The Power of Confidence, Book on Carmelite Catholic Prayer and Spirituality

Conrad De Meester, OCD

“In September of 1995, Father Conrad De Meester, an old friend, sent me a copy of his thoroughgoing study of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, Dynamique de la Confiance. It took me six months to read it, slowly, a little bit at a time. I have the habit of writing the date when I finish a book on the title page, with a comment recording my impression of it. On the title page of this book I wrote simply: ‘This is a masterpiece.’” Thus begins New York’s Auxiliary Bishop Patrick V. Ahern’s Preface to this classic work by one of the world’s most respected experts on the life and teaching of this latest Doctor of the Church, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. The men and women of today, often disheartened by worry and discouragement, will be reminded by the “Little Flower” that daily life with all its ups and downs can become a marvelous springboard to sanctity. Her “way of spiritual childhood” is nothing less than “the translation of the evangelical ideal providentially offered to the modern world” (Yves Congar). But how did she come to such a profound yet simple insight into the secret of the way to God’s heart, and thus to eternal happiness with Him in Heaven? This book retraces the itinerary that led Thérèse to her great discovery and beyond; it enters into her simple and surprising psychology, and relives with her the gradual blossoming of her conviction. Between God and Thérèse, conscious of her own incompleteness, it is confidence which, finally, bridges the gap. Confidence and love. Once we understand this, we shall see that there is great power in utter confidence in God and love for Him. A close and careful reading of The Power of Confidence will show us how and why this is true for everyone.

Alba House, PB. 377 pgs

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