Holy Simplicity

by Raoul Plus

The saints assure us that simplicity is the virtue most likely to draw us closer to God and make us more like Him. No wonder Jesus praised the little children and the pure of heart! In them, He recognized the goodness that arises from an untroubled simplicity of life, a simplicity which in the saints is completely focused on its true center, God. That's easy to know, simple to say, but hard to achieve. For our lives are complicated and our personalities too. (We even make our prayers and devotions more complicated than they need be!) In these pages, Fr. Raoul Plus provides a remedy for the even the most tangled lives. Relying on the words of Jesus and the lives of the saints, Fr. Plus maps out a sure path to the simplicity which Jesus praised, a simplicity that bestows on all of us who seek it happiness, courage, and inner peace, no matter how complicated our circumstances may be or how crowded our days. Holy simplicity. With the wise help of Fr. Plus, you will soon savor the strength that simplicity brings . . . and the abiding joy. With his help, you can attain it.

Genres: Catholic

83 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Fr. Raoul Plus, S.J., was a Jesuit spiritual writer; b. Boulogne-sur-Mer, Jan. 22, 1882; d. Lille, Oct. 23, 1958. Plus entered the Society of Jesus at Saint-Acheul in 1899 and made his studies abroad because of the 1901 laws against religious orders in France. During his philosophical studies, his spiritual father was Germain Foch, SJ, who expounded the doctrine of incorporation into Christ that later became the core of Plus's spiritual writings. As a French army chaplain during World War I, he gave the soldiers talks that were to serve as the material for his first two books, Dieu en nous (Eng. tr., God within Us, New York, 1924), and L'Idée reparatrice (Eng. tr., Ideal of Reparation, New York, 1922). These were well received because of their style, as well as their doctrine, and were translated into other languages, as were many of his later works. For his wartime services Plus was decorated with the croix de guerre.

Between the wars Plus served as professor of religion and spiritual director at the Université Catholique at Lille, except during the years 1935 to 1939 when he taught at the Institut Catholique of Paris. This was the period of his greatest literary activity, from which eventually came more than 40 books and innumerable articles. In addition to his other work, he preached and gave retreats. After spending World War II at a retreat house, Plus returned to Lille as spiritual father for the Jesuit community and remained there until his death.

In his writings Plus popularized the principal chapters of the spiritual life, constantly reemphasizing the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ. A synthetic résumé of his teaching is found in his Marie dans notre histoire divine (Toulouse 1932; Eng. tr., Mary in Our Soul-Life, Cincinnati, 1940).

Reviews

[Betsy Dion · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book of meditations to read during prayer time.

[Richard Grebenc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took this off the shelf because I have been interested in simplifying my life for sometime. In this, I was thinking more of getting rid of "stuff" and detachment. This book gets much more into a general spirituality of simplicity. Simplicity in thought, word, and deed. Simplicity toward God, neighbor, and self. It provides good advice but little vignettes that I found generally unhelpful or irrelevant (maybe they don't translate well from the original French or maybe time makes them less pertinent). Also nice would have been an appendix by the publisher which lists major points in practically implementing simplicity in oneself (implementation which the author admits is difficult). I suppose the list will have to be compiled by the careful and thoughtful reader as he works through the book (slowly for best results and contemplation).

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an undiscovered and under-appreciated gem of a book! It’s short (6 chapters, I think) and very readable, in the style of Fr. Jacques Philippe’s wonderful pocket-sized spiritual books. I picked it up because my Word of the Year for 2023 is “simple,” and I was not disappointed. One of my takeaways is that a truly simple soul does not overcommit or overextend herself because she sees how she can serve God in all things, without needing a multiplicity of apostolic projects and activities. Highly, highly recommend! 5⭐️

[Barbara Blomberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick and inspiring, helps one understand how to practice simplicity in life such that the focus of time is on the most important things, prayer becomes a way of life, virtues like humility and purity of intention are strengthened. I recommend it highly!

[J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always with these small books, I am often surprised by their depth and wisdom that the larger books sometimes overlook, apparently not only did Jesus come to shame proud and worldly men in small books inspired by Him and those who followed Him such as this one, those larger books are put to shame as well, without necessarily being anti-intellectual. This book is a helpful guide to understanding Simplicity toward God, Neighbor, and Oneself.

Every chapter has many levels of insight either on Holy Simplicity itself or as it interacts with things behind itself. I appreciated reading this book, especially since I have on one hand a tendency to make things complex/complicated and on the other hand I tend to have scruples and the author goes straight to the heart of the problem [at least for me] in confronting it and treating this paralyzing obstruction to the spiritual life.

Would I recommend this book? Oh absolutely, the author has done a great job of clearly impressing upon this reader the need for Holy Simplicity in all things (having distinguished it from worldly simplicity) but especially as it relates to the various stages of the Interior Life, which of course is the primary focus. For awhile now I seem to have been living in a state called, "The Dark Night of the Senses" and this book has been a great source of consolation. The Conclusion of this lesson, is of course, self-forgetfulness and the paradoxical statement that in order to attain it you must strive to see only God in all things.

I felt a great resonance when the author mentioned the word, "Spontaneity" in order to better describe Holy Simplicity, which ought to be understood less as impulsiveness to satisfy some lower appetitive drive and more so as something that happens with flow and something organic and naturally occurring. In a certain sense, his writings seem like a more intelligent writing of our contemporary catchphrase encouraging us to "Just Do It."