Chapter Seventeen – Spiritual Reading

Spiritual reading is an ancient tradition that is used to ignite the soul with a desire to grow in virtue and thus become the-best-version-of-oneself. In this chapter, Matthew harkens back to our discussion on the cause and effect relationship of thought and action we read in chapter thirteen on prayer, as he introduces the pillar of spiritual reading. Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body and prayer is to the soul. Like all spiritual exercises and activities, spiritual reading seeks to encourage us to live a life of holiness.

Throughout the history of the Church there have been many men and women who lived godly lives and then imparted unique wisdom gained through their lives of holiness in books. We obviously start with the Apostles and the divinely inspired Scriptures which is the first and foremost material for Spiritual reading. But we also have saints like John of the Cross, Ignatius of Loyola, Therese of Lisieux, Francis de Sales, and Teresa of Avila whose spiritual journeys are ones that we can tap into through their writings. Reading books by these men and women will allow us to see new things about God, things that we might never see on our own, things that will help us grow as we sojourn on the path to holiness.  

So how do we get started? Matthew suggests that we begin by reading the New Testament, specifically the four Gospels. The lives of the saints bear a particular relationship to Scripture. St Francis de Sales wrote, "There is no more difference between the Gospel written and the life of a saint than between music written and music sung." Once we have read the Gospels we can move on to some of the great spiritual classics. There are quite a few to choose from and Matthew suggests we use the following litmus test in selecting any book: Is this book inviting me to live a life of holiness?

How long should I read? Spiritual reading should be done a little at a time, from five to fifteen minutes a day, but every day without fail, barring some extraordinary crisis. It should be second in priority only to prayer. It is done for formation, not for entertainment, and thus doing only a small amount daily will keep the more interesting material from being read too quickly and not retained and the less interesting from being too painful.

Here are links to free downloadable PDF files of some great spiritual classics:

Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean-Pierre de Caussade

Uniformity with God’s Will, by Saint Alphonsus Liquori

Ascent of Mt. Carmel, by Saint John of the Cross

Introduction to the Devout Life, by Saint Francis de Sales

The Dialog of St. Catherine of Siena, by Saint Catherine of Siena

The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, by Saint Ignatius of Loyola

The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas Kempis

The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence

Revelations of Divine Love, by Julian of Norwich

The Way of Perfection, by Saint Teresa of Avila

Poems of St. Therese, Camelite of Lisieux, by Saint Therese of Lisieux

Treatise on the Love of God, by Saint Francis de Sales

Remember, you don’t need to read for two hours every day, just fifteen minutes. But if you do it every day, you will begin to develop a daily discipline that will become part of your lifestyle, part of a new habit that is fundamental to becoming the-best-version-of-yourself.  

Question

What is the best book you have ever read? How did that impact your life?

In peace,

Dan