The spirituality of the log, by Jean-Thomas de Beauregard
Is the fire of the Holy Spirit that Jesus came to bring to earth still burning 2,000 years after Pentecost? To this question which, by his own admission, gnaws at him, the young Dominican answers in the negative: “Our Church in Europe oscillates between lukewarmness and freezing cold. » But the author, thank God, does not stop at this terrible diagnosis. First, he offers an explanation for our reluctance – “we are afraid of the fire of the Spirit, because fire burns…”, and then deploys a way to counter it: the spirituality of the log. “Inert, rough-hewn, the log looks like us. However, its destiny is to be burned, burnt to the fire”, he wrote. In other words, it is not made to stay in the basket but to be thrown into the hearth and gradually unite with the fire until the perfect union. “The log, then, shines with a new luster; it warms, illuminates, and burns everything that comes near it. »
This is also the vocation of all of us. By drawing freshly and with a certain freshness from the treasures of the Christian tradition, Jean-Thomas de Beauregard accompanies us step by step on this path of transformation, of deification, nothing less. Fundamental catechesis for the less original where Thomas Aquinas meets Kylian Mbappé. “The log must burn!” For the world is waiting to be set on fire by the Gospel. Johnny Halliday roars in our ear: “All it takes is a spark!” » It is up to us to provoke it by delivering ourselves to the devouring fire.
Deer, €16.
Etty Hillesum, a song of life beyond the barbed wire, by Olivier Risser
The question of evil surrounds us and concerns us. She ‘slapped’ the author the day he took his 3rd graderse at the Nazi camp of Struthof, in the Vosges. She stunned him the day after the Nice attack, which he survived with his wife, then when he was insulted defending a lady who wanted to place a candle at the place where the terrorist had been shot .
Questioned daily by this mystery, the French teacher found in Etty Hillesum a loving and thinking heart “which shelters us from absurdity and despair”. It is the inner journey of this young Dutch girl caught in the hell of deportation that he presents to us in this very intimate study of her diary and her correspondence. “Path of Fulfillment of Love” for “to face evil by the gift of oneself”. Necessary reading.
The childhood of trees, €17.
Simone Pacot, passer of life, of Luc Weizman
His first book published in 1997, the evangelization of the depths, remains a staple of religious publishing. His paths of restoration of being offered within the Bethasda association are still used today by Catholics and Protestants, lay people or religious wishing to live fully. And yet, the itinerary of Simone Pacot (1924-2017), her personal experience through which took shape the paths she explored by articulating psychology and Christian faith, remain unknown to many. It was therefore time for a biography to be devoted to him!
With Luc Weismann, her godson and close friend, the reader thus enters the “vibrant thickness of life” of the one who was in turn a lawyer in Morocco where she was born, a companion of the Arche of Lanza del Vasto or an activist of the Non-violent civic action before devoting himself entirely to spiritual accompaniment. Exciting.
Salvador, €21.
And the night becomes light, by Dom Samuel
At La Trappe, where he entered after his conversion, Thomas Merton sees his ideal of monastic perfection come up against the complexities and paradoxes of his mixed humanity. And he discovers that he must, not deny them, but accept them and go through them in faith. Trappist monk as the author of the Night deprived of stars, and this for 35 years, Dom Samuel Lauras has also found “treasures in the darkness”. It is this experience that he transmits to us here, which was also that of the psalmist: “I said, ‘Darkness is crushing me!’ But the night becomes light around me” (psalm 138). And the monk comments: “It is the night itself which becomes light, around this annihilated man. » Yes, the joy of being saved is received in the very depths of our darkness. “Misery with light; salvation given, accomplished, but not yet deployed. »
Artege, €16.90.
Thérèse Martin, a fabulous destiny, by Jacques Gautier
Surprising as it may seem, no solid book on Thérèse of the Child Jesus had been written specifically for adolescents and young adults. It is done today thanks to the Quebecer Jacques Gautier, prolific spiritual author and specialist of the saint of Lisieux.
In a long open letter in the second person, the author retraces with simplicity, depth and pedagogy the itinerary of his “little sister in solidarity with (her) struggles”. With one objective: that its young readers discover behind the pink varnish an inspiring and powerful woman. Of this power, that of God, which unfolds in weakness. After Carlo Acutis, a geek in paradiseby Will Conquer, this second title of the collection “Born for the sky” is a success.
First part, €14.90.