Love's Sacred Order: The Four Loves Revisited

by Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis

When seeking to understand Christian love with some precision, we inevitably come to speak about order in loving. The title of this book, Love's Sacred Order, is intended to address the problem of the need for clarification in the matter of love, above all the question of the relationship among the different kinds of love, all of which make their legitimate claim on us. A central concern of these reflections is the fact that we can do as much harm to ourselves by being too restrictive as by being too permissive in what we allow to come under the heading of Christian love. The main intent of these meditations is to explore what the hierarchy might be that God established among all our human loves, on the one hand, and between these and the gratuitously revealed love of God?that uncreated mystery, "kept secret for long ages", to which we could not have had access if God himself had not taken the initiative to manifest it in Christ Jesus. The author approaches this subject pondering and responding to issues raised in the widely known work of C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves, of which the year 2000 marks the fortieth anniversary of publication. This volume, then, is offered as a modest contribution to our celebration of this year of the Great Jubilee of our redemption, as well as an homage to the great Christian writer.

Genres: Theology, Religion, Catholic

164 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis (now Fr. Simeon, OCSO) is a Trappist monk and accomplished author, preacher, and retreat master.

He received his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Theology from Emory University.. His areas of interest include liturgy and liturgical texts, Georg Trakl's poetry, the Gospel of Matthew, French and German poetry of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Greek and Roman classics, and Dante.

Father Simeon entered the St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, MA in April of 2003 and was ordained to the priesthood in May of 2013. He is currently serving as secretary to the Abbot General in Rome. He continues as editor of the Monastic Wisdom Series for Cistercian Publications. When at his monastery in Spencer he leads retreats in the Abbey Retreat House, pitches in as community cook and does his part in the regular round of chores. Father Simeon tells us that he treasures: “the rhythm of the common life that draws me back to essentials even when I am most distracted or concerned with more relative things.”

He has also translated numerous works for Ignatius Press, including several books by Hans Urs von Balthasar.

Reviews

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply excellent. A wonderful book for prayer and continuous reflection.

[Brother Gregory Rice, SOLT · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely reflection rather than anything systematic.