Spiritual Passages: The Psychology of Spiritual Development

by Benedict J. Groeschel

From renowned EWTN host and author Benedict Groeschel, this is a profound discussion of the stages of spiritual growth. Of special note is the way Groeschel identifies four distinct approaches to God (as Beauty, Truth, the Good, and the One) and shows how each leads to a different kind of spiritual path or pilgrimage.

Genres: Spirituality, Psychology, Religion, Catholic, Self Help, Theology

210 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1982

About the author

Benedict Joseph Groeschel, C.F.R. (July 23, 1933 – October 3, 2014) was an American Franciscan friar, Catholic priest, retreat master, author, psychologist, activist and television host. He hosted the television talk program Sunday Night Prime broadcast on the Eternal Word Television Network as well as several serial religious specials. He founded the Office for Spiritual Development for the Catholic Archdiocese of New York. He was Associate Director of the Trinity Retreat House for clergy and executive director of St. Francis House. He was professor of pastoral psychology at St. Joseph's Seminary in New York and an adjunct professor at the Institute for Psychological Sciences in Arlington, Virginia. He was one of the founders of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and among his close friends were Mother Teresa, Mother Angelica and Alice von Hildebrand.

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very dense read, yet very profound. I'm glad I was forced to add this to my professional book collection.

[Jana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best part about this book came very early and described the four main ways a person can relate to God (or, if you will, how God relates to us) based on the "transcendentals"--One, True, Good, and Beautiful. This for me was a new insight and a fresh way of discovering how God speaks to me.

The rest seemed more like disjointed ideas trying to tie together spirituality and psychology based on what Groeschel has studied. Good concepts, but too many loose ends. Even his attempts to illustrate his points using real-life case-studies falls flat as halfway through he stops referring to these people and picks up new examples.

I'm sure a student of psychology would find more here, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to the "average seeker."

[Zach Ellerbrook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fr. Groeschel has started me on actually putting some organizing to my spiritual journey with Christ, though sometimes it was a little too much. I frequently found myself over-analyzing "where I am", or worse, comparing myself to others instead of simply trying to live as He teaches us. I feel like it's a good start, but I'll come back to this book later and keep up with prayer, meditation, and Scripture for now.

[Ann Yeong · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a gem for spiritual directors, formators, as well as anyone who is seriously interested in learning about the interior journey of the soul. It is not an easy bedside read (as the author himself indicated in the Preface), nor is it the kind of spiritual reading that one reads for easy nourishment. This is a book that requires a little intellectual effort at understanding and synthesising, particularly in the subject areas of spiritual theology and psychology. Some background knowledge of basic psychology and spirituality (such as the Three Stages of the Spiritual Life) would make it easier to profit from a reading of this book as Fr. Groeschel's rarely defines or explains terms at length.

For readers who already have some familiarity with the classic literature on spirituality, this book is a great asset as it helps one gain the beginning of a psychological understanding of the life of the soul at its various developmental stages, as well as the start of an understanding of the relationship between sin and pathology.

At less than 200 pages, Spiritual Passages is far from a comprehensive or encyclopaedic work on the synthesis of psychology with spiritual theology but it is stimulating and challenging work that leaves you wanting more. While this book could be read purely intellectually, it would be much more profitable to the reader if it is read with his/her own experiences of the interior journey in mind. The book is filled with quotes and references to saints and mystics whose words shine a light onto our own journeys.

In Fr. Groeschel's own words, this book "should be read with a critical eye and, ideally, with a prayer, while sitting quietly in a comfortable chair and, if you like, enjoying a cup of coffee." And if you're like me, having a pencil or highlighter with you would come in handy too!

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read (studied) this book on and off for months, always underling with a pencil, taking some notes, and digesting slowly. He quotes a lot of sources, and now there are about 25 other books that I want to read.

[Blake Tamez · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are interested in developmental psychology or find yourself in a position that requires you to guide others through spiritual and psychological development, this book is a must-read and will open many doors to further study. Cannot recommend highly enough!

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

probably the best synthesis on the topic. It has a huge breadth of elements to integrate and there is a good integration. I think, as Fr. Groeschel says in the book, its not the final word and should really be used as a starting point, but well worth reading as a starting point

[Melissa Howe · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is really well written but it's not meant to be a light read. It's beautifully written!

[Jeremy Manuel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this is at least partially a case of the classic, "it's not you, it's me." I think that this book and I are just not exactly compatible in a number of ways that made it not that enjoyable of a read for me. I'm not sure that this is all that's going on here, but I do know that it is part of the problem I had with this book.

This incompatibility stems from two major things. The first is that this book is very Roman Catholic in its approach and while I do think one can learn from things from other streams of the Christian faith, I felt like I just wasn't quite following some of his points or stories due to a different frame of reference. The second is a great knowledge of psychology. I know some basic stuff, but he was quoting Jung and Marx as well as others and he did so in such a way that wasn't all that accessible to the basic person.

I think that this last point is the biggest thing it has going against it in general. It's possible that the title might lead you to believe that this book might be accessible to most readers who want to see how psychology impacts their spiritual development with maybe some solid takeaways to help develop spiritually and maybe even psychologically. I do feel that's his goal, but it's so very academic that I can't help that most will just be lost to some degree or another as they work through the book.

I can't say that I really enjoyed the book too much, or even really got a lot out of the book from reading it. I'm certainly hoping that just because of my own personal disconnects with the book, but I must admit I'm not certain of that. Regardless I know that it is a book that will probably be leaving my collection.

[Eric Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A accessible and humbling introduction to the stages of the spiritual life. Author Benedict Groeschel, a Roman Catholic and Capuchin-Franciscan Friar states, "This book is written for those who seek, that is, for those interested in the spiritual life who have made some progress toward its ultimate term: contemplation" (p. 160). Groeschel writes as both a instructor and proxy spiritual director for this goal: weaving lessons on the spiritual life with contemporary examples. He begins by asking the reader how they hear God and gives four examples: God as one, God as true, God as good, and God as beautiful. He then proceeds by framing the spiritual life into three stages: the purgative, illuminative, and unitive ways. One may find themselves at one stage or across the various stages. While the subtitle of this book notes psychology, and the author notes his background and experience on this topic, it is not as much about psychology as one might expect. Chapter five is devoted to this topic, and it is noted throughout, but the emphasis is on the spiritual life. As one new to thinking of spiritual development through this frame I found the book extremely helpful, although most honest readers will find themselves in the earlier spiritual stages. However, Groeschel is gentle with his readers and guides them carefully through this path.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This read is one in which you need to put some time into to grasp its content. It's a slower read that requires reflection as you go along. I found it a bit interesting to read this book as a Pentecostal Christian. It was hard to get used to the saint honorifics. However, the description of the spiritual journey is well worth the awkwardness. Before reading this book, I had not heard the term' purgative way' in reference to an active stage of spiritual life for all believers, as opposed to 'purgatory'. The term itself is an apt description of the early stage of faith, and I will forever think of it in this way now. I had previously read 'Mansions of the Heart' and was very familiar with the 'Dark Night of the Soul', but I hadn't connected with the 'Dark Night of the Spirit' at that time. With the passage of time (five years now), this second Dark Night now resonates with me and was quite enlightening for me to read it anew. It seems like these Dark Nights lead to the unitive way described by Groeschel or the Sixth and Seventh mansions of the heart described by Ashbrook. Either way, the truth about spiritual development is that it is a lifelong journey of becoming.

[Monte Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Although what follows comes out of my experience of almost half a century as a Catholic Christian, I write with a view to other Christians as well. . . I have often found Evangelical Protestant Christians very receptive because they had little familiarity with the study of spirituality. The approach to spiritual development used in this study is more widely known to Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians (as well as Episcopalians), although many of these have never heard of the doctrine of the three ways of the spiritual life.

Although this book is not written in a devotional style, quotations from greater mystical authors will run through it like the threads of a fabric. These quotations should be reread on one’s knees and written in one’s heart. The rest of the book should be read with a critical eye and, ideally, with a prayer, while sitting quietly in a comfortable chair and, if you like, enjoying a cup of coffee.” (x-xi) – Benedict J. Groeschel

[Gregory Levine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to rate a book that I didn't understand very well. I think it would be of much more interest to someone who was a spiritual director, counselor, or psychological therapist.