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The Three Conversions in the Spiritual Life
In this compact book; the famous Thomist; Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange; sets forth the classic Catholic traditions on the spiritual life as the full flowering of Sanctifying Grace in the soul. He explains the three stages of the spiritual life-the Purgative Way; the Illuminative Way; and the Unitive Way-showing the transitions or conversions from one period to another. How can one become a saint without knowing the way -- the pitfalls; common mistakes; and experience of Saints who have gone before. Impr. 112 pgs; PB
130 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1932
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492 people want to read
About the author
Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange
96 books146 followersRéginald Marie Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. (February 21, 1877, Auch, France – February 15, 1964, Rome) was a Catholic theologian and, among Thomists of the scholastic tradition, is generally thought to be the greatest Catholic Thomist of the 20th century. He taught at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, commonly known as the Angelicum, in Rome from 1909 to 1960.
Father Garrigou-Lagrange initially attracted attention when he wrote against the theological movement later called Modernism. He is also said to be the drafter or "ghostwriter" of Pope Pius XII's 1950 encyclical Humani Generis, subtitled "Concerning Some False Opinions Threatening to Undermine the Foundations of Catholic Doctrine."
He is best known for his spiritual theology. His magnum opus in the field is The Three Ages of the Interior Life, in which he propounded the thesis that infused contemplation and the resulting mystical life are in the normal way of holiness of Christian perfection.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald...
Father Garrigou-Lagrange initially attracted attention when he wrote against the theological movement later called Modernism. He is also said to be the drafter or "ghostwriter" of Pope Pius XII's 1950 encyclical Humani Generis, subtitled "Concerning Some False Opinions Threatening to Undermine the Foundations of Catholic Doctrine."
He is best known for his spiritual theology. His magnum opus in the field is The Three Ages of the Interior Life, in which he propounded the thesis that infused contemplation and the resulting mystical life are in the normal way of holiness of Christian perfection.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald...
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 12, 2014
The Three Ways of the Spiritual Life is really a synopsis of two larger works, which it is not necessary to have read in order to understand what is written here. Looking at some of Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange’s other works, this was a good one to begin with. It’s short (112 pages) and relatively easy to understand, even if most of the spirituality is way beyond me. Still there were a few gems even for beginners like me.
‘The first thing we learn is that spiritual treasures—unlike material ones—can belong in their entirety to all men (people) and at the same time to each, without any disturbance of peace among them. Indeed, the more there are to enjoy them in common, the more completely do we possess them. ... Only do we possess a truth completely when we teach it to others, when we make others share our contemplation; only then do we truly love a virtue when we wish others to love it also.’
The three ways described by Garrigou are the purgative, illuminative and unitive. Passage from one to the next is marked by transformative crisis or conversion, called passive purgation by some spiritual writers. The first conversion brings into purgative way, the second is known as the passive purgation of the senses and the third is the passive purgation of the spirit.
One of the most encouraging sections for me personally was this, ’Even after a grave sin, if the soul has a sorrow which is truly fervent and proportionate to the degree of grace which it has lost, it will recover this same degree of grace; grace may even revive the soul in a higher degree, if the contrition is still more fervent. Thus the soul has not to begin again completely at the beginning, but it continues from the point which it had reached at the moment of the fall. In the same way, the climber who falls when he has reached half-way up the mountain-side, rises immediately and continues his ascent from the point at which he has fallen.
Everything leads us to suppose that Peter’s repentance was so fervent that he not only recovered the degree of grace which he possessed before, but was raised to a higher degree of supernatural life. Our Lord had allowed him to fall in this way in order to cure him of his presumption, so that he might be more humble and place his confidence in God and not in himself.’
I look forward to reading more by Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange
‘The first thing we learn is that spiritual treasures—unlike material ones—can belong in their entirety to all men (people) and at the same time to each, without any disturbance of peace among them. Indeed, the more there are to enjoy them in common, the more completely do we possess them. ... Only do we possess a truth completely when we teach it to others, when we make others share our contemplation; only then do we truly love a virtue when we wish others to love it also.’
The three ways described by Garrigou are the purgative, illuminative and unitive. Passage from one to the next is marked by transformative crisis or conversion, called passive purgation by some spiritual writers. The first conversion brings into purgative way, the second is known as the passive purgation of the senses and the third is the passive purgation of the spirit.
One of the most encouraging sections for me personally was this, ’Even after a grave sin, if the soul has a sorrow which is truly fervent and proportionate to the degree of grace which it has lost, it will recover this same degree of grace; grace may even revive the soul in a higher degree, if the contrition is still more fervent. Thus the soul has not to begin again completely at the beginning, but it continues from the point which it had reached at the moment of the fall. In the same way, the climber who falls when he has reached half-way up the mountain-side, rises immediately and continues his ascent from the point at which he has fallen.
Everything leads us to suppose that Peter’s repentance was so fervent that he not only recovered the degree of grace which he possessed before, but was raised to a higher degree of supernatural life. Our Lord had allowed him to fall in this way in order to cure him of his presumption, so that he might be more humble and place his confidence in God and not in himself.’
I look forward to reading more by Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange
October 13, 2020
This is one of those editions from that unfortunate era in which TAN books fell apart on the first reading. That said, the contents are valuable enough to put up with the bad binding.
It's certainly an aspirational book, as it traces the steps in spiritual progress towards greater communion with God and the obstacles we put in our way to slow that progress.
"...it is a condition of affairs which, if men only had eyes to see, ought to be revealing; it ought to show men that they have sought their last end where it is not to be found, in earthly enjoyment - instead of God. They are seeking happiness in an abundance of material possessions which are incapable of giving it; possessions which sow discord among those that seek them, and a greater discord according as they are sought with greater avidity." (p. 4)
"The lowest degree of grace in a soul, for example in that of a small child after its baptism, is of greater value than the natural goodness of the whole universe." (p. 17)
"For the angels, too, stood in need, not of redemption, but of the gratuitous gift of grace in order to tend to the supernatural beatitude to which God called them." (p. 17)
"The infinite distance which separates bodies from spirits is a symbol of the infinitely more infinite distance which separates spirits from charity, for charity is supernatural." (p. 18)
"In other words, our whole interior life tends towards the supernatural contemplation of the mysteries of the inner life of God and of the Incarnation and Redemption; it tends, above all, towards a more intimate union with God, a preliminary to that union with Him, ever actual and perpetual, which will be the consummation of eternal life." (p. 25)
(St Thomas' opinion regarding angels) "...They are either very holy or very perverse. Either they love God perfectly, or else they turn away from Him completely by mortal sin. This is due to the vigor of their intelligence, which enters completely and definitively into the way it has taken." (p. 37)
"This is what the Fathers have so often asserted: 'In the way of God he who makes no progress loses ground.'" (p. 38)
(on what the soul must learn) "..learn how incapable it is of stability or perseverance, thus cutting down to the very root of spiritual self-love; for this should be the end and purpose of all its self-knowledge, to rise above itself, mounting the throne of conscience, and not permitting the sentiment of imperfect love to turn against its death struggle, but, with correction and reproof, digging up the root of self-love, with the knife of self-hatred and the love of virtue." (p. 41)
"There is nothing easier than to be convinced in theory that Providence ordains all things without exception unto good. But it is rare to find that truth realized in practice when some unforeseen disaster enters like a cataclysm into our lives. There are few who are able to see in such an event one of God's greatest graces, the grace of their second or third conversion. The venerable Boudon, a priest held in high repute by his own bishop and by several bishops in France, one day received, in consequence of a calumny, a letter from his bishop suspending him and forbidding him to say Mass or to hear confessions. he straightway threw himself on his knees before his crucifix, thanking our Lord for a grace of which he felt himself to be unworthy. He had achieved that concrete and living conviction, of which St. Catherine speaks here, that in the divine government everything, absolutely everything, is ordained to the manifestation of his goodness." (p. 46)
"But the more theology progresses, the more, in a sense, it has to conceal itself; it has to disappear very much as St. John the Baptist disappears after announcing the coming of our Lord." (p. 47)
"Finally, whereas the egoist, thinking always of himself, wrongly loves himself in all things, the perfect, thinking nearly always of God, love Him constantly, and loves Him, not merely by avoiding sin and by imitating the virtues of our Lord, but by adhering to Him, enjoying Him, desiring, as St. Paul said, to be dissolved and to be with Christ." (p. 95)
"The heart, emptied of the things that pass away, becomes filled with heavenly love which gives access to the waters of grace. Having arrived there, the soul passes through the door of Christ crucified and tastes the water of life, slaking his thirst in Me, who am the Ocean of Peace." (p. 103)
It's certainly an aspirational book, as it traces the steps in spiritual progress towards greater communion with God and the obstacles we put in our way to slow that progress.
"...it is a condition of affairs which, if men only had eyes to see, ought to be revealing; it ought to show men that they have sought their last end where it is not to be found, in earthly enjoyment - instead of God. They are seeking happiness in an abundance of material possessions which are incapable of giving it; possessions which sow discord among those that seek them, and a greater discord according as they are sought with greater avidity." (p. 4)
"The lowest degree of grace in a soul, for example in that of a small child after its baptism, is of greater value than the natural goodness of the whole universe." (p. 17)
"For the angels, too, stood in need, not of redemption, but of the gratuitous gift of grace in order to tend to the supernatural beatitude to which God called them." (p. 17)
"The infinite distance which separates bodies from spirits is a symbol of the infinitely more infinite distance which separates spirits from charity, for charity is supernatural." (p. 18)
"In other words, our whole interior life tends towards the supernatural contemplation of the mysteries of the inner life of God and of the Incarnation and Redemption; it tends, above all, towards a more intimate union with God, a preliminary to that union with Him, ever actual and perpetual, which will be the consummation of eternal life." (p. 25)
(St Thomas' opinion regarding angels) "...They are either very holy or very perverse. Either they love God perfectly, or else they turn away from Him completely by mortal sin. This is due to the vigor of their intelligence, which enters completely and definitively into the way it has taken." (p. 37)
"This is what the Fathers have so often asserted: 'In the way of God he who makes no progress loses ground.'" (p. 38)
(on what the soul must learn) "..learn how incapable it is of stability or perseverance, thus cutting down to the very root of spiritual self-love; for this should be the end and purpose of all its self-knowledge, to rise above itself, mounting the throne of conscience, and not permitting the sentiment of imperfect love to turn against its death struggle, but, with correction and reproof, digging up the root of self-love, with the knife of self-hatred and the love of virtue." (p. 41)
"There is nothing easier than to be convinced in theory that Providence ordains all things without exception unto good. But it is rare to find that truth realized in practice when some unforeseen disaster enters like a cataclysm into our lives. There are few who are able to see in such an event one of God's greatest graces, the grace of their second or third conversion. The venerable Boudon, a priest held in high repute by his own bishop and by several bishops in France, one day received, in consequence of a calumny, a letter from his bishop suspending him and forbidding him to say Mass or to hear confessions. he straightway threw himself on his knees before his crucifix, thanking our Lord for a grace of which he felt himself to be unworthy. He had achieved that concrete and living conviction, of which St. Catherine speaks here, that in the divine government everything, absolutely everything, is ordained to the manifestation of his goodness." (p. 46)
"But the more theology progresses, the more, in a sense, it has to conceal itself; it has to disappear very much as St. John the Baptist disappears after announcing the coming of our Lord." (p. 47)
"Finally, whereas the egoist, thinking always of himself, wrongly loves himself in all things, the perfect, thinking nearly always of God, love Him constantly, and loves Him, not merely by avoiding sin and by imitating the virtues of our Lord, but by adhering to Him, enjoying Him, desiring, as St. Paul said, to be dissolved and to be with Christ." (p. 95)
"The heart, emptied of the things that pass away, becomes filled with heavenly love which gives access to the waters of grace. Having arrived there, the soul passes through the door of Christ crucified and tastes the water of life, slaking his thirst in Me, who am the Ocean of Peace." (p. 103)
June 26, 2022
Garrigou Lagrange explica como ninguém o funcionamento da vida espiritual. Recomendo vivamente este livro a todos aqueles que querem perceber melhor como funciona o caminho para chegar à união com Deus!
December 27, 2021
MY GENERAL IMPRESSION:
Awesome little book on the spiritual life that is an incredibly helpful overview of the different stages of the conversions in the Christian Life. I would recommend it to anyone.
WHY THIS BOOK IS IMPORTANT:
This book's most impressive attribute is the way that it synthesizes the spiritual teaching of St. John of the Cross, St. Catherine of Sienna, and the experiences of the Apostles related in Scripture. From this synthesis, Garrigou-Lagrange outlines the ordinary way of sanctity while responding to objections and other proposed accounts of the spiritual life that were given in his time and before him.
DISCLAIMER BEFORE READING:
It should be noted that there is some technical language taken from Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophy so if you're not familiar with distinctions like "per se" vs. "per accidens", what is meant philosophically by "species" or "specifically distinct" there will be some parts that may be hard to understand since they rely on these distinctions. If that's the case, talk to a priest and he should be able to readily explain concepts that are confusing to you. Additionally, there are some parts that are in Latin in the footnotes and in some terms, so knowing Latin will be helpful in getting the most out of these bits, but this definitely doesn't prevent someone not understanding the book if they don't know Latin.
Awesome little book on the spiritual life that is an incredibly helpful overview of the different stages of the conversions in the Christian Life. I would recommend it to anyone.
WHY THIS BOOK IS IMPORTANT:
This book's most impressive attribute is the way that it synthesizes the spiritual teaching of St. John of the Cross, St. Catherine of Sienna, and the experiences of the Apostles related in Scripture. From this synthesis, Garrigou-Lagrange outlines the ordinary way of sanctity while responding to objections and other proposed accounts of the spiritual life that were given in his time and before him.
DISCLAIMER BEFORE READING:
It should be noted that there is some technical language taken from Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophy so if you're not familiar with distinctions like "per se" vs. "per accidens", what is meant philosophically by "species" or "specifically distinct" there will be some parts that may be hard to understand since they rely on these distinctions. If that's the case, talk to a priest and he should be able to readily explain concepts that are confusing to you. Additionally, there are some parts that are in Latin in the footnotes and in some terms, so knowing Latin will be helpful in getting the most out of these bits, but this definitely doesn't prevent someone not understanding the book if they don't know Latin.
February 7, 2023
This was such an eye-opening book. Like I feel like I finally have language to understand what spiritual progression looks like. For so long I’ve been told or perhaps just selectively heard that for growth or progress to happen spiritually you just need to do more & be better. But how can I be better if this whole thing is built on the unalterable fact that I’m on my own, quite ruined? And paired with that be better idea is that correspondingly you’ll “see” better too: as you grow, you’ll naturally experience more of the presence of God, hear his voice better, etc. But that’s manifestly not the case either, and I’ve been failing a long time by my own metrics. I am beginning to understand that these metrics themselves are faulty and have blinded me to what the Lord in his generosity has been working in me even as I lament my imperfection.
This book assumes foreknowledge of a certain degree of mystic/Catholic language that I did not have, yet through context I was able to pick most of it up. I would recommend it to anyone who feels spiritually stalled and can’t figure out why or who wants to get a better view of what the process of sanctification actually looks like over a life, as testified by the greats in Christian tradition.
This book assumes foreknowledge of a certain degree of mystic/Catholic language that I did not have, yet through context I was able to pick most of it up. I would recommend it to anyone who feels spiritually stalled and can’t figure out why or who wants to get a better view of what the process of sanctification actually looks like over a life, as testified by the greats in Christian tradition.
February 1, 2014
This book is a small primer, slightly technical in nature, but very helpful in those who seek to grow in Spiritual Life, which we are all called to and which he explicitly makes known in the beginning of this book. His approach was interesting, I was anticipating a different approach in his breaking up the 3 Stages of The Interior Life and there subsequent transitional stages, but if one spends one day per chapter and tries to grasps its concepts you will learn something of immense value. With footnotes to aid, this book is a highly recommended reading especially if one intends to explore the other and deeper aspects of Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange's writings.
May 14, 2007
I loved this simple, yet profound, treatise on the spiritual life. Garrigou-Lagrange outlines the path as the way of purgation, the way of illumination, culminating in the way of unity. Citing Ss. Thomas Aquinas, Catherine of Siena, and John of the Cross, he shows how we enter in, get stuck on, and move on in the spiritual life.
January 15, 2018
Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange, who was perhaps the greatest theologian of the 20th century, sets for the classic Catholic traditions on the spiritual life as the full flowering of Sanctifying Grace in the soul.
Here are some quotes:
We should have loved him as the author of our nature, with that love which a subject has for his superior. it would not have been a love of friendship, but rather a sentiment compounded of admiration, respect, and gratitude, yet lacking that happy and simple familiarity which rejoices the hearts of the children of God. We should have been God's servants, but not His children.
Even after a grave sin, if the soul has a sorrow which is truly fervent and proportionate to the degree of grace which it has lost, it will recover this same degree of grace; grace may even revive in the soul in a higher degree if the contrition is still more fervent.
In her Dialogue St. Catherine of Siena speaks of this self-love, describing it as "the mercenary love of the imperfect," of those who, without being conscious of it, serve God from self-interest, because they are attached to temporal or spiritual consolations, and who shed tears of self-pity when they are deprived of them.
If you want a rational outline of the spiritual life this the book to go to.
Here are some quotes:
We should have loved him as the author of our nature, with that love which a subject has for his superior. it would not have been a love of friendship, but rather a sentiment compounded of admiration, respect, and gratitude, yet lacking that happy and simple familiarity which rejoices the hearts of the children of God. We should have been God's servants, but not His children.
Even after a grave sin, if the soul has a sorrow which is truly fervent and proportionate to the degree of grace which it has lost, it will recover this same degree of grace; grace may even revive in the soul in a higher degree if the contrition is still more fervent.
In her Dialogue St. Catherine of Siena speaks of this self-love, describing it as "the mercenary love of the imperfect," of those who, without being conscious of it, serve God from self-interest, because they are attached to temporal or spiritual consolations, and who shed tears of self-pity when they are deprived of them.
If you want a rational outline of the spiritual life this the book to go to.
November 22, 2025
An excellent little book that summarizes the spiritual life, following the traditions of St Catherine of Sienna and St John of the Cross. This was required reading for my class on Moral and Spiritual Theology, but I wanted to reread it slowly to absorb it better.
I still have a long way to go, but now I have a better idea of what the path ahead holds. Traditionally, there are three stages of growth in the Spiritual Life- Purgative, Illuminative, and Unitive, or beginner, proficient, and perfect. Just as a conversion of the heart happens to enter into the spiritual life (baptism or a reversion), so too is there a conversion as we journey to the second and third stages. What I found interesting is that this is described as a result of our pride at each stage; as one gets better at praying and revels in the consolations of God, there is a tendency to attribute that to our own abilities. Then God retracts his consolations, which leads to a dark night of the senses where that pride is hopefully purged.
Much to consider.
I still have a long way to go, but now I have a better idea of what the path ahead holds. Traditionally, there are three stages of growth in the Spiritual Life- Purgative, Illuminative, and Unitive, or beginner, proficient, and perfect. Just as a conversion of the heart happens to enter into the spiritual life (baptism or a reversion), so too is there a conversion as we journey to the second and third stages. What I found interesting is that this is described as a result of our pride at each stage; as one gets better at praying and revels in the consolations of God, there is a tendency to attribute that to our own abilities. Then God retracts his consolations, which leads to a dark night of the senses where that pride is hopefully purged.
Much to consider.
June 2, 2020
This work references Saint John of the Cross - Dark of the Soul and Living Frame, so as to make them approachable practice for an everyday person.
The need for a third level of conversion is described for a soul to be united in true purpose with Gods plan. Third conversion requires purgation of the spirit. (deprivations of the sense of Christ’s presence).
The need for a third level of conversion is described for a soul to be united in true purpose with Gods plan. Third conversion requires purgation of the spirit. (deprivations of the sense of Christ’s presence).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 20, 2025
Fr Lagrange gives a wonderful description of how to progress in the spiritual life and an idea of its nature and goal. The basic idea of conversions is to break through the limits we were previously held to by our sins, and a further, deeper, and more painful conversion is needed for each advancement. Great sections on humility, generosity, and the spiritual organism.
September 30, 2025
Excellent book!
This book beautifully and accurately. explains the stages of the spiritual life. I highly recommend it! Be sure to read this article on meriting grace to help prepare for the spiritual edification found in this book: If Grace Is a Gift, How Do We Merit It? - Catholicism Explained https://share.google/0qYHkJtroPFdIKn1j
This book beautifully and accurately. explains the stages of the spiritual life. I highly recommend it! Be sure to read this article on meriting grace to help prepare for the spiritual edification found in this book: If Grace Is a Gift, How Do We Merit It? - Catholicism Explained https://share.google/0qYHkJtroPFdIKn1j
October 5, 2020
A good overview of the Purgative, Illuminative, and Unitive ways by the Dominican Garrigou-Lagrange. After a chapter where he goes deep theologically, the next chapter is an overview of the same material. Very helpful if you need a review or refresher.
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October 7, 2023I thought this was a good intro book to Garrigou. Includes a full-throated assertion of what we now call the universal vocation to holiness. He has a bad habit of quoting people he disagrees with without citing the source or even identifying the author.
August 5, 2021
Very helpful
I would recommend this to anyone who who has read Saint John of the Cross or Saint Catherine of Siena. It really helps bring their writings into focus.
I would recommend this to anyone who who has read Saint John of the Cross or Saint Catherine of Siena. It really helps bring their writings into focus.
December 29, 2023
Excellent brief but very informative / insightful discussion of the three stages of the Christian life -- purgative, illuminative, and unitive. A classic.
November 21, 2025
Maravilha, um grande guia espiritual.
March 13, 2024
It's very strange that when I search for this book, the title wants to change to The Three Conversions in the Spiritual Life, or the Three Conversions of the Spiritual Live.
Why can't it be both?
The book I read, by Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, OP is The Three Conversions and the Three Ways of the Spiritual Life.
It is two books summarized. Much of it is over my head, but I did learn the three ways to obtain a good spiritual life: purgative, illuminative, and unitive. They meld into each other gradually. Basically, it's fake it 'till you make it. Your meditation will stall, grow in spurts, veer off, and might fall off. The trick is to keep on trying. Eventually, you will get it. Garrigou-Lagrange gives examples which will help.
Why can't it be both?
The book I read, by Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, OP is The Three Conversions and the Three Ways of the Spiritual Life.
It is two books summarized. Much of it is over my head, but I did learn the three ways to obtain a good spiritual life: purgative, illuminative, and unitive. They meld into each other gradually. Basically, it's fake it 'till you make it. Your meditation will stall, grow in spurts, veer off, and might fall off. The trick is to keep on trying. Eventually, you will get it. Garrigou-Lagrange gives examples which will help.
June 27, 2024
Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange was a major Catholic theologian and spiritual writer of the 20th century in the pre-Vatican II era - he died in 1964. In this little book translated from the French, he sets forth a traditional outline of the spiritual life as it has been understood and followed by some of the great mystics and saints of the Church, drawing on the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, St. John of the Cross, St. Catherine of Siena, Johannes Tauler, and others, as well as grounding illustrations from the Bible. All Christians begin with the life of Grace, entered in through baptism - their initially becoming Christian. The author goes on to discuss the 2nd and 3rd stages ("conversions") of spiritual growth which are the Illuminative Way and the Unitive Way, in each of which we draw nearer to God and His will for us, which is to draw us ever closer. As we move from one of these phases to the next, we are likely to experience the kind of thing that St. John of the Cross calls the "Dark Night of the Soul", which we must persevere through.
December 5, 2019
92/100 (= 5.5/6) ≈ 5 Stars
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Superb. Organizes and explains lofty concepts in a straightforward and convincing manner. The infinite importance of the spiritual life, it's stages, pitfalls, transitions. Calling all souls, he proves God's wish for us all to reach the third stage (union), though perhaps not in the same way as mystic saints. If we don't make it through the transitions well, we remain stunted souls. Extremely practical advice! He's said to be one of the greatest theologians of the 20th century; a valiant defender of the Faith against the pre-Vatican-II innovators (Blondel, de Lubac, de Chardin, etc.).
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Superb. Organizes and explains lofty concepts in a straightforward and convincing manner. The infinite importance of the spiritual life, it's stages, pitfalls, transitions. Calling all souls, he proves God's wish for us all to reach the third stage (union), though perhaps not in the same way as mystic saints. If we don't make it through the transitions well, we remain stunted souls. Extremely practical advice! He's said to be one of the greatest theologians of the 20th century; a valiant defender of the Faith against the pre-Vatican-II innovators (Blondel, de Lubac, de Chardin, etc.).
July 9, 2014
Good introduction to Fr. Reginald's writings, as well as, to St. John's "Dark Night", Aquinas, and St. Catherine's "Dialogue".
This was not translated into a modern language... which helped me focus more... most of the time... but I also found myself occasionally distracted. Still, I look forward to diving deeper into Father's writings. There were numerous and priceless gems for self reflection and growth!
This was not translated into a modern language... which helped me focus more... most of the time... but I also found myself occasionally distracted. Still, I look forward to diving deeper into Father's writings. There were numerous and priceless gems for self reflection and growth!
September 24, 2014
A very interesting look at steps in the advancement of one's spiritual life and love of God. There is much here to stimulate one's thoughts.
October 27, 2015
Exceptional book on prayer, meditation and comtemplation. A good introduction to Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews