Great Free Ebook on Prayer and Holiness

I've been writing and revising my novel, which accounts for the long hiatus from this blog, but also reading things that I'll eventually want to discuss here. Meanwhile, here is a very nice freebie for you that is worth reading: Connie Rossini's Five Lessons from the Carmelite Saints That Will Change Your Life.

Five Lessons from the Carmelite Saints That Will Change Your Life, by Connie RossiniMany years ago, when I was first beginning to learn about prayer, I was drawn to contemplative spiritual writing: St Teresa of Avila, St John of the Cross, The Cloud of Unknowing (as well as Brother Lawrence -- not sure if he counts as contemplative, but I suspect he does). Although it has been quite a few years since I have read much of any of these, I must have absorbed a lot, which became the cornerstone of my spiritual life. I say this because when I read this little booklet, which summarizes insights gleaned from the great contemplative spiritual writers of the Carmelite Order, I recognized each point as the key lessons I've been learning for more than thirty-five years.

The overall lesson is that we are all called to holiness. Each. And. Every. One. "Be ye perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect." A daunting task? As this little book points out, it's not something that happens in a day, or a week, a month, but over the course of years, if we persevere.



If you've tried reading St Theresa of Avila or St John of the Cross but found them too intimidating, don't give up. Start over, with this little booklet. You may find that you are already on the way, and farther along than you thought.

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