Abandonment to Divine Providence (Dover Books on Western Philosophy) - Softcover

Caussade, Jean-Pierre De

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486464261 ISBN 13: 9780486464268

Publisher: Dover Publications Inc, 2008

Synopsis

God hides behind the simplest of daily activities; finding Him is a matter of total surrender to His will. That's the message of this 18th-century inspirational classic. Its encouragement to "live in the moment," accepting everyday obstacles with humility and love, has guided generations of seekers to spiritual peace.

About this title

Review:

A spiritual classic of the first order... a book for all those who truly seek God. --Dom David Knowles

Father de Caussade has a wonderful way of encouraging the doubtful, of nurturing the personal surrender that is so much a part of the development of faith. The book is a mystery of its own - and is definitely not for Christians only. --Rabbi Joshua Chasan

Abandonment to Divine Providence" is a classic perhaps more necessary now than ever before. It's a little book that rightly rejects the spirituality of fear and trembling (and the modern preoccupation with dreary self-absorption) in favor of an abiding trust in God's active benevolence. This is a work one reads again and again, always with gratitude and astonishment. --Donald Spoto, Author of "Blue Angel "and "The Dark Side of Genius"

About the Author:

Jean Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751) was a French Jesuit priest and writer known for his work Abandonment to Divine Providence (also translated as The Sacrament of the Present Moment) and his posthumously-published letters of instruction to the Nuns of the Visitation at Nancy, where he was spiritual director from 1733-1740, although he continued to write the sisters after leaving Nancy. While he is best known for his work with the sisters, he also spent years as preacher in southern and central France, as a college rector (at Perpignan and at Albi), and as the director of theological students at the Jesuit house in Toulouse. Caussade is remembered for, among other things, his belief that the present moment is a sacrament from God and that self-abandonment to it and its needs is a holy state - a belief which, at first glance, would appear to be heretical relative to Catholic dogma. In fact, because of this fear (especially with the Church's condemnation of the Quietist movement), Caussade's instructions to the sisters were kept unpublished until 1861, and even then they were edited (by fellow Jesuit Henri Ramière) to protect them from charges of Quietism. A more authoritative version of these notes was published only in 1966. It is clear in his writings that he is aware of the Quietists and that he rejects their perspective. Writers such as Alan Watts have found in Caussade an Occidental, Christian-theological analogue to the Eastern religion of Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Zen Buddhism.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dover Publications Inc
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0486464261
• ISBN 13: 9780486464268
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128