Rejoice in the Lord
30 days with Augustine of Hippo
Great Spiritual Teachers
Trenton Mattingly
ISBN 9781646800438
eISBN 9781646800445
ASIN B08RWNBH92
This is the thirteenth volume in the Great Spiritual Teachers series I have read. It is a more recent title in the series, it was originally released in 2021, and was part of the rebranding in 2000’s, it has not been updated to the rebranding that started in 2024. Over a year ago I read my first book in the series, it was Born to Do This: 30 Days with Joan of Arc by Jaymie Stuart Wolfe, and loved it and the concept of the series. I have read one almost every month since that first one, and if I can track down all the out of print, will do so until I finish all 24 released to date in the series.
The description of this volume states:
“St. Augustine of Hippo is one of the most influential and recognizable figures in Church history. Based on his greatest spiritual works, including Confessions and City of God, Rejoice in the Lord is an ideal prayer companion for busy people who want to ground their spiritual life in Augustine’s timeless vision of the soul’s journey to God.
Requiring only a few minutes of your time each day, Rejoice in the Lord is an easy-to-use, thirty-day devotional that invites you to examine your heart, transform your desires, and discover the abiding joy of resting in the presence of God.”
About the series we are informed:
“Each book in the Great Spiritual Teachers series provides a month of daily readings from one of Christianity's most beloved spiritual guides. For each day there is a brief and accessible morning meditation drawn from the mystic's writings, a simple mantra for use throughout the day, and a night prayer to focus one's thoughts as the day ends. These easy-to-use books are the perfect prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in the solid ground of these great spiritual teachers.”
I believe there are 16 volumes in this series currently in print. There are also a number that are currently out of print, The oldest I have seen are from the mid 90’s and it looks like they went through a rebranding and format change in the mid 00’s, and they have undergone yet another rebranding in the 2020’s including some new titles available in the series. I must admit I do not recall running across this series prior to that first volume on Joan. I have however added all of them to my ‘to be read list’. I love the most recent rebranding, and hope Ave Maria completes the rebranding across all volumes, and brings back into print some of the volumes currently not available; specifically the volumes on John of the Cross, Evelyn Underhill, Mother Theresa and others. This specific volume was released in 1995, making it one of the oldest in the series.
The sections in this volume are:
Timeline
Who Is Augustine of Hippo?
How to Pray This Book
Thirty Days With Augustine of Hippo
One Final Word
While reading this I several a few passages, some of them are:
“The titles that rightly belong to Augustine of Hippo are many: sinner, scholar, saint, convert, successor to the apostles, Church Father, and Doctor of the Church. As you might imagine, it would be difficult to overstate the extent of his influence—both within the Church as a masterful theologian and beyond the Church thanks to his work in philosophy and political theory.”
“Ambrose’s words re-introduced Christianity to Augustine’s hungry soul, merging with Augustine’s own search for truth, his mother Monica’s persistent prayers, and even a divine intervention from God that encouraged Augustine to take and read sacred scripture. All these factors led Augustine, finally, to the Catholic Church. Although it was an enormous struggle to give up his past life of pleasure-seeking and worldly ambition, Augustine humbled himself and was baptized by Ambrose.”
“This is not a book for mere reading. It invites you to meditate and pray its words on a daily basis over a period of thirty days and in a special way to enter into prayer through the unique doorway of Augustine’s vibrant perspective on the restless soul’s pursuit of God.”
“Before you read the “rules” for taking this journey, remember that this book is meant to free your spirit, not confine it. If on any day the meditation does not resonate well for you, turn elsewhere to find a passage which seems to best fit the spirit of your day and your soul. Don’t hesitate to repeat a day as often as you like until you feel that you have discovered what the Spirit, through the words of the author, has to say to your spirit.”
“Never cease to remind me that you are in all things—even me. When I fail to see this because of the darkness of sin, help me know that hell has not won. Your love abounds, you have not abandoned me. I yearn to make room for you, my God, so that I can recognize you clearly when I search inside myself. Declutter my heart, Lord. I want to fill the empty spaces with you.”
“When you commit and commend yourself to me, I am in you and I give you life and I help you to know me.”
“But, at times, events show me that this world is not my home and I begin to feel that I am a prisoner to darkness and sin. My soul becomes sorrowful and I fear my weeping may never end. I ache for my citizenship in heaven.”
“Help me to be unafraid as my body continues to age, I know that my time here is limited. I know that my time grows short.”
“So permit me to not be distressed at the state of the world. Deliver me from the belief that goodness has been vanquished from it for I know that sin and death are but temporary afflictions. Evil will not triumph. I know that you alone can reign forever.”
“Intertwine the sickly branches and vines of my will with your own. Make them healthy, whole, confident, and strong. Only then, basking in the warmth of your glory, may I grow to new heights, be liberated from all anxiety, and find rest in the kingdom of heaven. Amen.”
“This book is no more than a gateway—a gateway to the spiritual experience and wisdom of a specific teacher that opens on your own spiritual path. It is an opportunity to join the dialogue between Augustine and God.”
Each day follows the same format with three main sections:
MY DAY BEGINS: “As the day begins set aside a quiet moment in a quiet place to do the reading provided for the day
The passages are short; they never run more than a couple of hundred words. They have been carefully selected, though, to give a spiritual focus, a spiritual center to your whole day. They are designed to remind you, as another day begins, of your own existence at a spiritual level. They are meant to put you in the presence of the spiritual master who is your companion and teacher on this journey. This is especially true of this journey with Catherine of Siena. The readings are her report of God’s words to her, God’s side of the dialogue. And since the purpose of the passage is to remind you that at every moment during you are in the presence of a God who invites you continually, but quietly, to live in and through him, what better source than the words of God himself?”
ALL THROUGH YOUR DAY: “Immediately following the day’s reading you will find a single sentence, a meditation in the form of a mantra, a phrase meant as a companion for your spirit as it moves through a busy day. Write it down on a 3" x 5" card or on the appropriate page of your daybook. Look at it as often as you can. Repeat it quietly to yourself, and go on your way.
It is not meant to stop you in your tracks or to distract you from responsibilities but simply, gently, to remind you of the presence of God and your desire to respond to this presence.”
MY DAY IS ENDING: “This is a time for letting go of the day, for entering a world of imaginative prayer … This exercise is not meant to last more than a few minutes. End it when you are comfortable doing so. It has two parts. The first, in keeping with Catherine’s model, is a personal response to the words spoken by God in the day’s reading. Just as God has spoken to you, so you speak to God. Second, you are invited to turn to the familiarity of a prayer based on Catherine’s own words. It is an act of trust and confidence, an entryway into peaceful sleep, a simple evening prayer that gathers together the spiritual character of the day that is now ending as it began—in the presence of God.
It is a time for summary and closure.”
A sample day is:
“DAY 13
My Day Begins
God Speaks …
I look on you, my people,
and make vanish all the darkness of your souls
with radiant beams of my brightness.
They will fill you with holy love,
and I will open you to the treasures of my wisdom.
Your desires are known to me,
and I will complete what I have begun—
what my Spirit has awakened in you
to ask of me in prayer.
You seek my face,
so I will turn to you and show you my glory.
Then your longings will be satisfied
and the peace you seek shall be perfected.
All Through The Day
I will complete what I have begun.
My Day Is Ending
I Respond …
Watch, O Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep tonight,
and give your angels charge over those who sleep.
Good and gracious God, you are a merciful ruler.
Your work in me is not yet complete and my
transgressions are many,
but you still govern my life with an abundance of mercy and justice.
Help me to be grateful for this gift that I do not deserve. I am so undeserving.
When darkness and sin surround me,
banish them from my life and smile upon me
once again.
I beseech you for the grace and the light not to stumble again, to see clearly the path I must follow, and for the strength to always turn to you in prayer.
And, when I struggle with what I discover there,
help me to trust that you have chosen well for me and
that your stirrings within me only lead to peace.
Guide me, Lord, through no challenge that would not lead me closer to you.
Amen.”
I hope those quotes and the sample days give you a feel for this excellent volume. This volume does not have the section Night Prayer to end the day that some have. But the My Day is Ending is mostly a prayer and as can be seen from the times I highlighted and shared them above.
I have now read 13 volumes in this series, and currently working on a fourteenth, and I can state this is another great offering in the series. I find that some speak to me more than others. With one I did not highlight as much as in previous volumes, or even extensive highlights. I still greatly enjoyed it. I can state I benefited from the month with each person being profiled. And if I went back and did a volume again at a different point or season in life I might interact with it differently. I already plan to circle back to both this volume and the volume on Joan and reread them once I have completed the series, or at least those I can track down.
This was one another of the volumes I connected with. This is a good read, it is one I really enjoyed reading it. I can easily recommend this volume and the series as a whole, and I look forward to reading others in the series. If you have not given any in this series a try this would be an excellent starting point or whichever one seems to call to you.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan!
Books in the Great Spiritual Teachers Series:
Abide in love: the Gospel spirituality of John the Evangelist – John Kirvan
Fear Not the Night - John of the Cross and John Kirvan
God Awaits You Based on the Classic Spirituality of Meister - Richard Chilson
Grace Through Simplicity - Evelyn Underhill and John Kirvan
Living in the Presence of God - Brother Lawrence and John Kirvan
Love Without Measure - Mother Teresa and John Kirvan
That you may have life: let the mystics be your guide for Lent - John Kirvan
True Serenity - Thomas a Kempis and John Kirvan
We Are Beloved - Thea Bowman and Karianna Frey MS
Where Only Love Can Go - The Cloud of Unknowing and John Kirvan
No comments:
Post a Comment