My Favourite Spiritual Books {with quotes}

Of course The Bible, Prayer and the Sacraments are the most important nourishment for faith but the writings of holy men and women who have walked or who are walking this path are also of great value. 

It is important to discern which books to read however. There are so many books, podcasts and channels out there at the moment. How can we discern which ones will be of value to us?

There are three points of discernment that I use to determine which books will be of value.

• Who is the author? Do their lives exemplify Christ? Are they living out Christ’s teaching? Are they Holy and devout? 

• Does the message in the book line up with Scripture and the teachings of the church. We know The Lord preserves His Word and His church and we can trust in them. Though the church is a target of the enemy just as the ancient Israelites were and it is made up of fallible, frail people, just as God’s chosen people were, we also know that the teachings of the Bible and the church are always good, beautiful and true. As Jesus says “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 

Therefore, whatever is written in the book must line up with The Bible and Jesus’s established Church.

• What fruits does this book produce in my life? Does it lead me to a deeper and richer prayer life? Does it inspire me to understand and follow the teachings of the Bible and The Church. Does it lead me to Christ? Many books or channels lead followers to the cult of the author or leader. A book written with the aid of The Holy Spirit will cause the author’s voice snd ‘personality’ to decrease and rather magnify the Lord as Mary did.

So with all that being said, these are  the  spiritual books that I’ve turned to time and time again throughout my life. They have been a source of comfort, peace and guidance and have been like friends on the journey. I’m glad to be able to share them.

Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives - Elder Thaddeus

The House and Table of God - Rev W. Roche

Abandonment to Divine Providence - Jean Pierre de Caussade

The Practice of the Presence of God - Brother Lawrence

Sermon in the Hospital - Ugo Bassi

Dark Night of the Soul - St. John of The Cross

Story of a Soul - Saint Therese of the Child Jesus

The Wound of Love - A Carthusian

Eight Doors to The Kingdom - Father Jacques Philippe 

Streams in the Desert - L.B Cowman

Unseen Warfare - edited by Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain and revised by Theophan the Recluse

Life in God’s Presence - A Carthusian 

The Ordinary Path to Holiness - R. Thomas Richard PhD

Some excerpts:

‘Our life depends on the kind of thoughts we nurture. If our thoughts are peaceful, calm, meek, and kind, then that is what our life is like. If our attention is turned to the circumstances in which we live, we are drawn into a whirlpool of thoughts and can have neither peace nor tranquility.‘ - Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives - Elder Thaddeus

‘To give God our heart is not simply to lend it for an hour to Him; or to yield it by a passing good desire, or a Holy impulse. To give, is to bestow for good… Then being His, it thinks as He thinks, wills as He wills, loves as He loves.’ -The House and Table of God - Rev W. Roche

In the state of abandonment the only rule is the duty of the present moment. In this the soul is light as a feather, liquid as water, simple as a child, active as a ball in receiving and following all the inspirations of grace. Such souls have no more consistence and rigidity than molten metal. As this takes any form according to the mould into which it is poured, so these souls are pliant and easily receptive of any form that God chooses to give them. In a word, their disposition resembles the atmosphere, which is affected by every breeze; or water, which flows into any shaped vessel exactly filling every crevice. They are before God like a perfectly woven fabric with a clear surface; and neither think, nor seek to know what God will be pleased to trace thereon, because they have confidence in Him, they abandon themselves to Him, and, entirely absorbed by their duty, they think not of themselves, nor of what may be necessary for them, nor of how to obtain it. -Abandonment to Divine Providence - Jean Pierre de Caussade

The difficulties of life do not have to be unbearable. It is the way we look at them - through faith or unbelief - that makes them seem so. We must be convinced that our Father is full of love for us and that He only permits trials to come our way for our own good. - The Practice of the Presence of God - Brother Lawrence

" I am the True Vine," said our Lord, " and Ye, 

Brethren, you the Branches -, " and that Vine 

Then first uplifted in its place, and hung 

With its first purple grapes, since then has grown

Until its green leaves gladden half the worlds 

And from its countless clusters rivers flow 

For healing of the nations and 

Us boughs Innumerable stretch through all the earth. 

Ever increasing, ever each entwined 

With each, all living from the Central Heart 

And you and I, my brethren, live and grow, 

Branches of that immortal human Stem.’ - Sermon in the Hospital - Ugo Bassi

‘To love God is therefore to be transformed into God. In the dark night of the soul, bright flows the river of God. Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent.’ - Dark Night of the Soul - St. John of The Cross

“joy is not found in the things which surround us, but lives only in the soul.” “That beautiful day passed just as the saddest ones do, since the most radiant of days has a tomorrow.” “It is wrong to pass one's time in fretting, instead of sleeping on the Heart of Jesus.” - Story of a Soul - Saint Therese of the Child Jesus

‘God hardly pays attention of what one does for Him, since He sees the heart and not the deeds.’ - The Wound of Love - A Carthusian

‘If I don’t fret over comparing what I give and what I receive, if I have no rights arising from what I’ve given, I’ll always be happy. Here is an important aspect of poorness of heart: claiming nothing, demanding nothing in return for the good we have done.

Such a person receives salvation as a Grace, not as a right or the result of his efforts. - Eight Doors to The Kingdom - Father Jacques Philippe 

‘The world’s finest China is fired in oven’s at least three times. Why is it forced to endure such intense heat? Shouldn’t once be enough? No, it is necessary to fire the China three times so the gold, crimson and other colours are brighter, more beautiful and permanently attached. We are fashioned after the same principle.’  - Streams in the Desert - L.B Cowman

But He knoweth the way that I take; when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. - Job 23:10

‘If, desirous of bringing them to self- knowledge and of leading them to the right path of perfection, God sends them afflictions and sickness, or allows them to be persecuted, by which means He habitually tests His true and real servants, this test immediately shows what is hidden in their hearts, and how deeply they are corrupted by pride. … ‘ thinking of their external pious works and deeming them good, they imagine that they have already reached perfection and, puffing themselves up, begin to judge others. After this, it is impossible for any man to turn such people, except through God’s special influence. An evident sinner will turn towards good more easily than a secret sinner, hiding under the cloak of visible virtues.’ - Unseen Warfare - edited by Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain and revised by Theophan the Recluse

‘During our temporal, material life on earth, He allows us to walk in His Holy darkness. ‘ For we walk by faith not by sight - (2 Cor 5-7) From start to finish let us follow this way and never turn from it satisfied too easily by that human wisdom that soon disappoints. - Life in God’s Presence - A Carthusian

- Here is a link to an excerpt from The Ordinary Path to Holiness’ featured in an earlier post in this blog.