Into Your Hands…: Distillation of the Letters of Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade

Fr. De Caussade is most well known for his book Abandonment to Divine Providence. And for good reason - it is a spiritual classic. Less well known is the counsel he gave in (published) letters to cloistered nuns in his care. There is, I suppose, good reason for this, too - they constantly drive home, like nails through hands and feet, the need to abandon ourselves to Providence whatever the circumstances may be. One could call them repetitive: 148 letters in seven books with minor variations on the same theme. Yet what I discovered in reading (all of) them was how important that theme is, and how little I comprehend and practice its lesson. And so the needto drive the point home through repeated exposure to the same message. In fact, after having read the letters, written a distillation of each one, typed up the entries and proofread them several times… I still barely scratch the surface of understanding. How can we get it through our heads (and our hearts) that we must die with Christ on the Cross, that this is the path to Resurrection glory, and so, that the requisite suffering is a blessing? I pray this book helps the reader come to this realization.