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31 teachings now available for no fee.
Most recent: Prayer of Jesus, Paul, and the early Christians. (15 min.)
Use link below for direct access. Also available via phone and tablet apps: Podbean, Spotify, Google Play Music, and Apple Podcasts.
- Do search for Awaken, Philip St. Romain, or combine in search, then subscribe to channel for ongoing notifications.
Podcasts
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St. Francis de Sales: January 24. 1567 - 1622.
Francis was destined by his father to be a lawyer so that the young man could eventually take his elder’s place as a senator from the province of Savoy in France. For this reason Francis was sent to Padua to study law. After receiving his doctorate, he returned home and, in due time, told his parents he wished to enter the priesthood. His father strongly opposed Francis in this,
and only after much patient persuasiveness on the part of the gentle Francis did his father finally consent. Francis was ordained and elected provost of the Diocese of Geneva, then a center for the Calvinists. Francis set out to convert them, especially in the district of Chablais. By preaching and distributing the little pamphlets he wrote to explain true Catholic doctrine, he had remarkable success.
At 35, he became bishop of Geneva. While administering his diocese he continued to preach, hear confessions, and catechize the children. His gentle character was a great asset in winning souls. He practiced his own axiom, “A spoonful of honey attracts more flies than a barrelful of vinegar.”
Besides his two well-known books, the Introduction to the Devout Life and A Treatise on the Love of God, he wrote many pamphlets and carried on a vast correspondence. For his writings, he has been named patron of the Catholic Press. His writings, filled with his characteristic gentle spirit, are addressed to lay people. He wants to make them understand that they too
are called to be saints. As he wrote in The Introduction to the Devout Life: “It is an error, or rather a heresy, to say devotion is incompatible with the life of a soldier, a tradesman, a prince, or a married woman…. It has happened that many have lost perfection in the desert who had preserved it in the world.”
In spite of his busy and comparatively short life, he had time to collaborate with another saint, Jane Frances de Chantal, in the work of establishing the Sisters of the Visitation. These women were to practice the virtues exemplified in Mary’s visit to Elizabeth: humility, piety, and mutual charity. They at first engaged to a limited degree in works of mercy for the poor and the sick.
Today, while some communities conduct schools, others live a strictly contemplative life.
Calendar of Saints
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