Basic Spiritual Means

  Going nowhere on the path to spiritual and moral improvement? Many fine priests and nuns have felt the same way -- and many found surer footing in this 1936 guide to growth in holiness. Unfortunately, too many of us gloss over “the basics”, warns Fr. Philip E. Dion, a renowned spiritual director for priests and religious in the 1930s. Predictable result? The return of lassitude, discouragement and bad habits. The remedies are to be found in this step-by-step guide, whose plan -- and a warning -- Fr. Dion lays out in his Introduction: “... to instruct the reader in the precise nature of certain basic spiritual means of sanctification. Unless one knows the nature of these means accurately, he cannot use them intelligently, and, moreover, he runs the risk of using them badly, and consequently being hindered by what is intended to help. Furthermore, unless their nature is understood properly, there is little likelihood of their being used with much enthusiasm or zeal.” In simple and vivid language, Fr. Dion provides the means and the motivation you need:   How to conquer the natural human inertia which prevents one from living a more perfect life The form of self-deception that is nearly always at the root of our failures to grow in holiness How purity of intention can mean the difference between success and failure in spiritual matters. Simple tests for measuring it, and practical ways to further purify it Methods for cultivating the “fundamental dispositions” that are most conducive to prayer Most effective ways to identify, isolate, and conquer one’s “predominant fault” -- the habitual weakness that spawns most of our other spiritual and moral difficulties How to avoid mistaking a surface symptom for the “root fault” How to carry out the “particular examen,” as a means to combat your predominant fault The difference between “