Therese of Lisieux - Simply Surrender

So many in our culture are looking for spiritual teachers today. Mere repetition of formulas is no longer enough to feed our hungry souls. Here is solid, traditional, and yet revolutionary spiritual teaching from the ages! As with all great wisdom, you will find yourself saying, I knew that... but I never heard it said so well, and I did not fully know it until this saint said it! Richard Rohr, O.F.M. Center for Action and Contemplation Albuquerque, New Mexico These are glorious little booksconcise and attractively designed! Distilled from the most influential writings in the Christian tradition, these pocket-sized books help you feel like youre having an intimate conversation with a wise counselor, a holy friend, or a beloved mentor. Give yourself a few minutes a day and let these holy men and women lead you to a closer relationship with the God who wants to be closer to you.

James Martin, S.J. Author of My Life with the Saints The 30 Days series shows how surprisingly similar the struggles and frustrations of these teachers are to our own daily challenges and distractions. Their wisdom also reminds us that daily challenges bring opportunities for grace and invite God to be part of our day. These spiritual teachers can help us to turn prayer into conversation with God, and the most mundane occasions become meetings with God in our neighbors. Dr. Carolyn Y.

Woo Dean of Mendoza College of Business University of Notre Dame Series Editor for 30 Days with a Great Spiritual Teacher: John Kirvan Originally published as Simply Surrender: Based on the Little Way of Thrse of Lisieux in the 30 Days with a Great Spiritual Teacher series. The passages from St. Thrse are a modern translation and paraphrase developed for meditational use from the earliest French and English editions of her writings and sayings. The refrain around which the evening prayer has been developed is from the last poem written by Thrse of Lisieux. _________________________________ 1996, 2008 Quest Associates. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews, without written permission of the publisher, Ave Maria Press, Inc., P.O. Box 428 Notre Dame, IN 46556. Founded in 1865, Ave Maria Press is a ministry of the United States Province of Holy Cross. www.avemariapress.com ISBN-10 1-59471-154-2 ISBN-13 978-1-59471-154-1 Cover and text design by Katherine Robinson Coleman. Printed and bound in the United States of America. CONTENTS FOREWORD A mystical renaissance is at work in our world.

Like a subtle field of grace that surrounds our world, individuals everywhere are exploring the seductive invitation to develop a joyful and intimate relationship with God. In keeping with the nature of this mystical awakening, more and more people are discovering the need to develop a more refined spiritual path. This new path that so many are drawn to today embodies characteristics once so familiar to the great mystics of the medieval and Renaissance eras. These mystics, our great spiritual teachers, include Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, Francis of Assisi, St. John the Evangelist, Meister Eckhart, Francis de Sales, Catherine of Siena, Thrse of Lisieux, Evelyn Underhill, and Mother Teresa in modern times. Simply described, these mystics drew their strength from a devotion to prayer, contemplation, and self-reflection.

They knew that a daily practice of time alone with God was required to review the day and reflect upon the well-being and harmony of their souls. Today, we are rediscovering the way in which they knew God. For all their differences, the common ground these mystics shared was a devotion to prayer and an unyielding faith in their mystical relationships with God. As mystics in their day, these great spiritual teachers knew that God expected a great deal of them. God was, first of all, their most intimate companion. They knew the Divine through direct experience, not through intellectual discourse.

Their lives were a continual Holy Communion with the Divine. That did not make their physical lives easy, and it didnt clear their paths of the boulders of fear and doubt. Such intimacy, however, did make their faith unrelenting and their understanding absolute in terms of what was real or unreal, authentic or illusory. They knew when God spoke directly to them and commanded them into action. Francis, the Lord said, rebuild my church. Perhaps Francis of Assisi paused for several moments, maybe even several days, wondering about that voice.

But once he realized that God had spoken to him, he became illuminated with a fullness of grace. Nothing could dissuade him from his divine orders. The mystics knew when to hold tight to their faith, especially when they were confronted with attacks from both inside and outside their monasteries. Attacks came mostly from those who envied the stamina in the souls of these saints. Mystical experiences and intimacy with the Divine do not translate into lives of ease. Rather, they produce people of truth, strength, and courage.

No life patheven a mysticscan alter the nature of life itself. Life is an ongoing journey of change and choice, a surrendering of the old and a trust in new beginnings. What these saints ultimately realizedand revealed to othersis that refining a relationship with God is the life choice on which all else is built. Once that choice is made, it becomes your guide, no matter what difficulties life brings your way. No one can avoid hardships because life includes pain and heartache. But life can also include love and service to others and endless acts of creation on this earth.

Love, service, and creation are legendary hallmarks in the lives of the saints. So, faith and prayer are not just resources we can turn to when we are in crisis. They are indispensable. As Teresa of Avila taught her nuns so well, Learn to see God in the details of your life, for He is everywhere. These wonderful mystics are enjoying a renewed popularity precisely because so many people are recognizing the need to find the Sacred once again. These men and women seek weekend retreats in monasteries just to be in the silence that was so familiar to those devoted full-time to contemplative life.

The ordinary person, the mystic out of a monastery, is now seeking an extraordinary spiritual life. If you are one of these, you will discover that the wisdom and the writings of these wondrous saints are as valuable today as they were hundreds of years ago. The truth is that the journey of the soul has never changed. We need to clearly mark that well-worn path to the Divine on which we see footprints of these saints. In teaching about prayer, I am inevitably confronted with many questions from people. What is prayer? How do I pray? What are the right prayers to say? The awkwardness that people have around prayer reveals their awkwardness around God.

We have built a culture on the intellectualizing of God. Talking about God or reading about what we think God is or is not can feel like a spiritual practice. But talking or reading about God is just thatno more and no less. True prayer, on the other hand, is the practice of shutting down the mind and reflecting upon an elevated truth or mystical thought. This thought lifts you beyond the limitations of your five senses. In describing a mystical experience, Teresa wrote that her mind and eyes wanted to come with her, but they simply could not make the journey.

Her senses were simply unable to withstand the presence of God. Only her soul had the stamina to be in the company of the Divine. In truth, these mystics realized what we all long to realizeintimacy with the Sacred. We are born with a yearning for God that we can try to fill with material goods and worldly accomplishments. At the end of the day, however, we are left wanting more. Julian of Norwich understood this so well, saying that ultimately, Nothing less than God can satisfy us.