Progress In Divine Union

by Raoul Plus

Book by Plus, Raoul

106 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2004

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

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was attracted to this book because of the cover showing St. Francis of Assisi receiving the stigmata. I'm not certain that I ever found anything directly related to that image. However, this book gave me some new thoughts on my prayer life.
It is not the kind of book to plow through. I had to read it over a period of time, revisiting pages as I moved forward.
Keep in mind that it was originally published in 1941, so some of the ideas may not be especially "modern," and some of my sensibilities on gender bias were not exactly in keeping with his, but there are ideas here that still have merit in the 21st century.

[Jim Gallen · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Progress In Divine Union” is a short devotional book that helps guide the reader along his journey toward God. The nine chapters, averaging about ten pages each, start with the development of a broader vision of ourselves with our weaknesses and need change to the good. They progress to atonement for our sins, to carrying our cross with Christ, imitating His spirit of self-sacrifice through attentiveness to Christ’s voice within our souls to our ultimate goal of union with God.

I used this book for spiritual reading before retiring. It has a cohesion and flow that are adapted for this type of meditation. Read a chapter at a time and think about it before going on to the next. In this way you will not only reach the end of the book, but approach the Divine Union.