Summer Spirituality Series: The Way of Trust and Love

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. That means that if you use my link to purchase a book, I receive a small commission at no cost to you.

I first encountered the writings of Father Jacques Philippe a few summers ago, when I read a copy of Interior Freedom * that my Dad had given me. (You can read my review of that book here.) I’ve told this story before, but it’s such a good one that parts of it bear repeating. Father Philippe is very open about the fact that his spirituality is greatly influenced by St. Therese of Lisieux, and for years I had a weird spiritual block about Therese. As I finished Interior Freedom in my parish’s adoration chapel, I felt a tug on my heart. Okay God I thought, I’ll read Story of a Soul *if you want me to. As I walked out the door, I ran into Fr. Peter, one of our priests. “I’m looking to put together a group of people interested in reading St. Therese’s Story of a Soul,” he told me. “Would you be interested in joining us?” I love the way God works.

The Way of Trust and Love * is a small book based on a retreat that Father Philippe gave in Spain about 10 years ago. It is based on the writings of St. Therese of Lisieux, who called her “little way” a way of trust and love. He suggests that if possible, the book still be used as a retreat, with the reader using one of the six chapters each day for a week and then ending with a day of prayer and reflection. Reading the book was not feasible for me during the school year, but I did have time every Thursday afternoon when I would bring my class to adoration at the parish. Reading this book in the presence of the Eucharist was an incredible gift. Each week I found a gem of insight and spirituality that was exactly what I needed to hear.

Because this book is mostly the transcripts of talks, the writing style is a little different from Philippe’s other books, but I liked that. At times I found his conversational style easier to understand than his more polished works. There were also some great quotes throughout the book that gave me the spiritual kick in the pants I needed. Here are some of my favorites:
“The most important task of all is to save mankind, and mankind will be saved by prayer…not everyone can spend hours in church, but each of us must do the little that he or she can. If there were a little less television and a little more prayer in our lives, we would be more at peace.”
“Worrying never solved any problem. What solves problems are trust and faith.”
“If trust disappears when we do wrong, it shows that our trust was based on ourselves and our deeds.”

I want to read this book again sometime soon with a spirituality group. I would recommend it to anyone, but especially people who want to learn more about themselves and St. Therese.

Popcorn Rating: 2. Father Philippe’s work always makes you think, reread and try harder.

Stars: 5+. There aren’t a lot of spirituality books that I reread, but this one I’m already planning to see if I can form a women’s group to read it again. It’s just that good. I also read this during a year when I was coming out of a very tough time of depression and anxiety and during the loss of a pregnancy. This book helped remind me that trust in God is not based on my circumstances and that God (and many others) love me so very much.

*the links for books in this post are affiliate links. This means that if you use my link to purchase a book, I receive a small commission at no cost to you.