This is the twentieth volume in the
Great Spiritual Teachers series I have read, it is also one of the oldest having released in 1995, it is the fourth based on publication dates. Two Years ago I read my first book in the series, it was
Born to Do This: 30 Days with Joan of Arc by Jaymie Stuart Wolfe, and loved it and the concept of the series. I have read one almost every month since that first one, and if I can track down all the out of print, will do so until I finish all 25 released to date in the series. After I finished all of them that had eBook editions I have been randomly jumping around. I prefer the digital editions or eBooks with my dyslexia is easier to read.
The description of this volume states:
“After centuries of obscurity and suspicion, Meister Eckhart is emerging as a mystic whose voice resonates with our own. Take this opportunity to allow Eckhart help you live a more centered life and discover God's presence in the moments of your day.”
The back of the physical book states:
“After centuries of obscurity and suspicion, Meister Eckhart is finally emerging as a mystic whose voice resonates with our own. Take this opportunity to allow Eckhart to help you live a more centered life and discover God’s presence in all the ordinary moments of your day.
When God finds you ready,
no attention is paid to what you were.
God accepts you for who you are,
gladly suffering all the evil, sin, or violence you can do,
awaiting only the chance to convince you of his love.
- Meister Eckhart”
About the series we are informed:
“Each book in the Great Spiritual Teachers series provides a month of daily readings from one of Christianity's most beloved spiritual guides. For each day there is a brief and accessible morning meditation drawn from the mystic's writings, a simple mantra for use throughout the day, and a night prayer to focus one's thoughts as the day ends. These easy-to-use books are the perfect prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in the solid ground of these great spiritual teachers.”
About the author we are informed:
“Richard Chilson is the author of over a dozen books on Catholicism and world religions. He currently serves as a chaplain at the University of California at Berkeley.”
I believe there are 19 volumes in this series currently in print, but only 16 of those have digital editions. There is also a new volume releasing in July of 2026. There are also a number that are currently out of print, The oldest I have seen are from the late 1990’s and it looks like they went through a rebranding and format change in the mid 00’s, and they have undergone yet another rebranding beginning in the 2020’s including some new titles available in the series.
I must admit I do not recall running across this series prior to that first volume on Joan. I have however added all of them to my ‘to be read list’. I love the recent rebranding, and hope Ave Maria completes the rebranding across all volumes. I hope also that Ave Maria brings back into print some of the volumes currently not available; specifically the volumes on John of the Cross, Evelyn Underhill, Mother Theresa and others. This specific volume was released in 1996, the first of 5 that released that year.
The sections in this volume are:
Meister Eckhart
How to Pray This Book
Thirty Days with Meister Eckhart
One Final Word
While reading this I highlighted numerous passages, some of them are:
“Meister Eckhart is finally emerging from the shadow of heresy cast over him in his own day and reinforced by Pope John XXII before his death. Today he is even quoted frequently by Pope John Paul H, a sign that his teaching is once again in favor. In addition to his acceptance among Catholics, he has also become a significant bridge between the Eastern and Western mystical traditions.”
“But if being a mystic is dangerous, a mystic who commands a following and who lives at a time of spiritual awakening, as did Meister Eckhart, is doubly suspect. Eckhart did not write for the monastic elite. He was a member of the Dominicans, the Order of Preachers, and his audience was the ordinary people to whom he preached.”
“Since he does not disclose personal details in his writings, we know very little of his life. We do know that he entered the Dominican Order during his teens, that he studied for the priesthood, and was familiar with the work of another Dominican, Thomas Aquinas, who had just died.”
“In others words, these are basic counsels concerning the spiritual life and the path which a person follows in drawing closer to God. Here Eckhart is practical and down-to-earth. Many of the things he discusses resonate with questions we have today about beginning a spiritual life.”
“Both Talks on Spiritual Instruction and The Book of Blessings and Comfort, are very practical. They focus upon the nature of the spiritual life. Eckhart, though a true mystic, does not provide poetry and vision for his students. Rather he offers hard, practical advice on how to discern one’s spiritual path, how to follow that path, how to do the work required.”
“The purpose of this book is to open a gate for you, to make accessible the spiritual experience and wisdom of one of history’s most important spiritual teachers, Meister Eckhart.”
“When I deny myself
God’s will becomes the same as my own will.
An obedient person never says,
“This is what I want.”
An obedient person seeks only to deny self.”
“May all my actions point to God.”
“May all my actions
speak of you, Lord.
May my heart show forth
only you.
May my words proclaim
only you.”
“You will come to share
the disinterest, detachment,
and spiritual vision of your heart’s delight,
the ever present God.
You will thirst with a true thirst,
and drinking will be your zeal,
even when you are preoccupied with other matters.”
“Gracious God,
give me the discipline
to seek you in everything
and in everyone | encounter.
Teach me that not one minute
is wasted if I recognize
that it draws me toward you.”
“Thank you for showing
me your presence with me today.
May I come to sense your presence
in everything I do.
May I see all my activities
as filled with you,
and realize that nothing is alien to you.”
“Each time we repent
love is made anew
and increases.”
“Great God,
you are my hope,
you are my trust,
you are my love.
My life is in your hands.
Show me how
you would have me live
to bring me closer to you.”
“Great God,
I thank you
for the assurance that
you will never be far from me.
Help me to find the path
you have set for me,
and give me the courage
to walk it.”
“God, help me to see
your particular path for me.
Open my eyes to what is
happening in my life.
Give me the insight to see
what holds me back,
and the grace to let it go.”
“Tonight again consider the path
God has chosen for you.
What are the issues
you need to work on right now?
How do you imagine
working upon those issues?
Try to be concrete and specific.
What part does the virtue of equanimity
play in your life?
Are you able to be satisfied with what is,
with who you are,
with what you have?”
“Lord, teach me to be satisfied
with myself and my state in life.
Lift me up from every concern
except your will for me.
Show me my faults
and guide me in overcoming them.”
“Be prepared always
for the gifts of God, new gifts continually.
Let God’s gifts wean you away from selfishness
and help you let go of concern
over what is yours by right.”
“Take a few minutes to relax
and look back over your day.
Reflect upon those moments
when you were conscious of your
intention to act out of goodness.
When did you forget to act in this way?
Can you sense what got in your way?
What made you forget your
initial intention?
Bring no blame to this exercise;
you are simply curious
about your behavior.”
“Great God,
help me to see
all that stands between myself
and your will for me.
Wean me away from whatever
comes between us
and draw me solely to you alone.”
“Spiritual work is
learning to cooperate with God.”
“God has never given differently
to anyone, even his mother,
and frequently, in order to impress the lesson upon us,
God removes everything from us,
both physical and spiritual.”
“Be content with God’s will in every circumstance,
so grateful
that his will is being accomplished,
that this becomes more crucial to you
than anything”
“Perhaps you are afraid that you do not give
enough of yourself to your spiritual work.
You are lukewarm about your journey.
Well, take this itself as a practice;
be patient with yourself and let it go at that.
God is understanding and easily endures failure,
if only we who are God’s friends can be at peace.”
“Lord, I thank you
for the gift of my life,
and for accepting me as I am
in my journey toward you.
Be my companion
whatever the journey,
and draw me always
nearer to your love.”
Each day follows the same format with three main sections:
AS OUR DAY BEGINS: “As the day begins set aside a quiet moment in a quiet place to do the reading provided for the day
The passages are short; they never run more than a couple of hundred words. They have been carefully selected, though, to give a spiritual focus, a spiritual center to your whole day. They are designed to remind you, as another day begins, of your own existence at a spiritual level. They are meant to put you in the presence of the spiritual master who is your companion and teacher on this journey. This is especially true of this journey with Catherine of Siena. The readings are her report of God’s words to her, God’s side of the dialogue. And since the purpose of the passage is to remind you that at every moment during you are in the presence of a God who invites you continually, but quietly, to live in and through him, what better source than the words of God himself?”
ALL THROUGH YOUR DAY: “Immediately following the day’s reading you will find a single sentence, a meditation in the form of a mantra, a phrase meant as a companion for your spirit as it moves through a busy day. Write it down on a 3" x 5" card or on the appropriate page of your daybook. Look at it as often as you can. Repeat it quietly to yourself, and go on your way.
It is not meant to stop you in your tracks or to distract you from responsibilities but simply, gently, to remind you of the presence of God and your desire to respond to this presence.”
AS YOUR DAY IS ENDING: “This is a time for letting go of the day, for entering a world of imaginative prayer … This exercise is not meant to last more than a few minutes. End it when you are comfortable doing so. It has two parts. The first, in keeping with Catherine’s model, is a personal response to the words spoken by God in the day’s reading. Just as God has spoken to you, so you speak to God. Second, you are invited to turn to the familiarity of a prayer based on Catherine’s own words. It is an act of trust and confidence, an entryway into peaceful sleep, a simple evening prayer that gathers together the spiritual character of the day that is now ending as it began—in the presence of God.
It is a time for summary and closure.”
And being an older edition a final section with a prayer called ‘Night Prayer’. Many of the highlights above come from those final sections.
A sample day is:
“DAY 13
My Day Begins
Trust and Confidence
The worse you believe your sins to be,
the more ready God is to pardon them.
God wishes to enter your soul
and drive them out;
for no one is a laggard in rooting out
what is loathsome to him.
The more sins you have
the happier God is to forgive them.
And the more displeasing they are to God,
the quicker God forgives.
As soon as your repentance mounts up to God
your sins are swallowed up
in the abyss of God,
quicker than you can blink your eyes.
You demonstrate true and perfect love
when you have great hope and trust in God.
Nothing proves the fullness of love
better than trust.
When you love another with all your heart
you have confidence.
Whatever trust you place in God
is guaranteed,
and you find your trust rewarded a thousand times.
Just as you cannot love God too much,
you are never in danger of putting
too much confidence in God.
You can do nothing better
than to place your complete trust in God.
God has never let anyone down
who trusted fully.
Indeed through you
God will accomplish great things.
When we have this great trust
we become aware
that it arises out of love.
For love bears not only trust
but real knowledge
and absolute certainty.
All Through The Day
Nothing proves the fullness of love better than trust.
My Day Is Ending
After relaxing, consider the extent
to which you trust God
with your life.
What has helped your trust grow?
What obstructs your trust now?
How does that trust translate
to other people?
Just who do you trust?
Night Prayer
Great God,
you are my hope,
you are my trust,
you are my love.
My life is in your hands.
Show me how
you would have me live
to bring me closer to you.”
I hope those quotes and sample day give you a feel for this volume. I have now read 20 books in this series from the 25 I believe have ever been in print. And this is one is another wonderful volume in the series. I was really blessed by this volume I have recommended it to a number of friends, if they can track it down, my own copy has already been given away.
I have benefited from every volume I have read in the series and I have now completed most of them. I have now read 20 volumes in this series, and currently working on a twenty-first I can state this is another great offering in the series. I find that some speak to me more than others. I can state I benefited from the month with each person being profiled. If I went back and did a volume again at a different point or season in life I might interact with it differently. I already plan to circle back to the volume on Joan and some of the others and reread them once I have completed the series, and this would be towards the top of that list.
This is a great read, it is one I really enjoyed reading. I can easily recommend this volume, and the series as a whole, and I look forward to reading others in the series. If you can track it down I highly recommend this volume.
