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Louis Bouyer, one of the 20th century giants of Catholic theology, here addresses a breathtaking range of questions related to the world: the history of origin studies, from cosmogonic myth to philosophical cosmologies, from magic to mysticism. Science, myth, philosophy, theology, poetic experience and technology here constantly rub elbows. Through it all he explores the insightfulness of Christian revelation penetrating the mystery, as a reflection of the mystery of that other cosmos it reflects; the inner being of God, the creator.

Louis Bouyer is a priest, theologian, teacher and writer.

Marcelle Auclair, the author, a delightful, sparkling woman of many achievements, strikes one as being nearly as versatile and enterprising as her favorite saint. Though born in France, she grew up in Chile, where Spanish ways of life and thought became second-nature to her. On her return to France, at the age of twenty, she married the novelist Jean Prevost, brought up three children, traveled extensively, published several novels herself, and founded and edited Marie-Claire, an outstandingly successful woman’s journal.

All through her life Marcelle Auclair assiduously studied the writings of Teresa of Avila. She admired in her an essentially “modern” woman: inventive, practical, gallant and intrepid, with tremendous organizational capacities, whose genius permitted her to break through the restrictions of her time. Madame Auclair decided to retranslate the saint’s writings and to write her life. With characteristic determination, she attempted to obtain the seemingly impossible (it had never been done before) – an authorization from the Holy See to enter the Carmelite cloisters in Spain and to gather authentic background material for her projected work. The permission was granted. On her return to Paris she gave up all her professional obligations and for two years virtually went into retreat, devoting her entire time to the accomplishment of what is no doubt the most vivid existing biography of this great saint.

The desire to have some experience of God is widespread. Many persons of all ages have a genuine yearning for communion with the spiritual world. The trouble is that we are never quite certain how we should invest our energies to ensure that we are moving closer to the truth and not deeper into delusion. It seems prudent, therefore, to look for guidance from those who have actually made the journey and are skilled in initiating others.

This is why we approach the great contemplative traditions: to find out something about prayer and the sort of life that facilitates its growth. We cannot always generate our own solutions because our horizons are limited. The first thing we need to learn is to look at life from a different perspective. Here the ancient spiritual masters can serve us well...

The key idea that is common to these teachers is that contemplation is possible only for those who have puritas cordis: an undivided heart. The act of communion with God is one which engages the whole person and calls upon all the interior energies. It can occur only when these energies are working together, when inner disharmony has been overcome and unity reigns within. Such a state is not achieved quickly but only by the grace of God and the labor of decades. It involves a radical conversion of life and a persevering will to live in accordance with the Gospel. Spiritual growth is thus seen as a matter of progressively purifying the personal center of will and knowledge, eliminating inner division and becoming more intent on seeking the one thing necessary.

Michael Casey is a monk of Tarrawarra Abbey in Australia. He is well-known as a retreat master and lecturer on monastic spirituality and holds a doctorate from Melbourne College of Divinity in the area of the life and writings of St. Bernard of Clairvaux.

“Arriving at the end of my course, after more than fifty years of presence in the monastery, an instinct pushes me to share my great hope of eternal life, as I have shared recently my small experience of fasting.” In this meditation of the phrase “to desire eternal life” from the Rule of St. Benedict, Adalbert de Vogue shares what hope has been for him before entering the monastery and after. Then he surveys Holy Scripture as a simple hearer of the Word (lectio divina) and finally he listens once more to some beloved phrases of the ancient monks before and after St. Benedict. “To desire eternal life” should challenge each Christian today as it challenged Fr. Adalbert de Vogue. He who gives himself to Christ will not die but will live forever, because He is eternal life.

Adalbert de Vogue is a monk of la Pierre-qui-Vire in France.