Abandonment to Divine Providence

“Abandonment to Divine Providence” is a Catholic spiritual classic ascribed to the eighteenth-century Jesuit, Jean-Pierre de Caussade. (This edition assumes that he is the author.) The attribution is questionable, and this reviewer will concur that, insofar as the content is concerned, it little resembles Ignatian spirituality. That being said, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, would not disagree with the premise of this short book: that one must aspire to completely and perfectly merging one’s heart, and so one’s will, with that of Christ.The author explains that, “Souls called by God to a life of perfect abandonment resemble in this respect our Lord, His holy Mother, and St. Joseph. The will of God was, to them, the fullness of life. Submitting entirely to this will as to precept and inspiration directly it was made manifest to them; they were always in complete dependence on what we might call the purely providential will of God” (p. 115). This is a good summary of the idea of this book and the rationale for desiring complete abandonment to divine providence. The author also frequently reiterates the idea that such abandonment is easy; it does not require a heavy spiritual or religious regimen to let go. It is Zen-like in its insistence that one just needs to free oneself of those psychological and spiritual shackles that prohibit or inhibit abandonment to God.That being said, this is not an easy book to read. I sincerely doubt that one who simply plows through this slim volume will derive much benefit from it. I frequently found that, although individual words and phrases made sense, the overall meaning was lost on me. For instance, take this sentence, selected at random: “All ways should be esteemed and loved, because in each we should behold that which is ordained by God accommodating to itself to each individual soul, and selecting the most suitable method of effecting by it the divine union” (p. 119). Okay. I’m not sure if this is a translation issue, if I’m just not getting it, or if, in fact, the style is turgid.Nonetheless, I recommend the book. This edition is inexpensive (a little pricey for what you get, though), but one might want to check out a different translation. In any case, I highly recommend a slow reading, lectio divina style, which I believe will pay dividends—it did for me.

this is an amazing book. absolutely love it.