Treatise on the Spiritual Life

by St. Vincent Ferrer

Any book written by a saint is a treasure, but a book written by one, who was hailed in his time as the angel of the Apocalypse, his Treatise consists of nineteen brief instructions on a variety of timeless spiritual topics, all but two of which are easily translatable to the lay apostles of today. The reader will find especially relevant this great preacher s remedies for getting rid of the devil, keeping him always at bay, and discerning true from false revelations. If you want to be a saint, do as Louis Bertrand did, and take to your heart and to your domestic hearth this handy and portable book, written by a thaumaturgus (wonder-worker) who raised over thirty dead people to life and who converted twenty-five thousand Jews, thousands of Mohammedans, and countless thousands of heretics and sinners of all kinds.

Genres: Spirituality, Catholic, Christian, Christianity, Religion

43 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wonderful reading for lent and plenty to reflect on.

[7jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

(My copy is from LiteraryLicensing, not Loreto, but otherwise there needs to be no image since mine is pretty anonymous-looking too)

It does make the text open a little more if you have this with Ven. Mother Julienne Morrell's commentaries, but even just the main text makes this a good little book. It is directed mainly to nuns (and monks), but even a layperson can get a lot out of this book.

It's short and to the point; the commentaries add more explanation without wandering too much around. My particular favorites were the first two chapters on poverty and silence. The comments on food and drink sound a lot like modern basic dietary advice would say: not eating too much or too little, favoring vegetables etc. The text ends with a couple of summaries which are quite useful. Chapter XVIII also has a really nice prayer at the end.

So, a nice book (especially with commentary); anyone passionate about advancing in piety and virtue can find inspiration in this.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

St. Vincent Ferrer...
Amazing wisdom.
For some saints, many words are necessary to get a point across. Not with this saint.
Clear and easy to understand (although one might not wish to).
It is difficult to do what is God's will at times, but after reading this, one has no excuse.
This treatise is short, but it is not something that should be read quickly.
One must take time to reflect on what has been read.
Take time to ponder the simple explanations of how to grow in holiness.
I found this was great material for mental prayer/meditation.

[ShepherdsDelight · Rating 5 out of 5]

86/100 (= 5.1/6) ≈ 5 Stars

-----------------------------------------
Short and sweet advice from a giant of a saint. He gets down into some extremely practical advice at times.