To Live for God Alone
The Life and Spirit of Saint Rafael Arnaiz
To Live for God Alone
The Life and Spirit of Saint Rafael Arnaiz
This item is currently unavailable.
Enter your email address below and we will email you when the item comes into stock.
Paperback / softback
£31.99
Publisher: Liturgical Press
ISBN: 9780879072919
Number of Pages: 288
Published: 15/02/2023
Width: 14 cm
Height: 21.6 cm
What does it mean to live for God alone? "Prefer nothing to the love of Christ"; "My God and my all"; "God alone suffices"-these statements from the saints express the single desire that unified their hearts and gave direction to their lives. "God alone" was the constant theme of Saint Rafael Arnaiz (1911-1938), the expression of the search for God that informs any monastic vocation. Saint Rafael was profoundly and thoroughly a monk, even though ill health repeatedly forced him to leave the monastery, and he was never formally professed. With his single-hearted love for Christ and for the Blessed Virgin, he faithfully walked a path of trials and suffering that matured his faith, sharpened his longing, taught him to wait and to hope in God, and opened his heart to love. To Live for God Alone invites the reader into the compelling story of Rafael's personal journey and into his penetrating insight into the cross and the Christian vocation.
Contents
Abbreviations vii
Introduction ix
Chapter 1. Life 1
Chapter 2. Rafael: Writer and Writings 51
Chapter 3. “God Alone” and Purity of Heart 75
Chapter 4. The Gift of Discernment 95
Chapter 5. Rafael, the Monk 125
Chapter 6. A Spirituality of Desire 165
Chapter 7. The Cross and Suffering 183
Conclusion 219
Appendix: Excerpts from Rafael’s Writings 225
Bibliography 265
Abbreviations vii
Introduction ix
Chapter 1. Life 1
Chapter 2. Rafael: Writer and Writings 51
Chapter 3. “God Alone” and Purity of Heart 75
Chapter 4. The Gift of Discernment 95
Chapter 5. Rafael, the Monk 125
Chapter 6. A Spirituality of Desire 165
Chapter 7. The Cross and Suffering 183
Conclusion 219
Appendix: Excerpts from Rafael’s Writings 225
Bibliography 265
"An inspiring work, full of insights on the life of a beloved of God. It reveals his pursuit of the divine will through his spirit of purity of heart, simplicity, humility, and perseverance. He knows that God loves him and all he wants to do is to love Jesus. This is a spiritual treasury for our faith journey."
Brother William Chng, OCSO, New Clairvaux Abbey
"Is it possible to produce saints in the mold of the desert fathers in the midst of a modern secular culture? Rafael Arnaiz Baron, a Cistercian oblate living in the middle of the twentieth century during Spain's civil war, proves that it is. O'Keefe and Gonzalo-Garcia distill materials from sources that confirm the authenticity of Brother Rafael's spiritual life, including letters and journal entries. A few full sources allow us to see that the cited portions are consistent with his entire body of writings."
Martha Fessler Krieg, lay Cistercian associate and independent scholar
