A Retreat for Lay People

by Ronald Knox

C.S. Lewis called him "the wittiest man in Europe," and Ronald Knox was a deft apologist, an astute translator of the Bible, and the preacher for occasions great and small throughout the first half of the twentieth century in England. But he was first and last a priest, and it is in his sermons and retreat conferences that we meet Ronald Knox the spiritual guide. "A Retreat for Lay People" brings together a collection of his conferences preached over a period of fifteen years. His opening topic is "Discouragement in Retreat," and he concludes with a reflection on "Our Lady's Serenity." In between, Knox addresses the big questions - the fear of death, the problem of suffering, the world to come - but he also explores the little questions that loom large in our daily lives, like minor trials, liberty of spirit in prayer, and the use of God's creatures. Msgr. Knox shapes his collection around the classic "Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius." The first eight conferences address the foundations of our spiritual life; the next eight offer reflections on the life of Our Lord; the final eight take up practical questions of living our faith in daily life. These "pieces of eight" are punctuated by two meditations suitable for a Holy Hour. The Eucharist was at the heart of Knox's life and his profound love for Christ in the Blessed Sacrament shines through in these talks.

As in all his writing, in these conferences Ronald Knox combines love for Scripture, commitment to the Catholic faith, and sympathy for the struggles and joys of Christian discipleship. "A Retreat for Lay People" is solid spiritual food, served up with refreshing simplicity and a dash of wit.

Genres: Catholic, Theology, Spirituality, Religion, Nonfiction, Faith

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

Monsignor Ronald Arbuthnott Knox was a Roman Catholic priest, theologian, author of detective stories, as well as a writer and a regular broadcaster for BBC Radio.

Knox had attended Eton College and won several scholarships at Balliol College, Oxford. He was ordained an Anglican priest in 1912 and was appointed chaplain of Trinity College, Oxford, but he left in 1917 upon his conversion to Catholicism. In 1918 he was ordained a Catholic priest. Knox wrote many books of essays and novels. Directed by his religious superiors, he re-translated the Latin Vulgate Bible into English, using Hebrew and Greek sources, beginning in 1936.

He died on 24 August 1957 and his body was brought to Westminster Cathedral. Bishop Craven celebrated the requiem mass, at which Father Martin D'Arcy, a Jesuit, preached the panegyric. Knox was buried in the churchyard of St Andrew's Church, Mells.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I easily see myself reading this book over and over. Each chapter needs a few nights of reflection. So many beautiful thoughts and truths elegantly pointed out. I’m indebted to my priest for telling me about this book!

[Andrew Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mons Knox rarely, if ever, disappoints. Naturally, some of these meditations spoke more immediately to me than others; but that is as much to do with where I am as anything. None of them missed the mark - all were valuable. But some really hit home and will leave a lasting legacy. Highly recommended!

[ProfeSancho · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the suggestion of a priest, I re-read this collection of sermons every Advent, usually one/day. It helps me not to get so distracted by the swirl of pre-Christmas activity that I forget that it's Advent. I think #8, "The Love of God," is especially good.

[Sofia Felicetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

ronald knox is quite hilarious! reading this felt like calling up an old friend!

“He told us so little when He went out to die; He tells us so little, even now. He doesn’t want us to understand; He wants us to believe.”

[John Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very powerful book with great spiritual insight and perspective for Catholics.

[Jess Lambert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will be a yearly read

[Julie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I now can see why C.S. Lewis called Ronald Knox the wittiest man in Europe. At times I kept forgetting I wasn't reading Chesterton but was reading a collection of Monsignor Knox's talks he'd given on many retreats for us regular folk - a.k.a. lay people.

These are really wonderful because Knox seemingly effortlessly combines practical advice, inspirational thoughts, and unexpected ways to think about God and our relationship with him. I got a kick out of the times when Knox would say "my own translation of this Scripture might give a better sense" and I'd remember that, of course, the Knox Bible was done by this priest who had such a chatty, friendly style in these talks.

I read a chapter each morning with my coffee and it was the perfect start to my day.

Here's a sample of some of the down-to-earth yet utterly surprising images that delighted me and have stuck with me.

Being alive to God means something a little more complicated; it means that the thought of God is at the very apex of our unconscious minds all the time, overflowing all the time into our conscious thoughts, our conscious acts. ...

We read of the patriarch Enoch, that he walked with God. We usually, I think, get the wrong idea of that word "walked in the Old Testament. We think of it as if it meant going on a kind of pilgrimage, laboriously plodding on and on, along a path that has been mapped out for you, but of course it doesn't; it means walking up and down, strolling about at your leisure, taking a turn up and down the front lawn—that is the sort of picture we want to have in our minds when we hear about people walking with God. Enoch walked to and fro, went about his daily business and his daily pleasures, but always with God.

If only we were more like that! If only we could walk through the world at God's heels—so close to him, so alive to his presence, that we could share everything with him, refer to him every moment of sunshine, every shadow of uncertainty in our lives; accept everything he sends with conscious gratitude; obey the least whisper of his call! Even if it is sitting in a room where its master is at work, see who the dog, though it is half asleep on the floor, is awake all the time to him; he has merely to throw a word to it and you will hear it rapping its tail on the floor, for very pleasure that some notice has been taken of it—if we could be grateful, instinctively grateful, for every breath of grace that passes over our souls, and acknowledge it, at once, as God's gift!

[Kevin de Ataíde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mgr. Knox has the best recorded sermons and reflections. It's all so simply written for ordinary people and the book is now being marketed as 'spiritual guidance for Christian living.' The theme of the book is the divine Will and our purpose in uniting our own wills to it. I do like the way the author drifts into and out of Scripture without any biblical reference (in this 1955 edition). It gives a sense of intense familiarity with Scripture, that he doesn't have to look things up and reference them. Uniting will to the divine Will requires such things as being alive to God, increasingly abandoning self (being unselfish; as the Pope would say, living For) and treating everyday as the Today for which there might not be tomorrow. This also means doing one's duty always and keeping watch for the Lord, while being an active instrument of his Love.
* What's the point of converting people to the Faith in our times? Love of the truth.
* Do I really love God? Well, why don't I consider how I would like to love God?
* What's the point of suffering? It draws out and separates true devotion from false and brings out that element again of (unselfish and loving) suffering for someone or something, freely rather than grudgingly.
There are further articles about the point of going to Mass, the second conversion of the Christian by which he is drawn away from wilful sin, using creation appreciatively in the life of prayer, the value of minor trials in life as the broken pieces of bread that Christ asked his disciples to collect after feeding the five thousand, praying as a child and in a state of comfort rather than in some preordained posture of the manuals, Mary Madalene as the model of contrition and resignation and Mary as the picture of serenity as one of the key players in the greatest story ever told.

The great thing is that the essays are ten pages long and number twenty-four. They will walk the reader through a week. And there is no theological language, thank Heaven.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, without a doubt, one of the finest spiritual books I have ever read. Monsignor Knox never shies away from hard truths, but his reflections on those truths gleam with gentleness and hope. As so many other reviewers have said, this is a book I will read over and over.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read.

How Msgr. Knox disappeared in faith readings is a mystery. It is a tragedy that more people have not read this book.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb reading, whether in retreat or not.

[Jean Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard not to love him.