“The ways of God are not our ways, and the spiritual life is almost the contrary of what we fancy it.” So declares author Luis Martinez, the Mexican bishop and mystic whose wise spirituality, rooted in St. John of the Cross and St. Therese of Lisieux, shows you here how to enter into an intense, sustained communion with God. Bishop Martinez doesn’t offer new rules of prayer or demand that you abandon the forms of meditation that suit you. He simply reminds you that our God is a hidden God. To find Him, says Martinez, we have to seek Him, but through His ways, not ours. If we do that, the gaze of faith will always find Him right where He hides: in the spiritual desolation that led us wrongly to believe He was far away. Martinez shows you how to live in the obscurity of faith, detached both from consolations and desolations, and why this is best for your soul. The Christian who learns to do this leaves behind the perturbations of the world that shake the faith of those who don’t In the obscurity of faith, the Divine Master will listen to you, speak to you, and instruct your soul, but without the noise of words. Says Martinez: “Once you know how to profit from faith and to live by faith, you will always find God. You will have solved your problem; you will have discovered the great secret of the interior life.” Let these pages teach you that secret!

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Luis M. Martinez, the former Archbishop of Mexico City, maintains that as the Spirit is God's supreme gift, so your devotion to Him should be profound and encompassing. In beautiful, practical terms, Martinez illuminates the difference the Spirit can make when He's given His proper place in your soul. This handbook explains how you should respond to the Spirit, how the Spirit helps you grow in virtue, and the characteristics of true love of the Spirit.

The Three Ages of the Interior Life is one of the greatest works ever written on the spiritual life, and it is the masterpiece of Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. (1877-1964), whom many consider the greatest theologian of the 20th century. First published in English in 1948, The Three Ages of the Interior Life has been out of print for many years, yet it is widely known and highly esteemed by those fortunate enough to own a set. In this classic work Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange has given a complete and systematic explanation of ascetical and mystical theology, and in the process he has explained all aspects of the supernatural life of grace in the soul and shown how Sanctifying Grace, along with the Supernatural Virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity and the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost, are meant to grow and develop as a "supernatural organism" in every Christian soul. Basing his teaching squarely on the principles of St. Thomas Aquinas and St. John of the Cross, Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange also draws freely from Sacred Scripture and Tradition, as well as from the teachings of the great Saints, Doctors of the Church and other Catholic mystical writers. Composed of 95 chapters, this two-volume work covers a myriad of topics, yet it is no mere random collection of doctrinal subjects. Rather it is a work of unity, structure and purpose, and it is extremely valuable as a roadmap for understanding the rich but often disorganized writings of the Saints and other mystical writers. Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange explains precisely in what sanctity consists and clearly expounds and defends the ancient Christian tradition that all Christians are called to holiness. The title of this work refers to the classic division of the spiritual life into three successive states: The Purgative Way, the Illuminative Way and the Unitive Way. Showing that the faithful Christian's life of ascetical practices is meant to flower into the mystical life, he clearly distinguishes between, on the one hand, those graces of the mystical life that are in themselves extraordinary (such as visions and ecstasies), and on the other hand, that grace which is often considered extraordinary (not common among souls) but which is in fact in the normal way of sanctity, namely, infused contemplation. In particular, he propounds the thesis that infused contemplation of the mysteries of Faith-and the resulting union with God-are in the normal way of sanctity and are also morally necessary for holiness. Infused contemplation is thus clearly presented, not as a peripheral phenomenon in the spiritual life, nor as something reserved for those in the cloister, but rather as a gift which any Christian may well desire and beseech of God, since it is the usual way of reaching eminent sanctity.