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Views from the Choir Loft

Spiritual Reading

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · November 28, 2013

991 Reading Click to enlarge this magnificent image In his classic work The Soul of the Apostolate, Dom Chautard writes, apropos one’s daily time of prayer:

BOOK OF MEDITATIONS is almost necessary to keep the mind from drifting around in a fog. There are plenty of works, old and new, that have everything that is demanded in a true book of meditations. . . . Each point contains some striking truth presented in a clear, forceful, and concise manner, in such a way that once we have reflected upon it, we are inevitably led on into a loving and practical conversation with God.

We are about to begin the holy season of Advent, a season of eager longing, quiet waiting, renewed trust in God’s provision for our needs, and, most of all, of interior preparation for receiving the Word of God into our hearts, our lives. Do you have a plan for what spiritual reading you will be doing? It will make Advent so much more fruitful if you take up a serious book suited to the season and read a portion of it every day, rain or shine. If it can be arranged, setting aside time for quiet prayer during and after reading that portion of the book will make the season even more fruitful, but in any case, doing the reading itself is already a spiritual discipline that will bear fruit.

THERE ARE SO MANY great classics out there that I hesitate to recommend any one in particular, but in case you don’t have a bookshelf already loaded with books you’ve bought and not yet read (a problem that I face to an almost ridiculous extent), here are a few you might consider.

One is called Divine Intimacy, by Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D. Another is the adaptation into daily meditations of the spiritual works of Blessed Columba Marmion, O.S.B.: Words of Life on the Margin of the Missal (out of print but sometimes available used). An attractive feature of both books is that the meditations follow the course of the liturgical year and therefore present prayer, the three ways of the spiritual life, the life of Christian virtue, etc., as a participation in the mysteries of Christ as given to us in the liturgy.

A third recommendation, if one is looking for something a bit more intellectual, is Fr. Bede Jarrett, O.P.’s Meditations for Laymen. This is a Thomistically-informed set of meditations that cover all the major topics in the spiritual life, based on the fundamental principle that truth and truth alone sets us free, and that we must therefore root ourselves in the truth before we will be capable of any spiritual progress.

Other books that have deeply nourished me and many of my friends over the years:

Fr. Jacques Philippe, Searching for and Maintaining Peace

Fr. Jean C. J. d’Elbée, I Believe in Love

Bd. Columba Marmion, Christ, the Life of the Soul and Christ in His Mysteries

Reading books like these, which may take a bit longer to finish than Advent allows — they might take you well into Lent and Easter and out beyond Pentecost! — is a way to ensure a season of spiritual growth in faith, deeper insight into the mystery of Jesus, and the burning of a brighter flame of charity.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Saint Thomas Aquinas Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Dr. Peter Kwasniewski

A graduate of Thomas Aquinas College (B.A. in Liberal Arts) and The Catholic University of America (M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy), Dr. Peter Kwasniewski is currently Professor at Wyoming Catholic College. He is also a published and performed composer, especially of sacred music.

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    Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    26 January 2023 • FEEDBACK
    “Jeff, I wanted to personally thank you for your spiritual witness at the Symposium & often blogs that you write too. Praying that prayer in the mornings My God, my Father and my all (by Cardinal Merry Del Val), mentioning saints’ stories of Brébeuf, Jogues, John Vianney, monks who fought in WWII, their hard work in spite of terrible conditions, their relentless zeal for the faith, their genuine love for the laypeople they served, etc. Overall though—more than anything concrete I can point to that you did or said—it was your demeanor at the Symposium. I could tell you really absolutely love and believe the Catholic Faith. You don’t get that everywhere, even in Church circles. And your humility is what then makes that shine even brighter. It is super inspiring! God is working through you probably way more than you know.”
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    Those who head over to the Symposium Website will notice the tentative schedule for 2023 has been released. This is all very exciting! Very soon, we will begin accepting applications, so please make sure you have subscribed to our mailing list. If you are subscribed, that means you'll hear announcements before anyone else. (It’s incredibly easy to subscribe to our mailing list; just scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.)
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“To me nothing is so consoling, so piercing, so thrilling, so overcoming, as the Mass, said as it is among us. I could attend Masses for ever, and not be tired.”

— John Henry Cardinal Newman (1848)

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