This second edition of von Balthasar's book is a personal introduction to Adrienne von Speyr, a contemporary Swiss convert, mystic, wife, medical doctor, prolific spiritual writer, and co-foundress with Balthasar of a secular institute. Fr. von Balthasar, her spiritual director for 27 years, includes an appraisal of her contributions to theology and spirituality, a complete bibliography, her prayers, and passages from her more than sixty books. This book contains three main sections. In the first, three subdivisions offer: 1) a short account of Adrienne's life; 2) a description of her charism and of her most important theological concerns; 3) an overview of her published and unpublished works. The second section presents a collection of some enlightening statements that Adrienne made about herself which illuminate and vivify her exterior as well as her hidden, interior life from varying angles and which also clearly indicate where she herself put the greatest emphasis and how she herself wished to be understood. A third section contains prayers she herself wrote which best reveal her spirit.

In this second edition of her profound book on confession, which theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar calls "one of her most central works", Adrienne von Speyr discusses the moral and practical aspects of this sacrament in great depth. The most complete spiritual treatise on confession ever written, the book covers conversion, scruples, contrition, spiritual direction, laxity, frequency of confession, confessions of religious and lay people, and even confessions of saints. The most intriguing element in von Speyr's understanding of confession, fully developed in this volume, is its trinitarian and christological basis. The Cross is the archetypal confession, and Christian sacramental confession is thus an imitation of Christ in the strict sense. Confession examines the enormous fruitfulness of this dogmatic basis from many perspectives, giving a wealth of suggestions that both the theological expert and the layman will find very helpful. Its practical applicability to one's own confession emerges from every page.

Adrienne von Speyr was one of the most important mystical theologians of the last century. However, her work has been eclipsed in many ways by her personal connection to Hans Urs von Balthasar. Heaven Opens provides one of the first comprehensive accounts of von Speyrs theology. Matthew Lewis Sutton argues that the eternal, immanent relations of the Triune God ground the mystical theological vision of von Speyr. Here, von Speyrs work is for the first time given an independent hearing, expositing its content, features, and connections, and assessing its contribution to contemporary Catholic theology.

These meditations on the Gospel of Mark, with the exception of the second part on the Passion, were given by Adrienne von Speyr between 1945 and 1958 to members of the Community of St. John, which she founded with the renowned theologian, Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar. Adrienne is speaking to young adults who have decided to live the state of the evangelical counsels in a secular profession, as part of a recently established secular institute. Nevertheless this contemplative commentary can be very useful for all who seek to meditate on Holy Scripture. As always, Adrienne here draws from the abundance of her own contemplation which keeps continually in view the harmonious unity of Christian dogmatic truth; she gives to others what has been offered to her in contemplation, without exegetical notes or any attempt at scholarship. Since she is speaking to novices, the train of thought is simple and practical, yet rich in depth. The points for meditation are not primarily for spiritual reading, but an introduction to personal prayer. They are meant only to point out a path, because it is the Holy Spirit who directs contemplative prayer in all liberty. As one reads through this book, he will find in it a kind of synthesis of Adrienne von Speyrs spirituality. This work will also be very useful to preachers, catechists, pastors, communities and institutes who have understood with Pope Benedict XVI that It is time to reaffirm the importance of prayer in the face of the activism and the growing secularism of many Christians engaged in charitable work.

The mystic Adrienne von Speyr, drawing on her very special God-given charism of being able to experience the interior states of persons, shares her profound insights on the suffering, loneliness and loss Christ endured for love of us during His Passion. These unique experiences and insights of von Speyr on Christ's redemptive sufferings, and the people and events surrounding Him, offer rich and moving material for meditation and adoration. She also presents rare and beautiful mediations on Christ's mysterious presence in the Eucharist, as well as a kind of "theology of the body", echoing John Paul II's emphasis on the dignity and importance of the human body in our relationship to God.

The nature of God is that he cannot be "bound" to one place or time -- yet he took finite form, when he became Man and redeemed the world. In this treatment on the nature of the Lord, Adrienne von Speyr's erudition allows the reader to glimpse the mystery of God. The fruitfulness of these meditations is evident on every page, bringing the Christian view of divinity to a new and beautiful level of understanding. Book jacket.

This book is perhaps one of the most misunderstood works of Catholic theology of our time. Critics contend that von Balthasar espouses universalism, the idea that all men will certainly be saved. Yet, as von Balthasar insists, damnation is a real possibility for anyone. Indeed, he explores the nature of damnation with sobering clarity. At the same time, he contends that a deep understanding of God’s merciful love and human freedom, and a careful reading of the Catholic tradition, point to the possibility—not the certainty—that, in the end, all men will accept the salvation Christ won for all. For this all-embracing salvation, von Balthasar says, we may dare hope, we must pray and with God’s help we must work. The Catholic Church’s teaching on hell has been generally neglected by theologians, with the notable exception of von Balthasar. He grounds his reflections clearly in Sacred Scripture and Catholic teaching. While the Church asserts that certain individuals are in heaven (the saints), she never declares a specific individual to be in hell. In fact, the Church hopes that in their final moments of life, even the greatest sinners would have repented of their terrible sins, and be saved. Sacred Scripture states, “God ... desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Tim 2:4–5).

Three Women and the Lord presents three key figures in Saint Luke's Gospel: Mary Magdalen, the unnamed woman who washed the feet of Jesus with her tears, and Mary of Bethany. As Adrienne von Speyr meditates on the Gospel passages about these three women, she explores the particular, personal mission that the Lord gave each one and links it with one of the three theological virtues: faith, hope, and love. Through the stories of these women, von Speyr demonstrates that every person who encounters Jesus and receives his mercy is changed by him and given a unique way to reveal his identity as Savior and Lord.

In the 1960's, Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar gave two conferences in Paris on the subject of redemption. One considered the perspective of Christ the Redeemer. The other gave a view of the redemption from the perspective of Mary and the Church, consenting to the sacrifice of Jesus. These two conferences are what Fr. Jacques Servais, S.J., in his foreword calls "a lantern of the Word," shedding light amidst the advancing turmoil of the postconciliar period. These conferences were later collected by the eminent theologian Henri Cardinal de Lubac, S.J., in a single volume along with an anthology of meditations on the Passion by the mystic Adrienne von Speyr, and selected by von Balthasar. In this new edition, prepared for the centenary of the birth of Hans Urs von Balthasar, Fr. Servais, the director of Casa Balthasar in Rome, provides an extensive postscript illuminating the text along with the original preface by de Lubac.

Von Speyr's book does not lend itself to any classification that I can think of. It is not dogmatic theology; still less is it exegesis…. There is nothing to do but to submit oneself to it; if the reader emerges without having been crushed by it, he will find himself strengthened and exhilarated by a new experience of Christian sensibility. —T.S. Eliot Adrienne von Speyr wrote an acclaimed four-volume series of meditations on Saint John’s Gospel, and this volume presents her reflections on the Prologue (1:1–18). Her insights embrace the whole Christian revelation as well as its acceptance and rejection by men. This work is a spiritual meditation of the highest quality, the fruit of prayer, discernment, and communion with the sacramental life of the Church. It provides rich nourishment for both theological reflection and contemplation.