"This book is at once extraordinarily deep and wonderfully practical."

Dr. Jeff Mirus of Catholic Culture has a detailed review of the Ignatius Press edition of the classic work, Abandonment to Divine Providence (With Letters of Father de Caussade on the Practice of Self-Abandonment), by Jean-Pierre de Caussade, S.J.:

It is because his subject is treated so comprehensively, both in theory and in practice, marked by both particular questions and varying spiritual stages on the way, and divided between considerations of both the virtue and the state of abandonment, that Fr. de Caussade’s advice is so broadly applicable. Though prepared specifically for religious, who are doubtless more often called to what Fr. de Caussade described as the state of abandonment, the treatment of abandonment as a necessary virtue obviously applies to lay people as well. And the various stages of spiritual growth, along with the different problems encountered in these various stages, at least potentially apply to all devout souls, wherever they may be found.

A survey of the main sections of the second part of the book reveal something of its scope: 

• In dealing with the love of the virtue of abandonment, Fr. de Caussade considers it as a short way to perfection, happiness, peace and liberty. This leads to meditations on providence, community, dependence on God, God’s goodness, continued troubles, and good works.

• In treating of the exercise of the virtue of abandonment, he touches on no fewer than thirty-seven points, including such things as general rules, useless fears, submission and confidence, simplicity, acceptance of duties, patience with oneself, and how to treat consolations.

• The section on obstacles to abandonment addresses such problems as vanity, illusions, attachments, intemperate zeal, and discouragement.

• In the remaining four sections, Fr. de Caussade covers similar particular points relating to aridities, weaknesses and weariness; trials, sufferings and privations; fear of the anger of God; the last agony and a mystical death.

This book is at once extraordinarily deep and wonderfully practical. It is superbly organized—subdivided into titled sections which generally run from just one to three pages, making the presentation perfect for daily spiritual reading. ...

If you do not yet own or have not yet used this magnificent book, you should take advantage of the new Ignatius edition and purchase it. And if you have already gone through it some years past, you are probably now at a different stage of spiritual development, and so you may find it is time to make use of Fr. de Caussade once again. In fact, that is exactly what I intend to do.

Read the entire review, "Abandon Yourself to this Book", at CatholicCulture.org. And read the opening pages of the book on this blog. In addition to the paperback edition, Abandonment to Divine Providence is also available as an Electronic Book Downland and as an Audio Book on CD.