Simplicity

by Raul Plus

Simplicity: the sure path to God! The saints assure us that simplicity is the virtue most likely to draw us closer to God and make us more like Him.Nowonder Jesus praised the little children and the pure of heart! Inthem, He recognized the goodness that arises from an untroubledsimplicity of life, a simplicity which in the saints is completelyfocused on its true center, God.Thats easy to know, simple to say, but hard to achieve.Forour lives are complicated and our personalities too. (We even make ourprayers and devotions more complicated than they need be!)In these pages, Fr. Raoul Plus provides a remedy for the even the most tangled lives.Relyingon the words of Jesus and the lives of the saints, Fr. Plus maps out asure path to the simplicity which Jesus praised, a simplicity thatbestows on all of us who seek it happiness, courage, and inner peace,no matter how complicated our circumstances may be or how crowded ourdays. Holy simplicity. Publisher: Sophia Institute Press Author: Fr. Raoul Plus Format: 96 pages ISBN: 9781933184517

Genres: Catholic, Religion

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

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."