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Fire Within: St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and the Gospel on Prayer
This book is the fruit of Fr. Dubay's many years of study and experience in spiritual direction and in it he synthesizes the teachings on prayer of the two great doctors of the Church on prayer--St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila--and the teaching of Sacred Scripture.
But the teaching that Fr. Dubay synthesized is not collected from Teresa and John for contemplatives alone. It is meant for every Christian and is based on the Gospel imperative of personal prayer and the call to holiness. All the major elements of these great teachers are ordered, commented on and put in the context of their scriptural foundations. Here is an outstanding book on prayer and the spiritual life written by one of the best spiritual directors and retreat masters of our time, and based on the writings of the Church's two greatest mystical doctors.
358 pages, Paperback
First published August 31, 1989
About the author
Thomas Dubay
29 books72 followersFather Thomas Dubay, S.M., was a well-known retreat master and expert in the spiritual life.
A Marist Priest, Father took a Ph.D. from Catholic University of America and taught at major seminary level for about fifteen years. He spent the last three decades giving retreats and writing books (over twenty at last count) on various aspects of the spiritual life.
He is an expert on the teachings and writings of the two mystical doctors of the Church, John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila.
A Marist Priest, Father took a Ph.D. from Catholic University of America and taught at major seminary level for about fifteen years. He spent the last three decades giving retreats and writing books (over twenty at last count) on various aspects of the spiritual life.
He is an expert on the teachings and writings of the two mystical doctors of the Church, John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
January 19, 2024
If you want to understand Carmelite Spirituality, this is the book! That’s not to say it is easy, but then we’re talking about two Doctors of the Church, St. Teresa of Avila, Doctor of Prayer and St. John of the Cross, the Mystical Doctor.
In Fire Within, Father Thomas Dubay, who has spent a lifetime studying the writings of these two sagacious saints, reveals how they fulfilled Jesus’ words: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” Luke 12:49.
Both John and Teresa felt that same fire and have passed its flame on to hundreds of thousands of their spiritual children through such classics as: Interior Castle, A Spiritual Canticle of the Soul and the Bridegroom Christ, The Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila by Herself and The Living Flame of Love: Study Edition
Here, Dubay culls through those well-known documents as well their lesser-known works and personal letters to show how the Mother and Father of Carmelite Spirituality are really shining light on the Gospel.
Theirs isn’t a new message, but a new approach to Christ’s original and unshakeable, unchangeable Truth. Teresa, the Doctor of Prayer, does not even teach a set way to pray. Rather, she teaches that although mental prayer is absolutely necessary, how one does this will vary from person to person. She offers a roadmap with her seven ‘mansions’ or ‘castles’, but never a set of rules or a how-to manual. Her primary concern is that one must never ever give up prayer, no matter how unproductive it may seem, because we are no judge of our own spirituality or much else about ourselves. John, although called the Mystical Doctor, discouraged placing much stock in visions and locutions and saw the spiritual journey as a long ascent of spiritual aridity, Dark Nights and surrender to God.
Here, Dubay explains each of their doctrines, shows how they overlap each other at times and how they beautifully align with, illustrate and enhance the Gospel.
When I first read this back in 2007-8, I took almost a year to finish it, but I did not begin to understand it, because I had not read any of the works of Teresa or John. I would strongly urge the reader to read at least one work, preferably Teresa’s The Way of Perfection and John’s The Ascent of Mount Carmel before attempting this book. It will make so much more sense if you have at least a working knowledge of these two spiritual giants before taking on this synthesis of their works.
If you desire a closer walk with Jesus, then these are the companions you want for the journey, Teresa, John and Fr. Dubay. Oh! And I met Fr. Dubay once when he came to Oklahoma to give a retreat to our convent of Carmelite nuns. The last evening of the retreat was open to the public and I was there like a teenage groupie with my mouth hanging open in awe as I tried to take in every word he said. Afterward, I lined up with my copy of this book and got his signature. He was a very tiny man, yet he had such an aura of holiness it was palpable. I truly believe that I was in the presence of a saint. Please pray for me Fr. Dubay! And thank you for this marvelous book!
March 11, 2008: Fire Within is about prayer. In fact, it is subtitled, ‘St. Teresa of Ávila, St. John of the Cross, and the Gospel—on Prayer'. Father Thomas Dubay, who I had the supreme honor of meeting two months ago, has made it his life’s work to study the sixteenth century Spanish Carmelite contemplatives and doctors of the Church, Sts. Teresa and John. I was first introduced to his work via the video series, Contemplation: Union With God, where Father explores the reality of everyone’s call to a deeper prayer life with Our Lord. After watching the video series, I was intrigued by this universal call (which sounded like some well-kept family secret!) and bought the book. When do we get this call? How do we hear it? Why have I never heard about this before? Surely ‘contemplation’ isn’t for everyone?! And yet time after time in his lectures, Father drew on Scriptural references for his arguments. There was nothing the two great saints said which couldn’t be supported from the New Testament. It was just that I had never heard prayer explained in quite this way before.
Growing up Catholic, prayer was vocal and formulaic. It had plenty of patterns and rules. I believed in prayer and knew it was the only way to a closer relationship with God—and yet, I never really seemed to be ‘getting anywhere’ with my prayer life. I felt like the blindfolded person in blindman’s bluff—arms outstretched, stumbling, reaching, going round in circles, trying to find God, or someone, but not sure which way to go.
Finding this book was truly a Godsend for me. Although it deals with very complex theological concepts (at times) it is written in a straightforward and easy-to-read manner. It is laid out logically and covers all the bases and relevant questions beginning with the topic of the book itself.
My favorite chapters in this book are the ones dealing with Friendship and Spiritual Direction. They are also the ones which are the most severely marked up in my edition.
I want to recommend this book to everyone and reread it again soon.
In Fire Within, Father Thomas Dubay, who has spent a lifetime studying the writings of these two sagacious saints, reveals how they fulfilled Jesus’ words: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” Luke 12:49.
Both John and Teresa felt that same fire and have passed its flame on to hundreds of thousands of their spiritual children through such classics as: Interior Castle, A Spiritual Canticle of the Soul and the Bridegroom Christ, The Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila by Herself and The Living Flame of Love: Study Edition
Here, Dubay culls through those well-known documents as well their lesser-known works and personal letters to show how the Mother and Father of Carmelite Spirituality are really shining light on the Gospel.
Theirs isn’t a new message, but a new approach to Christ’s original and unshakeable, unchangeable Truth. Teresa, the Doctor of Prayer, does not even teach a set way to pray. Rather, she teaches that although mental prayer is absolutely necessary, how one does this will vary from person to person. She offers a roadmap with her seven ‘mansions’ or ‘castles’, but never a set of rules or a how-to manual. Her primary concern is that one must never ever give up prayer, no matter how unproductive it may seem, because we are no judge of our own spirituality or much else about ourselves. John, although called the Mystical Doctor, discouraged placing much stock in visions and locutions and saw the spiritual journey as a long ascent of spiritual aridity, Dark Nights and surrender to God.
Here, Dubay explains each of their doctrines, shows how they overlap each other at times and how they beautifully align with, illustrate and enhance the Gospel.
When I first read this back in 2007-8, I took almost a year to finish it, but I did not begin to understand it, because I had not read any of the works of Teresa or John. I would strongly urge the reader to read at least one work, preferably Teresa’s The Way of Perfection and John’s The Ascent of Mount Carmel before attempting this book. It will make so much more sense if you have at least a working knowledge of these two spiritual giants before taking on this synthesis of their works.
If you desire a closer walk with Jesus, then these are the companions you want for the journey, Teresa, John and Fr. Dubay. Oh! And I met Fr. Dubay once when he came to Oklahoma to give a retreat to our convent of Carmelite nuns. The last evening of the retreat was open to the public and I was there like a teenage groupie with my mouth hanging open in awe as I tried to take in every word he said. Afterward, I lined up with my copy of this book and got his signature. He was a very tiny man, yet he had such an aura of holiness it was palpable. I truly believe that I was in the presence of a saint. Please pray for me Fr. Dubay! And thank you for this marvelous book!
March 11, 2008: Fire Within is about prayer. In fact, it is subtitled, ‘St. Teresa of Ávila, St. John of the Cross, and the Gospel—on Prayer'. Father Thomas Dubay, who I had the supreme honor of meeting two months ago, has made it his life’s work to study the sixteenth century Spanish Carmelite contemplatives and doctors of the Church, Sts. Teresa and John. I was first introduced to his work via the video series, Contemplation: Union With God, where Father explores the reality of everyone’s call to a deeper prayer life with Our Lord. After watching the video series, I was intrigued by this universal call (which sounded like some well-kept family secret!) and bought the book. When do we get this call? How do we hear it? Why have I never heard about this before? Surely ‘contemplation’ isn’t for everyone?! And yet time after time in his lectures, Father drew on Scriptural references for his arguments. There was nothing the two great saints said which couldn’t be supported from the New Testament. It was just that I had never heard prayer explained in quite this way before.
Growing up Catholic, prayer was vocal and formulaic. It had plenty of patterns and rules. I believed in prayer and knew it was the only way to a closer relationship with God—and yet, I never really seemed to be ‘getting anywhere’ with my prayer life. I felt like the blindfolded person in blindman’s bluff—arms outstretched, stumbling, reaching, going round in circles, trying to find God, or someone, but not sure which way to go.
Finding this book was truly a Godsend for me. Although it deals with very complex theological concepts (at times) it is written in a straightforward and easy-to-read manner. It is laid out logically and covers all the bases and relevant questions beginning with the topic of the book itself.
My favorite chapters in this book are the ones dealing with Friendship and Spiritual Direction. They are also the ones which are the most severely marked up in my edition.
I want to recommend this book to everyone and reread it again soon.
February 18, 2013
From my 100-word recommendations on my blog, Contemplative Homeschool:
Thorough, understandable explanation of Carmelite spirituality. Contains short biographies of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross. Helps you discern where you are in Teresa’s Mansions. What to do at each stage to grow more. Defines contemplation and detachment. Challenges everyone to become a contemplative. Distinguishes true mysticism from locutions and visions. Deals with difficulties in prayer, friendship, and spiritual direction. Destined to be a classic.
One “criticism:” Deep and long. Don’t expect to be able to read it in 5-minute spurts.
Thorough, understandable explanation of Carmelite spirituality. Contains short biographies of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross. Helps you discern where you are in Teresa’s Mansions. What to do at each stage to grow more. Defines contemplation and detachment. Challenges everyone to become a contemplative. Distinguishes true mysticism from locutions and visions. Deals with difficulties in prayer, friendship, and spiritual direction. Destined to be a classic.
One “criticism:” Deep and long. Don’t expect to be able to read it in 5-minute spurts.
November 29, 2014
In this book Fr. Dubay writes a fast and furious summary of the teachings of St. Theresa and St. John of the Cross, the two medieval Spanish saints who are considered the foremost authorities on spiritual growth by the Catholic Church. For those feeling the call to strive for christian virtue, this is an excellent resource that forces you to really direct all your energies towards the emptying of the self. It is especially good in debunking some modern mistakes and myths about prayer that vex younger folks. I don't recommend this book for people unfamiliar with the work of these saints, because Dubay assumes that his audience is already familiar with spiritual concepts like 'infused prayer' and mystical union. I do recommend it if you are past the point of prunning voluntary sin and are working on unconscious tendencies. This is a book that answers all those obscure practical questions about prayer (mental vrs. discursive, formal vrs. spontaneous, etc.) If you feel that you already do everything that is asked of you, this might not be the book for you yet, for the mystics demand tremendous generosity of self.
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December 22, 2020i. Fire Within is the first book I have read that makes an attempt to really describe what contemplative prayer is. Frequently other books will state that it's a gift infused by God, and not in any way produced by us, and leave it at that. This is understandable, because the experience of contemplation will always be to a large extent incommunicable. For that reason, even when one is finished with Chapter 5, one will probably still be left with the title question: what is contemplation? At the same time, Fr. Dubay approaches a close as I imagine one could to describing what, in the end, is the "I-don't-know-what" that can only be understood through experience. Even that approach is vastly helpful, though, in determining the difference between the experiences of prayer "produced" by our various faculties and authentic contemplation, which transcends our faculties.
ii. This book did what I imagined Two Sisters in the Spirit: Therese of Lisieuz and Elizabeth of the Trinity would do prior to reading it: it takes two closely-related saints and weaves their doctrines together into one work, comparing and very, very occasionally contrasting.
iii. Along those lines, Fr. Dubay does an excellent job in comparing throughout the book the teresian and sanjaunist teachings with what we are taught in Scripture, from the Old Testament through the New. By referring frequently to the Psalms, the Gospels, and the Epistles, he demonstrates that this is not some kind of new doctrine that these doctors are proposing, but old and fundamental teachings grounded in Scripture that they are expounding on. This is true of all the Church doctors.
iv. This book addresses a very widespread misconception: the idea that the dark night of the soul consists of "trials deriving from human ignorance, illness and sin." I'm sure I've perpetuated this confusion myself at times in my life. I was astonished when reading The Interior Carmel: The Threefold Way of Love by John C. H. Wu to find that he associated the dark night more closely to the third stage of spiritual life, which has to do with union and contemplation, than the earlier stages. For John Wu, the dark night emerged after considerable progress had been made in virtue, and for Fr. Dubay, and for the two great doctors that he draws from, the same is true. A soul encounters the dark night after she has already greatly in humility and love, and has progressed in detachment not just from sin, even the various pleasures of the world. Our tendency is frequently to think that the effort involved in detachment and growth in virtue, and the pain attached to that effort, are in fact the dark night. The reality is that our weakness, worldliness, and sin is responsible for these difficulties.
v. The chapter on the universal call was the one that impacted me the most. As a mother of small children, I've frequently encountered talks & literature that insist that the contemplative life is not for me. Mothers, I'm told, are too busy for prayer, and we have to learn to be sanctified through activity and activity alone, with maybe the occasional discursive prayer thrown in while we're washing dishes. This has never sat right with me, and it was refreshing to see Fr. Dubay insist that contemplation is for everyone in all walks of life. His insistence on this point is not only based on the teachings of John and Teresa, but also firmly on Scripture and Tradition.
ii. This book did what I imagined Two Sisters in the Spirit: Therese of Lisieuz and Elizabeth of the Trinity would do prior to reading it: it takes two closely-related saints and weaves their doctrines together into one work, comparing and very, very occasionally contrasting.
iii. Along those lines, Fr. Dubay does an excellent job in comparing throughout the book the teresian and sanjaunist teachings with what we are taught in Scripture, from the Old Testament through the New. By referring frequently to the Psalms, the Gospels, and the Epistles, he demonstrates that this is not some kind of new doctrine that these doctors are proposing, but old and fundamental teachings grounded in Scripture that they are expounding on. This is true of all the Church doctors.
iv. This book addresses a very widespread misconception: the idea that the dark night of the soul consists of "trials deriving from human ignorance, illness and sin." I'm sure I've perpetuated this confusion myself at times in my life. I was astonished when reading The Interior Carmel: The Threefold Way of Love by John C. H. Wu to find that he associated the dark night more closely to the third stage of spiritual life, which has to do with union and contemplation, than the earlier stages. For John Wu, the dark night emerged after considerable progress had been made in virtue, and for Fr. Dubay, and for the two great doctors that he draws from, the same is true. A soul encounters the dark night after she has already greatly in humility and love, and has progressed in detachment not just from sin, even the various pleasures of the world. Our tendency is frequently to think that the effort involved in detachment and growth in virtue, and the pain attached to that effort, are in fact the dark night. The reality is that our weakness, worldliness, and sin is responsible for these difficulties.
v. The chapter on the universal call was the one that impacted me the most. As a mother of small children, I've frequently encountered talks & literature that insist that the contemplative life is not for me. Mothers, I'm told, are too busy for prayer, and we have to learn to be sanctified through activity and activity alone, with maybe the occasional discursive prayer thrown in while we're washing dishes. This has never sat right with me, and it was refreshing to see Fr. Dubay insist that contemplation is for everyone in all walks of life. His insistence on this point is not only based on the teachings of John and Teresa, but also firmly on Scripture and Tradition.
January 28, 2011
I think I tried to read this book twice before and had a hard time getting through the first 50 pages, but this go-around I was quite enthralled. I like how the author doesn't gloss over or compromise on the radical nature of St. Teresa or St. John's writings. Christianity is radical; there is no way around it and Dubay doesn't apologize for it. However, the rewards are not just eternal, which sometimes we forget. This book was a constant reminder and made me really excited for increased prayer growth.
June 21, 2012
This little gem will be a classic sooner rather than later. Fr. Dubay takes you through the structured and wonderfully simple spiritual philosophy of St. Theresa of Avila while providing subtle direction about the need to free oneself from the need for a structured approach. The book is readable and - i've always found - challenging. Much like other works from John & Theresa, I always find my faith being restored and growing as I read this text. It's worth your time and it's an excellent gift for someone who loves the Lord and finds themselves asking questions like: "now what?"
November 19, 2015
An excellent introduction to the lives of these two Carmelites and the world of contemplative prayer. I enjoyed reading the different perspectives they had on how to live a Christian life through prayer and experiencing God. The examples were excellent and the links to the Gospels reinforces that Christian mystics are not living in a way that is either inaccessible or contrary to the teachings in the Bible. I definitely recommend this book as an easy to read introduction to these Saints, with practical means of living a contemplative life - even if you're not living a monastic life.
July 3, 2012
Father Dubay is a master. A beautiful book on prayer, and a beautiful portrayal of two of my favorite authors-saints: John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila. Ralph Martin's book, 'The Fulfillment of All Desire', is another good book in this category - but it's a distant second. I highly recommend 'Fire Within' to those who desire to know pray from the heart of these beautiful saints.
June 2, 2022
Amazing masterpiece on interior life and cultivating a life of prayer for all walks of life. Dubay’s singularly applicable book on teresian contemplation combines best of st Teresa’s works and St. John. Highly comprehensive and understandable. Definitely recommend for everyone wanting to be serious about going deeper in their spiritual life.
June 15, 2016
Should be mandatory reading for all Catholics. This splendid synthesis of the simple yet power philosophies of Ss Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross completely changed the way I approach prayer and meditation.
August 24, 2020
3.5 could have used some editing. Some parts very good, others less impressive.
March 23, 2023
Good book much like Ralph Martins book The Fulfillment of all Desire which I read first.
July 14, 2019
As with other books I’ve reread I obtained much more the second time. We’re so fortunate in our church to have saints like Sts. Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross to guide us on our journey. They understood true prayer and the different levels we can find ourself in as we aspire to grow closer to God. While reading this book I found myself highlighting something on almost every page. When I finished the book the second time I went back and reread each highlight. Doing this seemed to summarize the book for me. It all came together.
I highly recommend this book. What a blessing to have these saints explain to us how deep we can truly go in our prayer lives.
One common theme the saints kept emphasizing was as St. Paul wrote to Titus, We are to give up everything that does not lead to God, or to put the idea positively, we are to direct everything we do, eating, drinking and all else, to His glory.
I highly recommend this book. What a blessing to have these saints explain to us how deep we can truly go in our prayer lives.
One common theme the saints kept emphasizing was as St. Paul wrote to Titus, We are to give up everything that does not lead to God, or to put the idea positively, we are to direct everything we do, eating, drinking and all else, to His glory.
December 19, 2014
Over and over, I am blown away by the convictions and advice from Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross. Dubay humbly directs his readers to the teachings, anecdotes, and confessions of the 2 saints who so faithfully lived their lives for the sake of Christ. The book categorizes specific lessons very fluidly, explains concepts without too much emphasis on Dubay's own insight, and shows genuine reverence towards both saints. It also leads us experience a more disciplined faith. One with passion and edge, rather than just going through the motions of Christianity. It is also a great book for random inspiration, as well. I could turn to anywhere, start reading, and feel my heart has been illuminated by wisdom. Great read for all faiths, especially those who wonder "What's the deal with Catholics?"
October 6, 2016
Thomas Dubay did an incredible job organizing and explaining the insights and advice on prayer life from two of the most respected and experienced in the history of the Faith: John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila. Dubay does not just dive into writings and letters by the two, but he packages the book extremely well. He opens it up with a short biography of each and then explains why they are relative. After delving into the teachings themselves, he goes into other aspects of prayer life, Teresa's personal life, and other nuggets from Teresa that did not fit into any of the other chapters.
Honesty, the chapter on Teresa's 7 Mansions alone makes reading this book worth it. This book really helped explain to me things I was experiencing in my own prayer life and I am very excited to put more of this into practice.
Honesty, the chapter on Teresa's 7 Mansions alone makes reading this book worth it. This book really helped explain to me things I was experiencing in my own prayer life and I am very excited to put more of this into practice.
April 25, 2018
This book changed my life in one paragraph (page 55): "For St. John of the Cross each of the theological virtues empties in order to fill. Faith frees the intellect of merely human ways of knowing, which are as different from the divine as heaven is above the earth. Hope empties the memory of passing allurements that we might seek eternal enthrallment. Charity unburdens our will and heart of false and fleeting loves that we might cling unimpededly to true and lasting Beauty and experience the complete fulfillment only found in the divine embrace."
This is only the most outstanding of many wonderful passages. In this book Fr. Dubay has given me a new way of understanding myself, praying to God, and looking at the world.
This is only the most outstanding of many wonderful passages. In this book Fr. Dubay has given me a new way of understanding myself, praying to God, and looking at the world.
March 3, 2014
Challenging, stark, and provocative. Such is this volume on prayer because it boldly proclaims Truth from the writings of St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross and shows how these saints' teachings on prayer and the spiritual life are "pure Gospel". This book provides deep insight to the Universal Call to Holiness and serves as a great introduction and summary to the works of these two great Carmelite saints.
Not an easy read if one reads it with the intent of seriously pursuing the spiritual life. It pulls no punches!
Not an easy read if one reads it with the intent of seriously pursuing the spiritual life. It pulls no punches!
Want to read
January 15, 2009Recommended in Richard J. Foster's Streams of Living Water as a good resource for the Contemplative stream. I'm not sure if the chapter "What is Contemplation?" is in this book or other book by him that starts with the same name.
This is the source of several quotes Foster uses in chapter 2 of Steams of Living Water
This is the source of several quotes Foster uses in chapter 2 of Steams of Living Water
March 30, 2018
read this one nice and slow throughout Lent. so many lessons learned, so many confusions clarified. thankful to Connie Rossini and Dan Burke at the Authentic Contemplative Prayer group on FB for leading us through this. my prayer life is definitely enriched and I'll be coming back for more. God is so good. ♥️
February 26, 2013
Amazing book that took me a year to read. Full of spiritual insites and knowledge that a person at any "level" of spirituality could take advantage of. Very usefull in understanding some of the more advanced topics written about by St. Teresa and St. John, both Doctor's of the church.
May 28, 2015
Sublime and challenging
The author integrate the writing of these doctors of the church and shows how they are 3d examples of the new testament lived out. This book has inspired me to swim in the depths of prayer rather than just wash my hand here and there.
The author integrate the writing of these doctors of the church and shows how they are 3d examples of the new testament lived out. This book has inspired me to swim in the depths of prayer rather than just wash my hand here and there.
April 10, 2022
Insightful. Made me truly understand just what it requires of a person to become a saint. After reading this, I know I have no hope of being one. High level language. Difficult for a simpleton like me. Yet worth trying.
March 27, 2017
wow. college course in prayer. very very deep.
May 6, 2017
Someday I may read this over and actually know what I just read.
March 2, 2014
One of the best books on prayers in the tradition of the great Carmelite Saints.
July 18, 2014
Excellent book on 2my great Saints. Deeper prayer life after studying them
January 28, 2019
Wow. I loved it so much that I really can't review it! I will definitely read it again and I think it will rock my world again!
February 1, 2021
Good synthesis of the Doctors' thoughts. I found areas that were a bit repetitive or overly wordy, but not enough to dissuade from reading.
November 28, 2020
4.5 stars. This book assumes considerably more familiarity with the writings of Sts. Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross than I have; the priest who recommended it to me (without ever having met me before, I just went to him for Confession once) didn’t ask if I had any familiarity with them. Once it became clear to me that I would need some, I paused my reading of this to read one well-known work from each Saint that seemed like it would be the most useful given the first half-chapter or so of this (St. Teresa’s INTERIOR CASTLE and St. John’s DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL). While having read these books was definitely helpful, more exposure would have been more so, as Fr. Dubay doesn’t do the best job of explaining background here. I’ve since learned that Fr. Dubay wrote at least one more basic book on prayer that I probably would have been better served to read first.
Even though this book was a tad too advanced, it did offer a lot of thorough, helpful explanations and some very beautiful pictures of the experiences and effects of contemplative prayer. It also explains a lot of misunderstandings and popular myths that can make people skeptical of the idea or value of such prayer, as I admittedly was going in. I’m still not totally sold, probably largely because of not having quite the background for the book’s content, but I’m definitely more open to its ideas than I was starting out, and I’m definitely interested to learn more. I definitely plan to go back and read some other works by the Saints mentioned, and possibly Fr. Dubay’s earlier book foo. I’ll be interested to come back to this in the future after I’ve done that and see how I feel about it.
Even though this book was a tad too advanced, it did offer a lot of thorough, helpful explanations and some very beautiful pictures of the experiences and effects of contemplative prayer. It also explains a lot of misunderstandings and popular myths that can make people skeptical of the idea or value of such prayer, as I admittedly was going in. I’m still not totally sold, probably largely because of not having quite the background for the book’s content, but I’m definitely more open to its ideas than I was starting out, and I’m definitely interested to learn more. I definitely plan to go back and read some other works by the Saints mentioned, and possibly Fr. Dubay’s earlier book foo. I’ll be interested to come back to this in the future after I’ve done that and see how I feel about it.
April 15, 2022
All Catholics should read this book. (I might even go so far as to say that anyone would benefit from reading this book.) I don't think I can even adequately describe how much I have learned from reading it; this book has given me a much better understanding of prayer and even the very meaning of life. Its straightforward explanation of the universal call to holiness was also particularly striking for me. I'm sure you can get what this book has to offer in other places (especially since one of its chief goals is to summarize the writings of two saints), but for me it laid everything out in one place in such a way that it all made sense in a way that never clicked for me before. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. In particular, if you feel like you're doing everything right in living a Christian life, but something still seems to be lacking, this book can help you find what you're looking for. The one caveat I might add is that some prior familiarity with Christian mental prayer would probably go a long way in helping to understand this book.
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