Jean-Pierre de Caussade, S. J. is known for his teaching on full surrender to God. In this brief work, originally appended to his masterpiece "Abandonment to Divine Providence" but now difficult to find, Caussade gives specific advice on five key topics in the spiritual life: conformity to God's will, daily routines and habits, interior attitudes, dealing with sins and faults, and how to respond when tempted or tried. Two prayers written by this gifted Christian soul-guide round out the short text, making it a perfect way to get a quick introduction to Caussade's spirituality.
Jean Pierre de Caussade S.J. was a French Catholic Jesuit writer known for his work Abandonment to Divine Providence (also translated as The Sacrament of the Present Moment) and his posthumously-published letters of instruction to the Nuns of the Visitation at Nancy, where he spiritual director from 1733-1740, although he continued to write the sisters after leaving Nancy.
While he is best known for his work with the sisters, he also spent years as preacher in southern and central France, as a college rector (at Perpignan and at Albi) and as the director of theological students at the Jesuit house in Toulouse. Caussade is remembered for, among other things, his belief that the present moment is a sacrament from God and that self-abandonment to it and its needs is a holy state - a belief which, at first glance, would appear to be heretical relative to Catholic dogma. In fact, because of this fear (especially with the Church's condemnation of the Quietiest movement), Caussade's instructions to the sisters were kept unpublished until 1861, and even then they were edited to protect them from charges of Quietism. A more authoritative version of these notes was published only in 1966. It is clear in his writings that he is aware of the Quietists and that he rejects their perspective.
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