Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Trusting God with St. Therese - A Book Review




I love reading books about Catholic spirituality and every once in a while I'll come across one that stands out from the rest. Trusting God with St. Therese by Connie Rossini is THE best book I've read all year and the one that has been most helpful to me spiritually. Which is saying a lot since I've felt somewhat "stuck" spiritually these past few years.

Well, this book "unstuck" me. It helped me examine my level of trust in the Lord and I soon realized that I didn't trust the Lord as much as I thought I did. This book has helped me immensely in this area. Over the past year I had been questioning the Lord as to why it seemed as if I was not making much progress in my spiritual life and I feel that Connie's book was an answer to prayer for me. She asked me to be a beta reader for Trusting God with St. Therese so I was able to really immerse myself deeply into the book and  I can't get over how greatly it has enriched my spiritual life.

One of the things that really struck me as I read Trusting God with St. Therese is the amount of spiritual ground Connie Rossini covers in this book. She makes it very easy for the reader to grasp the spirituality of "The Little Way". I'm not sure I've ever read a book quite like this. The format is unique in that it not only leads us through defining moments in the lives of both St. Therese and the author's but also shows us how to incorporate the way of "trust and love" into our own lives. The book breaks away from formats used in traditional saint and spirituality books while at the same time giving the reader a big glimpse into the life and spirituality of one of the greatest saints in the Catholic Church. There are many books on St. Therese out there BUT NONE LIKE THIS. The chapters in this book cover areas such as: the three spiritual stages, the importance of the early years in the development of trust, signs of a lack of trust in God, despair and how to overcome it, forgiveness, suffering, dealing with emotions, scruples, presumption, etc...

I can't count the number of times over the years I have read a book on Catholic spirituality and at the end have felt as if I am still in the dark as how to integrate what I have learned into my own life. Not the case with this book. I found the "Questions for Reflection" and "Practical Suggestions" at the end of each chapter extremely helpful. (This would be a great book for book clubs!)

Trusting God with St. Therese may possibly be the most spiritually significant book I have read in years. I highly recommend it.

You can find Trusting God with St. Therese on Amazon.com (paperback and Kindle edition) and at BarnesandNoble.com (paperback).

15 comments:

  1. Welcome back to Blogland, Mary. Great to see you here again.

    God bless.

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  2. Thanks, Victor :) Congrats on your new book! I see you have another one (a follow up to "Visions"?) coming out in December. That's awesome news!

    God bless you too!

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    1. Yes, it is a follow-up to "Visions" (of sorts). Hopefully it will be available well before December. It is in the final proof-reading stage. It may be in paperback and Kindle. My last book: "God's Shepherd" is in paperback only.

      Thanx Mary for your continued encouragement and support.

      God bless.

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    2. That's great news, Victor! I look forward to reading it!

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  3. I am ready for a second time around with this book. It helped so much!

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  4. Same here, Theresa. I know trust and love are key when it comes to the spiritual life so I've been trying to really focus on these. Rough on those sleepless nights though...lol. I sometimes think that is why God allows them - they are a supreme test on charity ;)

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  5. What a wonderful review! Consider me convinced! Looking forward to reading it.

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    1. Hi Kathleen,
      I hope you had a great summer! (I bummed around and ignored my blog all summer AGAIN...lol.) I found Trusting God with St. Therese extremely helpful and am trying to put Connie's suggestions into practice each day. I have to say that it's made a difference in my spiritual life.

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  6. It sounds like an awesome book, Mary. It's on my must-read list. Most book recommendations only make it to my might-possibly-browse list so you did a great review :-) Oh, and I love St. Therese so a different take on her message is exciting.

    It was so nice to see your post in my feed, today. I've missed your posts, my friend. xx

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    1. I have missed you, Vicky! I think I'll be around more now that summer is over. You know how I am :) You can read a sample from Connie's book on Amazon - they have "sneak peeks" that give you an idea what the book is about. She also has excerpts on her blog: http://contemplativehomeschool.com/books/trusting-god-st-therese/
      This will give you a good idea on the content of the book. xx

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    2. The spaces in the comment are there to give you a chance to catch up, Vicky. Lol. some things never change ;)

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  7. Thanks, Colleen! Glad to be back :)

    I'm happy to hear that your husband is feeling better. Randy ended up in the hospital recently too. Scary, isn't it? So glad they are both okay!

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