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Awakening Love
The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius have had a tremendous impact in the history of the Church, while the Song of Songs describes mystical union with God in prayer. Written following the format of a personal retreat, Awakening Love includes chapters tracing the themes of the Song of Songs as a very Christian prayer and meditation.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 28, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 20, 2018
Awakening Love is the exotic marriage of the two devotional masterpieces, the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises and the Scriptural Song of Songs, two works not normally associated. And yet, they dovetail, fitting together perfectly in the single purpose of leading the soul to its destiny of loving God totally.
Each chapter begins with selections from Songs and the Exercises, followed by a synthetic explanation, an exegesis of the mystically allegorical terms used in Songs (frequently from the writing of St. John of the Cross), the Ignatian method of discernment and prayer, rich reflections drawn from saints, Church Fathers, contemporary authors and others, concluding with a set of questions for reflection/discussion and prayer exercises.
I could envision this book being used as a retreat manual, in an advanced parish discussion group, a college level class, certainly as a follow-on to those hungering for more after concluding the Exercises, and in numerous other ways, such as how I used it, for personal spiritual growth. Years ago* when our Retreat in Daily Life (a year long version of the Exercises) group would have loved something like this when we finished up. I enjoyed everything Cleveland has packed into this book, including several new authors to check out for further reading.
An AMAZING book! Actually more than just a book, a huge resource.
*2004-2005.
November 10, 2018: Very close to finishing this. It is a beautiful marrying of the two great works, the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises and the Scriptural Song of Songs, two works I would have never dreamed of lining up side-by-side. Apparently I am not alone, because mention of this odd coupling, has met with mostly raised eyebrows. And yet there is nothing the least unlikely in the reading. It has been literally a 'marriage made in Heaven'. Still reading...
October 18-19, 2018: It is uncanny how this book speaks to where I am in my spiritual life. The last two chapters have been about being ‘called by name’ and having a ‘spiritual vocation’. Catholics already distinguish the married/single/religious life vocations, but here the author is talking about another vocation, the vocation within a vocation. A special calling from God which only you can do—something I have been wrestling with quite a bit lately. It was nice to read about discerning that very thing in this book.
September 24, 2018: Although the book is available for free from Formed.org, I went ahead and purchased my own copy because I immediately saw this was a retreat worth getting into/serious about. I officially began on September 20, 2018, when my paper copy arrived. Each of the 32 chapters corresponds to a paragraph in the Spiritual Exercises and (a) vers(es) in the Song of Songs. (You will need your Bible right beside you because there are many Scriptural references you will want to look up, both in the text and prayer exercises.) What I was trying to discover was the optimal time to do the reading and prayer.
Each chapter begins with the referent section from the Spiritual Exercises and Song of Songs, then 5-7 pages of reading, followed by a section of Questions for Reflection and Discussion and Prayer Exercises. At first, I was struggling to do even a couple from each, realizing there was much I was missing, but thinking I could do the rest at another time. If I did more than 2 of the prayer exercises, I found it to be overwhelming as well as non-productive. So after several days of this I went back and read the section, How to Use this Book, where it recommends taking a week for each chapter. As my husband likes to chide me, ‘When all else fails, read the directions!’ For a booklady, I am notoriously bad about reading directions! 😒
So, while I am inclined to zip through this retreat, I also want to maximize benefits from it, which undoubtedly means reigning in my natural impatience! (sigh) Anyway, back to the first chapter, The Kiss of Life…
September 10, 2018: As this book claims to combine the disciplinarian rigor of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises with the mystical beauty of the Song of Songs as seen through the eyes of great Carmelite St. John of the Cross, this could be the retreat I have been looking for...
Anyway, I downloaded the book last night from Formed.org and I am going to give it a try! Found some other great books there as well.
Each chapter begins with selections from Songs and the Exercises, followed by a synthetic explanation, an exegesis of the mystically allegorical terms used in Songs (frequently from the writing of St. John of the Cross), the Ignatian method of discernment and prayer, rich reflections drawn from saints, Church Fathers, contemporary authors and others, concluding with a set of questions for reflection/discussion and prayer exercises.
I could envision this book being used as a retreat manual, in an advanced parish discussion group, a college level class, certainly as a follow-on to those hungering for more after concluding the Exercises, and in numerous other ways, such as how I used it, for personal spiritual growth. Years ago* when our Retreat in Daily Life (a year long version of the Exercises) group would have loved something like this when we finished up. I enjoyed everything Cleveland has packed into this book, including several new authors to check out for further reading.
An AMAZING book! Actually more than just a book, a huge resource.
*2004-2005.
November 10, 2018: Very close to finishing this. It is a beautiful marrying of the two great works, the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises and the Scriptural Song of Songs, two works I would have never dreamed of lining up side-by-side. Apparently I am not alone, because mention of this odd coupling, has met with mostly raised eyebrows. And yet there is nothing the least unlikely in the reading. It has been literally a 'marriage made in Heaven'. Still reading...
October 18-19, 2018: It is uncanny how this book speaks to where I am in my spiritual life. The last two chapters have been about being ‘called by name’ and having a ‘spiritual vocation’. Catholics already distinguish the married/single/religious life vocations, but here the author is talking about another vocation, the vocation within a vocation. A special calling from God which only you can do—something I have been wrestling with quite a bit lately. It was nice to read about discerning that very thing in this book.
September 24, 2018: Although the book is available for free from Formed.org, I went ahead and purchased my own copy because I immediately saw this was a retreat worth getting into/serious about. I officially began on September 20, 2018, when my paper copy arrived. Each of the 32 chapters corresponds to a paragraph in the Spiritual Exercises and (a) vers(es) in the Song of Songs. (You will need your Bible right beside you because there are many Scriptural references you will want to look up, both in the text and prayer exercises.) What I was trying to discover was the optimal time to do the reading and prayer.
Each chapter begins with the referent section from the Spiritual Exercises and Song of Songs, then 5-7 pages of reading, followed by a section of Questions for Reflection and Discussion and Prayer Exercises. At first, I was struggling to do even a couple from each, realizing there was much I was missing, but thinking I could do the rest at another time. If I did more than 2 of the prayer exercises, I found it to be overwhelming as well as non-productive. So after several days of this I went back and read the section, How to Use this Book, where it recommends taking a week for each chapter. As my husband likes to chide me, ‘When all else fails, read the directions!’ For a booklady, I am notoriously bad about reading directions! 😒
So, while I am inclined to zip through this retreat, I also want to maximize benefits from it, which undoubtedly means reigning in my natural impatience! (sigh) Anyway, back to the first chapter, The Kiss of Life…
September 10, 2018: As this book claims to combine the disciplinarian rigor of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises with the mystical beauty of the Song of Songs as seen through the eyes of great Carmelite St. John of the Cross, this could be the retreat I have been looking for...
Anyway, I downloaded the book last night from Formed.org and I am going to give it a try! Found some other great books there as well.
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April 30, 2022A fresh, meaningful experience of the Ignatian exercises.
January 7, 2022
I thought this was a good devotional even though St Ignatius of Loyola's methodology isn't geared toward the way my mind naturally works.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews