cover image THE JOURNEY INTO GOD: A Forty-Day Retreat with Bonaventure, Francis and Clare

THE JOURNEY INTO GOD: A Forty-Day Retreat with Bonaventure, Francis and Clare

Josef Raischl, . . Anthony Messenger, $14.95 (416pp) ISBN 978-0-86716-499-2

This book offers a fresh twist on the convention of the 40-day Lenten devotional by focusing on the writings of St. Bonaventure, the 13th-century saint and Franciscan leader. Raischl and Cirino, who lead spiritual retreats on Bonaventure, cull readings from the saint's lasting work, The Journey of the Human Person into God, and use them as meditative springboards for daily Lenten devotion. They focus most heavily on Bonaventure, but also include material on Sts. Francis and Clare, showing how Bonaventure was influenced by their writing and example.This book is more than a Lenten reader; it is an accessible digest of Bonaventure for anyone who has ever found his magnum opus to be too dry and theological for easy understanding. It can be read by individuals or groups and comes with a guide for group meetings and discussions. However it is used, readers should heed Bonaventure's own warning about his work: "It is important that you not run through these reflections in a hurry, but that you take your time and ruminate over them slowly." (Jan.)